Thinking of Hyuga Natsu, then thinking of how she had clearly had the chance to stay with Hyuga Tetsu in the squad and wait for his reinforcements, yet had insisted on following Hyuga Genko instead.
Based on Hyuga Yu's understanding of Hyuga Natsu over the years,
that girl was by no means some vase placed on a table for others to admire. On the contrary, beneath that doll-like innocent face hid a female ninja far too clever for her own good.
She must have been plotting something!
Even now, when Hyuga Yu looked back, it felt as though an invisible, slender hand had been pushing him onward throughout this entire incident.
It had begun with his failed attempt to join the Main House Guard Squad and the comfort Hyuga Natsu had offered him. To obtain orders allowing him to leave the village early, Hyuga Yu had no choice but to take risks and contact Root, eventually ending up here.
And now, for Hyuga Natsu's sake, he had no choice but to dig up and bring back the Main House's Byakugan.
Had all of this been planned by Hyuga Natsu?
Where had she learned so much intelligence?
And for what purpose had she forced him, step by step, into his current situation?
However,
as Hyuga Yu thought this, he suddenly realized—
Hadn't he noticed?
From the very first time Hyuga Natsu had appeared before him and said, "I will protect you," he should have realized that this girl he spent every day with never did anything without meaning.
From that very sentence onward, Hyuga Yu should have been on guard.
But he hadn't.
Because everything that had happened after that was something Hyuga Yu had once planned, fantasized about, investigated, and confirmed—
something he had dreamed of day and night, yet never dared to carry out.
Thirteen years...
From a child to a servant boy, from a servant boy to disposable Genin, from disposable Genin to a failure of the Chunin Ninja Exams.
That not-so-long yet frustration-filled ninja career had gradually worn away the light that had once rekindled in Hyuga Yu's eyes.
He began to worry about gains and losses, stopped taking reckless risks, and his plan to become a Chunin changed from the earth-shattering legendary ninja tale of his fantasies into sneaking into the safest camp to muddle through as a Medical Ninja.
He began to cherish everything before him,
yet he became more and more taciturn and despondent.
Until this moment—
The giant parasitic insect writhing in his abdomen spat out life-threatening chakra in an intensely rhythmic beat!
His heart pounded wildly as he sprinted at breakneck speed, producing blood-boiling heat!
His feet leaped between branches suspended on the line between life and death, while wind sliced across his cheeks like blades and slid down his collar!
Yet,
every hair on his body stretched open and rejoiced amid this extreme environment, as though celebrating rebirth, or gazing with hope toward an unknown future that was certain to be magnificent beyond measure!
The calm, rigid expression on Hyuga Yu's face suddenly trembled slightly.
At last, a tense, uneasy, yet vividly unrestrained smile curved across his lips.
He no longer thought about Hyuga Natsu's every action, nor did he agonize over her intentions.
Because the moment he recognized the question, beneath this woven story,
he saw a girl's love confession with no words written in it.
All he wanted now was to quickly end this ridiculous game of tag, then find that girl and give her a hard knock on the head!
"So,"
"the opponents are the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist?"
The smile on Hyuga Yu's face swiftly transformed into another, exceedingly feral grin.
"Then let me show you what a Konoha Genin is!"
He slung his longbow across his back and reached into his scroll pouch, pulling out a scroll marked with the character for "medical"!
He unfurled it,
performed the summoning,
and brought it forth!
Elsewhere, ten kilometers east of the Nameless Forest.
Boom!
Brilliant flames spiraled into the air, while waves of explosive force swept through everything in sight.
The forest trees rustled violently as the blast winds shoved them about.
"Quick! Run!"
"Hiroya can't hold those two off for long!"
Hyuga Genko, dressed in an expensive and exquisitely tailored combat uniform, suddenly looked back at the tremendous commotion behind him. His heart hammered like a drum, and his face was so pale he scarcely looked alive.
He bounded rapidly through the branches, though his posture was somewhat awkward. He clearly was not very proficient at tree-walking mobility.
However, thanks to the Hyuga Clan's compulsory training for Main House members, Hyuga Genko was not slow. He was even faster than Hyuga Natsu beside him.
At that moment, Hyuga Genko turned his head and asked in a trembling voice, his veined Byakugan fixed on her, "Natsu, are you sure your route is correct?"
Hyuga Natsu kept her Byakugan open, veins bulging around her eyes, and nodded. "That's right, Young Master Genko. I observed the enemy's formation. We can only withdraw along the left side."
"That's good, that's good... Hah..."
Hyuga Genko let out a sigh of relief. Soon after, he looked at Hyuga Natsu with a trace of gratitude and said,
"Natsu, it's fortunate that you're here... I mean, it's fortunate you didn't stay behind and chose to follow me."
"Once we return to Konoha, I will reward you handsomely!"
"Yes." Hyuga Natsu smiled and nodded at him. "Protecting you is my duty. You needn't feel any pressure."
Hyuga Genko suddenly felt his mouth go dry.
He could hear that Hyuga Natsu's attitude toward him was not as respectful as her words suggested. At the same time, he guessed that she had followed him mainly because she did not want to face punishment from the Main House after the mission ended.
Yet now, Hyuga Natsu was the only one left by his side.
The crude Chunin woman with the dog had found an opportunity to slip away the moment she realized things were going wrong.
The insect controller had even less presence. Hyuga Genko did not know when he had disappeared.
In the end, the only person he could trust was the Hyuga Branch Family member he had always regarded as a servant.
But even members of the Hyuga Branch Family were living, breathing people. And people had their own emotions.
In Konoha, such emotions were suppressed by status, power, clan academy discipline, and the Caged Bird, transforming into reverence for the Main House. That reverence gradually evolved into a twisted sort of loyalty.
But at a moment of life and death,
could she truly be called loyal to him?
The Hyuga Main Family were people too. In fact, they understood better than ordinary people just what filthy creatures people could be.
From childhood, Hyuga Genko had been taught not to take pride in his Main House identity. He had also been taught the reasoning behind it, so that he could master a better means of manipulating hearts and gathering allies—
Using the natural reverence Branch House ninjas had been conditioned by the clan to feel toward the Main House as a foundation, Hyuga Genko would lower himself to approach the Branch House.
He would give them benefits through money, encourage their advancement through power, and bind them to his chariot through beauty.
In the end, he would naturally gather a group of Branch House subordinates utterly loyal to him.
Hyuga Hideki, Hyuga Hiroya, and even that Hyuga Jonin in the rear squad were talents the previous generation of the Main House had drawn in through such methods.
They did not even need the Caged Bird. They would naturally be willing to die for the Main House.
But now,
of the three loyal Jonin guards, one was dead, one was about to die, and one was still nowhere to be found.
The only person Hyuga Genko could rely on was Hyuga Natsu, someone he barely knew.
He no longer had the time to slowly begin conditioning Hyuga Natsu, show her "goodwill," manufacture coincidences, and make her pledge herself to him step by step.
Yet at this moment, Hyuga Genko could not leave her either. Even with the Caged Bird, he feared that she might abandon him now.
Thus,
thus,
Hyuga Genko took a deep breath and, with a pained yet solemn expression, said to Hyuga Natsu beside him,
"Natsu, when we return to the village, let's get married!"
Before you continue