The atmosphere in the Hyuga Clan was incomparably oppressive.
It was not only because of the dreadful news that war was approaching, but also because today was Hizashi Hyuga's funeral.
In the courtyard, the suffocating scent of sandalwood mingled with the stale grassy smell of old tatami mats, like a layer of sticky grease tightly smeared over Hizashi Hyuga's own nose and throat.
Hizashi Hyuga looked at the photograph surrounded by layers upon layers of white chrysanthemums, then at himself in the photograph and the people kneeling inside the house. He could only feel how absurd this world was.
Hinata Hyuga, who had celebrated her third birthday not long ago, hid behind him. Her little hand cautiously clutched the hem of her "father's" clothes as she looked blankly at everything happening before her.
The current Hinata Hyuga did not understand what death meant.
Not until she saw Hyuga Neji kneeling before the photograph, his body stiff as an abandoned clay figurine.
"Neji, please accept my condolences..."
A member of the Hyuga Branch Family patted Neji's shoulder and sighed softly. Neji, whose expression had been calm yet repressed, could not help trembling slightly. Under Hinata's gaze, he lowered his head, and a glistening tear slid down his cheek.
The pain and sorrow that seemed to overflow from the depths of his heart made Hinata Hyuga's heart tremble as well.
"All things are impermanent; this is the law of arising and passing... When arising and passing cease, tranquility is bliss... May the departed leave suffering behind and find peace, reborn in the Pure Land..."
The monk's monotonous, drawn-out chanting was like heavy blocks of lead pounding against her eardrums again and again. It also seemed to turn into countless fine needles piercing her nerves, making her tense slightly.
She recalled the