Almost Graduating

"Xia, graduation is almost here. Do you have any plans for the future?" Hyuga Gen asked.

"Mother doesn't want me to become a ninja; she's afraid I'll encounter danger. She wants me to stay at the Main House and help out," Hyuga Natsu replied.

"And what do you think?" Hyuga Gen asked again.

"I want to look after Lady Hanabi. The Clan Head detests her; she's so pitiful. She's so young, and it was never her fault to begin with," Hyuga Natsu said with a hint of indignation. From the way she referred to her uncle as the Clan Head, it was clear that Hyuga Natsu was growing dissatisfied with Hyuga Hiashi.

"Indeed," Hyuga Gen sighed in agreement. Hyuga Hanabi was truly innocent. Her mother had suffered complications during childbirth; the baby survived, but the mother passed away.

Because her birth led to her mother's death, everyone whispered that she was a harbinger of misfortune. Hyuga Hiashi also believed she was the one who killed her mother, so he ignored her completely and never showed her any affection.

With even her own father ignoring her, the servants in the estate naturally didn't hold her in any regard, so one could easily imagine her situation.

Truth be told, this could hardly be blamed on a newborn. Fortunately, Hanabi had a kind sister, Hyuga Hinata, who often spent time playing with her.

However, Hyuga Gen also knew how busy Hinata was. Hyuga Hiashi was grooming Hinata as his successor, so she was in training every moment, needing to set an example as the heir of the Main House.

Because of this, she didn't have much time to spend with her sister Hanabi. Even if she knew about Hanabi's situation, there was nothing she could do in front of Hyuga Hiashi.

If one were to ask who Hyuga Hinata feared most, it would undoubtedly be her father, Hyuga Hiashi. Although Hinata wouldn't flinch even when facing Pain, she probably wouldn't dare to even breathe loudly in front of Hyuga Hiashi.

"Brother Dongyi, why don't you give up being a ninja too? It's quite dangerous," Hyuga Natsu said, looking into Hyuga Gen's eyes with concern.

"If I don't become a ninja, what else could I do?"

"You could go into business! With Brother Dongyi's brains, Xia believes you could become the richest person in the world one day," Hyuga Natsu replied, her eyes sparkling.

"Haha, business requires strength too. If you don't have the power, you won't be able to protect the wealth you earn. Becoming a ninja is a faster way to improve one's own strength."

"But, Brother Dongyi~"

"Xia, don't you trust Brother Dongyi's strength? Even if I can't win a fight, I have Xiaojin; escaping won't be a problem. You can rest easy," Hyuga Gen said quickly, not letting Hyuga Natsu finish.

Looking across the Shippuden era, there were very few people who could fly; in the early stages, there were almost no ninjas capable of flight. In the mid-to-late stages, the number of flyers increased, but it still didn't exceed the count of one's fingers.

Hyuga Gen couldn't help but recall the scene in Shippuden where Kakashi chased Deidara. If not for the special ability of Kakashi's Sharingan, they would have had no other way to attack Deidara.

If Deidara had truly wanted to run, few people could have stopped him. Unfortunately, he was too arrogant at the time and got baited by Naruto, which led to him accidentally having an arm twisted off by Kakashi's Kamui.

Hearing Hyuga Gen say this and thinking of his many methods, Hyuga Natsu felt slightly more at ease. She tilted her head, resting it on Hyuga Gen's shoulder, and watched the sunset in the distance in silence.

Under the setting sun, the young boy and girl leaned against each other quietly until night fell.

Seeing the girl beside him had fallen asleep, even drooling slightly at the corner of her mouth, Hyuga Natsu—no, Hyuga Gen couldn't help but smile. The way she looked right now was incredibly cute.

Seeing no signs of her waking up, Hyuga Gen held Hyuga Natsu and stood up, preparing to take her home. He didn't dare let Hyuga Natsu stay the night; the older he got, the more he feared Hyuga Mikoto.

Lying in bed, Hyuga Gen thought about what Hyuga Natsu's mother, Hyuga Mikoto, had said earlier:

"Since Xia is asleep, just let her sleep at your place. Why bring her back? You wouldn't do anything bad to her, would you?" Hyuga Mikoto had said with a gentle smile.

For some reason, that smile made Hyuga Gen feel a chill run down his spine. Was this what they called a smiling tiger?

Of course, what Hyuga Gen didn't notice was that Hyuga Natsu had actually woken up halfway there, and right after he left, Hyuga Mikoto had helplessly woken up the girl who was pretending to be asleep.

She could see how much her daughter liked Hyuga Gen; she wasn't blind. Ever since that boy saved her life during the Nine-Tails Incident, her daughter's heart had been stuck to him.

She had tried to pull her daughter away, but it hadn't had much effect. Fortunately, the boy was decent enough, just a bit too popular with women. She couldn't manage much now, so she just let them be.

Thinking about graduation, Hyuga Gen felt a sense of anticipation. Soon, he would become a ninja and be able to see the wider world.

Remembering Uchiha Izumi, he felt a bit deflated. He probably wouldn't be able to leave Konoha for a short time because he had to save her.

Therefore, he could not leave Konoha before Uchiha Itachi massacred the clan. If he left, he might miss his chance, and according to the plot of Shippuden, Uchiha Izumi would perish.

Hyuga Gen would absolutely not allow such a thing to happen, so the best way was to stay in Konoha. In Shippuden, Izumi was killed by the masked man in Konoha when she returned from a mission.

Those who awakened the Sharingan would become paranoid, and their mental state would become unstable. Hyuga Gen tended to believe this viewpoint from his previous world.

After all, the condition for awakening the Sharingan was to receive a massive emotional shock. In Hyuga Gen's view, it was perfectly normal for someone who had suffered such a massive mental shock to become somewhat abnormal.

Most Uchiha who awakened their eyes had unstable emotions; they were prone to losing their heads, and he had seen their paranoia and madness with his own eyes.

It was rare for people like Uchiha Itachi and Shisui to become more altruistic due to awakening their eyes, and in Hyuga Gen's view, even this kind of altruism was somewhat abnormal.

To be able to cast aside everything for the sake of the village's peace and stability—to even kill one's own parents and entire clan for the sake of the village—was not something a normal person could do, in Hyuga Gen's opinion. If it were him, he might have rebelled with them, or even died with them, but killing his own parents with his own hands was something Hyuga Gen truly couldn't bring himself to do.

Suddenly remembering that Uchiha Itachi was always ill in Shippuden, Hyuga Gen roughly guessed the cause of his illness.

Having killed his own parents with his own hands, even for the sake of the village's peace, Itachi's heart couldn't have been at ease. He likely buried all that pain deep within his heart; how could he not fall ill after so long? This was his heart-sickness.

And the reason he held on without dying was probably because he couldn't let go of Sasuke. Once he saw that Sasuke had grown up and no longer needed his worry, he stopped struggling and went to that world to atone to his parents.

Although the three of them had a good relationship in the past, Hyuga Gen felt that Uchiha Itachi wouldn't give up on killing Uchiha Izumi just because of that; at most, he wouldn't kill her with his own hands.

Therefore, Hyuga Gen had already decided: after becoming a ninja, he would find a way to stay in Konoha before the Uchiha massacre, taking only E-rank and D-rank missions, never leaving the village, and waiting for that day to come.

He would not let this kind and beautiful girl, who had given him a seat, disappear from his world.