There's an old saying: you can't arm-wrestle a thigh. No matter how silver-tongued Miyuki was, once his old man had found the weak spot, resistance was futile.
"I, Hyuuga Miyuki, hereby pledge to enroll in the Ninja Academy this year and to ensure that Uchiha Sasuke does not overshadow me... Signed and sealed. Happy now?"
After dinner, Miyuki dutifully presented a handwritten letter of commitment, complete with his thumbprint, to his father. He'd just traded several years of freedom for his sister's name.
Hiashi examined the document, nodded with visible satisfaction, and smiled. "Good. Then if your mother has a girl, we'll name her Hinata. That should settle it."
"Thank you so much, Father."
Thank you my ass. This cost me years of my life. On the surface, Miyuki was all grace and gratitude. Internally, he was cursing Hiashi up one side and down the other.
You absolute con artist. Using my love for my future sister as leverage to force me into that glorified daycare...
After leaving Hiashi's room, Miyuki let out a long sigh.
The thought of spending the next several years sitting in a classroom with a bunch of five-year-olds made him want to claw his own face off.
Granted, the class he'd be entering was arguably the most stacked generation in Konoha's history. Future chief strategist of the village. Next-generation heads of the Ino-Shika-Cho alliance. A Sannin's future apprentice. And most critically... two literal reincarnated demigods.
Just thinking about sharing a room with those two walking cheat codes made his stomach hurt. Sasuke was manageable. But Naruto was genuinely... terrifying.
As a Hyuuga, Miyuki immediately recalled what Naruto had said to Neji after beating him in the Chuunin Exams. If Miyuki ever had the privilege of hearing that speech in person, he'd probably cough blood and die on the spot.
If he remembered correctly, Naruto's words had gone something like: "Stop moping around... saying stuff like destiny can't be changed, that's so boring... because unlike me, you're not a dead-last."
Right. Of course Neji wasn't like Naruto. Neji's father wasn't the Hokage. His sensei wasn't the Hokage. He wasn't born with an infinite chakra cheat sealed inside his gut. And he definitely wasn't the reincarnation of one of the Sage of Six Paths' sons. How could he possibly be the same? If he were, maybe he wouldn't have ended up dead.
That was why, if Miyuki was being honest, he harbored a genuine fear of Naruto. Not because Naruto was mean or hostile, but because no matter how hard you trained, no matter how strong you became, that kid would always find some way to leapfrog past you. Just like Neji said. Destiny.
Destiny had decided that Naruto and Sasuke were the saviors of the world. Everyone else was a supporting character. The Hyuuga included. Garnish on the plate. Shredded daikon next to the sashimi.
That was exactly why Miyuki had been training like a maniac since age three. He was trying to claw his way out of the "garnish" category and become a piece of sashimi worthy of sitting on the plate in its own right. But Hiashi's power play had just thrown a wrench into his plans.
Whatever. I'll just double down on independent training once I'm inside the Academy.
What was done was done. For the sake of his adorable future sister not being named Iron Hammer, Miyuki was prepared to make the sacrifice.
What he didn't expect was that the very next day after complaining about the protagonist, he'd run into the legend himself.
Since Miyuki had been training diligently for two years straight, Hiashi had mostly stopped supervising daily sessions. An occasional pointer here and there, but otherwise, Miyuki had plenty of free time.
So on the day after learning his fate was sealed, Miyuki's curiosity finally won out. He made a break for it.
As the Hyuuga heir, Miyuki was never without protection. Even during solo training in the forest, at least one shadow guard was always posted nearby. And if he wanted to go out into the village, he needed a visible escort.
But all that security felt suffocating. Today, Miyuki had no intention of taking the normal route. Instead, he scaled the side wall of the Hyuuga compound and vaulted over.
Not bad. Miyuki-Sama Pretty nimble. Watching the young heir scramble over the wall, the shadow guard assigned to this sector gave an approving nod. There was a hint of "that's my boy" in his expression.
Not that anyone was going to stop Miyuki from wall-climbing. Over the past two years, he'd mapped out every detail of his security detail's behavior. They never showed themselves unless necessary, and they never intervened unless there was actual danger. Hopping a wall? They couldn't care less.
On the other side, Miyuki was greeted by lush greenery stretching in every direction. The Hyuuga had been founding partners of Konoha, which meant the land allocated to them during the village's creation was absurdly generous. Enough acreage to make a real estate developer weep. Not that property was worth much in this world.
Today I'm exploring the village. Every other time I've gone out, it's been with a whole entourage. Finally getting to wander on my own feels great.
Walking leisurely from the Hyuuga district toward the village center, Miyuki's mood lifted noticeably. Yesterday's irritation at being outmaneuvered by his father melted away in the clean, tranquil scenery.
Compared to the steel-and-concrete metropolis of his previous life, Konoha's urban area was compact. The walk from the Hyuuga compound to the village center took maybe fifteen minutes.
The Hokage Monument loomed over everything, those four massive faces carved into the mountainside like they were watching over the village's future. Even from a distance, Miyuki could make out every feature.
"Senju Hashirama. Senju Tobirama. Sarutobi Hiruzen. Namikaze Minato."
He murmured the four names quietly. Simple names, but each one carried the weight of history. And underneath that weight, the lingering smell of blood that no amount of heroic mythology could fully cover.
Everyone had hero dreams when they were young. But time and reality ground most people down until they buried those dreams somewhere deep and moved on.
All four Hokage were heroes, no question. But in this world, the word "hero" was polished a little too bright. Shiny enough to hide all the things that couldn't be discussed in the open.
Before he knew it, Miyuki had wandered into the bustling main street of Konoha. The village was still technically in its postwar recovery phase, but two years of peace had brought back a lot of the energy. The streets were alive. Vendors shouting from their stalls, villagers going about their day, an atmosphere of cautious optimism settling over everything.
Most of the people filling the streets were civilians, though the occasional shinobi wearing a forehead protector passed through. And scattered here and there, kids had tied scraps of wood to their heads with cloth strips, pretending they were real headbands, chasing each other in make-believe ninja battles. It reminded Miyuki of Konohamaru's little squad from the original story.
But the first order of business after reaching the busy market district was shaking his tail.
Having the shadow guard follow him around wasn't a disaster, but Miyuki wanted to wander truly free today.
Losing a shadow guard wasn't easy for most people. But for Miyuki, who'd spent two years memorizing their tracking distance and behavioral patterns, it was doable.
In the dense crowds of the main street, his small body slipped through gaps that no adult could follow. Within minutes, he'd opened up a comfortable lead.
That should buy me some time. Getting hungry, though. Skipped breakfast. Should find somewhere to eat.
After wandering the streets for a while, his stomach reminded him that he hadn't eaten anything since last night. He'd walked a fair distance too, and the hunger was getting hard to ignore.
But as Miyuki cut through a narrow alley, looking for a shortcut to the next street over, he spotted something. A small figure, barreling toward him at full speed from deeper in the alley.
"Hah... hah... hah... MOVE IT! GET OUT OF THE WAY!"
The kid was sprinting and screaming at the same time, showing zero sign of slowing down. Behind him, several larger shapes were visible in the shadows, giving chase.
Being chased? Is this kid a thief or something?
The runner looked young. Miyuki had no intention of getting involved, so he sidestepped neatly, dodging the incoming collision.
But the instant Miyuki moved aside, the kid's foot caught on some debris littering the alley floor. He went down hard, slamming into the ground face-first, then rolled several meters like a kicked ball before wobbling back to his feet.