Me, for Hyuga Yu?
The more he thought about it,
the more Hyuga Tetsu's heart trembled.
He suddenly realized that he had been quietly watching Hyuga Yu all along—watching the foolish things he did, watching him overestimate himself and break, one after another, the unwritten rules of the Hyuga Clan:
Members of the Hyuga Clan had to train in the Gentle Fist from childhood.
Members of the Hyuga Clan had to protect the family's reputation and never bring shame upon the clan.
Members of the Hyuga Clan had to become ninjas in the Reconnaissance Unit or Barrier Team.
Those of the Hyuga Clan's Branch House were born to bow their heads to the Main House, kneel before the Main House, and die for the Main House!
Yet that guy, Hyuga Yu of the Branch House, always defied those ironclad rules, one after another, heedless of the consequences!
And then,
he had survived until now.
Hyuga Tetsu had to admit that he wanted to watch Hyuga Yu keep going. He wanted to see just how far Hyuga Yu could ultimately go.
But,
if Hyuga Yu refused the main family elder's appointment, he would return to the battlefield of the Third Shinobi World War, where survival was a one-in-ten-thousand chance!
Having fought for two years, Hyuga Tetsu knew all too well what kind of place that was.
Especially since the war was only growing more intense,
while Hyuga Yu was still going nowhere, still a weak Genin, cannon fodder no different from anyone else.
More than anything, he did not want to see Hyuga Yu vanish completely from his sight.
More than anything, he did not want a future where he could no longer hear those harsh comments directed at Hyuga Yu.
More than anything... he did not want to stand before the memorial monument in black mourning clothes, laughing at someone who had fought to live at the cost of his life, who had resisted quietly, who had done things Hyuga Tetsu himself could never accomplish in his lifetime.
Wait, how many "more than anythings" was that...? Whatever!
Hyuga Tetsu abruptly rose to his feet, crushed the milk carton in his hand, and hurled it to the ground.
He started walking.
He headed once more toward that apartment building.
He wanted to persuade Hyuga Yu one more time.
If Hyuga Yu still insisted on that stupid idea, then even if he had to break his legs, Hyuga Tetsu would keep him in the village!
However,
after taking only two steps,
a delicate, ethereal figure that often appeared in his dreams suddenly appeared before Hyuga Tetsu without warning.
"Where are you going?"
What reached him now was not the gentle, pleasant, Yamato Nadeshiko-like voice he remembered.
Instead, it was a calm, indifferent question, elegant as a night-blooming epiphyllum.
The tones of the two voices were vastly different, yet they came from the same person. It felt jarring, yet somehow perfectly natural.
It was Hyuga Natsu.
"I... you..." Hyuga Tetsu froze in place, his eyes widening slightly as his mind failed to keep up.
Shouldn't Hyuga Natsu have been acting all lovey-dovey with Hyuga Yu right now? Why was she standing before him?
That wasn't right. Why?
Hyuga Natsu merely stood calmly before Hyuga Tetsu and shook her head.
"Don't go. You'll die."
Hyuga Tetsu could not understand. "Wh... why?"
Hyuga Natsu spoke calmly. "He's in the middle of an important interview."
The moment he realized it concerned Hyuga Yu, Hyuga Tetsu's expression tightened, and he could not help asking,
"An interview? Where is he going? Did that guy refuse the main family elder's appointment just for this interview?"
Hyuga Natsu curled her lips into a faint, elegant smile. The neon light from a nearby shop sign reflected across her face, tracing an arc that seemed more real beneath the night sky.
"Who knows?"
As she spoke, Hyuga Natsu suddenly changed the subject and looked at Hyuga Tetsu with a smile.
"But, Hyuga Tetsu, there is one thing I can tell you. Can you keep it secret for him?"
"Hyuga Yu's secret..." Hyuga Tetsu's expression changed, and he stood there dazed for a moment before raising his head. He only asked a question, however, without promising to keep the secret.
"What is it?"
He had his own principles. If this secret required sacrificing Hyuga Yu or the Hyuga Clan, he would naturally make his choice.
Hyuga Natsu smiled faintly, then gave a soft, proud laugh, her tone like that of someone boasting that her child had finally made something of himself.
"Lion-kun is currently taking... Root's interview."
