Chance to Flip the Table

After returning home, Zhen found Hyuga Ayari sprawled lazily across his sofa, a pure white pet dog nestled in her arms.

She was much older than Zhen and had already come of age. She resembled Hyuga Ayano by seventy or eighty percent, though her temperament was more reserved.

Zhen walked over, poured himself a glass of water, then sat down on the other side of the sofa.

"I remember locking the door."

"Am I not welcome?"

Ayari glanced at him calmly, one hand continuously stroking the dog's soft, sleek fur.

The white dog, Sibi, had been raised by Zhen in the past. Since Ayari liked it so much, she often came to his home to play with it.

Before going to the battlefield, Zhen had given Hyuga Ayari a key to his home, intending for her to occasionally help clean his room.

In his memories, the two had been quite close, and their homes were right next to each other. Back then, Zhen had held plenty of admiration for this beautiful older sister.

But it could only be admiration. Ayari, like her sister, was already engaged. Her fiancé was Hyuga Hiashi's younger brother.

It was normal for a young man to admire a woman older and more outstanding than himself. Perhaps Ayari had long noticed it, but she had not taken it seriously.

There was quite an age gap between them. Maybe in two years Ayari would have children, while Zhen would still be a little brat who understood nothing.

"Sibi."

At Zhen's call, the dog that had been lying in Ayari's arms immediately got up and ran over to him, rubbing against his leg ingratiatingly. Zhen picked it up with one hand and placed it on his lap.

Seeing the dog taken away, Ayari revealed a helpless expression and slowly sat up. She casually swept her long, shawl-like hair behind her back. Watching Zhen quietly pet the dog beside her, a complicated look rose in her eyes.

Ever since her little neighbor brother had returned from the battlefield, his personality had suddenly changed. He felt completely different from before, having become silent and withdrawn. In the past, he would come running to her place at every opportunity, sometimes bothering her to no end.

But since returning, he had not come looking for her even once. Even when they were together, they barely talked, and he had never told her much about the battlefield.

She had learned from people in the clan that all of Zhen's teammates had died during a mission, leaving him as the sole survivor. Even his own eyes had been destroyed.

Had the blow been too great? Ayari felt pity for him.

War was cruel, yet there was nothing to be done about it.

She took the initiative to start a conversation. "You met Lord Minato?"

"Mm."

"What was he like?"

"Just like the legends say."

"I heard he is very likely to become the next Hokage."

"I heard that too."

"...Is Lord Minato easy to get along with?"

"He is quite kind."

After only a few exchanges, the conversation was already about to end. Given Namikaze Minato's soaring reputation in Konoha, ordinary people would usually go on and on about his heroic deeds when mentioning him. Yet Zhen seemed to have no interest in continuing the topic.

Ayari felt helpless and wondered whether she should leave, but Zhen suddenly asked, "Are there a lot of preserved Byakugan in the clan?"

The abrupt change in topic caught Ayari off guard. "There should be quite a few..."

After thinking carefully, she added, "When successive members of the Main Branch pass away, they leave behind intact Byakugan. Some outstanding members of our Branch Family also have their Byakugan personally removed by the clan head before death. Those eyes are sealed away through special methods, so after generations of accumulation, there must be quite a large number."

"Where are those eyes kept?" Zhen asked again.

"How would I know? Only Lord Hiashi and the person responsible for managing them would know." Ayari laughed.

Then she found it strange and asked Zhen, "Why are you asking about this?"

Though it was rare for Hyuga clan members to replace their Byakugan, there had been many such cases in the past. If someone injured their eyes in battle or developed an eye disease, the clan would arrange for an eye replacement. Thus, there had never been any blind people in the Hyuga Clan.

But Zhen's case, where his Byakugan had been destroyed by the activation of the Caged Bird Seal, was the first of its kind.

Zhen said calmly, "Nothing. I'll be getting new eyes soon, but I don't know whose eyes I'll receive, so I feel strange about it. I was wondering if I could take a look at those eyes beforehand."

Ayari found it amusing. "What is there to see? They're just human eyeballs. They would probably be pretty scary."

After saying that, she felt it was inappropriate. Considering Zhen's current circumstances, it seemed understandable that he would care deeply about such a thing.

After pondering for a moment, Ayari said, "Lord Hiashi would probably need to approve something like that."

She thought Zhen was worried about his eyes. Zhen was indeed worried about them, but for entirely different reasons.

As one of Konoha's great clans, the Hyuga Clan was defined by the Byakugan, a Dojutsu unique to the entire ninja world.

To the Hyuga Clan, this was an honor.

But Zhen wanted to cast it off.

The Hyuga intended to give him a new Byakugan so they could place the Caged Bird Seal on him again and put him back in shackles.

Otherwise, why would Hyuga Hiashi go to such lengths to gather the clan's higher-ups for a meeting over a Branch Family member with mediocre strength and talent like him?

How could he avoid all of this...

At present, he absolutely could not contend against the entire Hyuga Clan with his own strength alone.

Unfortunately, he did not possess one of those third-rate novel systems where sleeping with women made him stronger. His only advantage was his knowledge of this world and the course of history. If he could not break free of this fate, then even if he became stronger, would he not still be controlled by others?

"Zhen?"

Zhen raised his head and met Ayari's gaze. Her pearly white eyes were gentle as water as she looked at him without moving.

"What are you worried about?" she asked.

What was he worried about? With so many Byakugan preserved in the clan, there would surely be one suitable for him. Besides, with the clan being so concerned about his situation, what was there to worry about? Should he not be flattered by such treatment?

Ayari could not understand. As she looked at Zhen's black eyes, was his gaze so unfamiliar because they did not belong to him...?

Sibi, lying on Zhen's lap, lifted its head to glance at them both, then lowered it again and continued enjoying Zhen's petting.

The room was silent. The ticking of the wall clock could be heard without pause, tick-tock, tick-tock~

Zhen sighed softly in his heart. "Sister Ayari."

Ayari was slightly startled. Since Zhen had returned, she had not often heard him address her like that.

"I just don't know what the future will become," Zhen said calmly.

Ayari said nothing. She looked at the troubled young man and remained silent for a long while before saying, "Don't worry. There will definitely be a Byakugan compatible with you... If you want to see them, I'll have Hizashi put more effort into it."

"Thank you, Sister Ayari."

Ayari merely smiled faintly. "Don't think too much about it. Rest and recover properly during this time."