Hinata's Social Death

"BOOM!"

Just as Neji and Hinata were planning to continue their training, the ground shook, and a deafening roar echoed from somewhere nearby.

"What is going on?"

Neji's expression was one of shock and confusion. "Could it be that someone is attacking the Hyuga Clan?"

But within Konoha, who would have the strength, the guts, or any reason to attack the Hyuga?

Someone from outside the village? That was even less likely.

"Watch out!"

At that moment, Hyuga Hiashi, who had been standing to the side, appeared in front of Neji and Hinata in a flash. He shielded them behind him, his eyes fixed on the sky with intense vigilance.

"That is..."

Soon, Neji noticed a somewhat familiar figure gradually descending from the sky, landing right in front of them.

"It's Brother Chiba!"

Hinata peeked her little head out from behind Hyuga Hiashi, her eyes filled with surprise and confusion as she looked at Chiba, who had descended from the heavens.

"Those eyes..."

Hyuga Hiashi watched Chiba with caution, noting how different he looked from his memories. He quickly caught sight of the man's sapphire-like eyes and exclaimed in astonishment, "Is that... the legendary Tenseigan?"

"The Clan Head actually knows about the Tenseigan?" Seeing that Hyuga Hiashi had recognized his eyes, Chiba said with some surprise, "It seems the Hyuga's core archives contain more information than I originally imagined."

"That's fine, though. It saves me from having to explain too much."

"I see." Hyuga Hiashi seemed to realize something, murmuring to himself, "Although the Hyuga records don't mention this information, I suppose your innate blindness was one of the conditions for awakening the Tenseigan."

"You guessed correctly, but not entirely." Chiba glanced at Hinata behind Hyuga Hiashi, and then at Hyuga Hanabi, who was currently peeking from a corner, observing them with curiosity. He corrected him, "If my predictions are correct, Hinata and Hanabi also have a very small chance of awakening the Tenseigan."

"Also, have you ever considered the possibility that the reason Hinata has always performed poorly, aside from her personality, is mainly because... she has actually never been truly full?"

"In other words, she has actually been in a state of malnutrition all this time?"

As soon as Chiba said this, before Hiashi could even react, Hinata's face turned bright red, and steam began to rise from her head. Her eyes swirled into circles from sheer embarrassment, and her mind was filled with shock and shyness: How does Brother Chiba know about this?

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

In that moment, little Hinata experienced what it meant to suffer "social death."

"Hinata, you..."

Hiashi had been skeptical at first, but seeing Hinata's reaction, he immediately understood the truth.

At the same time, he could not help but feel a sense of guilt and self-reproach in his heart: "As a father, how could I have never known that my own daughter has never had enough to eat?"

Moreover, if the outside world were to find out, they would think that the prestigious Hyuga Clan could not even afford the food Hinata needed.

But whether it was because he didn't believe it or because his attention had been diverted by the fact that Hinata had never been full, Hiashi seemed to completely ignore Chiba's speculation that Hinata and Hanabi might awaken the Tenseigan.

Chiba did not mind this; instead, he moved his feet and walked toward Neji, who was still standing in a daze behind Hiashi.

"Stop!"

Seeing this, Hiashi immediately spoke up to stop him, assuming a stance as if he were ready to strike at any moment, and demanded, "Chiba, what are you trying to do?"

"Was that commotion from earlier caused by you?"

"You will find out soon enough." Chiba did not offer much explanation. After waving a hand toward Hiashi, he continued walking toward him.

Hiashi wanted to strike, but he found that the gravity on his body seemed to have suddenly increased significantly, making it extremely difficult for him to perform any movement: "Is this the power of the Tenseigan?"

"It is truly too powerful!"

One must know that he had participated in the Third Shinobi World War and possessed strength sufficient to reach the level of an Elite Jonin, yet he was being easily suppressed by Chiba, a twelve-year-old youth who, on the surface, had never undergone any training?

Even though Hiashi could sense that Chiba had no malicious intent and therefore did not resist with his full strength, this was still quite astonishing.

And all of this, it seemed, was because Chiba had awakened a pair of Tenseigan?

"Chiba, you..."

At this moment, Neji watched Hyuga Chiba, who was getting closer and closer to him, with some nervousness.

Although he did not see any malice in Chiba's eyes, he still did not understand why the latter would specifically approach him now.

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

"I need to leave the Hyuga Clan and Konoha for a period of time. Before that, I will fulfill one of your wishes, allowing you, this bird, to fly out of the cage."

As he spoke, Chiba, just as he had done before, extended a finger covered in Tenseigan Chakra and Yin-Yang Release, tapping it against the center of Neji's forehead.

"What is this?"

The change in his eyes, combined with Chiba's words just now, made Neji realize something, but he could not believe that the thing he had been looking forward to the most all this time had been realized so easily?

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

At this moment, Hinata's exclamation rang out, confirming Neji's suspicion.

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

Seeing this scene, Hiashi's expression shifted.

In truth, he was happy that Neji had been able to break free from the Caged Bird.

However, as the Main Family Head, Hiashi understood very well that this might not necessarily be a good thing for Neji and Chiba.

He also vaguely understood the reason for the earthquake and the roaring sounds from just moments ago.

"Clan Head, my Tenseigan has initially awakened. I will be leaving Konoha to seek out new power."

At this moment, Chiba said to Hiashi with a serious expression, "But one day, I will return."

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

"I will also completely change this incredibly rotten Caged Bird system."

In fact, Chiba could have waited until he had removed the Caged Bird from all the Branch Family members and resolved the issues with the Main Family before leaving the Hyuga clan and Konoha.

But there was no need for that. Unless the other Hyuga clansmen awakened the Tenseigan just as he had, they would be unable to become his assistants.

Instead, they would end up becoming his shackles, or rather, a burden.

The existence of the Caged Bird Curse Mark did, in fact, protect the Branch Family to a certain extent.

If Chiba were to recklessly remove the Caged Bird from all the Branch Family members without staying in the Hyuga compound, there was no guarantee that in the future, many Byakugan belonging to the Hyuga Branch Family wouldn't end up in the hands of various organizations or individuals.

And now, although Chiba had only removed the Caged Bird for two members of the Hyuga Branch Family, his very existence was enough to allow the remaining members to see hope, and to make the Main Family afraid to continue oppressing the Branch Family as they had in the past.