Arata came back to his senses, a faint look of apology on his face.
"Sorry, Lord Hizashi. I thought it was someone else…"
"It's not you who should be apologizing. I came uninvited."
Clad in a black kimono, Hyūga Hizashi waved a hand dismissively, hiding his slightly trembling hand behind his back. His gaze lingered on Arata with a hint of admiration as he smiled.
"May I come in for a bit?"
"Please," Arata replied with an easy smile, stepping aside.
"Thank you." Hizashi stepped into the entryway, letting his eyes wander over the simple, sparsely furnished home. His gaze paused briefly on the open room where training tools were neatly arranged.
"I already heard about what happened this morning," he began as they took seats in the living room. "You were right to act cautiously when you saw someone sneaking into the compound."
Hizashi sighed before continuing, "I just didn't expect someone to dare attack you in the village itself. How are your injuries?"
Noticing Hizashi's eyes glance toward his hands, Arata smiled.
"Lucky for me, nothing serious."
"There's no need for formalities when it's just the two of us," Hizashi said softly. "Your father and I were close. I've neglected you, and that's on me. I'm just relieved you're all right."
Though technically the head of the branch family, Hizashi's reputation among them was rather good, his attitude toward Arata now was that of a gentle elder rather than a superior.
They spoke for a while about Arata's recent situation. Hizashi hesitated several times but ultimately decided not to scold Arata for his "disrespect" at noon, despite the main family elders' orders.
Looking at Arata's young face, Hizashi thought of his late father and of Neji's growing resentment toward the main house. A sigh welled up in his chest.
'With the main family behaving as they do, how could resentment not take root?'
All he could do was try to soothe the pain a little.
"Those wooden posts outside, you smashed them, didn't you?" Hizashi said, trying to shift the topic. "Your progress is impressive. You even awakened your Byakugan after that incident. But take care not to overstrain yourself."
"You flatter me, Lord Hizashi," Arata replied politely, but without agreeing. His tone was calm as he added, "After all, I'm the only one left now. I have no one else to rely on but myself."
Hizashi froze. Then the guilt and pity in his heart deepened.
Seeing the boy's composed yet quietly grieving face, he couldn't bring himself to ask the question lingering on his tongue.
Ask what?
How did a failure like you suddenly become this strong?"
Was there even a need to ask?
Losing his only family, his father, was more than enough to change a timid child forever.
"…"
Hizashi unconsciously wetted his dry lips, and only then realized the boy hadn't even offered tea.
'Still holding resentment, huh?' he thought wryly.
All he could do now was comfort him.
"Well then, if you ever run into trouble, come to me," Hizashi said as he stood. "I'll be going now. You must be tired, get some rest."
But before leaving, he reached into his robes and took out two scrolls, placing them on the table. His voice was gentle, "Since you've awakened your Byakugan, and already mastered the Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms, these are the advanced forms, the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms."
Arata's eyes flickered as he looked at the scrolls, realizing Hizashi had acted out of genuine guilt and pity, a costly impulse.
The Hyūga main house wanted the branch family to be strong enough to protect them, but never too strong.
Aside from Rotation (Hakke Kaiten), which was a secret known only to the main family, the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms was another technique only taught to branch members who earned the main family's approval.
To ordinary jōnin it might not seem overwhelming, but in close combat, it was lethal, sealing chakra flow and rendering opponents unable to use ninjutsu.
Only those branch members who proved their obedience and loyalty ever got to learn it.
As for the One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms seen once in the anime filler, it never appeared in the manga, the Sixty-Four Palms was likely the true limit of Gentle Fist.
If the main family discovered Hizashi had passed it down privately, he would no doubt be punished, likely forced to endure the soul-burning pain of the Caged Bird Seal again.
Hizashi already regretted it the moment he set them down, but before he could say anything, Arata had already picked up the scrolls.
"Thank you," Arata said quietly, his head bowed, face shadowed, shoulders trembling slightly.
"My father's scrolls and notes were all confiscated… Without you, I truly wouldn't know how to go on."
"…"
Hizashi opened his mouth, hesitated, and finally closed it again. After a moment of silence, he sighed.
"Don't resent the main family. This is our fate as branch members. Your father wouldn't want to see you in pain."
With that, fearing he might change his mind and take the scrolls back, Hizashi finally excused himself and left.
Arata sat in the dim living room, head lowered. His sad expression slowly faded into calm as he gazed out at the deepening night.
[Ding! Your lie has been classified as [Feigning Sorrow]. Hyūga Hizashi experiences strong emotional disturbance, reaching [Self-Doubt]. You gain 300 "Reality Points."]
[Total Reality Points: 11,093]
"Quite the profitable day," Arata murmured, glancing at his total. "If only there were more good people like Lord Hizashi and Guy-senpai."
Seeing his growing balance, a restless excitement crept into him.
To be safe, he kept 10,000 points in reserve, leaving just over a thousand to "experiment" with.
The first person who came to mind, of course, was his most admired figure, Orochimaru.
"Orochimaru's scrolls… maybe I can make some adjustments."
To Arata, Orochimaru was nothing more than a convenient test subject, a very useful one.
And he had a bold new idea.
After some thought, he muttered silently in his mind:
"Materialize, add new content to the scroll in Orochimaru's possession. Set it so that the seal can only be undone by mastering the Living Corpse Reincarnation technique. The content will describe how the souls of deeply vengeful shinobi can manifest as physical entities after death…"
The system processed his request.
[Cost: 100 Reality Points. Proceed with manifestation?]
It wasn't much, since it was only adding text and a simple seal.
"Proceed," Arata said.
Once the creation completed, a flicker crossed his eyes, and another thought followed.
Orochimaru was too far away; it would take time to see results.
He couldn't just sit and wait. He needed a nearer target, Hyūga Neji would do nicely.
After a pause, Arata thought again:
"Materialize, a garment that conceals identity, blocks the Byakugan and other sensory techniques, and cannot be damaged."
[Cost: 800 Reality Points. Proceed with manifestation?]
"So expensive," Arata muttered darkly. Then, through clenched teeth, "Proceed."
[800 Reality Points deducted. Remaining total: 10,193]
Just as the system confirmed the transaction, the shadow beneath him began to stir.
A black, fluid-like substance seeped from his feet, crawling up his legs and enveloping him.
Arata looked toward the mirror, and froze.
He was now cloaked in a hooded black robe, its hem rippling like liquid shadow rather than cloth. His face was swallowed by an abyssal darkness.
[Shadow Cloak: A robe formed from the wearer's shadow. Adjusts shape to fit the host's body, perfectly conceals identity, disrupts most detection and sensory jutsu, and automatically repairs itself if damaged. Normally dormant within the user's shadow. (Bound)]
At that moment, Arata had only one thought:
'Those 800 points were worth every bit.'