---
Chapter 1 – The End and the Beginning
Death was sudden. He felt no pain, no fear. Just an instant of awareness… and then, emptiness.
No body. No time. Just a formless existence floating in nothingness.
"Is this the end?"
The thought arose and dissipated as quickly as it had come. But before it was completely lost, something changed. First, a muffled, distant sound, as if coming from underwater. Then, a feeling of openness. A comforting warmth invaded the void, contrasting with a sudden cold, marking the rupture of that indefinite state.
Then, the light.
He blinked. His eyes, still accustomed to the darkness, struggled to absorb the sudden clarity. The world around him was blurry and distorted, but slowly, shapes began to stand out. Two figures appeared before him, like sentinels of a new beginning: a man and a woman. There was something unusual in their eyes. It was not just the typical expression of caring parents; there was a more complex emotion hidden there. Between joy and pride, a subtle trace of guilt was present, as if, in that brief moment, both of them already knew the arduous path that the newborn would have to tread. Even with the newly formed body and the fragility that limited it, something surprising blossomed in his mind: memories and sensations from a past life mixed with his new perception. He knew, in an inexplicable way, that he was not an ordinary baby. His consciousness belonged to someone with years of experience – an inquisitive mind, accustomed to analyzing every detail with the logic of an attentive observer. The soft murmurs of the two adults around him mixed with his confusion. But, amidst the whirlwind of thoughts, one in particular cut through the depth of the moment:
"Fuck… I died and was reincarnated. And what's up with those two? The woman – probably my mother – is fucking hot, and the man, who must be my father, seems to exude maturity. But what the hell are those looks? Did someone just die? Just what I needed… In my past life, I was an orphan with no parents, and now I'm an unwanted baby?"
"And wait… What's up with their eyes? Are they blind?"
The sentence, full of the frankness of a teenager, echoed in his mind. Even though his new body was vulnerable, his consciousness was already analyzing everything around him with
---
Chapter 1 – The End and the Beginning
Death was sudden.
No pain. No warning. Just an instant of awareness before absolute emptiness.
There was no slow decline, no final moment of realization. No flashes of his past life, no regrets, no farewells. One moment, he simply was, and the next, he was not.
For a time—maybe seconds, maybe eternity—he felt nothing. No body. No thoughts. Just an abyss of silence.
Then, something changed.
At first, it was a sound. Muffled and distant, as if coming through layers of water. Unintelligible words, distorted echoes, whispers without meaning.
Then, sensation.
A constriction. Pressure. Like something was squeezing him from all sides.
Then, the cold.
A freezing, overwhelming cold that clawed at his fragile body. A brutal contrast to the warmth that had surrounded him moments before.
And finally, the light.
Blinding. Overpowering. It burned his eyes even before they could fully open. His tiny limbs trembled, too weak to resist the world's violent embrace. He gasped, air filling his lungs for the first time. The shock was so intense that he let out a cry, instinct overriding confusion.
He blinked rapidly, his vision adjusting to the overwhelming brightness. Everything was a blur—movement, shapes, indistinct figures shifting in the haze. His tiny body ached from the sudden exposure, nerves raw and hypersensitive.
Slowly, the figures before him took form.
Two people. A man and a woman.
Their faces hovered above him, watching with unreadable expressions.
The man was imposing, his posture rigid with an air of quiet authority. His presence alone was enough to command attention, a silent force that carried weight beyond words.
The woman was softer in appearance but carried something unspoken in her gaze. A quiet beauty, lined with a shadow of worry. There was warmth in her features, but also something deeper, something restrained.
They were his parents.
Or at least, they were the ones who had brought him into this world.
Yet, their eyes unsettled him.
They weren't simply looking at him with the wonder of new parents admiring their child. There was something else beneath their gaze.
Joy. Pride. But also… a trace of guilt.
The moment stretched, the air between them thick with silent meaning.
A deep, instinctual unease settled in his chest.
Even though his body was weak, his mind was not. He was aware. Too aware. His thoughts were fragmented, disoriented by the overwhelming flood of sensations, but his consciousness—his identity—was intact.
And that realization sent a chill through him.
He wasn't supposed to be aware.
A baby wasn't supposed to think like this.
But he wasn't just a baby, was he?
A thousand disjointed images flashed through his mind. A world that didn't belong to this one. Concepts, memories, knowledge that had no place in an infant's mind. He had lived before.
He had died before.
And now…
"Fuck… I died and got reincarnated."
The absurdity of the thought almost made him laugh—if his newborn lungs had the capacity for it. Instead, he could only blink up at the two figures who now held his fate in their hands.
"And these two? The woman—probably my mother—is gorgeous. The man looks like he exudes maturity. But why are they looking at me like that? Did someone just die?"
The more he observed, the clearer his discomfort became. There was a weight in the air. A tension he didn't understand yet.
"Great. In my past life, I was an orphan. Now I'm an unwanted baby?"
The bitterness of the thought settled deep. It was too soon to know the full truth, but the gut feeling remained.
Still, something else gnawed at him. Something even more wrong than their expressions.
His eyes locked onto their faces, focusing on the detail that had been nagging at him since the moment he first saw them.
And then, it hit him.
"Wait… what the hell is up with their eyes?"
White.
Pure, pupil-less white.
At first, his rational mind jumped to the simplest conclusion.
"Are they blind?"
But even as the thought formed, he knew it was wrong. They weren't moving like blind people. Their attention was too sharp, too precise. They weren't searching for him, weren't fumbling or unsure. They saw him.
But how?
The question burned at him over the following days.
Even as a newborn, he noticed everything. He felt the difference.
His body was weak, powerless, but his mind was not.
He absorbed details like a starving man consuming a feast. The room—simple wooden walls, perfectly arranged tatami mats, doors that slid instead of swung. The clothing—white robes with dark blue trim, worn with a formality that spoke of rigid tradition.
Everything around him was controlled. Disciplined.
He had seen enough in his past life to recognize the atmosphere of hierarchy. This was a place where expectations were heavy, where people knew their roles and didn't step out of line.
Time passed. His hearing sharpened. Voices became clearer. And then, finally, he began to understand.
He heard the names.
Konoha.
The word hit him like a bolt of lightning.
Not just Konoha.
The Hyuuga Clan.
And not just the Hyuuga Clan…
But the Branch Family.
The servant branch.
The group of "inferiors" bound by a cursed seal, forced to live and die at the whims of their "betters."
His stomach twisted.
The Hyuuga were infamous in the Naruto world. He remembered them. Their bloodline, their eyes—the legendary Byakugan. The Main Family that ruled, and the Branch Family that served.
The Clan where children were not children.
The Clan where the youngest were trained for war before they even understood what "life" meant.
The Clan where a seal was branded onto the foreheads of the lesser members, binding them to the will of the Main House until the day they died.
The truth crashed down on him.
This was no ordinary reincarnation.
He wasn't just in the Naruto world.
He was born into one of the most restrictive and oppressive clans in the entire series.
And he was born on the wrong side of it.
The weight of that reality settled over him like a suffocating blanket.
He didn't know the exact rules of this new life.
But he knew one thing.
Being a Hyuuga from the Branch Family meant living and dying under the orders of others.
And that was something he would not accept.
Not in this life.
Not ever.
---