Hyuga Kaguya!

"Wuye, the clan has treated you well enough, hasn't it?"

Hyuga Naoya suddenly spoke. "Over the years, we gave you subsidies, and before you turned three, someone was specifically assigned to handle your meals. For a clansman without the Byakugan, the clan has already done all it could."

"Think it through. If you stay with the Hyuga Clan, at least no one will harm you."

Uchiha Yuxiong was immediately displeased. "Are you saying our Uchiha Clan would harm one of our own? He awakened the Sharingan at seven. He is an unquestionable genius, and the clan will give him the best training."

"In the end, you would only raise him into a blade," Hyuga Naoya sneered. "He has no relatives in the Uchiha Clan. No one will truly treat him as family."

Uchiha Yuxiong retorted, "That is still far better than staying with the Hyuga Clan. He does not even have the Byakugan. How could your Hyuga Clan truly regard him as one of your own? If he joins the Uchiha Clan, at least he will be accepted because of his Sharingan."

The Third waved a hand, stopping their argument for the third time.

"Wuye, tell us what you think," he said gently.

Hyuga Wuye lifted his chin and answered without hesitation, "I want to join the Anbu! I want to pledge my loyalty to Lord Hokage!"

Hyuga Naoya and Uchiha Yuxiong: "..."

The Third: "..."

Akimichi Torifu nearly burst out laughing... He was the only person present who knew Hyuga Wuye even a little, so he naturally knew those words were insincere.

"After you graduate, you will have an opportunity to join the Anbu, but not now."

The Third did not need to ask Hyuga Naoya or Uchiha Yuxiong to know they would object, so he shook his head. "What matters now is which clan you wish to belong to."

Hyuga Wuye truly had not anticipated this. He could only say that the old man, the Third, was indeed crafty—an expert at redirecting conflict.

His next answer was crucial. Offending either side would not be a good idea.

"Elder," he said after thinking for a moment, looking at Hyuga Naoya, "may I ask when my mother will return?"

Uchiha Yuxiong's expression changed... No child did not want to stay by their parents' side. This was the Uchiha Clan's disadvantage.

Because they truly had no idea which romantic bastard his father was.

But Hyuga Naoya's expression also turned ugly at once.

For a moment, the meeting room fell into silence.

Danzo narrowed his eyes. "Could it be... something happened to Hyuga Wuye's mother?"

Uchiha Yuxiong's eyes lit up.

If his mother was around, there really would be no way to take him away. But if she was not...

"Wuye, your mother, she..."

Hyuga Naoya revealed a regretful expression and slowly said, "During the clan head's latest S-rank mission, she died... protecting the clan head."

Hyuga Wuye's eyes abruptly widened.

That woman who had never been home, the woman who had abandoned him when he was three, the woman who seemed never to have cared about him, her son... had simply died like that?

His eyes became lost, and he was utterly bewildered.

"Wuye..."

Akimichi Torifu wrapped an arm around his shoulders with concern.

"Uncle Torifu... I'm fine..."

He closed his eyes for a moment, then slowly opened them. His gaze became calm again.

"I have no attachments left in the Hyuga Clan," Wuye said softly. "If possible, I hope to live with Uncle Torifu. If not, then you can decide..."

Hyuga Naoya frowned deeply.

He knew that Wuye's words meant he was giving up his identity as a member of the Hyuga Clan. Even if they forced him to stay, they would not gain his sincere loyalty.

"What do you say?" the Third asked.

Uchiha Yuxiong revealed a triumphant smile. "Join the Uchiha Clan. In our clan of love, you will find a sense of belonging again."

"And what does the Hyuga Clan say?"

The Third acted as the moderator.

Hyuga Naoya hesitated for a long while before finally speaking slowly. "Hyuga Wuye may leave, but the Uchiha Clan must compensate the Hyuga Clan."

"Fine."

Uchiha Yuxiong agreed at once. "Say what you want."

Hyuga Naoya thought for a moment. "We need the Uchiha Clan's..."

"Hold it!"

At that moment, a woman's sharp cry came from outside the door.

Knock, knock, knock.

Only then did the knocking sound.

The Third frowned. "This is a high-level Konoha meeting. Those who have not been summoned may not enter."

"Lord Hokage, no matter what this concerns, you cannot exclude me, the Hyuga clan head, from it."

The woman's voice was clear and pleasant, yet utterly without emotion—cool and indifferent.

Hyuga Naoya's expression shifted slightly.

The Third immediately put on a gentle expression. "So it is the Hyuga clan head. Come in."

Creak.

The wooden door slowly opened, and a slender figure in white stepped inside against the light.

For an instant, Hyuga Wuye could not even see her face clearly.

All he could see was her dazzling snow-white clothing and her long white hair, hanging straight down to her hips.

Click.

A slender, snow-white hand gently pulled the door shut.

Only then did Wuye clearly see her appearance.

It was like a droplet suddenly falling into the depths of a still lake, stirring ripples across its surface.

Her face seemed carved from ice and snow, adorned with slender willow-leaf brows like crescent moons and crystalline, jade-like white eyes.

Her cheeks were fairer than snow, her beautiful features as poetic as a painting.

Her delicate lips resembled a streak of pink rouge, painted by Heaven itself with painstaking skill—beautiful enough to steal one's breath away.

A stately snow-white kimono was cinched at her slender waist, outlining the fullness of her chest.

This perfect young girl, who appeared only fifteen or sixteen, was actually the head of his Hyuga Clan?!

Hyuga Wuye was dumbfounded.

"Kaguya, why are you here?" Hyuga Naoya sounded somewhat displeased.

Kaguya? Hyuga Kaguya? Who was that? He had never heard of such a person...

Besides, shouldn't the Hyuga clan head have been the grown-up Hyuga Hiashi? Could she be Hyuga Hiashi's older sister?

Hyuga Wuye's mind was a complete mess.

Potential breakup target: Kaguya Otsutsuki.

At that moment, such information inexplicably came from his body, nearly making Wuye cry out in shock.

What? Kaguya Otsutsuki?!

Wasn't she supposed to be on the moon?

"If I had not come, the elder would have sold a clansman like merchandise."

Hyuga Kaguya's voice was soft, yet it was like a bitter winter gale—piercingly cold.

"This..."

Hyuga Naoya looked embarrassed. "That isn't what I..."

But Hyuga Kaguya suddenly raised a hand, cutting him off.

She stood at the end of the table and did not even glance at Hyuga Wuye.

"Lord Hokage, esteemed elders and advisors, and the Uchiha Clan's elder..."

She spoke slowly, but her tone was firm beyond question.

"I came... to inform you..."

"Whether he has awakened the Sharingan, awakened the Byakugan, or learned the Uzumaki clan's secret techniques..."

"As long as his surname is Hyuga, he is a member of my clan."

Hyuga Kaguya's snow-white eyes turned toward him, meeting Hyuga Wuye's gaze in silence.

"No one can force him to leave the clan!"

"No matter who they are!"

At that moment, she seemed to radiate light, illuminating Hyuga Wuye's eyes and shining straight into his heart.

Is this what it feels like to be protected...?