Night fell.
Konohagakure lay beneath a tranquil curtain of deep blue, the lights of countless homes shining alongside the stars.
The Hyuga Clan's vast compound resembled a great beast lying dormant in a corner of the village-stern and orderly, yet exuding an ancient oppression in the darkness.
High walls, enclosed courtyards, and winding corridors followed an ancient, rigid layout, displaying both the heritage and the insularity of Konoha's foremost clan.
A figure landed soundlessly in the center of the Hyuga Clan Compound, like a ghost melting into the night.
He stood atop the sweeping eaves of the main house, at the highest point of Clan Leader Hyuga Hiashi's residence.
The newcomer wore a loose black robe that snapped in the night wind. An austere fox mask with cold, hard lines covered his face, and Sealing Jutsu obscured even his eyes behind its openings.
His long black hair hung loose, streaming behind him in the wind and blending with his robe, lending him an even greater air of mystery and menace.
He stood silently on the roof ridge like an owl surveying its territory, his gaze slowly sweeping over the brightly lit or dark, quiet courtyards, training grounds, and ancestral hall below.
This was the heart of the Hyuga Clan's power, and a symbol of its restraints and antiquated rules.
Even the air seemed steeped in the invisible, oppressive weight of the Caged Bird Seal.
A deliberately altered voice emerged from beneath the mask, low and slightly hoarse, carrying a hint of cold amusement.
"Just the place to test the jutsu I've just learned."
The instant his words fell, the black-robed man's perception spread like an invisible net suddenly cast wide, expanding silently and with incredible speed from him across the entire Hyuga Clan Compound and beyond.
**Mind's Eye of the