The morning mist outside the Dao had not yet fully dissipated, but Hyuga Hinata's training uniform was already soaked with sweat.
With every breath, she exhaled large plumes of white mist, which were then scattered by the palm winds she exerted with all her might. Although her nose and cheeks were red from the cold, her eyes remained focused on the Acupoints marked on the wooden dummy.
"Stop."
Hyuga Hiashi's voice suddenly rang out. Hinata immediately stopped, her sweat-dampened bangs sticking to her forehead, yet unable to conceal the anticipation in her eyes.
"Go bathe and change your clothes, then rest for a while. This afternoon, Hizashi will bring Neji over. You met him yesterday, so don't show any fear."
His tone was calm, without a ripple, and his face showed no expression.
But Hinata understood that sometimes, no answer was an answer in itself.
It wasn't until Hyuga Hiashi's figure disappeared down the corridor that the light in Hinata's eyes gradually dimmed: "Still unable to satisfy Father?"
After a moment, Hinata patted her cheeks, took a deep breath, and encouraged herself: "This afternoon, I must do my best!"
When afternoon arrived, Hyuga Neji and Hyuga Hinata were sparring in the Dao.
Although he had not yet activated his Byakugan, Neji could accurately predict Hinata's every move and plan his next step, relying solely on his understanding of the Gentle Fist Art.
He deliberately slowed his pace to give her room to react, but even so, the pressure exerted by Neji covered Hinata's forehead with fine beads of sweat.
"Hinata Young Miss, please focus more," Neji gently reminded her.
He felt that he had already broken down the Gentle Fist Art into very simple steps, and Hinata's slow progress was simply because she was not serious enough. No matter how dull a person was, how could he fail to learn the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms?
"Alright."
Hinata bit her lower lip and agreed, trying to make her movements faster, but merely accelerating her speed further disrupted her rhythm. Ultimately, she stumbled backward under Neji's intentionally held-back fists, completely falling into a disadvantage.
On the side of the field, Hyuga Hizashi silently watched the two of them.
Watching Neji effortlessly control the pace of the fight, every move radiating the composure of a Genius, while Hinata, the heir of the Main Family, still made countless mistakes despite Neji's consideration for her.
Hizashi's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly. His gaze drifted toward Neji's forehead more than once, and a certain emotion he thought had vanished began to brew again in his heart.
When Hinata nearly fell again due to her chaotic footwork, a faint trace of killing intent escaped from him.
A bird with such talent, yet unable to fly freely!
And the root of it all was simply because he was born slightly later than his older brother.
Almost at the exact moment the killing intent leaked out, Hyuga Hiashi had already positioned himself in front of Hinata.
There was no questioning, no warning; he simply performed a hand seal.
"Ah!!!"
Hizashi suddenly clutched his head, screamed, and fell to his knees. The searing pain of the cursed seal made his body curl up, rolling agonizingly on the Dao floor.
"Father!"
Neji's voice held an unprecedented panic. He immediately rushed to Hizashi's side, but froze the moment he knelt down.
He neither dared to touch his father who was struggling in pain, nor did he know what to do to help him, only watching helplessly as his father's face contorted little by little.
Hiashi ultimately softened, lowering his hands from the seal: "Hizashi, I thought you had let go long ago."
Hizashi lay in Neji's arms, breathing heavily, and forced an ugly smile: "Yes, I thought I had let go too."
You were doing it for your son, and I am doing it for my daughter.
Only coldness remained in Hiashi's eyes: "Hizashi, do not forget your position. This pain is the price of your transgression."
After leaving the Dao, Hinata stayed alone in her room, the scene from moments ago still vivid in her mind. Even now, she couldn't figure out exactly what had happened.
She ran to her desk and took out the black notebook from the drawer. Opening the cover, she found that two new options had appeared below the original [Start Simulation]:
[Continue Simulation]
[Designated Simulation]
The first one was easy to understand, but the second one... Just as she pondered, a line of small text slowly appeared on the paper.
"So that's how it is."
[Designated Simulation] means manually adding content to change the simulation's plot progression and achieve a specific outcome, but using this function increases the simulator's cooldown time.
Hinata bit her lower lip, picked up the pen, and wrote stroke by stroke in the blank space.
[This afternoon, Father suddenly used the Caged Bird Seal on Uncle Hizashi. Father clearly said that the seal was meant to protect the eyes of the Branch Family members. Why did it turn out like this?]
[I want to know the reason, and what can I do?]
Soon, new text appeared on the notebook.
[Konoha Year 54, the Hidden Cloud Village delegation arrived, and Father became busy. I found an opportunity to sneak out of the mansion again. Due to the confusion in my heart, I decided to go look for Brother Neji.]
[However, just outside the wall, I spotted a suspicious figure. The person had dark skin, highly resembling someone from the Land of Lightning.]
[Now, I have two choices.]
[1. Shout loudly that there is an enemy Village spy here.]
[2. Ignore it and continue looking for Neji.]
Without hesitation, Hinata immediately tapped the second option.
[Because I didn't want to be discovered, I decided to pretend I saw nothing and sneak away.]
[When I arrived in front of Uncle Hizashi's residence, I didn't know what to say when we met. Just as I hesitated, two figures suddenly walked around the distant street corner: Brother Neji and Kiyoshinari.]
[Just as I was about to reach out and say hello, a sharp pain suddenly struck the back of my neck. In the last moment before losing consciousness, I saw a dark-skinned hand.]
["It's from the Hidden Cloud Village..."]
[When I woke up, the Hidden Cloud Village Jonin who attacked me was already dead. According to Father, he was killed by Brother Neji and Kiyoshinari; they were the ones who saved me.]
[I instinctively felt suspicious, but Father showed a look of 'as expected' when he saw my eyes, even carrying a hint of... relief.]
[Soon, the Hidden Cloud Village accused Konoha and the Hyuga Clan of harboring the true killer, claiming that Father had killed the envoy they sent to Konoha, and demanded that Konoha and the Hyuga Clan hand Father over.]
[No one would believe that two children who weren't even Ninja could kill a Hidden Cloud Village Jonin. They only believed that Father was pushing the responsibility for the murder onto the two children. Finally, Father left a suicide note, destroyed his own eyes, and asked the Village to hand over his body.]
[But Father's death was not the end. Instead, this incident completely pushed the Hyuga Clan toward extremes.]
[The Main Family believed that the Branch Family had conspired with outsiders to force the Clan Chief to his death, and sought to use the Caged Bird Seal to strengthen control. This action further enraged the Branch Family, who felt that the Main Family only treated them as tools, rather than as fellow Hyuga Family members.]
[It seemed only two outcomes remained for the Hyuga Clan: fragmentation or civil war.]
[This simulation has ended.]
[Evaluation: What truly killed Hyuga Hiashi?]