"You were afraid of hurting me, so you wouldn't see me!"
"You were afraid I'd face danger, so you hid everything from me no matter what it was!"
"You were afraid that something might happen to me one day, so you pushed me away to keep me far from your world!"
"And you were even more afraid that what you're about to do next would involve me, so—"
"You're avoiding me now!"
Her small face tense, Hyuga Natsu stared cold-eyedly at the now-silent Hyuga Yu, speaking icily:
"At the Hidden Mist frontlines camp, you deliberately sent me back to Konoha under the guise of seeking reinforcements. But I knew the moment I saw Tsunade—you never placed your hopes on that woman to begin with. Your relationship with Tsunade wasn't nearly as solid as you made it out to be."
"In the rear camp, you dispatched Yamato and Terai to deliver intelligence, only feeling barely comfortable enough to assign me tasks after confirming I was protected by Foundation members, Master Furofuki, and Master Might Duy. But—your true intention was likely using that move as a pretext to send me back to Konoha, away from the frontlines."
"You strictly protected me like a canary, locking me up in a cage."
"However, what you didn't expect was—"
Hyuga Natsu raised her hand. Wisps of Yin Release Tenseigan chakra flickered atop her slender, white fingertips.
"I broke free from the canary cage you set up, flew out, and even obtained the exact same power as yours."
"Yet it is precisely this power that makes you feel even more anxious, even more terrified, and even more afraid—"
"Because Chunin Hyuga Natsu might have just been a weak, insignificant girl with a bit of cleverness who didn't affect the big picture. But Hyuga Natsu, who has mastered the power of the Tenseigan—you know very well in your heart that she can play a vital role in your plans!"
"And the closer she gets to you, the more horrifying and beyond common sense the dangers she will face will become!"
Hyuga Natsu stared at Hyuga Yu with a cold sneer and asked:
"Am I right, Hyuga Yu?"
Hyuga Yu fell silent, not uttering a single word.
The mountain wind howled past, trees and leaves rustling against one another atop the Hokage Rock with a soft rustle.
Hyuga Natsu's words cut through him like a blade, peeling back all of his guises—
Indeed.
Hyuga Yu was afraid.
He was afraid of Hyuga Natsu getting hurt, afraid of something happening to her, afraid of her dying. He was afraid that one day, his plans, his ambition, and his enemies would harm her.
Obtaining the power of the Tenseigan was by no means without a price.
The series of chain reactions and butterfly effects triggered by touching the power of the Tenseigan had already dragged this world into an unpredictable, incomprehensible fog.
Sh Shibai Otsutsuki's dojutsu and Karma; extraterrestrial visitors arriving ahead of time; the Otsutsuki descending from the moon;
The thousand-year turtle, Isshiki Otsutsuki, lurking in the Land of Lightning, poking his head out;
And now, having just touched senjutsu, he had brushed against profound, mystifying concepts like the "detached view" realm, Six Paths Senjutsu, life-borrowing abilities, and the planet's will.
The Shinobi World, which had originally been running smoothly, had its superficial veil of peace torn right off due to the arrival of an outsider like him.
There were minefields and anomalies everywhere.
Trapped in the middle of it all, Hyuga Yu couldn't even fathom what kind of ending he would ultimately face. Would it be good, or bad?
He felt as though he were dancing blindly in a pitch-black minefield.
Under these circumstances—
How could he possibly bow, smile, and extend his hand to Hyuga Natsu, inviting her to dance a waltz alongside him on a razor-thin stage rigged with countless explosives?
Under Hyuga Natsu's interrogation, Hyuga Yu's thoughts drifted—
He thought back to 143 days ago.
Back then, after making a move on Hyuga Motomitsu and taking the Main House's Byakugan, he had already anticipated that the Main House would strike back.
And what would have happened if he hadn't sent Hyuga Natsu away back then and had kept her by his side instead?
Without a doubt, continuing to assassinate members of the Main House to replace Hyuga Natsu's eyes with a Main House Byakugan—thereby breaking the shackles of the Caged Bird—would have been the best choice at the time.
However, Hyuga Yu had personally experienced that terrifying ordeal where life and death were completely beyond one's control, hinging entirely on a single thought from the Caged Bird seal. He knew how dangerous it was, and he couldn't bear to let Hyuga Natsu go through the exact same thing.
Therefore—
Even if he were to do it all over again, he would still make the same choice!
He would still send Hyuga Natsu away, doing everything in his power to dispatch her to a safer place. He would subconsciously play dumb, deliberately avoiding Hyuga Natsu—even though she was someone who could provide him with powerful assistance!
However—
This woman was like stubborn candy that couldn't be shaken off. She stood firmly and resolutely in front of him once again.
This time—
Hyuga Yu could no longer hide.
