I Still Love Him Very Much

"Young Master Hikari, when did you get back?" Ning Qi sheathed his short blade and smiled at the newcomer.

Hyuga Hikari was a member of the Hyuga Main Family. His background was roughly comparable to Hyuga Ling's, who had bullied Neji at the Ninja Academy. His father was an elder of considerable standing within the Hyuga clan. Hikari himself was exceptionally gifted and steady-tempered. Only three years older than Ning Qi, he had just become a Konoha Jonin this year.

Ning Qi met his gaze. Though this Hyuga Hikari had never offended him, there was nothing to be done about it. Who told him to possess a pair of Byakugan with such exceptionally high purity?

"I only got back recently." Hyuga Hikari paused. He did not notice the malice in Ning Qi's eyes, only feeling somewhat puzzled.

He had just returned after three months away on a mission. The first thing he did after reporting to the Third Hokage was come to report to Clan Head Hiashi. Yet before he could even speak, the clan head had sent him away to fetch Ning Qi before continuing.

Hyuga Hikari admitted that Ning Qi was astonishingly talented. Konoha's Twin Prodigies was no empty title, and the fact that he had single-handedly beaten the entire younger generation of the Hyuga Main Family into submission was something he had proven with his fists.

Of course, quite a few of the Main Family youths who had once stood against Ning Qi had since died mysteriously. But Hyuga Hikari was one of the few exceptions. He was steady and upright, and did not like throwing his weight around to bully the weak. Though he was not familiar with Ning Qi and they had little contact, there was no conflict between them. Having gone through countless life-and-death crises while carrying out missions, he had come to understand the preciousness of life and the importance of companions all the more. He naturally had no objection to a fellow clansman elite like Ning Qi, someone powerful enough to one day hold up the sky.

But a so-called genius was ultimately just an ordinary person whose enormous potential had yet to be realized. No matter how mild-tempered Hyuga Hikari was, he was still a Jonin. His seniority and status were there for all to see. Since when did he need this Branch Family genius to sit in on his report to the clan head?

Did the clan head really value Ning Qi that much?

The two walked side by side. Hyuga Hikari felt awkward no matter what, so he simply asked directly, "Do you know why Clan Head Hiashi called you over?"

Because a new pair of Byakugan arrived, and I'm getting ready to receive them... Ning Qi looked at him, that thought flashing through his mind.

"Maybe it's because of the recent string of clan members going missing," Ning Qi casually made up an excuse.

Hyuga Hikari froze. He had not expected that answer, and the resentment rising in his heart instantly vanished.

He had been away on missions for a long time and had only just returned, so he knew nothing of the tragedy that had recently befallen the Branch Family. He hurriedly asked what had happened, and Ning Qi briefly explained.

"Someone is targeting our Hyuga clan from the shadows."

"Three bodies have been found in the village this month alone: Hyuga Tokuma, Hyuga Tsubaki, and Hyuga Tsuki. They were all members of the Branch Family. Tokuma and Tsubaki were both from the Hokage's Direct ANBU Unit, and neither had been assigned a mission when they died."

"But there are actually even more missing clan members than bodies discovered. I have reason to suspect that all those missing Hyuga clansmen have already been murdered. Their bodies simply have not been found yet."

"Our enemy is an extremely cruel and cunning person. We don't know when he began targeting the Hyuga clan. Young Master Hikari, do you remember? Years ago, the Hyuga clan also had many members disappear one after another. It was much like today. Back then, we couldn't even find the bodies..."

"Several years have passed, and something similar has happened again. It has already drawn Lord Hokage's serious attention. We don't know when the investigation will yield results. Clan Head Hiashi may feel that we cannot simply wait around, and that we need to handle this crisis ourselves."

Ning Qi put on an act as he analyzed the situation.

"Even Tokuma..." Hyuga Hikari had never expected the matter to be so troublesome. Although Hyuga Tokuma was a Branch Family member, he possessed a Byakugan of extremely high purity. He was the most talented of the younger Branch Family generation after Ning Qi. Yet even he had been killed.

