A few days later...
"Jia, Ning Xue, today Mother will test your chakra natures. If possible, I'll teach you the secret techniques of the Land of Snow in the future as well." A gentle female voice reached Ning Xue's ears.
It was his mother, Hyuga Yuki.
"Secret techniques?" Ning Xue was a little puzzled.
Was this really something he could learn now? It sounded pretty impressive.
Surely three-year-olds in this world weren't expected to begin some hellish training regimen already.
Time returned to the previous day.
Ning and Yuki watched as he repeatedly touched his forehead with a mirror in his room. The two of them felt both helpless and heartbroken.
Then Ning suddenly spoke.
"I'm sorry, Yuki. If I weren't from the Branch Family, perhaps our child wouldn't have to suffer like this." His eyes were full of sorrow as he said it.
"No, Ning... this isn't your fault. I know it's a fate your Branch Family can't escape. You tried to persuade me, but I still wanted to be with you... And even if it hadn't been me, it would have been the same in the end. It's just that he's still so young." Tears streamed down the woman's face as she looked at the child in pain.
Hyuga Ning fell silent for a moment, as if making up his mind. "Then we have to make him stronger.
Tomorrow... teach him that. At the very least, give him one more means of protecting himself.
I'll also see what kind of chakra nature this child has inherited."
He knew there was no hope of changing the Caged Bird, but allowing his son to live as strongly as possible beneath those shackles was the only struggle he could make as a father.
In truth, he had thought about it from the moment he and Yuki had fallen in love. He had told her before.
Yet she had still walked toward him.
He had considered secretly keeping the child outside if he did not have the Byakugan.
But if they were discovered... he did not dare take that gamble.
So when Ning Xue was born with the Byakugan, he had been happy at first. But once that feeling faded, only guilt remained.
He had wronged both Yuki and Ning Xue.
Time returned to the present.
Hyuga Yuki gently led Ning Xue into the courtyard. She took out a specially made chakra test paper and softly explained.
"Ning Xue, inject your chakra into this. It will tell us your chakra natures."
Ning Xue nodded and focused. For someone with an adult soul, this was not too difficult. He slowly infused the paper with his weak chakra.
In an instant, one part of the paper became damp, while another split neatly down the middle!
"This is..." Surprise flashed through Hyuga Yuki's eyes. "Water nature, and wind nature too! That's a very good combination of natures, Ning Xue."
That evening, when Hyuga Ning returned home and learned the news, even his stern face showed a rare trace of relief.
"Wind and water... a very good combination.
This means you'll have great potential in ninjutsu in the future."
He gently patted Ning Xue's head.
"But remember, no matter how good your talent is, it still requires hard training."
The next day, real training began.
What Hyuga Yuki taught was not powerful offensive ninjutsu, but the foundation of the secret techniques from her homeland, the Land of Snow—precise control over water-nature chakra.
The most basic training was for Ning Xue to gather chakra at his fingertips and attempt to condense the moisture in the air into the tiniest snowflake.
This required extremely fine chakra control. Ning Xue sat cross-legged in the courtyard, his little face flushed red, yet only a faint mist curled around his fingertips. He failed again and again.
Hyuga Ning began teaching him the foundations of the Hyuga Clan: the opening stance of the Gentle Fist and the most basic knowledge of chakra pathways. Tedious stance practice and memorizing the chakra network filled Ning Xue's days.
The Caged Bird mark on his forehead seemed to radiate an icy weight at every moment, reminding him of the restraints awaiting him in the future.
But Ning Xue did not complain. His gaze remained calm, even carrying a focus far beyond his years.
The memories of his mediocre past life and the clear predicament before him made him understand that this was his only path to survival.
At night, he would even secretly get up and continue trying to condense that unfinished snowflake.
But was this really what he wanted?
The perspective now returned to Ning Xue.
"Damn it, kids in this world really have to start learning stuff this difficult so young? I'm three! This world feels dangerous. Better grind first and talk later." Yet little Ning Xue's expression carried a... ferocity that did not belong on a child his age.
