The second person to suffer heartbreak~

The Hyuga Clan~

Outside Hyuga Mie's home~

The setting sun had gradually sunk behind the mountains, and the moon had appeared in the sky. Moonlight shone on the gate, coating it in silver frost!

Gathered at the entrance were the Hyuga Clan's leader, Hyuga Hai, and Hyuga Mie's parents, "Hyuga Yamato and Hyuga Nami!"

They had heard from their clansmen that Lady Mito would soon arrive to propose a marriage, so they immediately put on dark blue formal attire and came out to welcome her!

Hyuga Huo and his wife, Hyuga Nami, wore broad smiles. Having Lady Mito come to propose a marriage for their daughter was a supreme honor. After all, Lady Mito had founded Konoha with the First Hokage and Madara Uchiha!

Beside them, the Hyuga clan leader, Hyuga Hai, paced back and forth with cold sweat covering his forehead. He did not know how to get Lady Mito to give up on Mie. He was truly in a difficult position!

Five minutes later~

Mito Uzumaki, Uchiha Lei, Kushina Uzumaki, and Hyuga Mie walked together hand in hand, smiling as they reached the entrance of the residence!

As the owners of the residence, Hyuga Huo and Hyuga Nami stepped forward first, bowed slightly to Mito Uzumaki, and welcomed her with smiles:

"Lady Mito, thank you for making the long journey. Please come inside and have a seat!"

"All right. Little Huo and Nami are all grown up now, and you've even had such a lovely daughter as Mie. Congratulations!"

Mito Uzumaki first exchanged a few smiling pleasantries, then looked toward the nervous Hyuga Hai beside them and motioned to him!

Hyuga Hai hurried over to Mito Uzumaki, bowed, and greeted her:

"Lady Mito, forgive me for failing to come out farther to welcome you. My fault, my fault!"

"It certainly is your fault. I hear the Hyuga clan leader likes to throw his authority around! And that he's been keeping children who love each other apart!"

Mito Uzumaki stated her purpose outright, immediately saddling Hyuga Hai with that accusation!

"Lady Mito, these are the Hyuga Clan's rules. Even as clan leader, I cannot..."

Hyuga Hai spoke with righteous conviction, invoking the clan rules, but Mito Uzumaki interrupted him halfway through!

"Rules are rigid, but people are not. I believe the Hyuga clan leader understands that?"

Mito Uzumaki presented her reasoning and fixed Hyuga Hai with an unrelenting stare, making his entire body shudder!

"Well... but if we set a precedent, then in the future..."

Hyuga Hai wanted to keep arguing, but Mito Uzumaki interrupted him again!

"If he were an ordinary person, I wouldn't say anything about you stopping them. But Lei is a genius who has awakened the Sharingan!"

Mito Uzumaki used the process of elimination, pointing out directly that the Hyuga Clan stood to gain and had nothing to lose!

"If they really do get together, their future children will only inherit half. That wouldn't be good for the children either!"

Hyuga Hai knew how to argue back. He brought up the future, leaving almost no room for a response!

Mito Uzumaki was somewhat troubled as well. That was indeed a fact. They could not ignore the future, could they?

Uchiha Lei could not bear listening any longer and revealed his background outright:

"I'm of mixed Uchiha and Senju blood, but I've awakened the Sharingan, and I have a lot of chakra too!"

"Is... is that true?"

Hyuga Hai hesitated and turned to Mito Uzumaki. Since Uchiha Lei also had Senju blood, the mighty power of the First Hokage, the God of Shinobi, was still a very compelling prospect!

"Yes!"

Mito Uzumaki nodded solemnly in confirmation, then looked at Hyuga Hai and warned him:

"I don't want anyone else to know what Lei just said. This is to protect him. Understand?"

"Yes. Our Hyuga Clan will certainly keep it secret. Then I agree to this marriage, but their future children..."

Hyuga Hai immediately nodded in agreement, but when he raised the matter of which clan their future children would belong to, Mito Uzumaki interrupted him again!

"That's simple enough. Have several children. One can take the father's surname, and another can take the mother's!"

Mito Uzumaki settled the arrangements for their future children outright and stared hard at Hyuga Hai. If he argued again, she would definitely teach him a lesson!

"Very well, it's settled. From now on, the Hyuga Clan's doors will be open to Lei!"

Hyuga Hai stated his position too. This matter offered every benefit and no harm, and in the future, there would even be a genius with the blood of three clans. How could he refuse?

"All right, now that we've finished discussing this, I'll take Lei and Kushina home!"

Seeing that the matter had been resolved, Mito Uzumaki thought the servants had probably nearly finished preparing dinner at home, so she immediately took her leave!

"Lady Mito, we've already prepared a banquet. Why don't you stay?"

Hyuga Nami smiled as she invited Mito Uzumaki, then signaled to her husband with her eyes!

"That's right! Lady Mito, you've already come to our doorstep. We ought to offer you our hospitality, shouldn't we?"

Hyuga Huo understood and immediately chimed in with a smile!

Hyuga Hai saw that this was a good opportunity to grow closer to Mito Uzumaki, so he extended an invitation too:

"Lady Mito, it's been so long since you last visited the Hyuga Clan Compound. Why not have dinner here tonight?"

Mito Uzumaki still replied with a smile:

"I'll come for the celebratory drinks at Lei and Mie's engagement banquet next time. Not today!"

