The Ghost Who Isn't Quite Dead

"Dango, you owe me dango."

Neji glanced at the three-colored dango that had fallen on the ground, then rushed over, grabbed Samui's long legs, and burst into tears.

The Konohagakure ninja's expression changed, and he snapped, "Brat, get lost."

The purple-haired man gazed at Neji's pure white eyes, a hint of gentleness appearing on his stern face. "Samui, you knocked him over. You need to apologize. Take this kid to get some dango."

"Understood!"

A flash of sharpness flickered in Samui's eyes as she nodded slightly.

The accompanying Konohagakure ninja, seeing that the Cloud ninja wasn't displeased in the slightest, let out a sigh of relief, thinking he had worried for nothing.

Kumogakure sincerely signed the peace treaty and naturally wouldn't care about such a trivial matter.

"Senior Toroi, please come with me."

"Thank you for your trouble."

The Konohagakure ninja led Toroi away, leaving Neji and Samui standing there.

Neji looked up, his gaze blocked by a snow-white chest, unable to see Samui's face.

Samui crouched down and asked casually, "Brat, will big sister take you to eat dango, okay?"

A snowflake gently drifted down, landing on the snow-white peaks. With Samui's shallow breaths, it trembled slightly.

"Thank you, big sister."

Neji's gaze followed the snowflake deeper into the forbidden zone, and he nodded heavily.

From ancient times, heroes have loved high mountains; never have I heard of swift horses treading flat plains.

Samui vaguely heard Neji swallow.

However, Neji's appearance and age were deceptive.

She simply thought Neji was extremely hungry.

Cute!

Samui couldn't help but pat Neji's head. "Let's go then."

Dango shop.

A fragrant aroma wafted towards them.

Samui picked Neji up and placed him in the inner seat, while she sat in the outer seat.

As Samui ordered, she asked intentionally or unintentionally, "What's your name?"

"Hyuga Neji."

"Oh, the Hyuga clan." Samui patted Neji's head, surprised. "No wonder your eyes are different from others. My name is Samui."

The waiter quickly brought ten skewers of three-colored dango and two drinks.

"Big sister, I'm starting!" Neji's eyes lit up, and he immediately grabbed a skewer of dango and wolfed it down.

"Slow down, no one's going to snatch it from you," Samui said as she sipped her drink.

"Big sister, you eat too!" Neji grabbed a skewer of dango and considerately offered it to Samui.

"Big sister doesn't eat sweets. These are all for you."

Samui gazed at Neji's pure white eyes and suddenly asked curiously, "Neji, is there anything special about those eyes of yours?"

Neji's dango-eating motion paused. He looked at Samui with clear eyes, his expression completely harmless.

"Of course. I can see things within a kilometer, penetrate obstacles, and see chakra flow and the body's meridians. Ordinary people's eyes can't do these things."

"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 bestow the main family status upon me soon."

"Oh?"

Samui was somewhat surprised.

Neji put his hands on his hips and proudly declared, "My father is the Patriarch of the branch family, so by the rules, I am also from the branch family. But I awakened my Byakugan at the age of three and am the most outstanding genius in the history of the Hyuga clan. Lord Hiashi will definitely make an exception and grant me main family status."

"Awakened Byakugan at three?" Samui's beautiful eyes narrowed slightly, and she couldn't help but lick her alluring red lips.

The Byakugan and Sharingan were known as the two great dōjutsu Kekkei Genkai of Konohagakure.

The Uchiha clan had a genius ninja named Uchiha Itachi, who awakened his Sharingan at the age of eight and became famous.

This Hyuga branch family brat actually awakened his Byakugan at three. He was truly remarkable.

"Amazing, right? Big sister, I'm going to be the man who becomes Hokage in the future."

"That's really wonderful." Samui reached out and patted Neji's head again, then suddenly asked, "Neji, is there any difference between the Byakugan of the main family and the Byakugan of the branch family?"

Neji looked at Samui and shook his head slightly.

As long as they weren't implanted with the Caged Bird Seal, there was no difference.

Once implanted with the Caged Bird Seal, the Byakugan's perspective becomes restricted, creating a 1° blind spot behind the user's spine.

However, four-year-old Neji naturally couldn't reveal this information.

"Good boy."

Samui pinched Neji's cheek, a smile flashing in her beautiful eyes.

Neji had already finished the dango by this time, licking his lips and saying, "Sister, I want more."

Samui waved her hand and shouted, "Waiter, ten more skewers."

Evening, the residence where the Kumogakure delegation was staying.

Toroi stood alone in the courtyard, saying expressionlessly, "You've come. Did you bring what I wanted?"

"Don't you know the risks I'm taking meeting you here?"

A voice suddenly rang out.

It sounded like two pieces of iron rubbing together, hoarse and unpleasant.

It was impossible to tell if it was male or female, or even if it was a sound made by a human.

Toroi looked at the snow in the courtyard and said nonchalantly, "You don't need to worry about that. Konohagakure has completely believed in Kumogakure's sincerity. They wouldn't dare to have Anbu monitoring the vicinity at a time like this."

The voice paused for a moment and then slowly said, "Have you made up your mind?"

Toroi replied, "Don't doubt my resolve."

The hoarse voice sounded, "If you take that step, whether you succeed or not, your life will be forfeit."

Toroi didn't answer the question, instead focusing his gaze and asking, "Is what I want ready?"

The voice was silent for a while, and then a scroll silently dropped in front of Toroi.

Toroi opened the scroll and glanced at it twice.

It was a Hyuga clan map, with buildings laid out meticulously, and paths crisscrossing... it was extremely detailed, even clearly marking both obvious and hidden sentries.

The Hyuga clan was heavily guarded, and most importantly, it was a clan with a Kekkei Genkai. Even the God of Shinobi, Senju Hashirama, couldn't infiltrate the Hyuga clan without being detected.

The importance of this map was self-evident.

Toroi expressionlessly put away the scroll and asked doubtfully, "To get such a detailed map, are you also from the Hyuga clan?"

The voice was silent for a moment, then suddenly said coldly, "I am a ghost who is not entirely dead. My only purpose is to bury this decaying clan. To achieve this ideal, I can gamble everything." (Note: This ghost is not Neji.)

Such intense and pure hatred... the other party was from the branch family.

A look of realization flashed in Toroi's eyes, and he then said, "When you have nowhere else to go, you can spend the rest of your life in Kumogakure Village."

"I will not leave Konohagakure until I have buried this clan."

"Don't worry, my actions this time will be greatly beneficial to you, regardless of success or failure."

"I wish you success."

"One last question, what's the difference between the Byakugan of the main family and the Byakugan of the branch family?"

"There's no fundamental difference. What distinguishes them by status is the Caged Bird Seal."

Deep in the night.

Neji was restless, tossing and turning in bed, unable to sleep.

Seven days had passed since he had contacted Samui.

The Kumogakure delegation had not made any move.

Having planned this far, Neji felt a bit nervous. He wasn't sure if Kumogakure would come to steal him.

If they didn't come soon, Neji would have to take a risk and defect to them directly.

Just as he had this thought, a series of soft footsteps suddenly sounded.

Neji opened his Byakugan and keenly detected two dark figures who had appeared in the courtyard at some point.

They're here, they're here, they've come.

Neji was overjoyed, immediately closing his Byakugan and lying still on the bed.

The next moment, a large expanse of illusory white feathers suddenly appeared in his vision.

Nirvana of the Ten Thousand Leaves Technique!

Neji felt his eyelids become incredibly heavy, a wave of drowsiness washed over him, and his consciousness rapidly faded.