The Motivation to Become Stronger

Watching Fuyuki leave while grumbling, a trace of a smile appeared on Hyuga Hiashi's face.

In front of his clansmen, he had to play the role of a dignified head of the family, prioritizing family and collective interests above all else, which left no room for him to show too much personal emotion.

However, there was one exception: he did not want his own twins to end up like him and his twin brother, torn apart because of the Caged Bird.

In the Hyuga clan, aside from the heir to the main branch, every other member was branded with the Caged Bird at the age of three to live as a branch family member. There were very few exceptions, unless the purity of the Byakugan and the ocular power were exceptionally high.

Three years old was the age to begin cultivating chakra; as long as one possessed chakra, they could activate the Byakugan. The clan elders would then test the members of the Hyuga clan, and if the purity of the Byakugan did not meet the requirements, they would be relegated to the branch family.

Hyuga Hiashi had never dared to let his twins undergo this test. The conditions were too harsh, far beyond what a normal person could achieve, so he had always used the excuse of being unable to decide on an heir to deflect the elders' incessant nagging.

After all, the current situation was as it was: the eldest daughter lacked the personality and strength, while the eldest son had the personality and strength but had not inherited the advanced Gentle Fist Technique. "You all see who is capable! In any case, I simply cannot decide."

Furthermore, he had "started a new save file," which could stall the elders for a few more years—it was simply delightful!

The elders were helpless. Since the head of the family refused to make a decision and they lacked the authority to do so themselves, they could only nag him constantly to decide quickly so that once an heir was chosen, they could begin elite education.

Hyuga Hiashi was currently playing the rogue. As long as he could drag this out until all the elders were in their coffins, then whatever the results of the Byakugan purity test were, it would be up to him, the most senior head of the family, to decide.

He did not want to abolish the Caged Bird system. One had to realize that without the Caged Bird curse seal, the Hyuga clansmen would be like fat ducks carrying their own scallions; any force or village would covet their Kekkei Genkai, the Byakugan, and any Hyuga who dared to leave Konoha would certainly lose contact.

The fate of those who lost contact was extremely tragic.

Moreover, the Caged Bird held a hidden secret—a secret that would overturn the imagination of every Hyuga clansman. It was a secret known only to the main branch head, passed down by word of mouth, and it concerned the core power of the Hyuga clan.

"Hinata, Fuyuki, Hanabi."

Hyuga Hiashi whispered to himself, smiled, and then immediately reverted to his usual poker face to play the part of the head of the family.

In a side courtyard of the Hyuga main branch estate.

"Here, this is the snack I asked Fei to save for you."

Back in the side courtyard, Hinata took a plate of exquisite afternoon tea snacks from her room, letting her poor younger brother, who hadn't had dinner, enjoy his sister's affection: "Eat up quickly!"

"Mhm, thanks, Hinata. As expected, having a sister who is a virtuous wife and good mother type means I don't have to worry about daily life!"

Fuyuki ate the snacks, not forgetting to tease his warm-hearted sister.

He couldn't understand what Hiashi had to be dissatisfied with when he had such a warm and considerate daughter, yet he kept a sour face and was extremely strict and harsh toward Hinata.

He probably hadn't seen the era of information explosions, those bulletproof vests, black-hearted cotton-padded jackets, or the heroines who seemed high-quality but hid the "Sorrow of Frost" beneath their jackets.

"As a sister, isn't it a matter of course to take care of my younger brother?"

Hinata's voice was soft, but there was no obvious hesitation when she said this, proving that in her heart, this was a matter of course, and saying it didn't make her feel embarrassed or shy.

"When you say that, please don't forget Mother, who just gave birth to Hanabi and is still recuperating. If she knew that after only a few days, her eldest daughter had already taken over her responsibilities as a mother, Mother would let out a whimper."

Fuyuki maintained his smile, but judging by the corners of his mouth that were gradually curling upward, he seemed quite happy.

Hearing this, Hinata let out a gasp: "Ah? Is there such a way of putting it? I—I—I didn't mean to compete with Mother, I..."

"Forget about the 'I's, get some rest early! There's a taijutsu class tomorrow morning. If you oversleep, the head of the family's old face will probably look darker than the bottom of a pot." Fuyuki reached out and began to rub Hinata's head, sighing inwardly: "Damn Naruto, after marrying Hinata, you're so busy with Hokage work and love the Hokage position so much, why don't I see you marry a Hokage Rock instead!"

"Sooner or later, I'll find a chance to beat him up too!"

"Mhm."

Hinata replied softly and swatted away her brother's hand that was wreaking havoc on her head.

She was a dignified big sister, after all; how could she let her younger brother touch her head whenever he pleased!

The head-patting should be her doing to her brother!

Watching Hinata return to her room to rest, Fuyuki sat at the tea table and pulled a black-covered book from the void.

This book always floated beside him, but no one had ever been able to perceive or touch it.

Fuyuki flipped to the page for the Spirit Binding Technique and began to review what he had learned today.

He had successfully condensed a "vessel" today, but when giving the summoned creature consciousness, there was a sense of detachment, as if looking at flowers through a fog, making it impossible to issue precise instructions.

Fuyuki guessed that it was likely a lack of proficiency; there was no problem with his magic, otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to normally condense the chakra vessel and bestow it upon the summoned creature.

Beyond reviewing, Fuyuki also planned to learn the next stage of magic!

He wanted to summon "High-ranking Elemental Spirits." The greatest use of "Low-ranking Elemental Spirits" was actually as cannon fodder. Only by summoning high-ranking elements and Spirit Kings would Fuyuki dare to say that he could dance freely in the ninja world.

To be honest, he quite liked Uchiha Madara, the king of trash talk. After transmigrating into the Naruto world, his goal was to become a powerful, invincible king of trash talk just like Madara.

For the sake of his goal, Fuyuki studied occult knowledge quite seriously. He practiced taijutsu with his family members in the morning, skipped class in the afternoon to study ninjutsu, and sat at the tea table in the evening, drinking tea and eating rice crackers while reading magic books or basic ninjutsu primers.

This life was not boring or dull, because Fuyuki could feel that he was indeed becoming stronger, and what he was doing was not meaningless.

With positive feedback, cultivation naturally became diligent. Becoming stronger was something that yielded immediate results. If becoming stronger were like studying for decades in a cold window without knowing if one could pass the imperial examinations, Fuyuki would have long since gone off to be a young master, occasionally teasing sisters or maids—life would be wonderful enough.

"Wait, tomorrow morning isn't a taijutsu class; tomorrow is the family's monthly martial arts tournament!"

At the beginning of every month, the Hyuga clan would have its members spar together to test if they had been lazy over the past month.

This was also an activity to strengthen cohesion.

Fuyuki was terrified of the start-of-the-month tournament, but it wasn't because he was afraid of losing to children of his own age; it was because his magic was relatively violent, and he often caused serious accidental injuries, which were very troublesome to treat.