Shocking! The Hyuga Style's Secret Exam Technique—You'll Regret Missing This

In the living room.

Keiko lined up the lunch boxes in a row.

"Aunt Keiko, I've already eaten. Look, my stomach's still bloated." Hayato rubbed his belly.

The lunch boxes were incredibly lavish: golden fried pork cutlets and rosy sausages that had Hayato swallowing hard.

But he was already full. There was no helping it—Ichiraku Ramen portions were seriously hardcore.

"Isn't tomorrow your exam?" Keiko explained with a smile. "Pork cutlets! Sausages!"

In Japanese, pork cutlet was pronounced the same as "victory," so eating one before an exam meant wishing for success.

The same went for sausages.

Keiko gave her husband a meaningful look.

"Cough!" Takaya Hyuga suddenly bent his knees, folded one foot beneath him, struck a distinctive Noh-theater pose, and covered his face with his sleeve.

"Clang, clang, clang..." Takaya Hyuga provided his own sound effects, then slowly lowered his sleeve to reveal a new lunch box containing takoyaki.

In a strange tone, Takaya Hyuga said, "Look, there's takoyaki inside! Ohoho..."

Based on the pronunciation of the loanword takoyaki, it could be interpreted as meaning that if there was takoyaki inside, one would pass the exam.

Hayato: O_O!!!

He finally understood why Tokuma Hyuga had such a strange look on his face.

Although Takaya Hyuga looked stern, he was actually a complete goofball. He loved telling jokes and was especially skilled at turning every funny joke into a painfully unfunny one.

Takaya Hyuga's sly square face leaned closer. "This is the newest style of Noh performance I saw at the daimyo's residence. What do you think?"

What did he think?

Whatever makes you happy.

Hayato looked at Tokuma Hyuga. Tokuma stared straight ahead, expressionless.

"It's great." Hayato forced a smile. "No exaggeration—you're an actor held back by being a ninja. With a little more practice, your future achievements will be limitless."

Takaya Hyuga tightly grasped Hayato's hand, moved beyond words. "Hayato, you really do understand me..."

Tokuma Hyuga pointed at his heart with a blank look, clearly asking: Did his conscience not hurt?

Hayato grinned, revealing a row of gleaming white teeth.

In the end, Hayato could not withstand Keiko Hyuga's hospitality and could only say, "Thanks for the meal!"

The truth proved that, like a chest, there was always room in a stomach if you squeezed hard enough.

Before long, more than half the lunch boxes had been emptied.

Keiko Hyuga watched Hayato eat with a beaming smile.

Takaya Hyuga held a cup of tea and wore a profound, contemplative expression, but anyone who knew him understood that he was definitely mulling over more unreliable jokes.

Tokuma Hyuga still wore his constipated expression.

"Thanks for the meal." Hayato felt like he had eaten too much.

Keiko Hyuga stopped Hayato as he tried to clean up the lunch boxes. "I'll do it. You men can talk business."

Takaya Hyuga waved him over. "Come here."

Hayato obediently went over.

Takaya Hyuga asked, "How are your preparations for the graduation exam?"

"No problem," Hayato said.

Tokuma Hyuga said from the side, "Ever since the Hyuga Clan began sending students to the Ninja Academy, no Hyuga student has ever failed the graduation exam."

For a long time after the Ninja Academy was established, it had only civilian students. Ninja clans joined gradually afterward. What Tokuma Hyuga meant was that the graduation exam was not merely a personal matter—it concerned the clan's honor as well, and failure was not an option.

After thinking for a moment, Hayato said, "Lord Hokage wants me to join the ANBU. It happened a few days ago."

That meant Hayato had been specially recruited. Even if he turned in a blank written exam, he could still pass.

After all, the Naruto world respected strength above all else. Could Rock Lee fail the written test, be unable to use ninjutsu or genjutsu, and then be unable to graduate from the Ninja Academy?

Ever since Might Duy single-handedly killed some of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen and beat the rest into psychological collapse, Rock Lee—the direct disciple of Might Guy and inheritor of the Eight Gates—had been on the Hokage's radar.

