The air in the courtyard of the Hyuga Estate froze.
Hyuga Hiashi stood there without activating his Byakugan, yet the pressure accumulated over years as the head of the main family hung heavily in the air. Hinata shrank back behind him and instinctively hugged the Coral Cat tighter. This kind of situation was pure torture for her.
Hyuga Hiashi stared fixedly at Naruto Uzumaki.
Naruto had just returned from the blood-soaked Kirigakure, still carrying an unspent chill about him. He stood there calm and restrained, yet made Hiashi feel an unprecedented threat. It was not the suppression of chakra reserves, but the natural scrutiny of one in a higher position toward one below.
"Political Commissar." Hiashi squeezed the words out through clenched teeth.
That title represented the purge of Root, Danzo's downfall, and a cold, efficient style of operation that stood above ANBU.
Naruto showed no reaction to the title. He merely looked at Hinata. "This is my return gift to Hinata."
Just that one sentence.
It felt as though Hiashi had been struck in the chest by a heavy hammer. Seeing the cautious yet unconcealable delight in his daughter's eyes as she looked at Naruto, a bitter feeling mixed with anger and helplessness surged within him.
He wanted to rebuke him. To order that dangerous "Political Commissar" to stay away from his daughter, or order his daughter to stay away from that dangerous "Political Commissar."
But he could not say it.
What could he do? Drive him away by force? Leaving aside whether he could do it, even if he did, what use would it be?
A terrifying image flashed through Hiashi's mind: one day in the future, Hinata standing firmly at Naruto's side, while he, her father, could only choose humiliating silence between the clan's honor and his