"So the clan head wants us to join forces and find the mastermind?" Hyuga Hikari frowned deeply. He recalled the subtle expression Lord Hokage had worn when looking at him after he returned from his mission. "Why didn't Lord Hokage tell me any of this?"

Ning Qi said nothing, and Hyuga Hikari immediately realized why.

Every victim Ning Qi had listed was a member of the Hyuga Branch Family.

For some reason, Lord Hokage did not seem to trust him, a member of the Main Family, very much either.

But he had been away carrying out a mission. He had a perfect alibi.

Could it be...

Lord Hokage distrusted not him alone, but the Hyuga Main Family as a whole?

But...

Why?

Hyuga Hikari grew even more confused.

For a time, the air fell silent. The two entered the Hyuga clan head's residence through a side gate.

"This way." Ning Qi led from the front.

The clan head's residence occupied a vast area and was fully equipped. The lights lining the roads were dim and murky, not even as bright as the moonlight, yet they still struggled to give off their own light, as though trying to tear through that despairing, illusory veil of moonlight.

A strange aura permeated the air. The instant Hyuga Hikari took a step forward, his body paused. Then it was as though he had entered another world and become another person. He suddenly could not remember what he had been pondering just now.

He shook his head and simply stopped thinking about it.

"You know this place better than I do, and I'm from the Main Family." Hyuga Hikari muttered.

"It's only because Young Master Hikari hasn't come back often enough." Ning Qi turned his head slightly. His sharply contrasting face was shrouded in shadow, but his smile was radiant.

Hyuga Hikari looked at the many newly planted flowers and trees along both sides of the road and nodded.

"I didn't notice before, but after being away for three months, this place has changed a lot."

"More and more trees are being planted in the courtyard, but the atmosphere is becoming increasingly desolate."

Hyuga Hikari tactfully described the gloomy atmosphere of the courtyard as desolate. Ning Qi replied meaningfully, "Yes. The clan head has recently fallen in love with landscape art."

A nearby attendant on watch seemed to hear them speaking. She turned around and greeted Hyuga Hikari, her left arm flailing wildly as her expression remained hidden.

"Young Master Hikari... is that you?"

"Run... run quickly... all of this is an illusion..."

"Y-you... the one beside you... is... is a demon."

Hyuga Hikari heard every one of her greetings and returned her a smile.

"Long time no see, Moriya. You're still as beautiful as ever."

After they had walked past the woman on watch for some time, Hyuga Hikari quietly complained to Ning Qi.

"Moriya used to be the guard the Main Family assigned to me when I was young. We were very close, but after not seeing her for so long, I had no idea when she started coloring her eyes black. It looks terrible..."

He did not realize anything was wrong. He seemed to have taken Hyuga Moriya's completely black eyes for something like a woman's colored contacts.

Ning Qi raised his eyelids. With one hand behind his back, he flicked a finger toward the woman. Moriya's terrified expression gradually returned to calm. She no longer struggled to chase after them and warn her Young Master Hikari to be careful of the man beside him. Instead, she truly stood there like a loyal attendant, her expression vacant.

"Don't look back. It wouldn't be good if people knew we were talking about her behind her back," Hyuga Hikari reminded him. Ning Qi nodded, indicating that Hikari understood manners better.

There were also servants working in the woods not far away. Hyuga Hikari watched them chop waist-high tree stumps into pieces before burying them in the soil to await sprouting. They worked with great enthusiasm, and he could not help sighing inwardly at the clan head's love for landscape art.

The two entered the East Wing side by side. As they walked, a figure ahead gradually came into focus. Once Hyuga Hikari recognized her, he asked, "Natsu, what are you doing?"

The maid Natsu Hyuga was scrubbing the blood-red stains on the floor outside the study with all her strength. Hearing him, she did not turn around, merely replying softly, "Tokuma accidentally spilled paint on the floor. I'm cleaning it up."

"That kid Tokuma has always been careless." Hyuga Hikari nodded without thinking much of it. Pointing at the study, he asked, "I brought Ning Qi over. Is the clan head inside?"

"Tokuma accidentally spilled paint on the floor. I'm cleaning it up." That was what Ning Qi heard, but the words Hyuga Hikari heard while deeply trapped in the genjutsu were clearly something else.

