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"I am Clan Head," Hiashi interrupted. "It is my responsibility to evaluate the strength of every branch member. Especially one who may someday lead them."
Neji, asleep, didn't stir.
Hiashi studied him quietly. "His chakra flow is clean. Strong for his age. Perhaps even high-genin level already. His body will be resilient. Well done."
Then Hiashi turned, voice cool. "But remember, Hizashi. He is of the branch. No matter how strong he becomes⊠he serves the main."
He left without waiting for a response.
After that visit, Hizashi had stayed awake late into the night, watching his son sleep. His wife sat beside him, arms crossed.
"I didn't like what he did," she said.
"Neither did I."
"Why didn't you stop him?"
"Because he's Clan Head," Hizashi said bitterly. "And because I wanted to know too."
He ran a hand through his hair. "He wasn't just congratulating me. He was gauging power. Measuring threat."
"He thinks Neji might be dangerous?"
"No. He thinks he might be too valuable. Strong enough to matter. Strong enough to change the balance."
They both fell silent.
By eighteen months, Neji could walk, talk clearly, and mimic hand signs. Hizashi began teaching him the very basics of chakra theory. Not openlyâonly when they were alone.
"You must never show too much, Neji," Hizashi whispered one evening, holding a small candle. "Not to them. Never let them know your full light."
Neji stared at the flame, focused. "Hide the fire," he murmured back.
His father's heart ached with prideâand sorrow.
By his second birthday, Neji could walk and speak clearly, holding full conversations with his parents. His intellect was staggering. He could repeat entire stories word-for-word, mimic the cadence of adult conversation, and analyze what people meant more than what they said.
And his True Eyesâthough still subtleâhad evolved.
He could now sense deception of Genin-level ninja. He felt when people's intentions didn't match their words. When their smiles were hollow. When they were afraid. But to know their deception they have to think of deception. I have experimented on the one of midwife, when she broke a flower vase. I asked her if she had broken glass. she tried to hide, but i caught on.
But the most important progress was in his understanding of seals.
He had begun watching seals closely. Inscribed paper tags. Scroll locks. The faint chakra that pulsed through protective barriers. When he stared long enough, the True Eyes would show him things.
Patterns. Threads. Connections between symbols.
The Caged Bird Seal still eluded himâhe had never seen it up closeâbut he now understood how chakra patterns could be imprinted into the mind. The Caged bird Seal is still far fetched.
I need more time, he thought often.
But time marched on.
One evening, after a particularly long meditation session, Neji's mother knelt beside him. "Neji, are you tired?"
He nodded, small and solemn.
"You don't have to train so much, sweetheart. You're just a child."
"No," he said. "I'm not."
She blinked. "What do you mean?"
Neji looked at her with eyes far older than his age. "I don't have time to be a child. Not really."
She pulled him into a hug, trembling.
Hizashi stood nearby, silent. He knew his son's words were true.
And that truth cut deeper than any blade.
But none of themânot even Hiashi, not even Neji himselfâcould see the storm that brewed beneath those True Eyes.
The wind was gentle that morning, carrying with it the scent of moss and the faint rustle of plum blossoms. The Hyuga compound lay nestled like a silent fortress, disciplined and pristine, with walls so polished they reflected morning light like still water.
Neji, now nearly two years old, walked across the tatami floor with quiet steps. Though a toddler in age, the weight in his gaze often unsettled even the elder servants. His Byakugan had not yet awakenedâbut the flickers of something else, something deeper, were not unnoticed by his father.
Hizashi watched as Neji traced the outlines of clan diagrams etched into old wooden scrolls with his tiny fingers. His mother adjusted Neji's robe and tied the sash gently, but her gaze lingered.
"Otou-san," Neji said suddenly, breaking the quiet.
Hizashi looked down, surprised by the formality. "Yes, Neji?"
"That man who came on the day I was born. The one who looked like you but older. Who was he? and why do you always wear the headband as if you are covering something"
Hizashi blinked slowly, caught off guard. His lips tightened. "It is too early for you to know such things."
Neji tilted his head. "But I am prepared for everything."
There was no arrogance in the statement, only a haunting conviction. Hizashi's wife looked at him in silence. They exchanged a look. Slowly, solemnly, Hizashi knelt.
"Very well." He removed the white headband from his forehead. His wife did the same. Beneath, etched into the skin like a curse written in chakra, was the Caged Bird Sealâan intricate design of ink-black curves, almost like an iris of an eye spread across their skin.
Neji studied it closely. "What does it do?"
Hizashi paused. "It is⊠a limiter. A control seal. It ensures obedience to the Main House. When activated by the head of the clan, it causes unbearable pain and eventually shuts down the Byakugan."
Neji frowned. "Will I get it too?"
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