Seeing that her engagement to Uchiha Lei had been settled, Hyuga Mie did not want her family to put Grandma Mito in a difficult position, so she spoke up as well:

"Father, Mother, Clan Leader, let's listen to Grandma Mito. Don't make things difficult for her!"

Hyuga Nami and Hyuga Huo exchanged a glance and spoke in unison:

"All right, we'll do as Lady Mito says!"

Seeing that everyone agreed with Lady Mito, Hyuga Hai smiled and nodded his agreement:

"Then I'll do as Lady Mito says too. We'll make sure the engagement banquet is properly arranged. You must come then, Lady Mito!"

"Certainly!"

Mito Uzumaki gave a solemn, affirmative reply, then turned to Hyuga Mie with a smile:

"Mie, you can come visit Grandma often and keep me company!"

"I will, Grandma Mito!"

Hyuga Mie immediately smiled and nodded in agreement to Mito's request. She suddenly remembered what Uchiha Lei had promised her that afternoon, but after thinking it over, she decided to let it go. She smiled at Uchiha Lei and said:

"Lei, never mind what you promised me this afternoon. I'll come to your house to see you when I have time!"

"All right, Mie. I'll be sure to give you a warm welcome!"

Before leaving, Uchiha Lei walked up to Hyuga Mie and reached out to rub her head, then returned to Mito Uzumaki's side!

"All right, we'll be leaving now!"

Mito Uzumaki said goodbye to the members of the Hyuga Clan, then led Kushina Uzumaki and Uchiha Lei away from the Hyuga Clan Compound!

Afterward, Hyuga Mie and her family said goodbye to Clan Leader Hyuga Hai and went home too!

Hyuga Hai cheerfully headed toward his own home, but just as he reached an alley, his gaze grew wary!

Suddenly, a dark figure darted out of the alley. Hyuga Hai looked closely and saw that it was his son, Hyuga Hiashi. He did not even need to think to know that he had come because of Hyuga Mie, so he asked with a stern expression:

"Hiashi, is there something you need, coming to see me so suddenly?"

"Father, has the matter with Mie been resolved?"

Hyuga Hiashi stood where he was and asked his father, Hyuga Hai, with an expectant look!

Hyuga Hai replied sternly:

"It has, but I agreed to Mie and Lei's engagement!"

"Why, Father? Don't the clan rules..."

Before Hyuga Hiashi could finish, his father, Hyuga Hai, interrupted him!

"There's no why. Lei is different. Hiashi, find someone else to like. Don't bother Mie!"

After speaking, Hyuga Hai walked straight past his son, Hyuga Hiashi. For the first time, he felt how satisfying it was to interrupt someone. Delighted, he clasped his hands behind his back and headed home!

Hyuga Hiashi seemed to sink entirely into gloom. He had not expected even his own father to help Uchiha Lei. Not only had he lost their match, but he had also lost to him before the clan. All he could do was turn around and head home helplessly with his head lowered!

Some rejoiced while others worried. Smiles did not disappear; they only shifted from one person to another. Hyuga Hiashi had become the second person to suffer heartbreak because of Uchiha Lei!

The same thing happened at Tsunade's mansion!

Tsunade had originally come home from work in high spirits, only to find Uchiha Lei, the person she least wanted to see, there again!

Tsunade deliberately sat far away from Uchiha Lei while eating, yet she still had Kushina Uzumaki and Uchiha Lei's displays of affection rubbed in her face!

Nawaki did the same, staying far away from Uchiha Lei and looking at her with hostility!

"Lei, have a piece of braised pork!"

Kushina Uzumaki, however, was exceptionally enthusiastic. She picked up a piece of braised pork with her chopsticks and held it in front of Uchiha Lei's mouth!

After eating the braised pork, Uchiha Lei did not forget to compliment Kushina Uzumaki:

"Kushina, you're so good to me. I like you more and more!"

Seeing how close Kushina Uzumaki and Uchiha Lei were, Mito Uzumaki was delighted as well, her face full of happy smiles!

Tsunade glanced at the clock and saw that it was almost nine, then turned to Uchiha Lei and asked:

"Lei, it's already very late. Hurry up and go home!"

"That's right, Uchiha Lei. Hurry up and go home!"

For the first time, Nawaki agreed with his sister, Tsunade, and immediately chimed in with a smile!

Uchiha Lei, however, thought nothing of it. Smiling, he reached out with his right hand to stroke Kushina's hair and said:

"I'm not going home tonight. I'm staying to keep Kushina company!"

"What? You're staying? No!"

Tsunade and Nawaki immediately stood up and refused in unison!

"I've agreed to it. Lei, Kushina, go get some rest!"

Mito Uzumaki gave her opinion. This was an opportunity to foster the bond between Lei and Kushina, and she had to seize it!

"Thank you, Grandma Mito!"

Kushina Uzumaki and Uchiha Lei replied in unison with smiles, then stood up hand in hand and headed toward Kushina's room on the second floor!

Mito Uzumaki watched them leave with a smile, then stood up and gave an instruction:

"Tsunade, Nawaki, clear the table!"

"Huh? No!"

Tsunade and Nawaki could only plead helplessly with their grandma, Mito!

But Grandma Mito ignored them and headed straight to her room on the second floor!

Only Tsunade and Nawaki remained, helplessly clearing the dining table, their faces full of resentment as they cursed Uchiha Lei inwardly!