A Sad, Thick Barrier Separates Us!

Last night's heavy snow had painted the world a vast expanse of white. An old tree, laden with snow, swayed weakly in the cold wind, a picture of bleak desolation.

Konohagakure training grounds.

"Byakugan, open!"

With a soft cry, veins bulged around Hyuga Neji's eyes, his pure white eyes shimmering with a hazy light.

The 360-degree view around him turned black and white.

Falling snowflakes, sparrows perched on withered branches, even the hurried villagers on the long street a hundred meters away... Everything in the world was rendered in sharp detail.

"Eight Trigrams, Twelve Slashes!"

Hyuga Neji, short sword in hand, moved suddenly like a startled rabbit. Thin chakra gathered along his meridians into his arms. The sound of the blade cutting through the air echoed, and all the snowflakes within three feet of his body shattered.

"Haa!"

He exhaled a long, white breath, a sense of fatigue washing over his young body.

Gentle Fist is the Hyuga clan's signature taijutsu, and its advantages are quite obvious at the Genin, Chunin, and even Jonin levels.

But taking it a step further, reaching the Kage-level, it's far from enough. Using Gentle Fist to fight enemies who wield Susanoo, Tailed Beast power, or Sage Mode is simply inadequate.

Therefore, since transmigrating, Hyuga Neji had begun to explore other paths.

Combining the Byakugan with swordsmanship was the result of a year's training.

After all, cutting someone with a sword is definitely better than poking their pressure points.

Hyuga Neji focused his attention on the data panel in his mind, the golden finger that had come with him when he transmigrated.

[Name: Hyuga Neji]

[Talent: Heavenly Dao rewards diligence (Hard work is always rewarded, suitable for ordinary people and geniuses alike.)]

[Age: 4 years old]

[Bloodline Limit: Byakugan Lv1 (241/500)]

[Chakra: Genin]

[Chakra Attribute: Yin, Fire, Earth, Water]

[Taijutsu: Eight Trigrams, Twelve Slashes Lv1 (154/500)]

When Hyuga Neji was three years old, he suddenly died when the Caged Bird Seal was implanted, and he seized the opportunity to take over.

In the moment when the two souls merged, Hyuga Neji successfully awakened the Byakugan, breaking the Hyuga clan's record as the earliest to awaken it in history.

Hyuga Hiashi ordered that the Caged Bird Seal be implanted again next year.

Therefore, Hyuga Neji is still a free man.

Hyuga Neji stroked his smooth forehead, unable to help feeling dejected.

In the original story, Hyuga Neji independently mastered Revolving Heaven and became a Jonin at the age of fifteen. In terms of Talent, he was no worse than Kakashi, Minato, or the Sannin.

And he would only be stronger.

The Byakugan can evolve into the Tenseigan, the Jōgan, and even the Black Eye.

As long as he had enough time, Hyuga Neji was confident that he could become a Six Paths level, or even a Kekkei Mōra level powerhouse.

However, in just half a month, it would be Hyuga Hinata's third birthday, and he would be branded with the Caged Bird.

Once branded with the Caged Bird, no matter how talented he was, he would only be a servant, a scapegoat. Even if he was resurrected with Impure World Reincarnation, he would not be able to escape the control of the Caged Bird.

A hint of worry, unbefitting a four-year-old child, flickered in Hyuga Neji's pure white eyes.

"Staying in the clan, I can't escape the fate of being caged. If I defect from Konohagakure... Leaving aside whether I can succeed, even if I escape Konohagakure, how can I survive in the cruel ninja world?"

The Byakugan is a precious Kekkei Genkai, and its strategic value exceeds that of the Sharingan.

A four-year-old child wandering the ninja world, with the Byakugan's high visibility, Hyuga Neji's fate would be ten times more miserable than Nagato's.

After thinking for a long time, unable to come up with a solution, he reluctantly left the training grounds.

The villagers on the long street saw Hyuga Neji and discussed him, showering him with praise.

Hyuga Neji hid his worries in his heart, wearing a shy smile on his face for the villagers to see.

In order to compete with the Uchiha clan, which was also a prestigious clan, the main family heavily promoted Hyuga Neji's reputation as a genius. Half the village had heard that the Hyuga clan had produced a genius no less than Uchiha Itachi.

For him, it was also a good thing.

Developing in Konohagakure in the future, bearing the name of a genius, he could obtain more preferential treatment.

"Am I destined to become a Caged Bird after all?"

"As long as I perform well enough, I can get more preferential treatment in the Hyuga clan... I guess?!"

Hyuga Neji gave a self-deprecating smile.

Unknowingly, he had already approached the Hyuga clan compound.

"Father, Tokuma, where are you? Where am I?"

Hyuga Hinata looked around blankly.

Leaving the clan for the first time, Hyuga Hinata felt a sense of novelty.

It would have been better if she hadn't gotten lost.

"Huh?"

Hyuga Hinata suddenly noticed three big boys playing in the snow not far away.

She instinctively ran over.

"Look, a little kid!"

"Why are her eyes white?"

"A monster!"

The three boys quickly surrounded Hinata, curiously sizing her up.

Hinata was so frightened that she trembled, clutching her scarf tightly with her small hands, a layer of mist appearing in her eyes.

"Is she going to cry?"

"Haha, scaredy-cat."

"What do you say, if we stuff some dirt in her eyes, will they turn white?"

The three children's minds were full of ignorant and terrifying thoughts.

At the same time, the children's noisy voices drifted into the ears of the preoccupied Neji.

His footsteps faltered, and Neji turned his head to look.

Three five- or six-year-old boys, and a soft, cute little girl surrounded in the middle.

Hyuga Hinata.

In the original story, the main family's Young Lady Hinata, whom Neji would protect even at the cost of his own life.

Looking at the weak, pitiful, and helpless Hinata, Neji frowned.

According to his memories from his previous life, Hinata secretly ran away and got lost on the night of her third birthday, and was bullied by three brats.

That's not this time.

Did I remember wrong?

Neji stood there, lost in thought.

A gust of cold wind blew on his face, and the slightly annoyed Neji suddenly shivered.

Hinata is the main family's young lady, how could there be no guards secretly protecting her?

A child who is not yet three years old secretly running away from the heavily guarded clan grounds is as difficult as Neji defecting from Konohagakure.

And then, she just happened to appear on the road where Neji was returning to the clan?

It's no coincidence.

The branch family should bravely and selflessly rush to rescue the main family's young lady when they see her in distress.

If there is even a hint of hesitation, the consequences are unimaginable.

With this in mind, Neji rubbed his eyes to make it look like he had just recognized Hinata.

Then his expression changed drastically, and he shouted at the three brats: "Let go of that girl."

"Look, another Byakugan monster is here!"

The leader of the brats shouted and called his two companions to surround Neji.

Bang bang bang!!!

Dealing with these little brats who haven't even entered the Ninja Academy yet, Neji punched them one by one.

The three little devils wiped their tears and ran away as fast as their legs could carry them.

Neji quickly stepped forward to help the sobbing Hinata.

Hinata wiped away her little tears and said softly.

"Brother Neji, don't look there, it's ugly."

Neji looked at the reflection in Hinata's pure white Byakugan: "Young Lady Hinata, the Byakugan is the clan's Bloodline Limit, you should be proud of these eyes."

Hearing this, Hinata blinked her watery eyes, at a loss.

Hinata is not yet three years old and cannot understand the words "clan" and "pride", but she is quite sensitive to human emotions.

Neji's answer was completely in line with the position of the branch family, but it made her feel strange.

She keenly realized that there was already a sad thick barrier between herself and Neji!