Unable to graduate?

No such thing!

Takaya Hyuga said, "Oh, so that happened. Let's hear it."

Hayato described his experience at the Hokage Building in full.

After listening, Takaya Hyuga sighed. "That was too hasty."

It had been too hasty.

At the time, Hayato had considered only himself and the ANBU, not the relationship between the village and the Hyuga Clan. But over the past few days, combining his experience as a transmigrator with the information he had gathered, Hayato had begun to see the bigger picture. If time could turn back and he could choose again, he would still choose to join the ANBU.

The Hyuga Clan was Hayato's natural support, but that support was not particularly solid.

Just consider Hizashi Hyuga. The village had demanded that the Hyuga Clan make a sacrifice for political reasons, that was true. But as one of Konoha's great clans, if the Hyuga Clan had taken a firmer stance—or even mobilized the entire clan in support of Konoha's war effort—would Konoha have had more confidence? Would Hizashi Hyuga no longer have needed to sacrifice himself?

Konoha had been weak at the time, but was the Hidden Cloud Village not weak as well?

If they had not been weak, why had they not simply started a war directly?

If war broke out, Konoha feared the other ninja villages forming an alliance. The other ninja villages, meanwhile, had to worry about plastic allies stabbing them in the back.

Clearly, whoever backed down would lose.

Konoha's decision had not only needlessly cost the life of an outstanding jonin, but had also laid bare its own weakness for all to see.

What was more, as a member of the Branch Family, the clan was not just a shield. It was also shackles and a cage.

The Caged Bird mark was like a thorn buried in every Branch Family member's heart.

In the end, Takaya Hyuga thought for a while before saying, "Since it has already happened, there's nothing to be done. This matter can become either serious or trivial. I'll report it to the clan head in advance, so that if anything changes, you won't be caught in the middle."

"Thank you, Uncle." Hayato thanked him sincerely.

Finally, Takaya Hyuga said earnestly, "Hayato, you've been smart since you were young, and you have your own ideas. You're a lot like your father in that way. But you must think thrice before speaking or acting. Don't be impulsive. Always remember your three identities—Konoha ninja, member of the Hyuga Clan, and member of the Hyuga Branch Family."

After seeing his uncle's family off, Hayato sat alone in the hall and pondered Takaya Hyuga's words.

What had Takaya Hyuga meant?

Others might think Takaya Hyuga had been reminding Hayato to love the village and love the clan, but Hayato knew his uncle was not that kind of traditional, rigid person. Takaya Hyuga was probably warning him not to get drawn into conflicts of interest between the village and the clan. In the face of both, the Branch Family stood in a weak position.

Before interests, what did even great clans amount to?

Where was Uzushio Village, once Konoha's staunchest ally, now?

Its nation and village had both been destroyed!

Where was the Uchiha Clan, one of Konoha's great clans, now?

It had nearly been exterminated!

The reasons behind it all were certainly complicated, and Konoha could not bear all the blame. But judging only by the outcome, both had been sacrificed for the village's interests.

Could the clan be trusted?

Trust went both ways. Did the Main Branch trust the Branch Family?

Then what was the Caged Bird mark supposed to be?

Do not talk about protecting the Byakugan. If the Caged Bird mark truly worked, then what was the Byakugan held by Ao of the Hidden Mist Village?

It was a slap, a vicious slap across the Hyuga Clan's face.

If there was no trust, then on what grounds did the Main Branch demand that the Branch Family devote themselves to it unconditionally?

Hayato could not help wondering whether the Caged Bird was one piece of some millennium-long scheme by that old schemer, the Ōtsutsuki Clan. Unable to protect the Byakugan, limiting the clan members' strength, and stirring up internal conflict within the Hyuga Clan—it really was the Ōtsutsuki Clan's style.

Hayato took a book from the shelf. Its cover read: Customs and Landscapes of the Five Great Nations.

Inside, however, lay another world.

