Today's lunch was simple: sushi, rice balls, and a few small side dishes.
But the sushi came with all kinds of ingredients: fish, meat, and fried vegetables wrapped in golden batter. They'd bought it all from a little shop, and Uchiha Jie had nearly cleared out the entire display in one go.
Hyuga Hinata ate with relish. She mixed crushed seaweed into her rice, sprinkled on some white sesame seeds, and popped a bite into her mouth. Compared with sashimi and seared beef, she still preferred vegetables.
The satisfaction of eating fried food made her eyes narrow of their own accord.
But after lunch, when she and Uchiha Jie sat facing each other, she couldn't help feeling scared again.
It wasn't her fault. The scene around them really was a little frightening. They sat cross-legged opposite each other, surrounded by piles of unrolled scrolls. Dense, pitch-black patterns had been drawn across them, enough to make anyone dizzy just looking at them.
"Get ready, and don't resist..." Uchiha Jie said in a low voice as he began forming Hand Seals.
He formed them slowly. As he did, the dark patterns on the scrolls around him and Hinata began to change color, black turning to red. The lines began to flow, shifting from still images until they glowed blood-red and lit up the entire room like hell.
The Sharingan in Uchiha Jie's eyes began spinning wildly, the Three Tomoe joining into a single black line. He glanced at Hinata's slightly evasive Byakugan and formed his final seal.
"Sharingan Genjutsu: Meditation Basin Technique!"
Hinata saw a flash of red before her eyes. When she could see clearly again, the surroundings had changed.
Ignoring Uchiha Jie, she stood up. She used a little too much force and nearly fell off the roof, but Uchiha Jie was quick enough to grab her hand.
She murmured her thanks, but her gaze remained fixed elsewhere. Staring blankly at the distant cliff, she saw three faces carved into its wall: the First Hokage, the Second Hokage, and the Third Hokage.
A fourth face was being carved beside them. The Earth Release specialists had already shaped its rough outline, while workers moved back and forth across the scaffolding, refining details that Ninjutsu couldn't handle.
It was hard to believe that in an instant, they'd returned to Konoha—and to a version of Konoha that didn't match her memories.
In Hinata's memory, the fourth statue on the cliff had long since been completed. Naruto-kun had played pranks on it more than once, covering the handsome face of the Fourth Hokage with paint of all colors.
It couldn't possibly look like this now.
Unless only a day had passed, and Naruto had pulled off something huge, completely destroying the Fourth Hokage's statue on Kage Rock. But Naruto had always been the dead-last in class. Painting it was one thing, but where would he get the power to destroy Kage Rock?
She turned her gaze back to Uchiha Jie, puzzled. Hinata remembered that just before the flash of red, she'd clearly heard the words "Sharingan Genjutsu."
She must be inside the man's Genjutsu.
Uchiha Jie simply rose with a smile and turned to one side, drawing Hinata's attention to what was behind him.
This was the roof of the Konoha Ninja Academy. Behind Uchiha Jie, two figures—one red, one blue—lay side by side on the roof, facing the sky and basking in the warm sunlight.
They were skipping class to sunbathe.
Hinata's Byakugan gave her excellent vision. Even from far away, she could make out the two people.
"Sister Yue!" she cried.
The figure in a red dress and wooden sandals was her beloved older sister in the clan, Hyuga Yue. And the person beside her, dressed in a dark blue robe...
"That's me. Me as a kid. And, of course, that's Hyuga Yue as a kid too."
Uchiha Jie's voice sounded beside her. At some point, he'd come to stand shoulder to shoulder with Hinata.
"Let's go over." He took her hand and walked forward.
Hinata carefully made her way along the roof, afraid that any noise might alert the two people lying at the other end. Uchiha Jie, however, led her forward without hesitation.
"Don't worry. This is my Genjutsu. They can't see us," he explained.
As they drew closer, Hinata heard a string of laughter, bright as silver bells. She saw the girl in red raise her hand and slap the roof again and again, looking delighted.
The figure in dark blue sat up. On the back of the robe was the Gunbai crest of the Uchiha Clan, and its wearer was trembling slightly.
They were both laughing. Hinata's eyes widened. She'd never heard Sister Yue laugh before, let alone so freely. Ever since Hinata could remember, Hyuga Yue had always been cool and aloof, like moonlight on a winter night.
"Did Lu Yu really get forgotten by her parents outside the kindergarten?" asked the little Hyuga Yue, looking at the little Uchiha Jie, who had flopped back down after laughing.
"I made that up!" Little Uchiha Jie grinned and shrugged.
They hadn't noticed that two people, one big and one small, had appeared in front of them. Hinata was also surprised to discover that she didn't even cast a shadow. She and Uchiha Jie were clearly blocking the sun.
"All you do is make up jokes like that. If you don't start training properly and lose to me again tomorrow, just see what your family does to you." Hyuga Yue was still chatting and laughing with Uchiha Jie.
"Tomorrow? Heh, I've got a secret weapon ready for tomorrow." Little Uchiha Jie squinted as he basked in the sun, stretching both arms out to the sides. His left hand came to rest right on Hyuga Yue's head.
Watching the scene, Uchiha Jie sighed softly. He led Hinata two steps farther, sat down, and patted the tiles beside him.
"Hinata... sit," he said quietly.
Once Hinata had sat down and turned her gaze back to Uchiha Jie, he spoke softly:
"Back then, I was second in the class, and Yue was first. We were a little stronger than everyone else, so whenever our class practiced combat, our fights usually kicked things off."
"But the next day..." He pointed to his younger self, who was still chatting and laughing. "The next day, I eagerly learned a new Ninjutsu and wanted to show off in front of Yue, but she didn't come to school."
"After that day, she never wore a red dress again." Uchiha Jie's voice held a faint, barely perceptible rasp.
Seeing the confusion on Hinata's face, Uchiha Jie gave a couple of wry laughs and reached out to touch her forehead.
"The medium for performing this technique was given to me by Yue. She believes this is the trigger that will make you awaken your eyes. Today, we'll follow her and see what happened tonight."