He Wasn't Dead

Hyuga Chio was supposed to be dead. His younger brother, Hyuga Toshio, had gone out on a mission and died outside the village. Chio had then chosen to leave the village too, and he had died as well.

Even the elders of the Main Family had sighed over it, but they had confirmed his death. The Caged Bird Seal had activated. By all rights, he should have died.

Yet there he was in the photograph. Surely it hadn't been taken just before his death? That was possible, but if so, Hyuga Yue wouldn't have shown it to him.

"Huh? Isn't that Brother Chio? What happened to his eyes?" The mischievous Hanabi ran over to the coffee table, peered at the picture on the paper, and asked loudly.

"He doesn't have eyes anymore. From now on, he might have to rely on something else to see the world." Hyuga Yue was in a good mood. She reached out, rested her hand on Hanabi's head, and played with the little girl's fine but thick hair.

Of course, she could also have struck without warning, smashing the little girl's head into an unrecognizable pulp.

But under Hyuga Hiashi's gaze, she withdrew her hand and produced a small bowl of milk from who knew where.

The rich aroma alone told him it was good milk. It even had sugar added, just the way children liked it.

What Hyuga Yue did next made Hiashi's eyelid twitch.

She poured tea brewed from leaves even the Daimyo treasured into the milk, making milk tea—a drink popular with children that was normally made with leftover tea scraps.

But she was a ninja, a noble. There was no need for such roundabout tricks.

"That old man really works his ninja to the bone! Brother Chio even lost his eyes,