"Give me back my dango!"
Neji glanced at the Three-color Dango scattered on the ground, then lunged forward, wrapped his arms around Samui's long legs, and burst into tears.
The Konoha Ninja's expression changed. "Brat, get out of the way!"
The purple-haired man studied Neji's clear, pale eyes. A hint of warmth softened his stern features. "Samui, you knocked him over. You should apologize. Take the kid to get some dango."
"Understood!"
A glint flashed in Samui's eyes and was gone. She gave a slight nod.
Seeing that the Cloud Ninja showed no sign of displeasure, the Konoha Ninja accompanying them let out a quiet sigh of relief, chiding himself for worrying too much.
Kumogakure had sincerely agreed to sign a peace treaty. They wouldn't make a fuss over a little thing like this.
"Toroi, please come with me."
"Sorry for the trouble."
The Konoha Ninja led Toroi away, leaving Neji and Samui standing where they were.
Neji looked up, but Samui's snowy-white chest blocked his view of her face.
Samui crouched down and asked casually, "Hey, want big sister to take you for dango?"
A snowflake drifted down and landed on her ample bosom, trembling faintly with Samui's gentle breaths.
"Thank you, big sister."
Neji's gaze followed the snowflake as it sank into that wickedly tempting valley. He nodded emphatically.
Since ancient times, heroes had loved mountains; no one had ever heard of a fine steed trampling a flat plain.
Samui thought she heard Neji swallow.
But Neji's appearance and age were deceptive.
She assumed he was just terribly hungry.
So cute!
Samui couldn't help patting Neji on the head. "Then let's go."
Dango shop.
A sweet fragrance wafted toward them.
Samui picked Neji up and set him in the seat along the wall, then sat down across from him.
As she ordered, she asked in an offhand way, "What's your name?"
"Hyuga Neji."
"Oh, you're from the Hyuga clan." Samui patted Neji's head, looking surprised. "No wonder your eyes are different from everyone else's. I'm Samui."
The server soon brought over ten skewers of Three-color Dango and two drinks.
"Big sister, I'm digging in." Neji's eyes lit up. He grabbed a skewer and devoured the dango.
"Slow down. No one's going to steal it from you," Samui said, sipping her drink.
"Big sister, you should have some too!" Neji picked up a skewer and thoughtfully offered it to her.
"I don't eat sweets. They're all yours."
Samui gazed at Neji's pale eyes, then suddenly asked, "Neji, is there anything special about your eyes?"
Neji froze mid-bite. He looked at Samui with clear eyes and an utterly harmless expression.
"Of course. I can see things a kilometer away, see through obstacles, and make out chakra flow and the body's meridians. Ordinary people can't do that with their eyes."
"That's amazing." Samui glanced at Neji's smooth forehead and smiled faintly. "You must be from the Main Family, right?"
Neji shook his head. "Not yet, but Lord Hiashi will soon grant me Main Family status."
"Oh?"
Samui was a little surprised.
Neji put his hands on his hips and said proudly, "My father is the head of the Branch Family, so according to the rules, I'm Branch Family too. But I awakened my Byakugan at three. I'm the greatest genius in the history of the Hyuga clan, so Lord Hiashi will definitely make an exception and grant me Main Family status."
"You awakened your Byakugan at three?" Samui's eyes narrowed slightly. She couldn't help running her tongue over her luscious red lips.
The Byakugan and Sharingan were known as Konoha's two great ocular Kekkei Genkai.
The Uchiha clan had a genius ninja named Uchiha Itachi, who awakened his Sharingan at eight and made a name for himself.
This Hyuga Branch Family brat had awakened his Byakugan at three. That was truly remarkable.
"Impressive, right? Big sister, I'm going to become Hokage someday."
"You really are amazing." Samui patted Neji's head again, then asked, "Neji, is there any difference between the Main Family's Byakugan and the Branch Family's?"
Neji looked at Samui and shook his head slightly.
There was no difference as long as someone hadn't been marked with the Caged Bird Seal.
But once they had, the Byakugan's field of vision was restricted, leaving a one-degree blind spot behind the spine.
Of course, four-year-old Neji couldn't reveal any of that.
"Good boy."
Samui pinched Neji's cheek, amusement flickering in her eyes.
By then, Neji had finished all the dango. He licked his lips. "Big sister, I want more."
Samui waved a hand. "Boss, another ten skewers!"
That evening, at the residence of the Kumogakure delegation.
Toroi stood alone in the courtyard and said expressionlessly, "You're here. Did you bring what I asked for?"
"Do you have any idea how much risk I'm taking by meeting you here?"
A voice rang out without warning.
It was hoarse and unpleasant, like two sheets of metal scraping against each other.
It was impossible to tell whether the speaker was male or female—or even human.
Looking at the snow piled in the courtyard, Toroi replied indifferently, "You don't need to worry. Konoha fully believes in Kumogakure's sincerity by now. They wouldn't dare station Anbu nearby to keep watch."
The voice paused, then slowly asked, "Have you made up your mind?"
Toroi replied, "Don't doubt my resolve."
The hoarse voice spoke again. "If you take that step, you won't survive, whether you succeed or not."
Toroi didn't answer. Instead, he fixed his gaze ahead. "Do you have what I asked for?"
The voice fell silent. A moment later, a scroll dropped soundlessly in front of Toroi.
Toroi opened the scroll and glanced over it.
It was a Hyuga clan map, showing the carefully arranged buildings, the intersecting passages... Every detail was meticulously recorded, even the locations of the visible and hidden guards.
The Hyuga clan was heavily guarded. More importantly, it was a clan with an ocular Kekkei Genkai. Not even the God of Shinobi, Senju Hashirama, could sneak into the Hyuga clan unnoticed.
The importance of this map went without saying.
Toroi put the scroll away, his face expressionless. "How did you get such a detailed map? Are you from the Hyuga clan too?"
The voice fell silent for a moment, then suddenly answered coldly, "I'm a ghost that didn't quite die. My only reason for existing is to send my rotten clan to its grave. I'm willing to stake everything to make that ideal a reality." (Note: This ghost is not Neji.)
Such intense, unadulterated hatred. The other person must have been from the Branch Family.
A look of understanding flashed across Toroi's eyes. "If you're ever left with nowhere else to go, you can spend the rest of your life in Kumogakure."
"I won't leave Konoha before I send my clan to its grave."
"Don't worry. No matter whether my plan succeeds or fails, this operation will benefit you greatly."
"Good luck."
"One last question. What's the difference between the Main Family's Byakugan and the Branch Family's?"
"There's no real difference. The Caged Bird Seal is what sets them apart and makes one seem superior or inferior."
Late that night.
Neji lay in bed, troubled and unable to sleep. He tossed and turned.
Seven days had passed since he'd made contact with Samui.
The Kumogakure delegation still hadn't made a move.
After getting this far with his plans, Neji was starting to feel uneasy. He couldn't tell whether Kumogakure would come to abduct him.
If they didn't come soon, Neji would have no choice but to take a risk and defect to them himself.
Just as the thought crossed his mind, a faint patter of footsteps suddenly sounded.
Neji activated his Byakugan and keenly spotted two shadows that had appeared in the courtyard without him noticing.
They're here. They're here. They've come for me.
Overjoyed, Neji immediately deactivated his Byakugan, lay still in bed, and didn't move a muscle.
The next moment, a mass of illusory white feathers appeared in his vision.
Temple of Nirvana Technique!
Neji's eyelids grew unbearably heavy. Drowsiness washed over him, and his consciousness quickly faded.
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