Poison and Recognition

Gently placing the sleeping Hyuga Hinata onto the soft bed and tucking her in, Uchiha Jie pushed aside a flower on the windowsill, sat down, and gazed at the small hot spring pool outside.

The pool water was always hot, but it was even hotter now, with steam filling the small courtyard, bathed in the warm yellow of the setting sun.

Sarutobi Kou liked to smoke, but he didn't. He just liked the feeling of being enveloped in smoke, as if hiding himself, concealed within, no one able to see anything he did.

Hyuga Hinata was now in the mist, but it wasn't harmless steam; it was miasma, the poison accumulated by generations of the Hyuga Clan, now spreading and surrounding her.

Originally, she couldn't touch or see it, but now Uchiha Jie told her that she was the eldest daughter of the Hyuga family. Hyuga Hiashi had tasted this poison, and it had killed his brother. Now, it was her turn.

He showed her a path.

Leave the poison, never look back at what happened in this small mountain hollow, abandon the decaying corpses of the Hyuga Branch Family, abandon her sister and father in the miasma, and flee far away, never to meet again.

Just as he had done this time. Now he had made Hinata stand on the mountain ridge, looking at the miasma-filled Hyuga home, with the setting sun behind her and hell before her.

She told Uchiha Jie that she wanted to go back.

"Oh? Go back? What can you do? Breathe deeply in the poisonous mist with your tender lungs, hoping the poison will lessen?"

Uchiha Jie's Sharingan stared at Hinata. He was amused by the young girl's stubbornness, but he couldn't help but sigh at the innocence unique to youth.

The naive belief that things were always so simple, that she only needed to brand herself with the Caged Bird Seal to withstand the sharp beaks and claws of the crows with her own flesh and blood.

But suddenly, he realized he couldn't persuade the girl.

The girl's eyes were exceptionally firm, meeting his crimson Sharingan without hesitation. This was the first time he had seen such a strong Hyuga Hinata. The words of persuasion reached his lips but couldn't be spoken.

His gaze wavered.

"Why?" he asked softly.

"Because you're the same as me, a good-for-nothing." A clear, cold voice suddenly echoed in the vast white space.

Uchiha Jie jumped up in fright. This was his Genjutsu, how could there be a voice he couldn't control? And this voice...

"Sister Yue?" Hyuga Hinata asked softly.

Hyuga Yue, dressed in a white robe, emerged from the void. She was barefoot, without a ninja sword at her waist, and even the forehead protector was gone. The ugly Caged Bird Seal was exposed to Hinata.

"He doesn't have your determination. He's a cold-blooded animal who watched the Uchiha Clan get annihilated," Hyuga Yue said, standing in front of Hinata.

"Hey! I did a lot of things you don't know about!" Uchiha Jie's voice grew louder as he questioned, "And how did you appear in my Genjutsu?"

"You used my blood and saw my memories, and you're not even allowing me to leave a clone here? You know, this Genjutsu was developed by both of us." Hyuga Yue tilted her head, her voice full of disdain.

Seeing that Uchiha Jie wanted to say more, she waved her hand dismissively and said, "You can go out. Don't break the chakra connection. I want to speak with little Hinata alone."

Uchiha Jie returned to reality from the white space. However, his Sharingan was still slowly rotating, constantly draining his chakra.

Meanwhile, Hyuga Hinata was still sitting there, unconscious.

"Why is this taking so long..." Uchiha Jie watched the sunset change from warm yellow to deep red. He got up from the windowsill, stood by Hinata's bed, reached out, pinched her little nose, and poked her cheek.

Then, he suddenly realized that the chakra output from his Sharingan was decreasing. He proactively severed his connection to the Genjutsu.

"Mmm..." Hinata's face contorted, and she let out a pained sound before opening her eyes.

The moment she opened her eyes, taut veins appeared on both sides of her Byakugan. Hinata sat up abruptly, twisting her head left and right, then her small face suddenly flushed red.

"Hey! Hinata! That's not how you use the Byakugan!"

Uchiha Jie immediately realized what had happened. He covered his vital areas with one hand and pressed down on Hinata's head with the other, trying to make her turn her head.

But then he suddenly remembered that the Byakugan had 360-degree vision, so turning her head was useless.

This was also Hinata's first time activating the Byakugan. She couldn't adapt to the unique sensation of the perspective shift for a moment. After only a few seconds, she felt dizzy, and her chakra was consumed at an alarming rate. After a moment of dizziness, her vision returned to normal.

She tried to stand up but stumbled onto the carpet. Uchiha Jie quickly caught her, only to see that she was covered in numerous scars that hadn't been there before.

Faint bloodstains covered almost Hinata's entire body. She also had many bruises and swellings. His Genjutsu shouldn't have caused any harm.

What had Yue done during the time he was disconnected from the Genjutsu?

"Those... those were left by Sister Yue," Hinata said, looking down. In the Genjutsu, she and Sister Yue hadn't spoken for long, but she had been severely lectured.

"Crows don't need swans to save them, let alone a little swan that hasn't even grown all its feathers."

Hyuga Yue's clone had no chakra and no ninja sword, but she was still a ninja with Jonin-level strength.

She could have easily killed Hinata in the Genjutsu, but she knocked Hinata down again and again using different methods, watching Hinata get up and be knocked down again.

Watching Hinata stubbornly tell her again that she would protect her, protect the crows that wanted to tear the swans to shreds.

"Sister Yue was smiling!" Hinata said, watching Uchiha Jie apply ointment to a bruise on her leg. She was smiling happily, as if her mood had improved and she had become more cheerful after being hit.

"She looks so beautiful when she smiles, just like her mother," she continued. "And Sister Yue approved of me! She thinks I can really save the clan."

Uchiha Jie also smiled. He patted Hinata's head and poured cold water on her words, "She was just teasing you. Do you know why I kidnapped you and not Hanabi?"

"Because she favors your sister more."

But Hinata looked indifferent and said, "Sister Yue also said that I should take you as my master."

"She wants you to take me as your master?" Uchiha Jie's expression turned strange. "Does she really approve of you now?"

"Yes, yes! Sister Yue said she would teach Hanabi well!"