"Oh, he's waiting for us in the main hall? Thanks, Natsu." Hyuga Hikari then pulled Ning Qi straight toward the main hall.

The doors slid open. The main hall was dimly lit, with only a single candle swaying as it provided light. Dark curtains hung from all four walls like tangled spiderwebs, waiting for the next prey to walk into this trap that had long been prepared.

The man seated cross-legged in the seat of honor slowly raised his head. Candlelight illuminated the left side of his face, dividing light from darkness.

At that moment, Hyuga Hiashi looked haggard and emaciated, his eye sockets deeply sunken as though he had not slept for days. His eyes were bloodshot, his robe covered in filth and mold. Both hands appeared to have been broken by something and lay limply on the table.

"Clan Head, it has been a long time. You are as impressive as ever." Hyuga Hikari seemed not to notice the bizarre surroundings at all. The moment he sat down, he began flattering him.

Hiashi glanced at Hyuga Hikari, then looked toward Ning Qi. His pale eyes first showed sorrow, then an extremely deep hatred.

Creak.

Creak.

It was the sound of teeth grinding together.

"Yes, I have successfully completed this infiltration mission and obtained the intelligence we wanted. As for this mission..." In the silent room, Hyuga Hikari seemed to have received praise from the clan head. With an excited expression, he began summarizing his report.

Hiashi's gaze shifted back to Hyuga Hikari. His expression became incomparably sorrowful. He opened his mouth, and in the end, he still spoke hoarsely.

"How many more people... do you have to kill... before you're satisfied?"

His report was interrupted. Hyuga Hikari blankly raised his head, glanced at the clan head, then quickly lowered it again. Afterward, he stammered, "No, I... I... I've already had ramen, so there's no need for us to eat together."

"That doesn't depend on me," Ning Qi replied flatly.

Once he gathered enough Byakugan Essence and raised his Byakugan purity to its final stage, he naturally would no longer be interested in the Hyuga clan.

For now, however, Ning Qi was not powerful enough to fight the Hyuga clan, much less all of Konoha, alone. Like Bai Qi of Qin, who had buried four hundred thousand surrendered Zhao soldiers alive in his previous life's history, his cruel methods were merely a helpless measure for self-preservation. After all, if even the slightest rumor about him hunting fellow clansmen spread, he would no longer be able to remain in Konoha, and advancing his Byakugan to the next stage would become a distant dream.

Yes, Ning Qi had begun slaughtering the Hyuga Main Family long ago, not merely the Branch Family. It was just that, compared to the low-status Branch Family members, the consequences of Main Family members dying at random were far more serious. Obtaining their Byakugan Essence also required more careful methods.

Just as he had told Neji at the dinner table before, the Hyuga clan was one of Konoha's top noble clans. With the deadly debuff of the Caged Bird on his forehead, Ning Qi had never had many options for resistance. Slowly eroding them with genjutsu and defeating them one by one was a method born of necessity.

Even now, even though Ning Qi had successfully controlled the entire clan head's residence, he was only halfway across the tightrope. If the truth were exposed and a Main Family elder activated the Caged Bird Seal, Ning Qi would immediately fall into irredeemable disaster.

Chains pierced through Hiashi's leg bones and shoulder blades, fixing him in place. Hiashi struggled to raise an arm, trying to brace himself against the table and stand, but his broken wrist kept slipping away. Fragments of bone in his flesh scraped against the wood with a creak.

After failing several times, Hiashi simply pressed his elbows against the table and leaned forward. He stared fixedly at Ning Qi, guttural sounds emerging from his throat like the curse of a vicious ghost.

"You killed my wife..."

"You killed Tokuma. You killed Kamon..."

"You gouged out all of their eyes..."

"You controlled Natsu Hyuga. You set up a genjutsu barrier around this residence..."

"You imprisoned me. You imprisoned all the elders... And now, you still want to kill Hikari..."

"You... you beast... You, kill me!"

With a bang, Hiashi, who had just been about to rise, was slammed back onto the table as the chains tightened.

