A Girl Striving to Change Her Clan; Uchiha Hikari's Confession

Next day, early morning.

Konoha's snow had yet to completely melt, and the air was filled with biting cold.

Yet within the Hyuga Clan's private Training Ground, slightly childish but exceptionally resolute shouts had already begun to ring out.

"Ha!"

Hinata Hyuga's small figure was practicing the most basic opening stance of the Hyuga Style Fist again and again.

She wore a white training outfit, and her little face was flushed red from the cold.

Fine beads of sweat seeped from the corners of her forehead, turning into wisps of white vapor in the frigid air.

Her movements were far from as smooth and fluid as those of the clan elders. They were even somewhat clumsy, and her lower body trembled slightly from exhaustion.

Yet within those pure Byakugan eyes burned a flame completely unlike before.

It was determination.

With every palm strike, she did her utmost to sense the flow of Chakra within her body, trying to gather it precisely at her fingertips.

For someone barely over two years old, this was undoubtedly extremely difficult.

Chakra was like mischievous water, sometimes sluggish and sometimes scattered.

It simply refused to obey her control.

"No, my breathing needs to be steady. The Chakra needs to gather without being released..."

She muttered softly to herself, imitating the tone of the clan elders from her memories, her little face full of seriousness.

When her center of gravity slipped, she stumbled and fell onto the icy ground. A burning pain shot through her elbows and knees.

Normally, such a setback would have been enough to make her shed tears of grievance, perhaps even make her want to give up.

But now, she merely bit her lower lip as that figure and those words from last night echoed through her mind once more.

"Only when