" Natsu, all right, stop crying. It wasn't your fault. Those people were just too awful."
Seeing Hyuga Natsu in tears, Hyuga Gen comforted her.
He looked pretty rough right now. That was right—he'd been beaten up, left with a swollen, bruised face. It looked serious, but he was actually more or less fine.
"It's all my fault. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have gotten hurt, Brother Gen."
Hyuga Natsu wiped her tears, feeling guilty.
"Natsu, look me in the eyes. This isn't your fault. You were very brave to stand up for your classmate. I'm proud of you."
Hyuga Gen spoke earnestly and seriously. As he spoke, he reached out and wiped the tears from Hyuga Natsu's face.
"Natsu, can you promise me something?"
"Brother Gen, what is it? I'll do my best."
"No matter what happens from now on, don't cry. Crying too much is bad for your eyes, and it'll make you less pretty, too. Can you promise me? I want to see a smiling, beautiful Natsu."
"Mm, I'll remember. I won't cry anymore."
To prove she wouldn't cry again, Hyuga Natsu forced a smile.
Hearing her say that, Hyuga Gen smiled and nodded. He knew that if Hyuga Natsu made a promise, she'd do her best to keep it.
Thinking about what had happened yesterday, Hyuga Gen couldn't help shaking his head. He hadn't expected that, even at a time like this, some members of the Uchiha Clan would still act so arrogantly and tyrannically. They were practically courting their own destruction.
Yesterday, he'd been out shopping and having fun with Natsu when they unexpectedly ran into an Uchiha collecting protection money.
He hadn't stepped in to stop it. Things like that happened all the time; there were all kinds of people in a big forest. Besides, it was an adult's business. What could a child like him do about it?
"Don't you dare bully my mother!"
Just then, a little girl ran out and charged at the Uchiha, pushing him with all her might, trying to shove him away from her mother. But the Uchiha shoved her back, and she fell to the ground.
The little girl got back up, refusing to give in, and charged at the Uchiha again. This time, she didn't hesitate—she sank her teeth into him.
"Ah! You little brat, let go! If you don't let go right now, don't blame me for what I do!"
The little girl had bitten the Uchiha's hand. He shouted in pain and anger.
The difference in their strength was too great. It didn't take long for the Uchiha to wrench free, then fling the little girl hard to the ground again.
But the Uchiha wasn't unscathed, either. His hand was covered in blood, and Hyuga Gen could tell it must have hurt quite a bit.
"You bit me? I'll kick you to death!"
As he spoke, the Uchiha raised his foot to kick the little girl.
"Stop! You're an adult, bullying a little kid. Aren't you ashamed?"
Hyuga Natsu hurried to the little girl's side and shielded her, glaring at the Uchiha before her.
"Zhihui, are you all right?"
Then Hyuga Natsu turned to look at the little girl on the ground.
"You're... Natsu?"
The little girl looked at Hyuga Natsu uncertainly.
Hyuga Natsu nodded. The little girl was indeed her classmate, Yu Zhihui.
"I was wondering who it was. It's just a Byakugan brat. Get lost, kid. We Uchiha aren't afraid of your Hyuga Clan. If you don't move, I'll kick you, too."
As he spoke, he raised his foot to kick Hyuga Natsu. Of course, Hyuga Gen wasn't going to let him kick her.
"What you're doing is inappropriate. Is the Konoha Military Police Force's job to bully children?"
Hyuga Gen ran over and kicked away the foot the Uchiha had aimed at them.
"Kid, you want to stick your nose into this, too? Why not just watch from the side? Kids these days really don't know what's good for them. Fine, I'll teach you a lesson on behalf of your parents."
Having been kicked away by a child, the Uchiha felt his pride take a hit.
He reached out to grab Hyuga Gen, but Hyuga Gen dodged every attempt. After all, all that running, working out, and learning Taijutsu hadn't been for nothing.
"Kid, you're pretty good at dodging."
When he finished speaking, the Uchiha's whole demeanor changed, turning fierce as he charged at Hyuga Gen.
