Veiled Darkness

When Hyuga Hiashi left, he took most of the clan members with him, including Hizashi, whose duty was to stay by his side and protect him at all times.

The Hyuga Clan Compound suddenly became much quieter. The streets were mostly occupied by the elderly, the weak, women, and children.

Not long after Hiashi left, Ayano came to visit on her own.

"Ayano?" Shin looked at Ayano standing outside his door, his face full of surprise.

She wore a long snow-white dress, giving her a more innocent, youthful air than usual. Her long hair was still carefully gathered into a bun, making her look delicate and graceful.

"Why... why are you here?"

"What, am I not welcome?" Ayano asked with a gentle smile, a paper bag in her hand.

"Welcome! Of course you're welcome! Please, come in!"

Shin stepped aside and let Ayano enter his room.

The messy bedroom one might expect from an adolescent boy was nowhere to be seen, and Ayano secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

But a dog that suddenly darted out from somewhere still gave her a fright.

"Ayano, this is Sibi," Shin introduced.

"You have a dog? It's so cute!" Ayano watched the white dog circling around her, then bent down in delight and scooped it into her arms.

"Right? Ayari likes him too. Please, have a seat."

Ayano sat on the sofa and chuckled. "I never expected Shin to be such a caring person."

"Not really. It's just boring being alone," Shin said with an honest grin.

Ayano set the dog aside and handed him the paper bag. "I brought you something to eat."

"I saw that you seem to like snacks. Eating too much of that stuff isn't good for you, so I made some pastries and treats myself."

Shin took it and opened it. Inside were several neatly arranged boxes of snacks. Both the packaging and presentation were quite exquisite; it was obvious she had put thought into them.

"Ayano, this..." Shin looked deeply moved.

"You're too good to me!"

Ayano smiled. "Silly child. Since you call me your sister, naturally I have to do what a sister should. Just keep these in the refrigerator normally, then take them out whenever you want to eat them."

Shin nodded and went to put the food in the refrigerator.

Ayano laughed at the sight. "I didn't mean for you to put them away right now. You can taste them first and see how they are."

Shin scratched his head and grinned sheepishly. "Anything Ayano makes is definitely delicious. I have to savor it properly."

Ayano found Shin far too straightforward. Then she noticed the books on his desk.

"Are you studying?"

"Ah, I just read things when I have nothing to do."

It was a book about the human body's acupoints. For the Hyuga Clan, this was a required course before practicing the Gentle Fist. One had to memorize the body's meridians and acupoints by heart.

Ayano only glanced at it before losing interest, assuming he had merely taken it out to review.

"Shin, there's something I need to tell you."

"Go ahead, Ayano."

"It's about your eyes."

At once, Shin's expression grew tense, and Ayano took in the change completely.

She slowly said, "The hospital suddenly informed us that, after further examination, the Byakugan originally matched to you was found to have some problems."

Shin asked in confusion, "What... does that mean?"

"It means that the Byakugan to be transplanted into you needs to be selected again. But Hiashi has gone to the front lines, and without the clan head, it would be difficult to perform the eye transplant surgery. Can you understand?"

Shin stood there in a daze for quite some time, his eyes dimming.

"The situation is tense right now. Hiashi had to go—"

"I understand!" Shin suddenly interrupted Ayano.

"I understand, Ayano. I'm only a Chunin. How could Lord Hiashi's time be delayed because of me?"

Though his tone was filled with disappointment, he seemed to be forcing himself to keep his spirits up.

Ayano nodded. "It's best that you can think that way."

Then she comforted him, "When the war is over and Hiashi returns, he'll definitely make a point of replacing your Byakugan with a new pair!"

Hope filled Shin's eyes again. "Mm! I know!"

Ayano secretly laughed when she saw his expression. Children really were easy to coax.

After chatting with Shin about some everyday matters and expressing her concern for him, she finally got up to leave.

"Take care, Ayano."

Ayano had not gone far when she suddenly noticed a short white hair stuck to her sleeve. It was from that dog. Her brows furrowed slightly, but she did not touch it.

When she turned back, Shin was still standing at the door watching her. Ayano revealed her gentle smile again and waved to him.

After returning to his room, Shin did not continue reading. Instead, he went straight to bed.

Sibi jumped onto the bed as well and lay on Shin's stomach.

The first step could be considered complete for now.

Hiashi would not kill him. If he died under the current circumstances, all suspicion would undoubtedly point at the Main Branch.

But being freed from the shackles also meant he had placed a spotlight on himself. Whatever he did from now on would draw particular attention.

Once the war was over, the Hyuga Clan would likely suffer casualties. That meant Hiashi might bring back a pair of Byakugan from the battlefield.

His freedom was not permanent.

That afternoon.

