Suspicion

On the road, three hundred meters from home, Meicun Hyuga held Tianyun Hyuga in her arms and inspected his Byakugan from every angle. In the end, she even touched his eyes twice, unable to help herself. In a strange tone, she said, "Tianyun, did you really awaken the Byakugan? Could these just be painted on...?"

Tianyun Hyuga was at a loss for words. He squirmed in her arms and said, "Put me down, put me down! Mother, you're holding me too tightly..."

Meicun Hyuga knew her question had been rather stupid. After all, nothing was more familiar to the Hyuga Clan than the Byakugan. If his eyes had been painted on, she would have spotted it immediately.

After setting the struggling Tianyun Hyuga down, Meicun Hyuga grew wildly excited. Her child was only a little over five, yet he had already awakened the Byakugan. He was practically a prodigy among prodigies in the Hyuga Clan. She wanted to announce the good news to the entire world right away, and her face almost twisted with joy.

Tianyun Hyuga did not want his Byakugan exposed so soon, so he reminded her bluntly, "Mother, don't tell anyone I've awakened my eyes. Otherwise, who knows how the Clan Head will treat us?"

"Uh..." Meicun Hyuga instantly came to her senses and understood what he meant. After a moment of silence, her brows drew together.

Tianyun Hyuga was a child of the Branch Family, after all. If others learned he had awakened his eyes, there was no telling what the Main Family would decide. They might even transfer him straight to the Main Family to serve as a guard for the rest of his life. Naturally, Meicun Hyuga did not want that for her son.

After thinking for a while, Meicun Hyuga looked at Tianyun Hyuga, who had already deactivated his Byakugan, and said very seriously, "You're right, Tianyun. We'd better keep this to ourselves. I'll listen to you this time."

At that point, her serious expression turned strange. "There's something else, though. Are you really still my child? I don't remember having such a shrewd son..."

Meicun Hyuga was certainly no fool. Tianyun Hyuga had changed far too abruptly over the past two days and was completely unlike the son she had known. It would have been strange if she hadn't been suspicious. But the Third Hokage had sent someone to tell her that Tianyun Hyuga was not being controlled by an outsider's genjutsu, nor were there any signs that his soul had been replaced. She could only believe that her child was still her child.

Tianyun Hyuga was no fool either. He had long known that his mother, the person closest to him, would grow suspicious, so he had prepared an explanation in advance. Now that Meicun Hyuga had asked, he pretended to think for a moment before saying, "Of course I'm your son, Mother. It's just that some information suddenly appeared in my mind a couple of days ago. I don't know what happened either. All I know is that the information is good for me..."

"Is that so?" Meicun Hyuga looked doubtful, her brows furrowing again.

Tianyun Hyuga hurriedly hugged her leg and wheedled, "Mother, no matter how much I change, I'm still your son, aren't I? You don't need to worry about me anymore. I'll be able to take care of myself from now on."

Meicun Hyuga felt conflicted, unsure how to deal with Tianyun Hyuga now. Before he had said anything, she could still fool herself into believing that he had simply become clever all of a sudden.

Now that Tianyun Hyuga had revealed that information had appeared in his mind, Meicun Hyuga had to admit that he was no longer the same as before. It left her in a difficult position, wondering whether she should ask someone to erase the memories in his mind.

But now that Tianyun Hyuga had suddenly become a genius, Meicun Hyuga was reluctant to see her child turn back into the fool he had been. Besides, erasing his memories might cause him further harm, which made her decision even harder.

Noticing her conflict, Tianyun Hyuga hurriedly took her hand and pulled her toward home. As they walked, he said, "Mother, don't overthink it. Aren't I still exactly the same as before? Just think of me as having grown up, and it won't seem strange anymore."

Meicun Hyuga studied Tianyun Hyuga's face, unable to find anything that distinguished him from her son. Finally, she sighed. "All right! I'll try my best to think of you as grown up. I hope you won't change too quickly, Tianyun, or I really might not be able to handle it..."

Tianyun Hyuga patted his chest and promised, "Don't worry, Mother. No matter how much I change, I'll never forget what you've taught me..."

Meicun Hyuga's feelings were complicated. After taking another look at him, she said, "I hope so! All I can do now is try to get used to the way you are. Don't let me down!"

"I promise I won't disappoint you, Mother..." Tianyun Hyuga said firmly.

He was her own flesh and blood, after all. Although he had suddenly become rather strange, Meicun Hyuga still accepted Tianyun Hyuga as he was now. For the moment, however, she did not know how to communicate with this mature version of him, so she said nothing more.

Tianyun Hyuga did not mind too much. Once Meicun Hyuga went home and started cooking, he sat in the living room to think about what he should do next while also practicing the new Ninjutsu he had just learned.

"Shadow Clone Technique..."

Tianyun Hyuga immediately split into five versions of himself, then gave an order. "You four, go train in the Hyuga Clan's Nintaijutsu. I'm staying here to have a proper talk with Mother."

The four shadow clones exchanged glances, then ran out of the living room and quickly disappeared, while the real Tianyun Hyuga waited there.

Tianyun Hyuga had prepared the B-rank Ninjutsu, the Shadow Clone Technique, precisely for this situation. He planned to delegate some low-level Ninjutsu to his clones to practice. That would save him quite a bit of money, making it ideal for his current circumstances.

As for the Shadow Clone Technique's drawback-the possibility that the clones might disobey orders-Tianyun Hyuga was well aware of it. That was why he had given each clone only one day's worth of chakra. If they disobeyed, even if they ran away, they would automatically disappear after a day. This special effect was unique to the system-enhanced Shadow Clone Technique.

In Tianyun Hyuga's judgment, this was probably a function anyone would gain upon training the Shadow Clone Technique to proficiency. It was just that very few people trained it to that level, so hardly anyone could control those clones.

After sending the four shadow clones off to train, Tianyun Hyuga continued considering other matters, such as how to combine the Ninjutsu he had just learned and how to earn more money so he could become stronger.

After he spent an hour lost in various thoughts, Meicun Hyuga brought over the food and ate with him. However, she had yet to get used to the now-mature Tianyun Hyuga and did not know what to say.

Tianyun Hyuga did not want to become distant from Meicun Hyuga, so he deliberately acted like a child, wheedling and seeking affection from her. At last, her mood began to improve.

Still, Tianyun Hyuga felt a little frustrated. Pretending to be a child was exhausting, but for Meicun Hyuga's sake, he had no choice but to keep up the act.