Hyuga Gen took up a stance. As the fist came flying toward his face, he moved in an instant, grabbed the Uchiha's arm with both hands, and pulled him along, tripping him with his foot. The Uchiha was sent flying.
"That little guy's pretty impressive. I didn't expect that."
By now, quite a few people had gathered around. Some of them murmured among themselves.
This is bad. I only wanted to test the waters. A kid taking down an adult is obviously abnormal. I'm not one of those geniuses.
Hearing the crowd, Hyuga Gen didn't take it as praise. Instead, he thought it spelled trouble and regretted it.
"Very good, kid. You've successfully made me angry."
Seeing the Uchiha's eyes redden, Hyuga Gen sensed trouble. The Uchiha had actually activated his Sharingan. It was only a single Tomoe, but Hyuga Gen knew there was a world of difference between an Uchiha with the Sharingan and one without it.
These Uchiha are a bunch of lunatics. They wouldn't actually dare kill someone in broad daylight, would they? I'm just a kid. Is this really necessary?
Looking into those red eyes, Hyuga Gen thought uncertainly.
No good, is this... a genjutsu?
The scene before his eyes suddenly changed, and Hyuga Gen sensed that something was wrong.
"Huh? Why did it disappear again?" Seeing the scene fade away and the real world return, Hyuga Gen was confused.
He didn't have time to think it over, because the fist before him was growing larger by the moment. Then he spotted a familiar figure approaching from afar, and Hyuga Gen knew what to do.
With a whoosh, Hyuga Gen went flying.
That was right. He could have dodged the punch, but he didn't, so he went flying. The Uchiha's punch had packed a lot of force.
"Still acting tough, huh? Keep acting tough now!"
The Uchiha planted a foot on Hyuga Gen's face and snarled viciously. He still didn't seem satisfied, and stamped down hard twice more.
Everything had changed so quickly. Watching Hyuga Gen pinned beneath the Uchiha's foot, Hyuga Natsu felt as if the whole world had turned gray.
She stood up dazedly and said in a calm, expressionless voice:
"Take your foot off him."
"What'd you say? I can't hear you."
The Uchiha looked at Hyuga Natsu with contempt, then grinned and deliberately stomped on Hyuga Gen again.
"I said, take your foot off him."
A chilly aura suddenly rippled out from Hyuga Natsu. The veins around her Byakugan bulged. Yes, in her anger, Hyuga Natsu had awakened her Byakugan.
"What are you doing? Take your foot off him, now!"
Suddenly, Uchiha Itachi's calm voice came from nearby.
"Uh, young master, what brings you here?"
The Uchiha replied sheepishly, taking his foot away and stepping aside.
"Gen, wake up. Gen?"
Uchiha Itachi hurried over and called out anxiously. When there was no response, he frowned.
Then, without another word, he hoisted Hyuga Gen onto his back and rushed toward the hospital.
Of course, Hyuga Gen hadn't actually passed out. He'd only been pretending. After getting beaten up so badly in front of everyone, it was better to pass out than suffer such public humiliation.
As soon as he got to the hospital, he slowly came to.
"Natsu, go to my house and let my grandfather know. Itachi's here with me, so I'll be fine."
After Hyuga Natsu left, the hospital room fell silent for a while, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
"I'm sorry, Gen."
Uchiha Itachi broke the silence.
"You don't need to apologize to me. It wasn't your fault. Aren't you going to ask what happened?"
"I'm sure it was his fault."
As an Uchiha himself, Uchiha Itachi knew that group all too well. There were plenty of clan members who looked down on everyone and bullied the weak.
Hyuga Gen recounted what he'd seen, and Uchiha Itachi listened quietly.
Then silence fell again.
"Gen, what do you think it would take to save the Uchiha Clan?"
"Maybe you'll have to become stronger—strong enough to influence more people," Hyuga Gen said casually.
The Uchiha Clan's situation was indeed quite complicated. The different sides were suspicious of one another, the clan didn't know how to keep a low profile, and the clan leader wasn't decisive enough when handling things, among other problems.
In short, it wasn't something that could be explained in a few words.
After hearing Hyuga Gen's words, Uchiha Itachi fell into thought.
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