"Hyuga Yu, look at me—"
Hyuga Natsu's voice carried over hazily.
Her eyes were like the summer sun—
Scorching, dazzling, impossible to look straight into, dispersing all the shadows he relied on to hide. It sent a shudder through Hyuga Yu, but her forceful, slightly choked tone compelled him to look at her face, her eyes.
Then, Hyuga Natsu's words crashed down like a rapid bombardment:
"You think this is for my own good?"
"Who do you think you are?" Hyuga Natsu glared at him, emphasizing every word. "Do you think I'm still that little girl hiding behind the tree at the training grounds watching you? Do you think I'm still that Branch House girl who only knows how to cooperate with your acting? Do you think you alone can decide my life, raising me into a plump, pampered canary—"
Her voice suddenly pitched up, then dropped just as abruptly:
"Did you ever ask me if I was willing?!"
"Natsu..." Hyuga Yu saw the glistening spots of light at the corners of her eyes, sparkling under the sunlight.
He intended to reach out to smooth away that sadness.
However—
"Shut up!" Hyuga Natsu raised her hand and slapped away his outstretched hand, sniffing slightly.
"Let me tell you right now—"
She raised her head, looking straight into Hyuga Yu's eyes. Grabbing him by the collar, she yanked him close until their noses almost touched, their hot breaths tangling fiercely as she scolded him violently:
"I'm not innocent, nor do I need your pity!"
"The one who forced you out of the village, murdered Hyuga Motomitsu, and deceived Elder Hyuga Takahiro—was me!"
"The one who pushed you and dragged this world into the mud to roast in hell—was me!"
"We are accomplices!"
"Ever since the day Hyuga Motomitsu was killed, we've already been accomplices. When you committed murder, I stood right by your side watching. When you stole the Byakugan, I held your hand with my own to help you transplant it. When you trampled over the Hyūga clan's rules, I helped you wipe away the bloodstains—"
"From that day on, I was already on this ship."
Staring directly into his eyes, she spoke fiercely, word by word:
"No matter how much you push me away, I will swim back to find you!"
"No matter how much you try to protect me, I'll find a way to stand by your side!"
"Because—"
Gazing at Hyuga Yu's face mere inches away, Hyuga Natsu gritted her teeth, closed her eyes, and simply leaned in to bite him violently and clumsily.
Her pearl-white teeth and red lips ground and bit against his.
Fiercely leaving her mark on Hyuga Yu's mouth, they seemed like two ferocious beasts embracing while tearing at each other's flesh.
She reached out to wrap her arms around Hyuga Yu's waist, clamping tight as if terrified he might vanish from her sight once more.
The words that had once been drowned out by the roar of explosive tags were now written clearly on his back with her fingertips—
Hyuga Yu took a deep breath, and then, solemnly read those words aloud:
"I love you."
He could feel the body of the small creature in his arms suddenly stiffen, seemingly having not expected Hyuga Yu to be the one to say those words first.
Meanwhile, Hyuga Yu held Hyuga Natsu tightly.
Standing there, he felt the soft body in his arms, the warm breath puffing against his neck, and her softly trembling arms—
All of Hyuga Natsu's resistance softened beneath Hyuga Yu's confession.
Hyuga Natsu felt heat flush through her whole body, her face turning as red as a steaming teapot. She could only bury her head in his chest and curse fiercely in a muffled voice:
"Are you an idiot?"
"Yes."
Hyuga Yu nodded in admission.
Then, almost like a pervert, he extended his tongue to lick the trace of blood at the corner of his lips—unable to tell whether it was Hyuga Natsu's or his own.
The metallic flavor of blood mixed with saliva on his tongue was rapidly analyzed by Hyuga Yu's "Hyper-Perception".
At that moment, Hyuga Yu actually tasted the faint aura of a "third party" from these bodily fluids.
Immediately after, Hyuga Yu raised his head. His gaze instantly pierced through Hyuga Natsu's face, penetrating into her body and mind. Like an X-ray vision, his gaze instantaneously bypassed skin, muscle, bone, meridians, and brain.
Very quickly—
He saw a massive, complex composite intertwined with Hyuga Natsu's own spiritual energy.
Hyuga Yu's eyes suddenly went cold.
Meanwhile—
With her head buried in his chest, Hyuga Natsu breathed a subtle sigh of relief. As if a long-cherished wish had finally been fulfilled, the corners of her lips secretly curled up into a foolishly happy smile.
Her voice was slightly lower than before, her tone softening considerably—perfectly fitting the "tsundere" traits in Hyuga Yu's memory:
"Since you know you were wrong, then..."
"I was wrong."
"Huh?" Hyuga Natsu was taken aback. "You..."
