"Your pissiest classmate?" Amon scrawled the words sideways on a bamboo scroll, ink bleeding slightly into the grain. He'd been practicing Kanji for three relentless hours, fingers cramped and trembling. Outside the paper walls of the Hyūga compound, cicadas screamed through the sweltering late afternoon heat. A bead of sweat trickled down his temple. He wiped it away with his sleeve, smudging the character for 辞職
resignation.
He had existed as Neji Hyūga for six years now—six years since waking in this body of an eleven-year-old, trembling beside his father's fading form. Six years of swallowing grief that wasn't his, mastering chakra control until his eyes burned, memorizing clan protocols stifling as his high-collared robes. Amon—the mind trapped within—knew the script by heart. Knew Neji's fate: bitterness, the Caged Bird Seal, death by eighteen. Knew Konoha's invisible chains too. Bloodlines dictated all. Politics strangled hope like invasive vines. He would play his part impeccably. For now.
The sliding shoji door whispered open. Hinata stood there, tiny fists clenched, her 白眼
pale eyes flickering nervously. "Cousin," she murmured, gaze dropping to his scroll, voice, fragile as rice paper, "The Academy graduation ceremony begins soon." Amon nodded, rolling up the Kanji he'd fought to perfect. He hadn't altered the timeline—had mimicked Neji's cold brilliance, even echoed his sharp critiques of Hinata's 'weakness.' Yet inside, he pitied her. Saw the system grinding her down. Saw himself reflected in her—trapped.
They stepped through shaded corridors toward the village center, sunlight carving sharp slivers between the buildings, warm on Amon's neck. The weight of the Hyūga crest felt like lead against his chest. Ahead, crowds gathered near the Hokage monument—team assignments awaited. The true beginning. Amon's pulse thrummed steady. Patience was his shield, his secret weapon—a mind seasoned by two lifetimes, observing every secret—clan whispers, jutsu gaps, the hidden flow of chakra within living beings—a perception sharpening daily. Soon, observation alone wouldn't suffice. Soon, he would carve his own destiny in this brutal, breathtaking world.