Creak.
Wood scraped against wood as Neji pushed himself upright. His palms pressed against the floor, breath shallow. The clock near the bed read 02:00. The room remained dim, heavy with stagnant air.
He turned instinctively toward the window.
A figure stood there.
Still. Silent. Backlit by the moon.
Neji flinched, heartbeat spiking, before recognizing the familiar outline.
"Father?"
Hizashi turned at the sound. The emptiness in his gaze receded, replaced by a restrained calm.
"Did you have a nightmare?" he asked.
His expression was complicated, but his hand reached out, resting lightly on Neji's hair.
"I don't think it counts as one," Neji answered.
His brows knit as he pressed two fingers to his temple. The sensation there felt swollen, overstimulated.
When he tried to recall the dream, it dissolved immediately.
Like snow melting under morning light.
No matter how tightly he grasped, the memory leaked away, grain by grain.
Only fragments remained.
A ruined shrine.
A children's song.
The terror of replacement.
And eyes.
Brilliant. Blue.
And a descending golden strike that split the night.
"Father."
Neji looked up sharply.
"Is it possible for the Hyūga to possess eyes that aren't the Byakugan?"
Hizashi paused.
"…Why do you ask?"
"I just want to know."
After a moment of thought, Hizashi answered, "If the bloodline is diluted, some never awaken the Byakugan at all. Their eyes remain ordinary."
He hesitated, then added, "There is also a collateral lineage. They use the name Kohyūga. Their blood is thin enough that no one among them has manifested the dōjutsu."
If any member ever did, they would be reclaimed.
Marked.
Assigned.
"So…" Neji murmured, lips dry. "It really was just a dream."
Everything said it was.
And yet the image of the figure walking out of flames, holding a severed head, refused to fade.
Those eyes lingered.
Neji's pulse accelerated.
If I had that kind of power…
He stopped the thought before it completed.
Neither spoke again.
Father and son stood together in silence, each consumed by their own fixation.
Both were reaching toward the same unseen figure.
Neither realized who had planted the seed.
SYSTEM LOG
[Assessment Complete][Deception Type: Post-Event Fabrication, Induced Suggestion, Containment Trap][Target: Hyūga Hizashi][Psychological State: Full Compliance][Reward Granted: 600 Units]
[Assessment Complete][Deception Identifier: "Death of the Hyūga"][Classification: False Narrative / Implanted Vision][Target: Hyūga Neji][Psychological State: Aspirational Delusion][Reward Granted: 1600 Units]
[Remaining Units: 11193]
A shadow dispersal clone collapsed into smoke.
The black cloak flowed back into a single silhouette, sinking into the shadow beneath Shinya's feet.
Hyūga Shinya exhaled slowly.
"Two outcomes," he noted. "Higher yield than three shallow ones."
After manifesting the Shadow Cloak, he had retained 10293 units.Temporarily disabling the Cage Bird seal had cost 300.Inducing Neji's vision-state had cost 1000.
Acceptable.
Necessary.
Only a fragment of that power had been enough to permanently imprint the image.
Without it, Neji would never have believed.
Shinya seated himself at the desk and opened a notebook.
The pages filled with harmless, irrelevant entries.
A decoy.
While his hand moved, his mind audited every step.
Hizashi was not weak. In pure combat experience, he surpassed Hyūga Hiashi. One miscalculation tonight and escape would have been impossible.
Location.Timing.Atmosphere.Psychological leverage.
All essential.
Only after replaying it did Shinya feel a faint thrill.
"…That was reckless."
He nodded once.
"I won't repeat it until my strength rises."
Surely not.
[Self-Assessment Detected][Deception Classification: Self-Deception][Target: Hyūga Shinya][Emotional Variance: Minimal][Reward Granted: 1 Unit]
"…Tch."
Shinya ignored it and issued a new command.
"Manifest ninjutsu: Lightning Release Armor."
[Cost: 1000 Units][Confirm Manifestation]
He hesitated.
Dropping below 10000 felt… unsafe.
Irritating.
Then—
"Meow."
The sound was faint. Ordinary. Lost among insects in heat-season chorus.
Shinya smiled slightly.
"…Looks like more units just wandered in."