"Is this the Caged Bird Seal?"
Staring at the mark on his forehead in the mirror, Hyuga Gen couldn't help muttering to himself.
"I wonder if there's any way to get rid of it." Hyuga Gen pondered.
He remembered that, according to the lore in Shippuden, this technique was connected to the Byakugan and the soul, and couldn't be undone. The mark would only disappear upon death. The Caged Bird Seal on Neji Hyuga's forehead, for instance, disappeared only after he died in the Fourth Great Ninja War.
The official explanation for its creation was that it had been developed during wartime to prevent the Byakugan from falling into enemy hands and to protect the Branch House. Who had created it, however, was unknown.
Of course, the reasons behind its creation didn't matter. What mattered was that, with this Cursed Seal, whether he lived or died might depend on a whim of someone from the Main House.
For now, as long as he followed the rules, things should be fine. Hyuga Hiashi was a fairly open-minded clan head.
Still, it was hard to be happy knowing he didn't control his own life. Someone else could kill him with a single command.
"Forget it. I'll stop thinking about it and see if there's a way to deal with it later. The most important thing now is to get stronger."
As long as he obediently did as he was told, there shouldn't be a problem. Hyuga Gen put the matter out of his mind.
"Little Master, dinner's ready. The master is waiting for you downstairs," came a voice from outside the door.
"Okay, I'm coming." With no time to think, Hyuga Gen hurried out.
"Thanks for the trouble, Auntie Hui," Hyuga Gen said casually.
Looking at Hyuga Gen, Hyuga Hui felt that he seemed different from before he was injured. But the change was for the better.
After greeting Grandpa, Hyuga Gen went to the table and dug in. The meal was very quiet. The food wasn't particularly delicious, but it wasn't bad either.
Hyuga Hui would occasionally put food in their bowls. When it was just the three of them, she ate with them too, since she had looked after the old master for many years.
They ate in silence, with only the clink of their bowls and chopsticks to be heard. Hyuga Gen felt a little uncomfortable.
"Auntie Hui, could you get me another bowl of rice? Thanks." He was starting to get used to this. He'd meant to serve himself earlier, but Auntie Hui had beaten him to it. After that, he just asked her to serve him.
"You've certainly been eating a lot more lately," Hyuga Kamen said, sounding pleased.
He was very happy about the changes in his grandson. Ever since the Nine-Tails Incident, the boy seemed to have changed quite a bit. Fortunately, the changes were all for the better, and he was glad to see them. Perhaps his grandson was simply growing up and becoming more sensible.
Hyuga Gen said nothing. He was almost embarrassed.
"More than a lot more. He's practically a bottomless pit."
Lately, he'd been constantly refining his chakra, which took a great deal of energy. Food could replenish some of it, so he'd been eating more.
Ever since arriving in this world, he'd been refining chakra nonstop. Having watched Shippuden, he knew how important a person's chakra reserves were.
It was like fuel in a car. Without enough fuel, how could it go fast or travel far?
Hyuga Gen's parents had both been shinobi. They'd spent little time with him, and both had died on the battlefield during the Ninja World War. Because of that, he'd been deeply resentful of shinobi and hated the profession.
No matter how much his grandfather taught him, he never studied seriously, because he hated it to his core. But Xie Wenxing, the soul now inhabiting Hyuga Gen, was fascinated by shinobi.
He wanted to learn everything, from the Transformation Technique to the Clone Technique. He was especially interested in a ridiculously powerful jutsu like the Flying Thunder God. It would be even better if he could learn it.
After leaving the hospital, Hyuga Gen began getting up early every day to go running. He knew running was a great way to train both the body and the mind.
And since chakra was based on physical and mental energy, his reserves should grow quickly as his fitness improved.
The results were just as he'd expected: his chakra reserves kept increasing.
When more food arrived, Hyuga Gen buried his head in his meal again.
From his memories, the relationship between grandfather and grandson hadn't been very good. Whenever he came to Hyuga Kamen's house, it meant his parents were going away on a mission.
He would cry every time. Hyuga Kamen was a stern man who hated crying children most of all. He would then teach Hyuga Gen about the clan's jutsu, but because of his own dislike of the subject, the boy never learned properly.
He hated shinobi because his parents were shinobi and couldn't be there for him. They were always apart. He didn't understand the grand principles of serving the village; he only wanted his parents to spend more time with him.
So he didn't want to learn anything related to shinobi. But he was forced to learn some things anyway, and he deliberately pretended to be hopeless at them, claiming he had no talent.
Of course, no one knew that he had nearly perfect recall for everything he learned. His talent went without saying.
After learning that his son and daughter-in-law had died, Hyuga Kamen had aged considerably. He stopped forcing Hyuga Gen to study and let the boy grow up on his own.
When Hyuga Gen accidentally learned that his parents had died on the battlefield, he grew quiet. He also understood why his grandfather had stopped forcing him to study. At his parents' funeral, he didn't cry; he was like a wooden doll.
From then on, he spoke to no one except the little girl next door.
That little girl was Hyuga Natsu. Ever since he'd come to live with his grandfather, the only person who could make him happy was this cute, pretty girl. He always wanted to be with her and play with her.
During the Nine-Tails Incident, the two of them had been playing outside when flying rubble struck them. Without hesitation, Hyuga Gen shielded Hyuga Natsu, and lost his life. That was how the new Hyuga Gen came to be.
"Big Brother Gen, you're already eating?" A little head suddenly peeked in through the doorway.
"Oh, it's Natsu. Come here and let Grandpa give you a hug." Hyuga Kamen seemed to become a different person.
"Hello, Grandpa Kamen."
Hyuga Natsu smiled and greeted Hyuga Kamen sweetly.
"Natsu, is something the matter?"
Hyuga Kamen picked Hyuga Natsu up and asked her kindly.
"It's nothing much. Mother made something delicious and sent me to invite Big Brother Gen over to eat with us."
"He's already eaten, so there's no need—"
"Natsu, you haven't eaten yet, have you? Then what are we waiting for? Come on, let's go together."
Hyuga Gen cut Hyuga Kamen off before he could finish. Excitedly, he took Hyuga Natsu by the hand and headed for the door.
"Goodbye, Grandpa Kamen."
Hyuga Natsu called back to Hyuga Kamen, then left with Hyuga Gen.
"That child, honestly..." Hyuga Kamen shook his head helplessly.
"Isn't this much better? It's certainly better than when he wouldn't say a word. For a while there, I was really afraid something else might happen to the little master."
Hyuga Hui spoke with lingering fear, as if remembering something.
"That's true."
Remembering how Hyuga Gen had once looked completely blank and said nothing at all, Hyuga Kamen felt worried too. He was afraid something might happen to his only grandson.
He suddenly felt grateful for the Nine-Tails Incident. It hadn't cost him much, and this time it had also put the Uchiha, the Hyuga Clan's longtime rival, in the spotlight.
He knew that perhaps the Hyuga Clan's spring was finally coming.
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