Creak.
The floorboards emitted an unpleasant groan. Hyūga Neji pushed himself up to a sitting position. The alarm clock on his bedside table showed 2:00 AM. The light in the room was still dim and murky.
He instinctively looked towards the window to check the time and saw a figure standing silently before it, emanating a profound sense of desolation.
His emotions still in turmoil, Hyūga Neji was startled at first, but quickly recognized the face, etched with melancholy in the moonlight.
"Father?"
Hearing his son's puzzled voice, Hyūga Hizashi, who had been staring blankly out the window, snapped back to reality. He withdrew his gaze and looked at his son.
"Did you have a nightmare?"
Hizashi's eyes held a complex emotion, but he still managed a gentle smile, reaching out to stroke Neji's hair.
"It… probably wasn't a nightmare."
Hyūga Neji's young face scrunched up slightly. He raised a hand to massage his throbbing temples.
He tried to recall the details of the dream, but it felt like everything was melting away like snow under the morning sun. His memories were like holding fine sand—they kept slipping through his fingers, vanishing with the wind.
Unwillingly opening his palm, he found only a few grains remained.
The eerie nursery rhyme at the ruined shrine… the fear and resentment of becoming the "scapegoat"… those incredibly beautiful blue eyes… and finally, that golden light that split the night sky.
"Father."
Hyūga Neji desperately clung to those few remaining 'grains,' looking up at Hizashi and asking instinctively, "Is it possible… for a member of the Hyūga clan to have eyes other than the Byakugan?"
Hearing this, Hyūga Hizashi was momentarily taken aback. He gave Neji a puzzled look but explained, "If one's bloodline isn't pure enough, they might never awaken the Byakugan in their lifetime. Their eyes would be like an ordinary person's."
He paused, as if remembering something, and added, "Speaking of which, there's actually a collateral branch of our Hyūga clan that uses the surname 'Kohinata.' Their bloodline has become so diluted that none of them have awakened the Byakugan anymore."
Of course, if a member of the Kohinata clan did awaken the Byakugan, they would be immediately brought back into the Hyūga clan, branded with the Caged Bird seal, and made a member of the branch family.
"So…" Hyūga Neji licked his dry lips, muttering, "It was just a dream?"
Everything reminded him it had only been a dream. Yet the figure emerging from the flames holding a head, and those magnificent eyes, seemed seared into his mind.
He could even recall the ring-like radiance within those eyes, and the awe of that final golden light piercing the clouds before its descent.
"What happened before that?"
Hyūga Neji frowned, trying to remember, but the memories wouldn't come. He only had a vague feeling it was important.
The dream had been far too vivid. Vivid enough to feel unreal, vivid enough to make his heart palpitate.
'If I could possess such terrifying power… would I also be able to…'
Hyūga Neji said nothing more. Hyūga Hizashi didn't press. A brief, dead silence fell between them.
Clearly, both were lost in their own complex thoughts at this moment.
The former harbored a hint of determination and longing he himself hadn't even noticed. The latter was constantly recalling that brief taste of freedom, growing covetous of it. What they shared was a budding desire for the figure who had planted these seeds within their hearts.
Neither knew that the turmoil within father and son was, in fact, sown by the very same person.
[Ding! Your lie has been judged as [Bluffing], [Demagoguery], [Setting a Trap]. Hyūga Hizashi experiences intense emotional fluctuation, reaching the state of [Unquestioning Obedience]. 600 Fulfillment Points acquired.]
[Ding! Your lie [The Death of the Hyūga] has been judged as [Fabrication], [Pipe Dream]. Hyūga Neji experiences intense emotional fluctuation, reaching the state of [Harboring Delusions]. 1600 Fulfillment Points acquired.]
[Remaining Fulfillment Points: 11,193]
"Two achievements netted a thousand more points than three achievements?" Hyūga Kumokawa mused.
In the room, the clone he had used earlier vanished with a poof of smoke. The Shadow Robe flowed like liquid back into the shadow of his main body, gradually revealing his contemplative face.
"As expected. Only truly fantastical lies yield greater rewards."
After manifesting the Shadow Robe, Hyūga Kumokawa had 10,293 points left. Suppressing Hizashi's Caged Bird seal for ten seconds cost only 300 points. But immersing Hyūga Neji in the dream he had meticulously crafted cost 1,000 points.
This time, however, Hyūga Kumokawa didn't grumble about the system being greedy.
After all, only by truly manifesting a glimpse of the Tenseigan's power could he sear that image into Hyūga Neji's mind, paving the way for the grander lies to come.
"Made the investment back with profit. Not a loss. A hefty gain."
Hyūga Kumokawa changed his clothes and sat at his desk, taking out his "diary" from a drawer.
He wrote unrelated "diary" entries while contemplating potential flaws in his recent actions and planning how to use his newly acquired points.
His current strength was still insufficient. Don't be fooled by Hyūga Hizashi's subservience to his brother; his strength was among the top in the clan, and his practical combat experience far surpassed that of Hyūga Hiashi, the Main Family head.
Probably only a madman like him would dare appear so brazenly before Hizashi, not only pressuring him to the brink of eruption but even daring to threaten and manipulate him.
If he hadn't deliberately chosen the location to be Hizashi's own courtyard, if he hadn't deliberately projected that aura of calm, formidable power…
If he hadn't deliberately cultivated an atmosphere of extreme tension… if he hadn't chosen to appear in the desolate quiet of the night…
If he hadn't exploited Hizashi's concern for Neji… if he hadn't understood Hizashi's nature so thoroughly…
Every part of the design was essential.
It might have appeared effortless and controlled, but if a single misstep had occurred, Hizashi would have caught on. Escape would have been impossible.
Even now, as Hyūga Kumokawa reviewed the events, he couldn't help but marvel at his own audacity. Yet, at the same time, he felt a profound, genuine pleasure from the thrill of it all.
"I need to be more cautious in the future. Build up my strength first. I can't take risks like this again."
Hyūga Kumokawa nodded, firmly resolving in his heart.
Yes. Next time, for sure.
[Ding! Your lie has been judged as [Self-Deception]. Hyūga Kumokawa experiences slight emotional fluctuation, reaching the state of [Saying One Thing, Meaning Another]. 1 Fulfillment Point acquired.]
"…Can't be bothered with you, you brainless thing," Hyūga Kumokawa muttered mentally, black lines practically visible on his forehead. He then commanded: "Manifest Jutsu - Lightning Release Chakra Mode."
[Cost: 1000 Fulfillment Points. Manifest?]
"That expensive? That would almost drop me below 10,000 points?" Hyūga Kumokawa gritted his teeth.
He wasn't exactly a miserly person, but he did have a hamster-like tendency to hoard resources.
Seeing his points about to dip below 10,000 gave him a sense of insecurity.
So he was genuinely hesitant to spend, wondering if he should try to develop the technique himself.
But before he could decide, a faint cat's meow reached his ears.
"Meow."
The sound was barely audible amidst the shrill, piercing cries of insects. In this season of animal mating calls, it wasn't particularly unusual.
Yet, Hyūga Kumokawa's gaze sharpened. A faint, almost imperceptible smile touched his lips.
'Ah. The "points" have come knocking on their own.'