(It wasn't that it was difficult to learn, but that he was in Konoha now.)
He remembered a friend mentioning that there would be something like the Fourth Shinobi World War in the future.
What he did not know was that a pair of white eyes was watching him next door.
One morning several weeks later, when Hyuga Ning pushed open the door, he saw Ning Xue extending a finger. A tiny ice crystal, smaller than a fingernail and still somewhat rough around the edges, yet undeniably possessing a hexagonal outline, trembled as it floated above his fingertip, refracting faint but dazzling light beneath the rising sun.
Ning Xue raised his head. There was no childish pride in those pure white eyes, only a barely noticeable exhaustion and the satisfaction of finally reaching his goal.
Hyuga Ning stood in the doorway, speechless for a long time.
He knew Konoha was not suitable for training Ice Release, yet this child had successfully condensed it.
Perhaps this child's path was destined to be more difficult than he had imagined. Or perhaps... more different.
After finishing his thoughts, Hyuga Ning walked over to Ning Xue, crouched beside him, rubbed his head, and praised him.
"Little Ning Xue is really amazing. You're practically a little genius, condensing an ice flower so quickly."
Hyuga Ning's praise stirred a slight ripple in Ning Xue's heart, but it quickly calmed. He knew this was merely an insignificant starting point on a long road.
"Thank you, Father." Ning Xue replied softly, dispersing the ice crystal at his fingertip.
Hyuga Ning stood up, his expression returning to its usual severity.
"Chakra control is the foundation, but as a member of the Hyuga Clan—especially someone from the Branch Family—the Gentle Fist is what you must rely on. Starting today, I will formally teach you the taijutsu foundations of the Gentle Fist."
He assumed a steady opening stance—the preparatory posture of the Eight Trigrams Palm. Naturally, no chakra gathered around his fingers; this was simply the purest form of the stance.
"Watch carefully, Ning Xue. The Eight Trigrams Palm does not rely on brute force. It precisely strikes chakra from the fingertips into the opponent's chakra pathway system, sealing their chakra flow and causing internal damage.
Its core lies in precision and penetration."
Hyuga Ning slowly demonstrated the movements while explaining the key points.
"Your footing must be steady, your power must gather at a single point, and the path of each strike must not deviate in the slightest."
Ning Xue carefully observed every subtle movement his father made, striving to carve every detail into his mind.
The advantages of the Byakugan and his older way of thinking began to show at this moment. He could see and remember his father's method of exerting force and the subtle shifts in his center of gravity more clearly than ordinary people.
"Come, try to imitate my movements," Hyuga Ning gestured.
Ning Xue took a deep breath and copied the stance as best he could.
A three-year-old child's body was tender and lacked coordination, making his movements clumsy and unsteady.
But he adjusted his breathing, trying hard to recall his father's demonstration, correcting his posture bit by bit.
Hyuga Ning did not rush to correct him. Instead, he watched carefully.
He was surprised to discover that although Ning Xue's movements were unfamiliar, he had grasped the core points of imitation very accurately. In particular, his intent to gather the strength of his entire body into a single point was far beyond the comprehension a three-year-old should possess.
"Here, lower your waist another thirty percent." Hyuga Ning stepped forward and gently pressed a hand against Ning Xue's waist and abdomen.
"Your center of gravity must be as steady as a boulder.
When you strike, the power rises from the ground, passes through the waist and abdomen, runs through the arm, and finally gathers at the fingertips."
He patiently adjusted Ning Xue's posture, guiding him to feel the sequence of force.
In the days that followed, Ning Xue's life became completely regimented.
In the mornings, he followed his mother, Yuki, in chakra control training, continuing to refine his delicate manipulation of wind- and water-nature chakra. He tried to condense larger, sturdier ice crystals and even began preliminary attempts at controlling small droplets of water.
In the afternoons came unwavering Gentle Fist training. Hyuga Ning began with the most basic footwork and stances, requiring Ning Xue to repeat every movement thousands upon thousands of times until it became muscle memory.
Tedium, exhaustion, and even being sternly corrected by his father for incorrect posture became everyday occurrences.
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