Thoughts Deep Within (Third Update)

"Then it'll depend on Lord Snow Shadow's arrangements."

Light shifted in Neji's pupils. He glanced at Shikamaru, then delivered his final words. After that, he didn't pause again, striding straight away from where they stood and heading toward the Snow Shadow Office Building. As Neji's figure receded into the distance, the Konoha group left behind wore a range of expressions, each to a different degree. The looks were especially pronounced on Lee, Tenten, and Hinata. Even though Might Guy could be a little one-track-minded, he was still an adult and a battle-hardened Ninja. The trials he'd endured were nothing like what these Konoha Rookies had faced. Neji's transformation had exceeded Might Guy's expectations, but it was still something he could accept.

The mistakes of youth.

That was something Might Guy often said.

But he was no longer young enough to be naive and innocent.

With his years of life experience, he understood all too well just how high Neji stood in Snow Ninja Village now, and what it meant that he'd escaped the restrictions of the Caged Bird Seal. Neji wasn't someone who could be easily brought back by a simple appeal to "the feelings we once shared." Most important of all was the hatred rooted deep in his heart: the Hyuga Main Family, the Branch Family, and the death of Neji's own father.

Those were all debts of blood that could be laid at Konoha's feet!

Of course, the Cloud Ninja couldn't be ignored either.

But it was clear that Konoha was at the heart of the problem.

Might Guy was overenthusiastic, not stupid. He knew that the subordinate he'd once valued so highly was no longer willing—or perhaps simply had no desire—to turn back.

But Lee, Tenten, and Hinata didn't see it that way.

All they could see