A Few Things About the Hyuga Clan

Fuyuki left at 1:30, which happened to be during the family's afternoon class time; it was now 4:00 PM, the time when family lessons ended. Having finished his grueling training, Fuyuki left the woods, ready to head home for a meal.

Fuyuki wasn't afraid of his old man's scolding; skipping a noble etiquette class wasn't exactly a big deal.

Besides, Hiashi always had a poker face. With that sour expression, others couldn't tell what he was feeling at all. Whether he was angry, furious, or happy, it was always the same look; outsiders couldn't discern a thing.

As the young master of the Hyuga clan, Fuyuki had been subjected to countless Byakugan glares since he was a child. What was a mere glare from his old man compared to that? At the family training grounds, there were dozens of Byakugan with bulging veins staring at him at any given time.

Fuyuki swaggered down the street, always curious about one question: why did his foolish sister encounter nothing but scumbags whenever she went out, and why did those scumbags not recognize the Hyuga family's Byakugan?

When it came to his own outings, good grief, the scumbags who loved to bully his foolish sister were nowhere to be found. The stone bricks on the street were swept cleaner than wooden floors, not even a fallen leaf in sight.

Could it be that Hinata had some strange constitution that attracted hoodlums?

"Natsumi, I've been home for a few days now. Why is it that every time I intentionally walk this path, I can't run into the few scumbags who bullied Hinata last week?" Fuyuki asked directly.

Hyuga Natsumi was stunned and said, "Young Master Fuyuki, you and Lady Hinata look very much alike, but your temperaments are completely different. Plus, with me around, how could other kids dare to come and bully you?"

As twins, Hinata and Fuyuki had a very high degree of facial similarity; they were basically cut from the same mold. Added to that was the Hyuga family's rule requiring members to keep their hair long, making it difficult to tell who was who before the siblings had fully matured.

The long hair rule wasn't because the Hyuga clan were all cross-dressers, but because of a medical ninjutsu called the Healing and Regeneration Technique. Every Hyuga ninja was precious; if possible, both the Hyuga family and Konoha would do their utmost to save them.

The Healing and Regeneration Technique was one such ninjutsu, capable of converting a portion of the injured person's cells into the flesh missing from the wound, saving the person to the greatest extent possible.

Although the Hyuga's strength couldn't compare to the Uchiha, their importance to Konoha was unquestionable. During times of war and pre-war intelligence gathering, the people of the Hyuga family were the most important 'eyes,' never letting Konoha suffer in battlefield intelligence, especially during ambushes.

Therefore, the Hyuga family received quite a bit of resource allocation and special treatment in Konoha.

"Tch."

Fuyuki spat in annoyance. "Next time, I'll go out with Hinata myself. I want to see which death-seeking blonde dares to bully my Hinata!"

Hinata liked to go for walks outside the clan grounds after finishing her family lessons, but she didn't like to trouble others to accompany her. Several times, she had been left in a sorry state by bored brats in the village.

Hinata could clearly have used a single Gentle Fist strike to make the guys bullying her call for their mommies, yet every time she couldn't bring herself to do it, ending up in a mess and getting scolded by Hiashi when she got home.

Hiashi was a man who cared too much about his reputation. Even though he was furious to see his sweet daughter being bullied, he refused to intervene, fearing it would lose face for the Hyuga clan and lead others to whisper behind their backs that the prestigious Hyuga family was bullying the weak.

Leaving Natsumi to hide to the side, Fuyuki wandered around the streets and alleys alone, but he didn't see any of the jerks.

Seeing that it was nearing dinner time, he had to give up and wait for the next opportunity to go out with Hinata to see which bastard dared to commit an act of insubordination against the Hyuga family.

"Young Master Fuyuki."

Approaching the main gate of the Hyuga estate, a Hyuga clansman standing guard greeted him proactively.

"You profiteer, get lost!"

Seeing the clansman who greeted him, Fuyuki's expression immediately turned extremely ugly. "You cost me eighty thousand ryo, and you still have the nerve to appear in front of me? Doesn't your conscience hurt, you profiteer who even scams children?"

Hyuga Himon waved his hands repeatedly. "Young Master Fuyuki, that's not quite right. You were the one who asked me to buy local specialties from the Land of Water. It's not my fault they didn't sell; I won't be compensating for your losses."

"If you hadn't said the Yatsuhashi Snack was a hot seller, would I have stocked up so much?"

Hyuga Himon looked up at the sky. "Young Master, perhaps you really don't have a talent for business. The Land of Water's specialty, Yatsuhashi Snack, has always been in short supply in the Land of Fire. If you managed to lose money on this, you really can't blame me."

The Hyuga family had long-term border patrol missions assigned by Konoha. Being able to frequently travel back and forth to border regions, they could naturally purchase large quantities of local specialties to earn a windfall outside of their missions. As for how much they earned, it purely depended on how thick their wallets were.

"Pah, scamming a child's pocket money, you profiteer!"

Fuyuki looked indignant. Behind him, the corners of Natsumi's mouth twitched slightly; she wanted to laugh but didn't dare to make a sound.

She would never tell Young Master Fuyuki that the local specialties Himon brought back were a massive profit.

But after running into Lady Hinata, the portion of the specialties was cut by a third, which directly led to Young Master Fuyuki's first business venture costing him a week's worth of pocket money.

Why not tell him?

It concerned Lady Hinata's ladylike image; how could she spread the truth that she was a big eater!

She would never do it, even if it killed her!

"That's it for today. You've worked hard, go get some rest!"

Arriving in front of the private bathhouse, Fuyuki stopped and said to Natsumi, who was by his side, telling her to go rest first.

If he didn't say anything here, this maid would really help him scrub his back.

Don't ask why; he'd tried it before, and he had his pride!

"Understood, Young Master Fuyuki." Natsumi bowed and turned to leave the Main Branch courtyard, heading toward the Branch Family area.

The Hyuga Main Branch and Branch Family were both in the same clan grounds, but the courtyards were different. The Branch Family residential area was larger, while the Main Branch residential area was smaller, but it had indoor dojos and outdoor training grounds for all Hyuga clansmen to use for training.

After bathing, Fuyuki wore a set of robes he usually wore for Gentle Fist training. He arrived in front of a hall, knocked on the door, and went in to sit beside Hyuga Hinata. At the head of the hall sat a middle-aged man with a poker face, who spoke with a stern expression: "You today..."

"Why does a ninja need to learn noble etiquette? It's a profession that should be about swords and spears, yet Father, you want me to learn how to kneel elegantly and how to taste tea..." Fuyuki said this with righteous indignation, not feeling guilty in the slightest.

"No," Hiashi said sternly. "I just want to tell you that you're late coming back today. The maids have already washed the bowls, and you likely won't have a hot meal tonight!"

The Hyuga family rules were strict, requiring every clansman to practice self-discipline and public service.

Training time, meal times, and rest times were all regulated—though extra training for those with poor grades wasn't on this schedule.

In front of their demon-like father, Hinata, who always acted timidly, secretly tugged at Fuyuki's sleeve, signaling him not to argue with their father to avoid suffering more.

"That's it?"

Fuyuki looked surprised. "Can't I just order Ichiraku Ramen for delivery and eat a hot dinner just the same?"

"No, you've run out of time. The clan patrol has already started their rounds, and no one is allowed in or out."

As Hiashi said this, he picked up the teapot on the table and poured himself a cup of hot tea. The look he gave his son carried a hint of mockery, as if to say: Didn't expect that, did you? I talked to you so much just to stall for time.

Tonight, you can just obediently gnaw on compressed biscuits!