"Shuriken, scrolls, lunch, toys..."
Hyuga Neji checked his belongings one by one, counting on his fingers. After confirming that nothing was missing, he closed the small backpack and put it on his back.
"Neji, are you ready to set out?" Hizashi Hyuga came to his side, crouched down, and helped straighten his son's clothes.
"Yes, Father," Hyuga Neji said with a stern little face.
Hizashi Hyuga smiled, patted his son's head, then stood up and said, "Relax, Neji. At your age, your teacher certainly won't be teaching you anything difficult."
That was putting it far too "politely." In truth, Hizashi Hyuga knew that Yuhara couldn't possibly teach Neji anything. Neji was simply too young. Sending him out now was nothing more than an opportunity for him to get familiar with Yuhara first. After all, relationships needed to be cultivated.
"Follow your teacher's training properly, and be careful on the way."
After offering a few more reminders, Hizashi Hyuga let Neji set out. On the surface, he had the child travel alone, just as children eventually had to start becoming independent. In reality, however, once Neji left the house, Hizashi Hyuga quietly followed behind him. He stayed there until Neji reached a certain organization's headquarters and saw Yuhara come out to greet him. Only then did he finally relax.
After secretly greeting Yuhara, Hizashi Hyuga took another look at his son's small back before leaving. Although he wasn't entirely at ease about how his son would be treated from here on, and was even faintly worried, he still had to be a little ruthless at a time like this. As the saying went, how could one gain the tiger's cub without entering the tiger's den...? Well, that analogy didn't seem quite right, but the meaning was basically the same.
"Teacher Yuhara."