"Damn it, easy to say, but how was I supposed to pull it off?"
That night, Yu tossed and turned in bed.
The Chunin Ninja Exams were fast approaching, which meant that bastard from Kumogakure would soon arrive to get himself killed!
That Kumogakure ninja's death was the spark that changed Neji's fate.
The ninja would sneak into the Hyuga compound late at night and try to abduct Hinata. Hiashi would discover him and kill him.
Kumogakure would then raise a fuss and demand that Konoha hand over Hiashi's corpse. Konoha would compromise to avoid war, and Hizashi would ultimately die in his brother's place, marking the beginning of Neji's tragic childhood!
It was also the turning point Yu would soon have to face!
He considered several scenarios.
Scenario one: I killed that Kumogakure ninja myself?
That would feel great, but the fallout would be endless.
Rejected!
Scenario two: I approached Hiashi and told him what would happen?
What a joke. I'd be lucky if he didn't take me for a spy. I'd only just managed to earn his trust! Did every transmigrator really get some cheesy Mary Sue storyline? He didn't know I'd transmigrated, so why should he believe me?
Rejected, rejected!
Scenario three: I sent Hiashi an anonymous letter warning him that Kumogakure would target Hinata during the Chunin Ninja Exams?
That should be relatively safe, but an anonymous letter wouldn't be very convincing. And this was serious business. The Hyuga Clan and Konoha's Anbu might investigate, creating more complications. Besides, everyone in the Hyuga Clan had the Byakugan. Getting caught would be no joke!
Rejected, rejected, rejected!
None of the three scenarios would work. Yu was stumped.
"Ah, ah, if only I could appear in Uncle Hiashi's dreams like the King of Wuji did for Tang Sanzang and tell him the whole story..."
Yu lay there with his little hands behind his head, brooding, when the Book of the Gods delivered a pleasant surprise!
-Secret Technique: Ikuime Iribiko Isachi no Mikoto!
It applied a crafted dream to a specific target, using chakra as a medium.
[This technique's name was not without basis, either. In mythology, Ikuime Iribiko Isachi no Mikoto received a prophetic dream before Sahobiko no Mikoto attempted to assassinate him.]
Yu sat up. "Using chakra as a medium? That sounds pretty tricky to pull off."
Huh?
Yu suddenly remembered that Hiashi had eaten candy made by Ogetsuhime earlier that day!
Since it had been produced inside Yu's body, it contained a trace of his chakra!
"Hehe, let's give it a try and see if it works. If it doesn't, I'll just give Uncle Hiashi a few more candies!"
Ikuime Iribiko Isachi no Mikoto was not particularly difficult to master. Yu learned it in an hour.
Once he activated the technique, he felt the chakra inside his body change.
"Hmm, the spiritual energy in my chakra is unusually active, and..."
He sensed three faint connections, two very close by and another a little farther away.
They belonged to the three people who had eaten his chakra candy so far: Neji, Hizashi, and Hiashi!
"Hehe, so the candy has this use, too. I'll make more later and let more people try it. We can all dream together online. Just thinking about it sounds fun..."
Yu closed his eyes and focused. With his spiritual energy exceptionally active, he began weaving a dream. The process was both abstract and concrete.
"Hmm, it's like the map editor I used to play with in Age of Empires. The setting, the characters, the plot-I can control everything..."
Bzz! A glowing white orb appeared in his palm, then vanished, following the chakra connection to affect his target!
The technique's strength lay in requiring no direct contact with the target and leaving no way to trace its source!
Once he finished, Yu wiped the sweat from his little face.
"This technique really takes a lot out of me mentally. If I want to use it for entertainment, I'll have to work hard to get stronger..."
Yu took out a piece of candy and ate it, then lay down and wrapped himself snugly in his little blanket.
"Hehehe, now I can get a good night's sleep..."
"Ugh..."
Yu slept soundly, but in the latter half of the night, Hiashi woke from his dream drenched in sweat.
Kuwako asked with concern, "Darling, what's wrong?"
"Nothing. I had a strange dream..." Hiashi replied.
Still uneasy, he got out of bed and went to Hinata's room. Only after opening the door and seeing her sleeping peacefully in bed did he relax.
"Maybe I've had too much on my mind lately, and it's making my imagination run wild."
Hiashi went back to sleep, and the rest of the night passed peacefully.
But over the next several days, he had the same dream every night!
During the Chunin Ninja Exams, a masked man from Kumogakure tried to abduct Hinata. Hiashi discovered him and killed him, giving Kumogakure an excuse to make demands. His younger brother, Hizashi, volunteered to die in his place!
"This has never happened before. Could it be..."
Once or twice would have been one thing, but having the same dream every night left Hiashi unable to dismiss the possibility that it was some kind of revelation!
And so, the Chunin Ninja Exams began on schedule.
Hiashi stopped dreaming, because he no longer dared sleep for even a moment. He remained on full alert!
