Hinata's Social Death

Boom!

Just as Neji and Hinata were about to continue training, the ground shook, and a loud explosion came from somewhere nearby.

"What was that?"

Neji looked shocked and confused. "Could someone be attacking the Hyuga Clan?"

But within Konoha, who would attack the Hyuga Clan for no reason—and who had the strength and nerve to do so?

Someone from outside Konoha? That was even less likely.

"Watch out!"

At that moment, Hyuga Hiashi, who had been standing nearby, used Body Flicker to appear before Neji and Hinata, shielding them behind him as he warily watched the sky.

"That is..."

Very soon, Neji spotted a somewhat familiar figure flying down from the sky and landing before them.

"It's Brother Chiba!"

Hinata poked her little head out from behind Hyuga Hiashi. Her gaze at Chiba, who had descended from the sky, was full of shock and confusion.

"Those eyes..."

Hyuga Hiashi cautiously watched Chiba, who was clearly vastly different from the one in his memories. He soon noticed those sapphire-like eyes and exclaimed in astonishment, "Is that... the legendary Tenseigan?"

"The Clan Head actually knows about the Tenseigan?" Chiba was somewhat surprised that Hyuga Hiashi had recognized his eyes. "It seems the Hyuga Clan's core records contain more than I originally thought."

"That works too. It saves me a lot of explaining."

"I see." Hyuga Hiashi seemed to understand something as well and murmured, "Although the Hyuga records contain no information on this, your Innate Blindness must have been one of the conditions for awakening the Tenseigan."

"You're right, but not entirely." Chiba glanced at Hinata behind Hyuga Hiashi, as well as Hyuga Hanabi, who was curiously watching from some corner. He corrected him, "If I'm not mistaken, Hinata and Hanabi also have a very small chance of awakening the Tenseigan."

"Also, have you ever considered that the main reason Hinata has always performed poorly, aside from her personality, is... that she has never actually eaten her fill?"

"In other words, she has been malnourished this entire time."

As soon as Chiba said this, Hiashi had yet to react, but Hinata's little face instantly turned red. Steam practically began rising from her head, and her eyes were about to turn into spirals from embarrassment. Her heart was full of shock and bashfulness. How did Brother Chiba know about that?

Why did he have to say it in front of Father and Brother Neji?

At that moment, little Hinata experienced what Social Death truly meant.

"Hinata, you..."

Hiashi had been somewhat doubtful at first, but seeing Hinata's reaction, how could he fail to understand the truth?

At the same time, guilt and self-reproach rose in his heart. As her father, I never knew my daughter had never eaten her fill?

And if outsiders found out, they would think the prestigious Hyuga Clan could not even afford to feed Hinata.

Perhaps because he did not believe it, or perhaps because the revelation that Hinata had never eaten her fill had distracted him, Hiashi seemed to completely ignore Chiba's conjecture that Hinata and Hanabi might awaken the Tenseigan.

Chiba did not care about that. Instead, he moved toward Neji, who was still standing behind Hiashi with a bewildered look on his face.

"Stop!"

Seeing this, Hiashi immediately tried to stop him. He looked ready to attack at any moment as he demanded, "Chiba, what are you trying to do?"

"Did you cause that disturbance just now?"

"You'll find out soon enough." Chiba did not explain much. After waving a hand at Hiashi, he continued toward him.

Hiashi wanted to act, but he discovered that the gravity on his body had suddenly increased dramatically, making even the slightest movement incredibly difficult. Is this the Tenseigan's power?

It's too powerful!

He had taken part in the Third Shinobi World War, and his strength was enough to rank him among the Elite Jonin. Yet he was being effortlessly suppressed by Chiba, a twelve-year-old boy who had never trained openly?

Even if Hiashi could sense that Chiba bore no ill intent and therefore was not resisting with all his strength, it was still astonishing.

And all of this seemed to be because Chiba had awakened a pair of Tenseigan?

"Chiba, you..."

At that moment, Neji nervously watched Hyuga Chiba draw ever closer.

Though he could see no malice in Chiba's eyes, he still did not understand why Chiba had deliberately approached him.

"Your father, Hizashi, helped me more than once."

"I need to leave the Hyuga Clan and Konoha for a time. Before that, I will grant one of your wishes and let this bird fly out of its cage."

As he spoke, Chiba extended a finger covered in Tenseigan Chakra and Yin-Yang Release, touching Neji's forehead just as he had before.

"What is this...?"

The changes in his eyes, along with Chiba's words, made Neji realize something. But he did not dare believe that the thing he had longed for most could be achieved so easily.

"Brother Neji, your Caged Bird Mark seems to be gone?"

Hinata's cry of surprise rang out, confirming Neji's guess.

"The Tenseigan can remove the Caged Bird Curse Mark?"

Hiashi's expression changed when he saw this.

In truth, he was happy that Neji could be freed from the Caged Bird.

But as the Main Family Head, Hiashi also understood that for Neji and Chiba, this might not truly be a good thing.

He also vaguely understood why there had been an earthquake and that thunderous boom earlier.

"Clan Head, my Tenseigan has completed its initial awakening. Next, I will leave Konoha to seek new power."

Chiba solemnly reminded Hiashi, "But one day, I will return."

"When that time comes, I do not want to see a Neji harmed by the Main Family because he no longer bears the Caged Bird, nor do I want to see a Hinata who is still malnourished."

"I will also completely change the utterly rotten system that is the Caged Bird."

In fact, Chiba could have waited until he had removed the Caged Bird from every Branch Family member and resolved the Main Family's problems before leaving the Hyuga Clan and Konoha.

But there was no need. Unless the other Hyuga Clan members awakened the Tenseigan as he had, they could not become his support.

Instead, they would become his ties—or rather, his burdens.

The existence of the Caged Bird Curse Mark had indeed protected the Branch Family to a certain extent.

If Chiba recklessly removed the Caged Bird from every Branch Family member but did not remain with the Hyuga Clan, it was entirely possible that many Branch Family Byakugan would end up in the hands of different organizations or individuals in the future.

Now, although Chiba had only removed the Caged Bird from two members of the Hyuga Branch Family, his very existence was enough to give the remaining Branch Family members hope—and make the Main Family no longer dare exploit the Branch Family as they had before.