"Sho-kun..."
When Hyuga Natsu woke up and saw Hyuga Sho, she was utterly surprised.
But then she looked away.
"What's wrong, A-Natsu?"
Hyuga Sho asked with great concern.
What had happened to A-Natsu was what he wanted to know.
"N-no, it's nothing..."
Hyuga Natsu did not immediately complain to Hyuga Sho.
But Hyuga Sho understood.
After asking several times,
Hyuga Natsu finally explained what had happened.
It turned out...
As she passed through the corridor, she had overheard Hyuga Hiashi talking with the Main Family Elders.
They wanted to arrange a marriage between Hyuga Mami and Hyuga Sho.
"An arranged marriage?"
Hyuga Sho's expression remained unchanged. After thinking it over, he immediately understood the Main Family's plan.
They had simply run out of options.
They wanted to marry Hyuga Mami to him, binding him and the Main Family to the same war chariot and creating a community of interests.
Ridiculous...
Did they really think he was after those trivial benefits?
Overthrowing the Hyuga was his true goal.
Not the interests of the Main Family and Branch Family.
Of course.
This was also why Hyuga Natsu had left.
To her,
the Main Family's arranged marriage had been like a bolt from the blue.
She simply could not accept it.
Hyuga Sho's efforts to shape her had succeeded.
Unable to accept what had happened, she had left Konoha.
The next moment.
Hyuga Sho immediately said to Hyuga Natsu, "A-Natsu... I'm only a Branch Family Member. How could I accept an arranged marriage with the Main Family?"
As he spoke,
Hyuga Sho took hold of Hyuga Natsu's soft right hand.
"You and I are both Branch Family Members. The Caged Bird Seal on our foreheads is our fate. That's something we can't change..."
Hyuga Sho comforted Hyuga Natsu.
As Hyuga Sho spoke, Hyuga