Hyuga Hinata took a deep breath, her small hands raising into a Gentle Fist stance as she rushed toward Hyuga Hiashi.
Hiashi merely shifted his body slightly to one side, easily dodging Hinata's strike. Then he extended a single finger and tapped her wrist, cutting off any follow-up movement.
Smack!
Crisp slaps echoed again and again.
Day after day, the same scene played out in the dojo.
Attack. Be blocked. Get subdued with ease. In the past, Hinata's form would start to crumble after just three to five exchanges, her strength quickly running out.
But today… was a little different.
Knocked aside, Hinata didn't retreat into a defensive, conservative style the way she usually did. Instead, she pushed off hard from the tatami, using the rebound to steady herself, and with her other hand struck out again toward Hiashi's lower body from a slightly clumsy but clearly offensive angle.
Hiashi's brow twitched upward for a moment, but he countered right away, once more neutralizing the attack effortlessly. His movements still weren't fast, yet his palms clung to Hinata like a shadow, repeatedly targeting several major tenketsu on her body.
Hinata's movements looked a bit messy as she was forced back again and again under her father's offensive, dodging in a rather awkward fashion. But Hiashi saw it clearly—her eyes were no longer fixated just on his hands like before. She was splitting her attention, watching his waist and torso as well.
She was looking for an opening.
More precisely—she was actively seeking a chance to attack.
Good.
Hiashi cheered inwardly, though his face stayed as calm and unreadable as ever. He even sped up his strikes a little.
He wanted to see just how far Hinata could go this time.
Sweat quickly soaked through Hinata's bangs, her breathing turning rough and labored as her stamina neared its limit.
"Haaah!"
She suddenly let out a low shout and surged forward straight into the gust of her father's incoming palm, throwing a desperate punch.
A flash of surprise crossed Hiashi's eyes. His wrist twisted slightly, and with a casual-looking push of his palm, he precisely redirected her momentum.
Hinata felt a wave of soft force travel back along her fist, flipping her center of gravity. She couldn't stop herself from falling backward and landed on the cold floor with a thump.
The spar was over.
Hinata lowered her head, her small fists clenched tight, waiting for the inevitable scolding. Because… in the end, she still hadn't managed to achieve anything.
The dojo was utterly silent, save for her own harsh breathing. It felt like a very long time had passed before Hiashi's voice finally came from above her.
"Get up."
Hinata pushed herself to her feet and stood straight again, head bowing, ready to accept his criticism.
What she heard instead was something completely unexpected.
"Today… you did well."
Hinata's head snapped up, disbelief written all over her face. Her pure white eyes were wide with shock.
Her father's expression was still the same eternally stern one as always. But what he'd just said wasn't "not enough," wasn't "too slow," and wasn't silent disappointment.
It was praise.
Since the day she could remember, this was the first time she had ever been complimented by her father.
The door behind her closed with a soft click, as if sealing off the outside world entirely.
Hinata leaned back against the wooden door, standing there in a daze for a few seconds, her blank white eyes staring at the familiar furnishings of her room.
"…I really can do it."
She kept the whispered words between her lips and teeth, like an answer to a promise she'd made to someone.
Hinata took the black notebook out of the drawer and opened it, waiting for the [Life Simulator] cooldown to hit zero. The moment it did, she chose [Start Simulation].
The previous simulation result vanished. From the first page, new lines of text appeared.
[Year 54 of Konoha. The envoy from Kumogakure arrived, and Father has grown even busier. I found another chance to sneak out of the compound. I'm planning to go look for Neji-nii.]
[However, just outside the wall, I spotted a suspicious figure. His skin was dark, very much like someone from the Land of Lightning.]
[Now, I have three options.]
[1. Shout loudly that there is a spy from an enemy village here.]
[2. Ignore it and continue going to find Neji-nii.]
[3. Do nothing and go back to my room.]
"Huh?"
Hinata blinked in surprise. The conditions were exactly the same as the last simulation, but this time there was a third choice.
Should she pick that one?
She nervously pinched her fingers together. Even though Kumogakure had expressed a desire for peace talks, their envoy still needed time to cross two countries' worth of distance to reach Konoha.
Forget it. She decided to stick with the choice she'd wanted to make before.
Once her mind was made up, Hinata chose the first option.
[This time, I shout loudly. The Kumogakure ninja immediately turns to look at me.]
[His figure grows rapidly larger in my vision. Just then, Father, who had already gone to bed, rushes over. His palm slams into the chest of that Cloud ninja. The man doesn't even have time to make a sound before he stops breathing.]
[He's dead.]
[However, we never expected Kumogakure's backlash. They twisted the truth and accused Konoha of breaking their word—of not only sabotaging peace talks but brutally murdering their envoy. They demanded that Konoha hand over the killer as compensation, or they would answer with war.]
[If a single life could buy peace, then on paper, this trade seemed incredibly cost-effective.]
[Not just the others in the village—even Father began to waver. Not long after, the body of the "killer" was handed over.]
[Father and I stood side by side, watching the corpse whose face was identical to Father's. Then I finally understood.]
[The "killer"… was Uncle Hizashi.]
"How… how could this happen?!"
Young Hinata had never seen the darker side of the world, nor could she understand the complex twists behind it all. Her tender heart was brutally pierced by this cruel truth.
Just then, a new line slowly surfaced on the page.
[Worldline has been locked. View this simulation's outcome?]
Hinata took a deep breath, forcing her voice not to shake. "View it."
[Kumogakure got their explanation. Konoha got its peace. The Hyuga retained their clan head. And the cost of all this was nothing more than the life of one branch family member.]
[But those who are used to standing up high—how could they ever lower their noble heads to see that Hyuga Neji lost his father? To see that, from that day on, a child had lost his entire world?]
[Year 58 of Konoha. The Uchiha clan was wiped out in a single night, leaving only one survivor. The impact of this event was immense. It seems to have given someone an idea.]
[Year 63 of Konoha. During Orochimaru's Konoha Crush plan, Hyuga Neji seized the opportunity and, in a very short time, killed every main family member except you… then defected.]
["My foolish sister… if you want to kill me, then resent me, curse me, and live on in ugly misery."]
[This simulation has ended.]
[Evaluation: It's one thing to lie to the branch family. Don't lie to yourself as well.]