As his strength grew, Shinichi Hyuga wanted to unlock a new world.
Just because its name was exactly the same as the washing machine's didn't mean there could only be one ordinary world!
But unlocking a world proved far more difficult than he'd imagined. It required ten thousand Manifestation Points.
That was the equivalent of a hundred standard Jōnin souls.
Even for a mission character from such an ordinary world, someone with a special talent would cost a thousand Manifestation Points. He needed to take part in a war.
Without a major war, he could only carry out missions, and that would take a long time. Fortunately, his strength had already grown considerably. By then, he was a Special Jōnin skilled in Taijutsu.
And even that wasn't enough!
He needed a powerful world, a powerful character, to change the predicament he faced.
After the Second Shinobi World War ended,
his strength continued to grow, and the Hyuga Main Family summoned him back to serve as one of Hyuga Hiashi's guards.
There was no environment where he could fight to the death.
His goal of unlocking a second world was still far out of reach, so he could only exchange for Haibara Ai's template and use it to study the Caged Bird.
Haibara Ai's talent lay in research. In biology, she had an unimaginable gift.
Unfortunately, all his military achievements were credited to Hyuga Hiashi.
Those achievements earned him only the Eight Trigrams Palm, which the Main Branch forbade the Branch Family from learning. It was such a low-level form of Taijutsu that after watching it a few times, he'd learned almost all of it. He'd simply never used it.
Back then, Hyuga Hiashi only needed to stay behind the lines. The achievements of all the clan's shinobi had made him a celebrated hero, despite never having taken part in a major battle.
The shinobi of Kumogakure knew only that they were facing a Hyuga Clan shinobi with the Byakugan. Only those who had actually faced Shinichi Hyuga knew just how oppressive he was.
All in the name of the clan's honor, they stripped him of his military achievements. That was the misery of the Hyuga Clan's Branch Family.
During the Third Shinobi World War, the clan sent him to the battlefield against Kumogakure once more. It was during that war
that he finally manifested a second world—a pretty good one, too: the Ajin World.
One battle after another made him famous on the battlefield. Even the Main Branch couldn't suppress his reputation.
During a battle alongside Minato Namikaze against Fourth Raikage A and Killer B, the flaw in the Branch Family's Byakugan led to his defeat.
Killer B activated Tailed Beast Mode and baited him into attacking. He sacrificed one of the Eight-Tails' tails, hiding it in the blind spot of Shinichi's vision, and used it to pierce one of his eyes. He also took Shinichi's right arm.
Shinichi Hyuga still remembered Fourth Raikage A's words as if he'd heard them yesterday.
"Shinichi, I admire your strength, but you have one fatal flaw: you're too proud. I doubt you'd even deign to kill someone. None of your techniques are meant to finish an enemy."
Fourth Raikage A's words had jolted him awake.
The Kicking Nobleman? What a ridiculous title!
His soul belonged to someone who'd lived in a peaceful era, and the template he'd loaded was Kyogoku Makoto.
No matter how many people died in Conan's world, its laws were well established, and most of his techniques were meant for friendly sparring.
He had no true killing techniques. Though he was strong enough, his mindset had never adapted to this brutal Ninja World—a world where people preyed on one another!
That was when he realized what his weakness was.
He also understood that he could have won that battle. But the people of the Hyuga Main Family needed him to lose.
While he was fighting, one of them had activated the Caged Bird and sealed part of his field of vision, slowing his reactions for a moment.
Afterward, they sent him to Amegakure on a mission.
In everyone else's eyes, losing one Byakugan and an arm should have greatly diminished his strength.
It was in Amegakure that Shinichi Hyuga met a woman named Uzumaki Tomoko.
Uzumaki Tomoko was a survivor of the Uzumaki Clan. The two had relied on each other on the Amegakure battlefield, and in time, their love gave them a daughter: Reiko Hyuga.
Unfortunately, Uzumaki Tomoko's body had been damaged by her years of wandering.
She died giving birth to Reiko Hyuga!
"Shinichi, take good care of Reiko. Let her grow up happy!" That was Uzumaki Tomoko's final wish.
During that time, Shinichi Hyuga truly became part of this world.
Having a family meant having responsibilities. He had to fulfill Uzumaki Tomoko's final wish.
There were forbidden techniques in this world that could bring people back from the dead. Someday, his family could live happily together.
First, he needed to take good care of Reiko Hyuga. He chose to bring her back to Konoha, which was also a haven in the Ninja World.
Reiko Hyuga's arrival drew some suspicion, but thanks to his past performance on the battlefield, she received good care over the years.
Now he had to deal with the Caged Bird's mark. He didn't want his daughter to suffer the same treatment.
Why was Hyuga Hiashi's daughter born into the Main Branch and showered with love?
His daughter wasn't going to become anyone's plaything.
He had to grow strong—strong enough to rule this world.
To make up for his weakness, he had recently spent ten thousand Manifestation Points to manifest an Ajin template.
Ajin No. 002: Tanaka Koji.
He was Ajin No. 002, discovered in Japan. Shinichi had chosen him because of the torture he'd endured for ten years. That experience would help make up for Shinichi Hyuga's weakness.
The Kicking Nobleman, who never attacked an opponent's weak points, had absorbed the experiences of an Ajin who'd been tortured. Now his heart was full of violence, and his techniques had transformed.
The only thing Shinichi Hyuga found hard to accept was that the Ajin bloodline couldn't be passed down genetically.
And the templates couldn't be applied to his daughter, either. He could only look for a solution elsewhere.
Today, he'd come to ask Minato Namikaze for help. After all, they were close comrades and had some history together.
But now that Minato Namikaze was Hokage, how much would he be willing to do for Shinichi? And what would the final outcome be?
In the end, it all came down to the fact that he wasn't strong enough.
As Shinichi Hyuga sat with his eyes closed, gathering his thoughts, he felt someone tug at him.
"Shinichi, the clan head and the Great Elder are here!" the Third Elder whispered. He stood up at the same time and bowed to the two men, Hyuga Hiashi and the Hyuga clan's Great Elder.
He was already bowing his head, but he kept tugging at Shinichi Hyuga.
There was a joke about the great clans of Konoha.
How could you tell which of two Hyuga Clan members belonged to the Branch Family?
It was easy: one bowed their head, while the other held it high. The one with their head bowed belonged to the Branch Family; the one with their head held high belonged to the Main Branch.
Shinichi Hyuga opened his eyes, killing intent welling inside him.
Back when he'd fought Fourth Raikage A and Killer B, one of these men had activated the Caged Bird and sealed his vision at a crucial moment.
That was why Fourth Raikage A and Killer B knew their victory hadn't been honorable. In the end, they hadn't killed him.
As he thought about it, the two men from the Main Branch noticed his strange expression.
"Shinichi, you should know your place! You're nothing but a lowly member of the Branch Family."
Hyuga Hiashi continued toward the center of the hall, while the Hyuga clan's Great Elder came up to Shinichi Hyuga.
Looking down at him, he scolded Shinichi, making no effort to hide his displeasure.
"So it was you!" Shinichi Hyuga raised his head. The pain in his brow felt familiar.
Now that he thought about it, that old bastard had been the one to use the Caged Bird's seal on him during the battle.
He could never forget that presence.
Minato Namikaze probably knew, too, didn't he?
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