Night.
Hyuga Main Family Estate.
Hiashi had hurried back to the village, his face gloomy.
This secret trip to the Land of Moon had shaken him to the core. He had never imagined Neji was so deeply entangled with the Akatsuki Organization, or that he had even been to the moon.
Through the window, Hiashi gazed up at the full moon hanging high in the night sky.
Just then,
Footsteps approached from a distance. A moment later, a figure entered the courtyard and bowed toward Hiashi inside the house. "Head of the Family, what did you want to see me about?"
Hiashi looked deeply at Neji, who stood in the courtyard, the last traces of boyishness still on his face, then beckoned him over. "Neji, come here!"
Neji bowed again and entered the room.
After sitting down, he asked, puzzled, "Head of the Family, you summoned me so late. Is there something you need me to do?"
Hiashi got straight to the point. "I met with the Elder of the Otsutsuki Clan. He accused you of conspiring with the Akatsuki Organization to infiltrate the Otsutsuki Clan's forbidden grounds. Not only did you destroy the Otsutsuki Clan's castle, you also killed one of their members! What do you have to say for yourself?"
Neji froze for a moment, a flicker of panic in his eyes.
But after a brief silence, he offered no explanation. He simply nodded calmly.
He could have made excuses, saying he'd been controlled by the Akatsuki Organization's genjutsu or coerced into it.
But he didn't.
The war between the Otsutsuki Main Family and the Otsutsuki Branch Family on the moon had shocked him deeply. He realized that the seeds of their true conflict had been sown long ago, when the two sides stopped trusting each other.
Seeing