At that thought, guilt long buried began to spread through his heart.
He had wronged Hinata, that kindhearted child.
To some extent, Hinata's timid, insecure personality was precisely what he had guided and "cultivated," whether deliberately or not.
Because before long, under the clan's rules, it would be time to brand his second daughter, Hanabi, with the "Caged Bird Seal."
He absolutely refused to let the tragedy he and his younger brother Hizashi had suffered repeat itself with his two daughters!
The elder brother had inherited the Main Family, while the younger had been forced to bear the Caged Bird Seal and join the Branch Family, ultimately dying in his brother's place.
Wasn't one such tragedy enough?
At this point, Hiashi still did not have complete control over the Hyuga Clan. Several elders stood above him, all from an older generation.
That was why he had resorted to this risky move.
He had deliberately raised Hinata to fall short of excellence, even tacitly allowing or creating the impression that she was inferior to Hanabi on certain occasions.
That way, he could argue that "the eldest daughter has performed poorly and lacks a steady temperament, while the second daughter, Hanabi, is more gifted and has greater potential," doing everything he could at the council of clan elders to keep his younger daughter from being branded with the "Caged Bird Seal."
Meanwhile, Hinata was already past the age for receiving the Caged Bird Seal, and there had never been a precedent in the clan for branding the firstborn child with it.
Otherwise, the Main Family should only have had a single bloodline passed down through the generations. Those elders themselves had used various means to avoid being branded with the Caged Bird Seal and remain in the Main Family.
As a father facing the clan's ironclad rules, this was the only precarious path he could think of.
Once those old bastards had made it through their own ordeals, they could no longer empathize with the clan's younger generations, because they belonged to the upper ranks of the Hyuga Clan. They were the exploiters.
Exploiters would never sympathize with the exploited.
Hiashi was even gambling on time.
He figured that, given a little more time, age would claim those few elders who stubbornly clung to the old rules. Once he had complete control over the Hyuga Main Family and held all the power, he would naturally have enough strength to abolish this cruel rule.
Then Hanabi would no longer have to worry about being branded with the Caged Bird Seal.
"...Thank you, Naruto-kun."
Hiashi let out a long sigh, as though a crushing weight had been lifted from his shoulders, and said solemnly to Naruto, "Your words have given me a great deal to think about. Once I return, I will certainly...give serious thought to how I should teach Hinata."
He nodded, his gaze growing distant, as though it had pierced the walls and reached the Hyuga Estate, splendid on the outside but thoroughly rotted within by antiquated rules.
In his eyes, the entire Hyuga Clan was, in a sense, an enormous, magnificent cage.
Countless "birds" possessing the Byakugan were born there, grew up there, and remained trapped there, unable to attain true freedom.
His thoughts drifted toward that ancient cursed seal-the Caged Bird Seal.
It imposed absolute restraint and control over the Branch Family, stripping its members of their freedom and even their right to decide whether they lived or died.
There was no question about that.
Yet when the cursed seal was first created, its original purpose might not have been oppression.
In the war-torn days of antiquity, the Byakugan, a powerful kekkei genkai, had been coveted by every faction.
The "Caged Bird Seal" of that era was more likely a protective measure born of necessity.
It ensured that even if a clan member was captured, enemies could not steal the power of the Byakugan, thereby protecting the bloodline's secrets and continued existence.
However, as time passed and peace arrived, the intoxicating taste of power began to take hold.
This system, which might originally have offered protection, gradually became something else. Strict internal hierarchies emerged, creating the lofty "Main Family" and the "Branch Family" under its dominion.
Protection became control, and a desperate measure became a means of preserving privilege.
Over the long years, the system grew ever more rigid and distorted, slowly transforming, step by step, into what it was today: a means of shackling their own kin and breeding tragedy.
As he considered the weight of that history and the helplessness of their present reality, profound weariness flickered in Hiashi's eyes.
Children had their troubles, and adults had their own helplessness.
"It's getting late. I won't impose on you any longer, Naruto-kun."
As he spoke, Hiashi slowly rose to his feet and looked toward Naruto's room.
"Hinata, Hanabi, it's time to go home."
His tone no longer carried the cold authority it had when he arrived. Instead, there was a barely perceptible gentleness, along with a hint of...relief.
The door gently opened, and Hinata and Hanabi walked out hand in hand.
Hinata still seemed afraid to look her father directly in the eye.
Hanabi looked curiously at her father, then at Naruto.
Hinata bowed slightly to Naruto, her voice soft but clear. "Goodbye, Naruto-kun. Thank you...so much for today."
Little Hanabi waved her small hand enthusiastically, her face beaming with joy. "Bye, big brother Naruto! Next time, I want to come eat your cooking again!"
After watching the father and his two daughters leave, Naruto let out a long sigh.
The shinobi world...I can't even be bothered to rant about this place anymore.
His tangled thoughts ultimately boiled down to one exhausted complaint.
There were too many repeating tragedies here, too much helplessness, too many rules and restraints. Even anger felt powerless.
Rather than sighing over this and lamenting that, I should get stronger and change things.
That thought flashed like lightning through the darkness, instantly dispelling the haze of helplessness in his heart.
His gaze grew sharp and resolute once more.
With that in mind, Naruto wasted no more time. He immediately returned to his room, sat cross-legged, and began carefully recalling and working through the Gentle Fist movements, techniques for generating force, and unique ways of circulating chakra through the chakra pathways that he had just witnessed from Hinata and Hanabi at the training ground.
In the current shinobi world, Gentle Fist relied on striking chakra points and blocking chakra. Though sophisticated, it certainly could not be considered the strongest technique, and it had its limitations.
But!
The higher form of Gentle Fist was something else entirely. It was an ultimate form that transcended ordinary taijutsu, called the Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack!
It was Kaguya's ultimate taijutsu technique.
It involved refining chakra to its utmost limit, then manifesting countless powerful fists that could be used for both attack and defense, truly uniting offense and defense without a single opening.
This was the ultimate pinnacle of taijutsu!
It was a terrifying power that surpassed kekkei genkai and even kekkei tōta!
It was a taijutsu technique that could only be used by someone who had mastered kekkei mōra.
Although Naruto could not use the Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack, he should be able to simplify it himself into a Divine Vacuum Attack infused with a single chakra nature.
Later, when the Ōtsutsuki Clan invaded from beyond their world, conventional ninjutsu, especially elemental techniques that relied on chakra nature transformation, would be far less effective against enemies possessing the Rinnegan. They might even be absorbed outright.
Taijutsu and senjutsu, however, drew their power from sources and operated in ways that prevented the Rinnegan from absorbing them directly!
Taijutsu relied on pure physical strength and speed, while senjutsu incorporated natural energy, transcending the bounds of ordinary chakra.
These two would be the key powers in confronting the Ōtsutsuki Clan in the future!
Thus, putting effort into developing a simplified Divine Vacuum Attack now, along with the senjutsu he would inevitably need to study in depth later, was not merely a pursuit of personal strength. It was vital strategic preparation for the battle for survival that lay ahead.