Standing on the riverbank, Hayashi watched the two small figures with great interest.
He had no intention of interfering, nor could he. This was merely an illusion woven from Himeji's memories.
Even with his near-photographic memory, this particular scene remained vague in his mind.
Although he had seen Himeji many times after entering the Ninja Academy, fought her during their second year, and eventually became her teammate, he had never remembered meeting her before they enrolled.
No wonder Himeji had approached him after the Sannin's competition and brought up those strange family-related topics.
At the time, Hayashi had found it odd but chose not to ask. Now, seeing this memory unfold before him, he finally understood why.
Then again, it wasn't surprising.
Back then, he had only been two or three years old. Who would remember a chance encounter with a little girl by the riverside?
At that age, his focus had been elsewhere.
How could he become stronger?
How could he survive within the Uchiha Clan?
How could he eventually deal with threats like Madara and Kaguya?
More importantly...
"Did that rock give me a concussion?" Hayashi wondered.
Honestly, it wasn't impossible.
Getting hit in the head by a stone at two or three years old certainly wasn't ideal.
Poor kid.
With that thought, Hayashi continued watching the memory unfold like a spectator.
Although Himeji had yet to enter the Ninja Academy, she came from the Hyūga Clan and had already received basic training at home.
Lifting her skirt slightly, she prepared to jump into the river.
Just then, the boy resurfaced.
The giant carp, however, was nowhere to be seen.
Clearly, the crafty fish had escaped while everyone was distracted.
The boy climbed out of the water and onto the bridge. Shaking his soaked hair, he began wringing water from his coat, creating a puddle beneath him.
"Are you okay?"
Seeing the large bump on his forehead, the girl looked embarrassed.
She had aimed for the carp.
Unfortunately, her accuracy had been off by quite a bit.
The boy rubbed his head and winced before forcing a smile.
"I'm fine. It doesn't really hurt..."
Then his expression turned regretful.
"What a waste. The fish got away."
"Why were you trying to catch it?" the girl asked, tilting her head. "Fish are cute."
Her twin pigtails swayed gently as she blinked her pale eyes.
Even from the sidelines, Hayashi felt a strange urge to laugh at how adorable she looked.
"That was supposed to be dinner for Mikoto and me tonight," the boy replied.
"Mikoto?"
"Yeah. She's a girl about as cute as you. I'm taking care of her right now."
The girl stared at him.
"How old are you, exactly?"
She looked him up and down.
He was nearly a head shorter than her.
The boy paid no attention to her doubtful gaze.
Mentally, he was already far older than his appearance suggested. A child's opinion wasn't going to bother him.
Instead, he asked,
"What were you crying about earlier?"
The moment the question left his mouth, the girl's lips trembled again.
She looked ready to burst into tears.
Feeling helpless, the boy quickly ran to the side of the bridge and crouched down.
After gathering a lump of yellow clay, he skillfully shaped it into a small figure.
A moment later, he held it out to her.
"Don't cry. Look, doesn't it resemble you?"
The girl froze.
Her eyes widened as she stared at the tiny clay figure.
After a brief hesitation, she carefully accepted it.
The boy sat cross-legged on the ground and smiled.
"I don't know why you're crying, but judging by your eyes, you're from the Hyūga Clan, right?"
The image of the Caged Bird Seal surfaced in his mind.
At this point, he had only been in this world for two years.
Since learning to walk, his activities had been limited to the clan compound and nearby parts of Konoha.
He had never visited the Hyūga Clan grounds and knew little about their current situation.
Naturally, he assumed the girl belonged to the branch family and was destined to receive the Caged Bird Seal.
That alone seemed like a valid reason to cry.
If he had been born into the Hyūga branch family, he probably would have cried even harder.
A trace of sympathy appeared in his eyes.
"It's okay."
"No matter how difficult life gets, you still have to keep moving forward, right?"
"It's just the Caged Bird Seal. Is it really impossible to break?"
"If you become the strongest person in the ninja world, who could stop you? Forget the Hyūga Clan. The entire world would have to listen to you."
The girl continued sniffling.
The boy didn't seem to mind.
Instead, he continued rambling to himself.
"We're both pretty unlucky."
"I ended up in this strange world for no reason and got thrown into the Uchiha Clan."
"I'd love to hide somewhere and quietly wait for Naruto and Sasuke to save the world, but they won't even be born for decades."
"Who knows if I'll survive that long?"
The girl gradually stopped crying.
She didn't understand most of what he was saying.
His words were strange.
His thoughts were strange.
Everything about him felt strange.
Yet somehow, she knew he wasn't a bad person.
At the very least, she didn't dislike him.
Seeing her confused expression, the boy's heart softened.
His voice became gentler.
"Since I ended up here and happen to have a little talent, maybe the future isn't completely set in stone."
Hayashi stood and extended a hand toward her.
The girl hesitated.
Holding the clay figure tightly in one hand, she slowly reached out with the other.
He helped her to her feet.
Together, they looked toward the distant Hokage Rock, illuminated by the golden light of the setting sun.
"By the way," the boy asked, "what's your name?"
"Himeji."
"Hyūga Himeji?"
He thought about it for a moment but couldn't remember hearing that name in the future.
Since she wasn't around during Naruto's era, she was probably just another forgotten figure in history.
"When I become the strongest someday, I'll take care of your Caged Bird Seal."
"That stubborn Hiashi... if he refuses, I'll kill him..."
The boy paused.
"Wait, no. If I do that, Hinata won't be born."
"That's troublesome."
"I guess I'll just kill Fugaku first."
Himeji blinked in surprise when she heard her brother's name.
However, years of strict upbringing prevented any dramatic reaction.
More than anything, she simply couldn't understand why such outrageous words were coming from the mouth of a child.
Tilting her head, she asked,
"What's your name?"
"Hayashi. Uchiha Hayashi."
"So you're from the Uchiha Clan."
The girl narrowed her eyes slightly.
"My brother says all Uchiha children are bullies."
"..."
Soon afterward, the scene began to change once more.
Before the next memory could fully unfold, Hayashi formed a hand seal and dispelled the illusion.
There was no need to keep watching.
Opening his eyes, he turned his head.
Himeji lay beside him, still trapped within the genjutsu.
Rather than waking her immediately, he waited a few minutes before helping her break free.
"An illusion?"
Himeji slowly sat up, her expression still lingering somewhere within the memory she had just experienced.
After gathering themselves, the two resumed their journey.
Now aware of the danger, they carefully avoided every shimmering bubble capable of creating illusions.
As they walked deeper into the cavern, Hayashi noticed the faint smile lingering on Himeji's lips.
Unable to suppress his curiosity, he asked,
"So... what did you see?"
"Take a guess."
Himeji pursed her lips slightly, revealing two shallow dimples.
"..."
...
===
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