They Still Had to Fight

Kawaki Aoba considered himself a fairly polite person. At the very least, he had said "please," and he hadn't acted as overbearing as the two Hyuga dogs standing before him.

Kawaki Aoba had shown them the greatest goodwill he could, but the two men standing in front of him clearly didn't see it that way.

Hearing what Kawaki Aoba had said, the two Hyuga Chunin looked as if they'd seen a ghost. They couldn't believe their ears.

This half-blood bastard actually dared to speak to them so disrespectfully, as if he were above them.

"Kawaki Aoba, what did you just say? How dare you speak to us like that?" one of the Hyuga Chunin roared, looking ready to strike at any moment and teach Hyuga Aoba a lesson he wouldn't forget.

"Uh, was I not clear enough? Then I'll say it again. You two are blocking the entrance to my home, so would you please get lost?" Kawaki Aoba's tone was quite calm, but his words were all too likely to set someone off.

That was right. He was doing it on purpose.

Kawaki Aoba was toying with them, provoking them. What did he stand to gain from this? Nothing. But there was no downside, either. Well, to be precise, ever since his Byakugan had been exposed, things had already gone so badly that they couldn't possibly get any worse.

If things had already reached their worst, did Kawaki Aoba still need to hold back? Keep swallowing his grievances and hoping for a turnaround he knew was so unlikely it might as well never come? There was no need for that at all.

He'd already had all the wishful thinking he could stand.

"What? The way you two are acting, you want to fight? Attacking a Konoha ninja inside the village—could it be you're spies from an enemy village?" Before the two Hyuga ninja could speak or make another move, Kawaki Aoba struck first, immediately branding them with a serious accusation.

"Bastard!"

"Are you blind? How could we Hyuga ever be spies from an enemy village?"

They spoke almost simultaneously. One man's face flushed a dark red, while veins bulged on the other's forehead. To be clear, that wasn't a sign that he'd activated his Byakugan. He was simply furious.

The two men reacted intensely, but Kawaki Aoba's reaction was even more dramatic.

As soon as they started cursing, Kawaki Aoba used the Body Flicker Technique to retreat a long way and drew the brand-new Kunai he'd just acquired, taking up a fighting stance.

"And you still have the nerve to deny it? The Hyuga are one of Konoha's top clans. Normally, you wouldn't put on airs even with ordinary villagers, but the way you two reacted is clearly different.

"Hmph. You think a cheap trick like that can fool Konoha's ninja? Tell me, how did you fake those two pairs of white eyes in your sockets?"

Without the slightest intention of stopping, Kawaki Aoba had set out from the start to put himself on the moral high ground—to make sure he was in the right. Only then would he have any leverage to negotiate with the Hyuga after a fight, given how weak he was now.

Those words, packed with information, left the two Hyuga ninja speechless.

Hyuga Aoba was right. As one of Konoha's noble clans, the Hyuga had extremely strict rules. When dealing with outsiders, whether they were from the Main Family or the branch family, Hyuga members had to maintain proper manners.

But that was only how they behaved toward people outside the clan.

Clearly, from the start, these two Hyuga Chunin hadn't regarded Kawaki Aoba as an outsider, despite the Hyuga blood flowing through his veins. Though that was hardly a good thing.

The Hyuga were a family that embodied the phrase "a bully at home" to perfection.

It was precisely because of this that the two Hyuga Chunin dared to stand so brazenly in front of his home.

And that, too, was one of the few things that weren't entirely awful about the terrible situation Kawaki Aoba was in.

After all, the Hyuga clan rules didn't apply to him. According to the village registry, he was an ordinary civilian ninja through and through.

Even the Hyuga, one of Konoha's noble clans, couldn't just forcibly abduct a civilian ninja with Jonin potential from within Konoha. Did they really think the Third Hokage was dead?

"Hmph. You sure have a sharp tongue, brat."

"Brat, stop spouting useless nonsense. You awakened the Byakugan, so you're one of us. This is a private matter for the Hyuga clan. Even Lord Hokage won't interfere in it."

These two ninja might have been a little foolish, but after their initial setback, their wits had clearly improved.

From Kawaki Aoba's words, it wasn't hard for them to guess what he was thinking.

"You'd better come with us to see the elders first. As for Lord Hokage, the clan head will explain things to him."

"You dare accuse us of being spies from an enemy village? Then we'll show you whether our Byakugan is fake."

The two Hyuga ninja reached an agreement and activated their Byakugan at the same time, preparing to take Kawaki Aoba down right there.

Kawaki Aoba had been right about one thing: even as members of Konoha's noble clan, they couldn't openly seize an ordinary civilian ninja at will within the village.

And they didn't have that authority, either.

But Kawaki Aoba was a special case. An elder had specifically ordered them to bring the boy back, even if they had to use force.

As long as they brought him to the Hyuga clan, and he really had awakened the Byakugan, they could describe the incident as a family matter in their negotiations with the village.

That way, surely even Lord Hokage wouldn't have anything to say.

The two Hyuga Chunin's reasoning was simple: carry out the elders' orders to the letter. It never occurred to them to wonder whether, if something went wrong, they might be sacrificed afterward as the Hyuga clan's explanation to the Third Hokage.

"So in the end, it still comes down to strength." After a brief sigh, Kawaki Aoba quickly used the Body Flicker Technique to evade the two men's Gentle Fist pincer attack.

Kawaki Aoba used the Body Flicker Technique to dart back and forth, drawing them away from his front door as the two pursued him relentlessly with Gentle Fist. Once they'd retreated a certain distance, a smile appeared at the corner of Kawaki Aoba's mouth.

"That's enough. The marks from this fight are more than enough to prove you two attacked first."

Whether he was the one who attacked or had merely defended himself when forced to was very important to Kawaki Aoba, whose strength was still weak.

Now that the necessary evidence had been left behind, it was time to deal seriously with these two "loyal dogs" of the Hyuga.

"Way of Destruction No. 4: White Lightning."

The corner of Kawaki Aoba's mouth lifted slightly. As a transmigrator, how could he possibly be without the standard golden finger?