Hiashi's Recognition

[Name: Uchiha Ao]

[Age: Nine~Ten]

"It's hard to believe I've been in this world for nine years already." Autumn wind swept ginkgo leaves past Uchiha Ao's clothes. He stared at the numbers changing on the panel, feeling a little wistful.

Bonds were a curious thing. When he'd first arrived in this world and learned that he was part of the Uchiha Clan, with the Night of the Uchiha Massacre drawing near, he'd considered simply leaving.

But after Sister Izumi's family took him in, those cold plans to flee had slowly melted away in the warmth rising from the kitchen stove.

The little tune Izumi's Mother hummed while kneading dough, the steady thud of a knife chopping vegetables on the cutting board, and Sister Izumi clinging to him like a koala—all those little comforts were like fine silk threads, trapping him in a cocoon called "home." And he was more than happy to stay.

"Little brother, what are you daydreaming about? It's time to make a wish!"

He turned toward the voice. Sister Izumi rose onto her tiptoes as she pushed a red bean cake covered in candles toward him. Their glow made her eyes sparkle.

Izumi's Mother stood by the stove in a floral apron, still holding a flour-dusted wooden spoon, smiling warmly at him.

Today was his tenth birthday. The room was filled with the sweet aroma of cream and red bean paste. At some point, ginkgo leaves had been strung into a wreath and hung on the doorframe, where it swayed gently.

"I wish..." Uchiha Ao silently thought.

His greatest wish now was for his family to stay safe and well.

And in this world, only strength could ensure that this tenderness would last.

Early morning, abandoned training ground.

"Hinata, you've learned almost everything by now. There's just one last step." Morning light filtered through the training ground's patchy canopy, casting flecks of brightness and shadow over Uchiha Ao and Hinata.

"Prove yourself in front of your father!" Uchiha Ao continued.

Hinata nodded firmly.

She was no longer as timid and evasive as she'd once been. Her gaze, once lowered, had become resolute and bright.

Hinata took a deep breath. A pale blue chakra aura rose around her, and the markings of her Byakugan shimmered clearly in the morning light. She even seemed to radiate a hint of sharpness.

"Ao-kun, I'm ready!" Her voice no longer trembled. It carried the boldness of someone breaking free from a cocoon.

"I believe in you, Hinata." Uchiha Ao met her gaze.

The fledgling had grown up. All she needed now was a chance to spread her wings.

The Hyuga Clan estate.

"Hinata, was there a reason you asked me to come?" Hyuga Hiashi looked at Hinata, whose gaze was resolute, and felt a little emotional.

He'd seen the changes in her over the past few days. She was increasingly beginning to carry herself like an heir.

He realized he'd underestimated that Uchiha brat.

It seemed he was better suited to teaching Hinata than Hiashi was.

Hinata took a deep breath and straightened her back. Her Byakugan glowed with a faint blue light. "Father, I'd like to show you what I've accomplished through my training."

Her voice still quavered a little, but the conviction in her words rang out like metal striking stone.

Hiashi raised an eyebrow slightly. From the corner of his eye, he spotted Neji Hyuga standing at the edge of the courtyard.

"Very well. If you can defeat Neji, I'll recognize you as a candidate to inherit the Hyuga family." Hiashi paused before continuing, "From now on, whatever you want to do, I'll turn a blind eye—as long as it doesn't harm the family's interests."

Hinata nodded in agreement.

"Neji, you heard me. Come here," Hiashi said gravely.

Neji stepped forward. The Cursed Seal on his forehead rose and fell faintly with each breath.

Neji's feelings toward Hinata were complicated.

On the one hand, she was his cousin, a relative bound to him by blood;

on the other, as a member of the branch family burdened by the Cursed Seal, he resented the main family.

"Lady Hinata, I won't go easy on you," Neji said coldly.

"Neji, I understand." Hinata clasped her hands in front of her chest and lifted her chin, meeting the chill in Neji's eyes head-on.

With that, Neji gestured for her to make the first move.

"Lady Hinata, to keep things fair, you can attack first."

He was confident in his own strength.

Hinata took a deep breath and planted her foot hard against the ground. Pale blue chakra surged around her as her hands fluttered like butterfly wings.

"Neji, watch out."

Hinata took the classic Eight Trigrams Palms stance of the Hyuga family. One palm was held in front of the other, both slightly cupped, her elbows bent as if embracing a sphere.

