Hyuga's List

Morning.

Iroha, Tokuma, and Tetsu came to Shinichi's home together to find him.

"You're going to the front lines?" Shinichi looked at them in considerable surprise.

Iroha's injuries were probably not fully healed yet, while Tokuma and Tetsu were both newly graduated genin. Konoha had resorted to using even them.

"Yeah, so we came to say goodbye." Iroha scratched his head.

Shinichi looked at them and suddenly did not know what to say. The childish faces of Tokuma and Tetsu probably still did not understand how cruel war could be.

"When do you leave?" Shinichi asked.

"Half an hour from now. We only just got the notice too, so we merely packed up at home." Iroha said.

Shinichi had not received any orders to go to the battlefield, which meant the Hyuga Clan was still keeping him at home.

Konoha was already at a critical point of life and death, yet the Hyuga still acted this way. Shinichi sensed another meaning behind it.

The three of them chatted for a while without getting overly sentimental. Shinichi merely told them to be careful and instructed Tokuma and Tetsu to listen to Iroha more at the front lines.

They then left. Iroha said he still needed to say goodbye to Natsu.

Natsu had not gone to the front lines either.

Shinichi found the Hyuga Clan Compound even more deserted than usual. He wandered around for a long time without seeing a single person.

The streets of Konoha outside the Hyuga Clan Compound were much the same. There was quite a bit of trash scattered about, yet no one cleaned it up today. Only a few pedestrians were about, and not a single ninja could be seen. Many shops were shut and no longer doing business. A stifling atmosphere hung over the entire village.

Shinichi found an open shop, bought some things, and went to the hospital to visit Hizashi.

Konoha Hospital was probably the only lively place left in the village. Yet Hizashi, alone in his ward, seemed deeply despondent. Even when Shinichi came, he did not say much to him.

He only asked Shinichi a baffling question.

"Do you think you're fortunate or unfortunate?"

After some thought, Shinichi answered, "Fortune and misfortune are judgments of the past. I only look to what lies ahead."

His words gave Hizashi much to ponder. He began murmuring a phrase to himself.

"The past is gone; the future is coming."

Shinichi did not know what had happened to him. Without asking more, he left the hospital.

When he returned home, Ayari had come again at some point. She sat on the sofa holding Sibi, looking troubled.

Konoha's survival concerned everyone. The war at the front had erased the smiles from most of the village's faces.

"What's wrong?" Shinichi asked her.

Ayari looked at Shinichi, but hesitated to speak.

"Are you worried about the front lines?"

"Shinichi, do you think we can win?"

Shinichi paused as he poured water, then gave her a firm answer. "We can."

Yet Ayari's expression remained heavy. She shook her head and said, "What does a child like you know about affairs of the nation?"

She felt Shinichi was blindly confident in his own village. Given the current situation, how could Konoha possibly still have the power to turn things around?

Ayari let out a heavy sigh and said to Shinichi, "Lord Taikei will convene a clan meeting tonight. I came by to notify you while I was passing through. Remember to go to the inner courtyard at nine tonight."

She stood up, still holding Sibi in her arms. "Let Sibi keep me company a little longer today..."

Shinichi's thoughts churned at those words. Hizashi's strange demeanor from earlier flashed through his mind, and he suddenly stepped forward, grabbing Ayari's arm as she was about to leave.

"Shinichi?"

Shinichi stared intently at Ayari. His eyes, black and deep as an abyss, inexplicably frightened her, making her feel as if he had seen right through her.

Sibi looked at Shinichi curiously from Ayari's arms.

"Is the Hyuga Clan preparing to leave Konoha?"

Shock spread across Ayari's face. She froze in place and stared blankly at Shinichi.

"Shinichi... you... how did you know?" she stammered.

"How many?" Shinichi asked again.

"What?"

"Is everyone evacuating?"

Ayari hesitated at that, then said, "Lord Taikei made the list. It includes me and my sister, Hizashi, you, and Natsu. Lord Taikei also said that before we leave, he will leave his eyes to you."

"What about Lord Hiashi and the others?" Shinichi pressed.

Only silence answered him.

The answer was obvious. They had been abandoned.

Before the survival and continuation of the clan, one member of the Main Branch was far too insignificant.