"Hey, the clan head is asking whether you've eaten." Hyuga Hikari secretly tugged on Ning Qi's sleeve. The Hyuga Hiashi he saw while trapped in the genjutsu was clearly vastly different from the Hyuga Hiashi Ning Qi saw.

Ning Qi ignored Hyuga Hikari. He merely shook his head, refusing to take responsibility for crimes that were not his.

"I haven't imprisoned all the elders. After all, you still haven't given me the list of some of them."

Those elders did not have fixed whereabouts, and only Clan Head Hiashi knew where they went. But extracting that information from him was far from easy.

"In your dreams..." Hiashi spat blood. "Kill me!"

Hiashi's stubbornness did not surprise Ning Qi. He pursed his lips and brought up another matter.

"There have recently been disturbances within the Uchiha Clan. They are very likely preparing a rebellion."

"To deal with the coming civil war, Lord Hokage is secretly recalling most of the shinobi—including every member of the Hyuga clan. This is a perfect opportunity to take their eyes. I don't want to wait any longer."

"So I hope that Clan Head can convene a clan meeting next week and organize every Hyuga clansman to attend. As for the official reason, we can discuss countermeasures for the increasingly frequent disappearances of Hyuga clan members. What do you think, Clan Head?"

Hiashi had been imprisoned here for nearly a month and knew nothing about the outside world. His Byakugan could not see through the genjutsu barrier covering the entire clan head's residence, while everyone around him was deeply trapped in Ning Qi's genjutsu. Hiashi's only source of information was this Hyuga clan traitor before him—Ning Qi. Yet every time Ning Qi came, it meant another member of the Hyuga Main Family was about to suffer harm.

"Do you have to exterminate the Hyuga clan before you're satisfied?" The chains rattled as Hiashi roared like a madman.

The Uchiha Clan preparing to rebel would inevitably draw all of Konoha's attention. Ning Qi intended to use the clan meeting to catch all the surviving Hyuga clansmen in one sweep at that time. In Hiashi's eyes, there was every chance he would succeed.

The moment that thought occurred to him, Hiashi could no longer remain calm.

He had thought that Konoha's higher-ups would eventually discover the disaster befalling the Hyuga clan. But with the Uchiha stirring up trouble, no one would care about the strange fact that the Hyuga clan head had recently secluded himself. By the time next week's clan meeting began, every clansman who attended would be killed, their eyes gouged out, and the entire Hyuga clan would be devoured clean by Ning Qi. This was an outcome Hiashi could not accept.

Will my Hyuga clan's thousand-year inheritance truly be destroyed by my own hands?

"Clan Head, you jest. As long as I'm alive, how could the Hyuga clan be exterminated?" Ning Qi softly corrected him.

Hiashi closed his eyes.

Perhaps extermination was not entirely unacceptable.

"What a... pity." He kept shaking his head.

"What is?" Ning Qi asked.

"Hizashi died too late," Hiashi said. In the past, he had felt guilt and regret over the death of his younger brother Hizashi. Now, he only felt that Hizashi's sins were truly monstrous, having plunged the entire Hyuga clan into the crisis of extinction.

Why hadn't he died sooner?

Ning Qi chuckled softly, understanding what he meant. Hiashi merely felt that Hizashi had died too late, resulting in the birth of a calamity like him for the Hyuga clan.

He did not pay it any mind, merely steering the topic back.

"Then next week's clan meeting is settled. You don't need to be too pessimistic. There is a limit to the Byakugan I need to collect, and I won't slaughter indiscriminately. Give me information on the remaining Hyuga elders, and I'll go take their Byakugan. In exchange, I'll spare juniors like Hinata and Neji. What do you think of this deal, Clan Head?"

Hiashi fell silent for a long time before giving a fair assessment.

"...You're worse than a beast."

"Even a vicious tiger does not eat its cubs... Yet you won't even spare your own younger brother."

"In truth, although Neji is my younger brother, and although he also hates the Caged Bird and the Main Family to the bone, he is an inheritor of the Will of Fire. He would never approve of what I'm doing now." Ning Qi spread his hands, looking helpless.

"But who made me his older brother?"

"I still love him very much."

"I put him last among the Byakugan materials."