Neji didn't take her seriously. He merely narrowed his eyes slightly, intending to block the move head-on and show Hinata just how great the gap between them was.

As Hinata closed in, Neji crossed his arms before his chest and took a defensive stance.

He watched coldly as Hinata rushed toward him, but the instant her palm grazed his skin, his pupils contracted. Beneath her seemingly gentle strike lay a fierce force capable of shattering stone.

"Bang!" Hinata's palm slammed into the arms Neji had raised to protect his chest. A shock wave burst from the point of impact, sending gravel flying into the air.

Neji grunted and stumbled back three steps before managing to steady himself. Blood trickled from the web between his thumb and forefinger.

He stared at his cousin in disbelief. The Hinata he remembered had been too timid even to throw a punch, but now the chakra around her was as sharp and tangible as a blade.

"How... is this possible?!" Neji gritted his teeth and charged again, trying to counter with the Gentle Fist. But Hinata's footwork was elusive, each step precisely targeting a blind spot in his attacks.

Pale blue chakra flowed through Hinata's pathways as waves of Eight Trigrams Palms strikes surged toward him. Her seventh strike swept past his ear and left a palm-sized dent half an inch deep in the century-old locust tree behind him.

"Neji, please take this seriously." Hinata looked at him, apparently having no trouble fending him off, and sounded a little displeased.

Neji gritted his teeth and let out a low growl. His figure vanished from where he stood. When he reappeared, he was behind Hinata. "Naive!" His voice was thick with barely contained anger. "You think something like this can change your fate?"

Before the words had even left his mouth, Neji's hands flashed through the motions. He, too, had taken the starting stance of Eight Trigrams Palms, pale green chakra gathering in his palms.

The instant their palms clashed, the air erupted in a sharp crack.

The stone slabs beneath Hinata's feet cracked apart with a crash, but she used the force to leap into the air and spun into a kick.

Neji's pupils contracted. He immediately crossed his arms over his chest, chakra surging into them like a tide and forming a layer of flowing green light across his skin.

The moment they made contact, Neji was knocked back several meters once again.

He dropped to one knee and gasped for breath, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth onto his collar.

Hinata didn't press her advantage. She steadied herself, lowered her hands to her sides, and said calmly, "Neji, it's over."

I... lost?

Neji braced one hand on the ground and tried to stand, unwilling to accept it.

"Neji, you lost." Hiashi announced the final outcome of the duel from the sidelines.

Neji dug his fingers deep into the ground, leaving scratches in the stone slabs.

He jerked his head up, his eyes bloodshot. "Impossible! How could I lose to..." His voice abruptly cut off. Looking at Hinata's upright figure, he suddenly remembered his father's final moments—the man who'd also lost to the main family, yet had chosen to quietly accept his fate.

Neji's Adam's apple bobbed. Suddenly, he let out a bitter, piercing laugh. It rang with six years of the Cursed Seal's oppression and ten years of hatred and resentment, shaking the last locust leaves from the courtyard trees.

Trembling, he reached for the Cursed Seal on his forehead, his fingernails almost breaking the skin. "So even a timid young lady like you can trample me underfoot..." His hoarse voice was full of self-mockery. "What am I still clinging to?"

"The main family... the branch family..." Neji swayed as he stood, his figure more hunched than before his defeat. "It's all a joke."

He turned to Hinata, but his gaze passed through her and settled somewhere far beyond. "Congratulations, Lady Hinata. You won."

The words seemed to take all his strength. He staggered backward and knocked over a stone lantern.

"Neji..." Kindhearted Hinata started to say, but Hiashi stopped her.

"Someone, take Neji for treatment."

Several Hyuga shinobi stepped forward to support the staggering Neji, but he waved them away and dragged himself toward the veranda alone.

Hiashi paid little attention to Neji's reaction. He certainly owed the boy, but this was the Hyuga Clan, and there were many things even he couldn't change.

He looked at Hinata, his eyes filled with a little more warmth. "Hinata, you've grown up. I can entrust the Hyuga Clan's future to you with peace of mind. I'll keep my promise."

Meanwhile, at Uchiha Ao's lodgings.

"Congratulations, Host, on completing the main quest: Caged Bird Longing for Freedom."

"Reward obtained: Hinata's Byakugan (Enhanced Version)"

"Ding! Otsutsuki Bloodline progress: 10%"