The Hokage had already gone to the front lines, and the village was in chaos. It would be far too easy for the Hyuga to secretly send a few people away now.

It was probably not just the Hyuga. Other clans had likely done something similar.

Shinichi's expression shifted as he stood there. A moment later, he suddenly rushed out the door.

Ayari hurriedly shouted after him, "Shinichi, where are you going? You... don't go around telling people!"

Shinichi returned to Konoha Hospital. He had come to find Hizashi; Hizashi was the only one he could seek out now. Ayari had absolutely no say within the clan.

He hurried down the corridor and nearly collided with a passerby carrying something in her hands.

"Watch where you're going!" she cried out. Her tray was filled with glass bottles for IV drips.

"Sorry." Shinichi apologized. When he looked up, though, he found her somewhat familiar.

At that moment, a medical worker at the end of the hallway called over.

"Shizune, hurry up! We need these urgently over here."

"Coming."

The girl quickly answered. She no longer paid Shinichi any attention and turned to walk briskly toward the medical worker.

Shizune... shouldn't she have already left the village with Tsunade by this point?

Pushing aside these useless thoughts, Shinichi reached Hizashi's door again, but did not knock and enter right away.

He stood there for a long while, until his thoughts finally calmed.

"Why aren't you coming in?"

Hizashi's voice suddenly sounded from inside the ward.

When Shinichi opened the door, he found Hizashi sitting on the bed with his knees drawn up, calmly gazing out the window.

The white window screen drifted in the breeze blowing in from outside, and the thin shadow on the floor swayed with it.

Shinichi shut the door tightly and slowly walked to Hizashi's bedside.

Hizashi spoke first.

"Shinichi, you seem a little agitated. You're somewhat different from before."

"..."

"Lady Tsunade returned to the village. She's in Lord Jiraiya's ward. That girl returned with her."

Though he had remained in his ward the entire time, his Byakugan allowed him to see everything throughout the hospital, including Shinichi nearly colliding with Shizune.

Shinichi spoke quietly. "Lord Hizashi, we can't leave."

Hizashi gave a faint laugh. "You found out rather quickly. Did Ayari tell you?"

He fixed his eyes on Shinichi and asked, "Why can't we leave?"

"If we leave Konoha now, we'll be guilty of desertion," Shinichi said.

Hizashi's expression did not change at the word "desertion." He slowly got down from the bed, shut the window, then drew the window screen and curtains. The entire room instantly darkened.

Only then did Hizashi speak in an even tone. "On the contrary, Konoha will soon be destroyed. We are the sparks carrying Konoha's hope, burdened with the duty of rebuilding and reviving Konoha."

Shinichi frowned slightly. "Just the five of us?"

"What, do you think that isn't enough?" Hizashi asked.

"It isn't. Even the entire Hyuga Clan wouldn't be enough."

Hizashi could not help narrowing his eyes. He had always felt that Shinichi was special, merely skilled at hiding it. That quality was difficult to notice; even his older brother and father had been deceived.

Yet he could sense it. Like him, Shinichi loathed that shackled cage and yearned for freedom.

"What gives you the right to say that? Do you know how fortunate you are to be on that list of five?" Hizashi continued.

"Because of my eyes?"

"You are clever." Hizashi sneered. "Natsu is among the finest in our clan in both temperament and appearance. Countless peers are infatuated with her. She'll be your wife in the future, and you're still not satisfied?"

"Or do you prefer Ayari?"

Shinichi's expression did not change as he listened to Hizashi speak his fiancée's name.

He could tell Hizashi was suppressing something, and that suppressed thing was about to burst out.

"If you truly like Ayari that much, I could even..."

"What did Lord Hizashi receive?" Shinichi suddenly interrupted him.

"What did Lord Taikei promise you?"

Hizashi fell silent, his eyes locked tightly on Shinichi.

"The removal of the Caged Bird Seal, status in the Main Branch, and the same standing as Lord Hiashi?"

After a long silence, Hizashi replied simply, "That's right."

Shinichi was deeply disappointed. Hizashi did not hate the Caged Bird Seal; he only hated that he was the one bound by it.

Once he became someone who benefited from the rules, he too would begin to uphold them.