Perhaps news of Hiashi leaving the village had spread, because the Hyuga Clan received a visitor.

And that person had come specifically to see Shin.

Shin's gaze shifted slightly as he looked at Anko, who had been brought to his door by a clan member.

She fidgeted before speaking. "Um... I want to treat you to a meal. How about barbecue?"

Shin calmly asked, "You're treating me?"

"Huh? Mm... mm! I'll pay!"

Shin walked out of his room and casually shut the door behind him.

"Forget barbecue. Let's have dango instead."

"Huh?" Anko froze briefly before her face lit up.

"You like dango too?"

"I just suddenly feel like having some. Let's go."

The two left the Hyuga Clan Compound. Anko led the way through the streets, saying she knew which dango shop had the best dango.

Yet along the way, Anko kept glancing back at Shin, looking as if she wanted to say something but could not bring herself to.

Children could not hide what was on their minds. Shin saw through her at a glance, but he did not take the initiative to ask. He simply followed her into a dango shop.

The moment she saw food she liked, Anko became lively again. She grabbed the menu and began checking off items one after another.

After all, Lord Orochimaru had given her the money.

"Is there anything you want to eat?" Anko asked Shin, looking up midway through.

"Just order whatever you want."

"The tricolor dango here is really good, and the red bean dango is good too. I ordered both for you."

Shin sat across from her with his cheek resting on one hand, watching her small face scrunch up as she pondered over the menu. She seemed to think she had ordered too much, yet was reluctant to cross anything out.

"You like sweets that much? Aren't you afraid of getting fat?"

"I won't get fat."

"If you become a big fatso, no one will marry you."

Anko immediately got angry. "How can you say something so rude to a girl?!"

Several plates of dango were brought over, and Anko immediately forgot all her troubles. She grabbed a skewer in each hand and began eating heartily.

There were few customers in the open-air shop, making Shin and Anko, the two children, stand out even more.

There were very few people dressed as ninja on the streets these days. During wartime, Shin was probably the only one who could still be so leisurely.

He gently rubbed the teacup in his hand, his gaze following the street to some unknown place.

"Shin?"

"Are we close enough for you to call me by my name?"

"You can call me Anko too."

Shin smiled faintly. When he looked at Anko, he saw sweet sauce all over her mouth, so he casually pulled out a napkin and handed it to her.

After wiping her mouth, Anko did not continue eating. She sat there looking hesitant, seemingly unable to find a good reason to speak.

"Do you know who my teacher is?" she asked stiffly.

Shin looked strange. "No."

Anko immediately perked up. "My teacher is Lord Orochimaru, one of the Sannin!"

Shin casually humored her. "Wow, that's amazing."

Anko: "..."

Anko furrowed her brows, feeling that the guy in front of her did not seem to respect her teacher at all.

In her imagination, once Shin learned that she was Lord Orochimaru's disciple, he should have looked at her with admiration, grabbed her, and asked about all of Lord Orochimaru's great deeds. Then, in the end, he should have begged her to take him to meet Lord Orochimaru.

Why was reality different from what she had imagined?

She could only continue asking, "Don't you want to meet Lord Orochimaru?"

Shin asked in return, "Did Lord Orochimaru tell you to say that?"

Anko looked astonished. "How did you know?"

Looking at Anko's innocent face, Shin felt that dealing with children was still more comfortable.

Beneath their innocence, there was only innocence.

"Hurry and eat your dango. It'll get cold soon."

"Oh! I forgot!"

After finishing the dango, Shin went with Anko to meet Orochimaru.

Along the way, Anko kept talking about how incredible her teacher was, as well as the many glorious deeds of one of the Sannin.

Shin merely listened. Whether Anko had exaggerated or not, much of what she said was unfamiliar to him.

Orochimaru lived in a relatively secluded detached residence, and the street in front of it was sparsely populated.

Anko did not even knock. She simply ran inside while shouting.

"Lord Orochimaru! I brought Shin!"

Shin was not as casual as she was. After entering the living room, he merely stood there quietly.

Before long, someone slowly emerged from the inner room.

Shin did not immediately look up. He only saw the man's black casual clothing and slender figure.

The man stopped a short distance in front of Shin. Anko immediately went over to him, and he gently stroked her head.

"Greetings, Lord Orochimaru," Shin said.

"Mm." The reply was indifferent. His voice was slightly hoarse, like a fine thread passing through paper, making one's ears feel uncomfortable.

Anko was still bouncing with excitement, as though showing off to Shin. "Lord Orochimaru is going to be the future Hokage!"

Shin looked up in surprise. "Really? But I heard that the next Hokage is Lord Namikaze Minato."

The room fell silent at once.

After a moment, Shin heard that hoarse voice again.

"Hyuga Shin, is it?"