Hyuga Tetsu's eyes widened sharply at those words, and he could not help swallowing.
"What did you say?"
"Root... that Root!?"
On the other side,
inside the apartment,
Hyuga Yu slowly opened his eyes.
The sharpness in his pale eyes had completely faded, leaving behind only stubborn defiance.
The person speaking from the darkness could not help praising him upon seeing those eyes.
"Those are good eyes."
"Born from the dregs, with darkness in your heart—eyes like those will surely bring that lord quite a surprise."
At that moment, Hyuga Yu took a deep breath and took the initiative to question him.
"Then why didn't you recruit me?"
"Because you were too weak."
"Then why are you willing to meet me now?"
"Because you proved your worth."
"At the same time, you touched a domain you shouldn't have touched."
Hyuga Yu fell silent.
Then,
a figure clad in a pale yellow hooded trench coat slowly emerged from the darkness, both hands tucked into his pockets.
In the darkness, he wore round black sunglasses as dark as ink. Behind the lenses, eyes occasionally crawled over by insects calmly watched and assessed Hyuga Yu, who was kneeling on the tatami in the center of the apartment.
Under that gaze, Hyuga Yu felt as though insects were crawling all over his body, and he could not help shuddering.
When the man mentioned a domain he should not have touched, Hyuga Yu understood the chain of cause and effect in an instant—
just as he had thought,
the [Byakugan Leak Incident] was not so simple.
Kirigakure had obtained intelligence about the Main House, information as nearly confidential as travel routes and Guard Squad personnel, and had even arranged a targeted plan to hunt members of the Main House.
That was because Root had interfered in this incident.
Perhaps the Main House's Byakugan had been bait Root used to lure out spies from the various villages lurking within Konoha.
And by getting involved—by being targeted for assassination by Kirigakure because he had tried to join the Main House Guard Squad, and by killing a Kirigakure Chunin in return—he had indirectly affected Root's plan.
So he had already been dragged into this incident and affected it, even if that effect was extremely minor.
Under normal circumstances, Root had only one way of handling such a situation—
silence him.
Alarm bells immediately rang in Hyuga Yu's mind.
At that moment,
the figure with his hands in his pockets shifted his gaze away from Hyuga Yu's face and walked calmly to a corner of the apartment. He examined the wooden bow and arrow case placed there, then suddenly spoke.
"Hyuga Yu, you are not as simple as your records suggest."
"Nor are you as worthless as the villagers, Genin, Chunin, and even your own clansmen describe."
"Of course, even after combining both sides to form an accurate assessment, you still hold little value in my eyes."
He paused, reaching out to stroke the colorful patterns on the bow and arrow case, before suddenly asking,
"That Kirigakure Chunin... you killed him, didn't you?"
Hyuga Yu swallowed hard as his mind raced.
He did not know when the other party had begun watching him. Less than half an hour had passed since he killed the Kirigakure Chunin, and he had activated his Byakugan three times during the fight, yet he had never detected any trace of this man.
So he could not determine whether that question was a bluff or whether the man was certain. The outcomes those two answers pointed toward were completely different.
And his answer now would determine whether he lived or died!
Then,
"Heh."
The man with his hands in his pockets gave a disdainful laugh, as though Hyuga Yu's silence had already confirmed something for him.
"You are very smart, Hyuga Yu."
"By the standards of ordinary Root ninjas, you are fully qualified. In fact, you have reached the standard for being sent out on missions."
"But judged as a Hyuga Clan ninja of Root, your value is still far from sufficient."
"So,"
the figure turned his back to him and spoke blandly, hands still in his pockets.
"Your current situation is very dangerous."
"It is like crossing a bottomless abyss on steel wire. One misstep, and you will fall to your death."
"Even if you luckily take this step correctly, every step afterward will be like dancing on a blade's edge."
"Then,"
"what should you do?"
Hyuga Yu was silent for a moment. Gradually understanding, he answered in a low voice,
"Increase my 'value.'"
The low voice immediately questioned him. "How will you increase it?"
Hyuga Yu smiled.
"Haven't you already told me the answer—"
He took a deep breath and spoke one word at a time.
"Only by"
"dancing on a blade's edge!"
Before you continue