For several days after that, the Kumogakure man failed to appear. Hiashi briefly wondered if he had been overthinking things, but he continued waiting patiently, reasoning that it was better to believe the warning than ignore it!
Finally, on the last night of the Chunin Ninja Exams, a furtive masked figure arrived at the Hyuga Clan compound! He broke into the home of Hiashi of the Main Family, entered Hinata's room, and abducted the girl beneath the blankets!
Whoosh!
Just as he thought everything had gone smoothly, a white figure flashed down from atop the wall and delivered a clean knife-hand strike to the Kumogakure ninja's neck!
Thud!
The Kumogakure ninja collapsed!
Unlike what had originally happened, Hiashi did not take his life!
Hiashi rescued Hinata and held her in his arms. Beneath the streetlight, the dark circles under his eyes stood out starkly!
He bent down and removed the Kumogakure ninja's mask, his brows drawing together in thought.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Members of the Hyuga Clan landed around him and carefully examined the Kumogakure ninja!
A short while later, one of them extracted something from the ninja's teeth. "Reporting in! We've found poison hidden in his teeth!"
A Hyuga elder stepped forward. "They planned this thoroughly. If he was discovered, he would kill himself, giving them an excuse to make demands of Konoha. It seems Kumogakure is determined to obtain the Byakugan..."
"Take him into custody, and don't give him any chance to kill himself. Notify the Third!" Hiashi ordered.
An hour later, in the Hyuga council hall.
Everyone discussed how to handle the incident.
Hiashi clenched his fists. "Kumogakure's actions are an open provocation that crosses the line!!!"
With his pipe between his lips, Hiruzen said thoughtfully, "Since we caught him in the act and prevented the worst outcome, we should resolve this as cautiously as possible to avoid conflict. Hiashi, think of the bigger picture..."
Hiashi clenched his fists tightly. Truth be told, he was deeply unwilling to let this go!
If the dreams had not repeated over and over lately to warn him, his usual response would certainly have been to kill that Kumogakure ninja on the spot!
And knowing Hizashi's personality, he really might have done exactly what he had in the dream. In other words, without that dream, the final outcome truly would have been Hizashi dying in his place!!
He felt both relief and lingering dread, and at the same time... he wanted to retaliate!
But... as a member of Konoha, the head of the Hyuga Clan, and someone who had lived through the previous Shinobi World Wars, he also knew how cruel war would be if conflict erupted!
What was more, Konoha had suffered the Nine-Tails' attack just three years earlier and had been badly weakened. This was hardly the time to wage war!
His tightly clenched fists finally relaxed. "Then we'll follow the Third's arrangements!"
"Good. I'll be sure to use this incident to issue a stern warning to Kumogakure!" Hiruzen said.
Hiashi looked at the Kumogakure ninja on the floor and said somberly, "Even so, they'll surely evade responsibility, claim he acted on his own, punish him a little, and let the whole thing fade away..."
"..." Hiruzen puffed on his pipe and lowered his Hokage hat.
And that was exactly what happened.
Once the ninja was returned, Kumogakure's leaders feigned utter shock and complete ignorance. They promised to give Konoha an explanation, but in the end, the matter simply faded away.
Afterward, Hiashi reflected alone.
That Kumogakure ninja had exactly the same face as the man in my dream. This was beyond any ordinary explanation.
Why had I had dreams that foretold the future?
One thing was certain: the Hyuga had no such ability!
Could it have been... that child?
Hiashi suddenly arrived at a conjecture that even he found unbelievable.
No, no. How could that be possible? It was far too absurd.
But he quickly dismissed it.
After all, Yu's everyday behavior spoke for itself.
Besides... everyone had moments of vanity. Hiashi preferred to believe that he had awakened some ancient power of the Byakugan.
And so, the Chunin Ninja Exams of Konoha Year 51 came to an end.
Yu also made it safely through that turning point.
Konoha's submissive stance in the incident did not surprise Yu in the slightest.
But he had already achieved his goal.
Hizashi had not been sacrificed for peace.
Neji had not lost his father, so fatalism would no longer cast a dark shadow over his childhood.
An unexpected benefit was that Hiashi treated Hizashi even better after the incident, and that affection extended to Neji and Yu as well!
Hehehe, life was going nice and smoothly!
Yu had truly settled into the Hyuga Clan! He began letting his true nature show a little, and whenever he had nothing to do, he would get up to some minor mischief with Neji. Neji refused at first, but eventually came to enjoy it.
The brothers brought plenty of laughter to this strict, disciplined clan. Of course... they also received plenty of scoldings!
Heh, whenever they were scolded, Yu would go from house to house handing out candy.
Afraid that his reputation would suffer if this continued, Hizashi decided it was time for the child to receive a little "loving care from his elders"!
And so, in early spring of Konoha Year 52!
Hizashi called Yu over and said with a stern face, "Yu, you've had more than enough fun these past few months! It's time to settle down!"
"Starting today, you'll begin training just like Neji!"
"You may be my son, but I won't go easy on you! Prepare yourself, Yu!"
Before you continue