Without waiting for Hyuga Natsu to finish, Hyuga Yu directly admitted his mistake and spoke:
"I indeed made a miscalculation."
"I thought my previous actions could protect you well, but clearly, I understated your willpower and misjudged the situation—"
Hyuga Yu's tone carried a trace of exhaustion and heaviness.
"When the nest is overturned, how can any egg remain whole..."
Noticing something off in Hyuga Yu's tone, Hyuga Natsu immediately raised her head, only to see Hyuga Yu's Byakugan staring dazedly at her—glowing with a teal-white luster and emanating a magnificent, gem-like pressure.
"Natsu, that will... it belongs to the Tenseigan, doesn't it?"
Hyuga Natsu's body suddenly froze. She tightly shut her mouth, refusing to reveal any more—that she might only have less than three months left of her own self-awareness.
"There's no point in covering it up," Hyuga Yu sighed exhaustedly.
"I was the first to master the power of these eyes. I know the cost of this power better than anyone."
"A cost that should have been borne by me is now being shifted onto you... Heh... Hahahaha~"
Hyuga Yu laughed—a wild, reckless laughter, yet a murderous ferocity flared in his eyes as if he wanted to wipe out an entire lineage.
He slowly raised his head, looking up toward the sky.
Hyuga Natsu's admonition hadn't dissolved Hyuga Yu's resolve to protect her. On the contrary, it made him feel even more pity for her. A woman like this was impossible to find anywhere, even with a spotlight. How could he not fall for her over the course of their time together?
What truly changed Hyuga Yu's mindset was the heavy reality appearing right before his eyes.
Had Hyuga Natsu not come looking for him directly, his self-righteous protection and avoidance would have, in a different sense, actually ended up killing her!
This caused any remaining sense of fluke in Hyuga Yu's heart to evaporate completely.
An immense dread seized his heart like an invisible giant hand, making him feel a choking sense of despair.
Where on earth did things go wrong?
Why had this world turned into what it was now?
Or was this kind of despair—one that couldn't be altered by one's own will—the true, underlying nature of this world all along?
It was true for Madara Uchiha, Obito Uchiha, Kakashi Hatake, Minato Namikaze, Jiraiya, Nagato Uzumaki...
Every character Hyuga Yu was familiar with was like this; each had their own regrets. Hyuga Yu had originally thought that being familiar with the plot, various intelligence, and even numerous secrets of the Shinobi World, he would be immune to this—that he could even rewrite certain events from an arrogant transmigrator's perspective.
But now—
This suffocating reality had nearly brushed right past him!
After forcibly altering everyone's life trajectories, was he, Hyuga Yu, destined to bear all of their despairs alone?
At that thought, Hyuga Yu's breathing involuntarily grew heavy, puffing like an overworked bellows.
His face turned increasingly pale.
His body continuously trembled violently under the entanglement of this unspeakable fear and the relief of almost losing Hyuga Natsu.
Hyuga Natsu felt the trembling radiating from Hyuga Yu.
She looked at him and forced a sweet, slightly strained smile:
"You... you don't need to worry about me."
"It's not like I'm really going to die. I'll just merge with them, becoming one of the hundreds of thousands of wills of the Otsutsuki clan. Even if I die, my body will still help you."
"Besides... it should be able to accomplish even more than what I can do now."
Hyuga Yu sniffed, shaking his head. The more dire the moment grew, the calmer his tone became—calm to an almost frigid degree:
"I won't let that happen."
Hyuga Natsu cupped Hyuga Yu's face, extending her hand to smooth away the furrowed lines on his brow, and smiled: "Don't force yourself too hard. By yourself, you can't possibly finish everything, and there will ultimately be things you can't achieve."
"Hey, Lion-kun."
Hyuga Natsu suddenly looked up and called out.
"Hmm?" Hyuga Yu looked at her, inquiry in his eyes.
"Could you grant me a small wish?"
"Go ahead—"
"After being engaged for so many years, it feels like we've never properly gone on a date. So I was wondering if we could..."
Having composed his emotions, Hyuga Yu looked at Hyuga Natsu.
Then—
He resolutely shook his head at her.
"No."
"I haven't even said what we'd do yet?"
Suppressing his urge to agree, Hyuga Yu gritted his teeth and said:
"What you need to do right now—is select experienced veterans from the Hyūga clan who excel in commerce and actuarial affairs, merge them into Headquarters, and assist me with my work."
"Hey, are you a blockhead—"
Hyuga Natsu appeared pouting and annoyed.
Yet Hyuga Yu could tell from her eyes that the ripples in her gaze were filled with the joy of seeing the boy she loved growing into a man.
Hyuga Yu took a deep breath, looking at her with a helpless, bitter smile on his face.
"Natsu, you're right—"
"We are already accomplices."
————
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