The first page bore a pale blue Caged Bird curse mark—an intersecting symbol and two reversed hook-shaped marks.

What followed was research on various sealing techniques and curse marks, as well as an analysis of the Caged Bird.

This was not Hayato's work, but something left behind by his father, Takuya Hyuga.

Many members of the Hyuga Branch Family had hidden a book or box like this.

After flipping through a few pages, Hayato silently put the book back on the shelf.

The next day was the first day of the graduation exams.

Hayato woke up early as usual. After tidying himself up, he trained in his own yard until he was sweating.

He took a cold shower, then ate breakfast.

On the street.

"Maki, what a coincidence!" Hayato ran into the rich girl again.

"Good morning, Hayato!"

With a pink shoulder bag slung across her body and a paper umbrella in hand, her face was bright with a youthful smile.

Rock Lee followed behind her.

Rock Lee held a notebook, his brow tightly furrowed, his thick eyebrows nearly touching. He kept his head lowered and muttered to himself, immersed in his own world—that was why Hayato had not greeted him immediately.

"You seem to be in a good mood. Looks like you're pretty confident about the exam." Hayato said it casually, never expecting to hit the mark.

Maki smiled. "Yeah. According to reliable sources, aside from the Three Body Technique, there's a very high chance they'll test us on ninja tool usage."

"Oh, then congratulations."

Ninja tools were Maki's strongest subject. No wonder she was so happy.

Hayato looked at Rock Lee and asked quietly, "Isn't it too late to start cramming now?"

At that, Maki ground her teeth. "I gave him my notebook and the key points days ago. This idiot didn't memorize the whole thing—he didn't even memorize a page... no, not even a single word!"

At that moment, Rock Lee raised his head. Tears shimmered in his eyes as he said pitifully, "Hayato, I might not be able to graduate this year. Sob, sob..."

Hayato took the notebook from his hands, flipped through two pages, and casually tossed it into a trash can.

"What are you doing, Hayato?!" Rock Lee wailed. "My notebook, my youth~~~"

Maki's face darkened beside them. "I don't know what you're trying to do, Hayato, but a friendly reminder: that notebook is mine."

Hayato froze, mouthed, "I'll pay you back," then patted Rock Lee on the shoulder and said earnestly, "Lee, there's no point studying at a time like this, so..."

"So?"

"So give up."

"Ah!" Rock Lee looked as though he had been struck by lightning. "My youth really is gray."

"However..."

"However?"

"For the sake of youthful passion, I've decided to teach you the Hyuga Clan's secret exam technique, passed down to no one for a thousand years! Listen carefully!" Hayato leaned closer to Rock Lee and whispered, "If there are three long answers and one short, choose the shortest. If there are three short and one long, choose the longest. If there are two long and two short, choose B. If they are all the same length, choose A. If the lengths vary, choose D. If they're all irregular, you're invincible. Got it?"

"I didn't get it!"

"Uh..."

Sure enough, when God opened a window for someone, He would close a door. Lee had put all his talent points into taijutsu.

"Repeat after me. Three long and one short, choose the shortest..."

"Three long and one short, choose the shortest..."

One had cataracts, the other had a watermelon haircut. The one with cataracts spouted nonsense with a completely serious face, while the watermelon head nodded again and again, tears and snot flying together, their combined brainpower matching a walnut. No matter how one looked at it, the scene was devastating to one's intelligence.

What could be said? Special children had more fun, especially when there were two of them.

A beautiful girl followed behind them, looking grim. Whenever a passerby looked their way, she repeatedly waved her hands, making it clear that she did not know them.

[PS] During my noon break, I was delighted to discover two more recommendations.

First, thank you to everyone who, after reading the main text, took the time to read this author's PS and this chapter. I don't know who cast this book's first vote, so let's count them as tied for first place? Either way, I wish the two handsome guys or beautiful ladies who voted a wonderful life, good health, promotions and prosperity, and peace for their entire families—as well as for every friend reading these words.

The next chapter will be up tomorrow at 8:00. Please look forward to it.