Hizashi's dead body lay on the floor. It stirred, then rose, and shambled toward Neji until their faces were inches apart.
"Neji..." it whispered.
The scene dissolved, shifting to Hinoka hanging from the ceiling, her lifeless eyes locked directly on his.
"Neji," she called.
The visions looped, a relentless reel of horror seared into his mind. Neji was trapped, a prisoner forced by his own psyche to relive the moments again and again.
The nightmare finally jolted him awake. He shot upright in bed, his chest heaving, skin clammy with sweat. To his right, the moon shone brightly through the window, its pale light offering no comfort.
He sighed, a ragged sound in the quiet room, and covered his face with a trembling hand. Their deaths are haunting me.
Movement caught his eye. In the corner of the room, his wooden sword rested against the wall.
The decision was instantaneous. Neji threw off his covers, crossed the room, and grabbed the sword. He marched out into the yard, not sparing the moon a second glance until he stood beneath it. Then, the veins around his eyes bulged as he activated his Byakugan.
'Soon,' he vowed, setting his sights on the celestial body above.
He began to swing the sword. He poured every ounce of his grief, anger, and guilt into each movement. He swung until his muscles burned and his sweat soaked the ground. He gripped the hilt so tightly that the rough wood tore into his palm, drawing blood.
When his right hand began to shake uncontrollably, he switched to his left, never breaking rhythm. The pain was a welcome distraction, a physical anchor to eclipse the mental agony.
Time lost meaning. Eventually, both hands were raw and trembling, the mere touch of the sword a fresh jolt of pain. He looked back at the moon.
"I will—no, I must become the strongest to ever live," he declared to the night. "There's no point in holding back anymore."
He returned inside, washed the blood from his hands, and found the first-aid kit his mother had always kept in the living room. He methodically wrapped his palms and fingers in white bandages. Outside again, he rinsed the blood from his sword's grip.
He took hold of it once more and tried to swing, but the searing pain was too great. The sword clattered to the ground. Undeterred, Neji fell into the precise, punishing forms of his Taijutsu.
He trained until the first hints of dawn colored the sky. As his new routine dictated, he began to run. He ran for a full hour, pushing his body further, and finally stopped, lungs screaming for air.
A Hyuga of the Main Branch approached, his expression impassive."The Clan Head demands your presence," the man said.
Neji met his gaze. "May I wash up first?"
The man's eyes scanned Neji's sweat-drenched, bandaged form. "Sure," he replied, his tone laced with faint disdain.
...
Training Hall, Hiashi Mansion
Neji sat seiza-style on the tatami floor, facing his uncle, Hiashi, who mirrored his formal posture. Hiashi's sharp eyes immediately caught the bandages wrapped tightly around the young boy's hands.
"Regarding your situation," Hiashi began, masking his guilt with a neutral tone. The thought of his own brother's son being forced into the Branch House and living alone was a heavy weight. "I will provide you with an allowance until you are able to earn your own money."
"Thank you," Neji replied, his voice a flat, emotionless monotone. He offered a slight, perfectly polite bow.
Hiashi was taken aback. He had expected at least a flicker of the hostility that simmered in every other Branch House member. There was none.
"As I promised Hizashi, I will begin your training," Hiashi stated, watching the boy closely.
"Thank you," Neji said again, his face an unreadable mask.
Hiashi's confusion grew. The news of the Main Family's decree and the ensuing rumors had spread like wildfire, even beyond the walls of the Hyuga compound. The boy had every reason to be furious.
"Do you hate me, Neji?" Hiashi asked, needing confirmation.
"No. Not at all," Neji answered, his tone unchanged.
'He is acting,' Hiashi sighed inwardly. It was a familiar defense mechanism, one every Branch House member learned to perfect behind their polite facades.
"When can you start training?" Hiashi asked.
"Right now," Neji said. For the first time, Hiashi saw a flash of something in the boy's eyes: a fierce, burning determination.
Hiashi stood. "I will not be able to teach you the secret techniques of the Main Branch, but I can refine your Gentle Fist."
Neji rose to his feet. "That is enough."
In that moment, Hiashi understood why Hizashi had always called his son mature for his age. Now, he wanted to see the prodigy his brother had described.
"Strike me, Neji. I want to gauge your strength."
Neji nodded and began a series of quick, efficient stretches to warm his muscles. He then settled into a stance Hiashi had never seen, a hybrid form that held the open-handed readiness of the Gentle Fist near his chin, but with the balanced footwork and guarded posture of a boxer.
Hiashi's eyebrows rose in surprise. 'An innovation? Already?'
As Neji exhaled, the veins around his eyes bulged, activating his Byakugan. Hiashi activated his own in response. In a blur of motion, Neji dashed forward, launching a two-fingered strike with his left hand as a feint toward Hiashi's stomach.
Hiashi didn't flinch, reading the feint for what it was and tracking Neji's true center of gravity.
Neji adjusted his footing and launched the same strike again, this time with committed intent. Hiashi deflected it effortlessly with a raised knee, knocking the small hand aside. In the same fluid motion, he counter-attacked with a straight, right-handed palm strike aimed at Neji's head.
Neji ducked under the blow, moving in close to try a palm strike of his own to Hiashi's midsection. Hiashi parried the strike and launched another counter, a sweeping right palm aimed at Neji's temple.
As Neji dodged his head to the right, Hiashi seized the opening, hooking his foot around Neji's right leg and sweeping it out from under him. Neji fell backward, and Hiashi followed through, a palm strike flying toward the boy's face stopping a mere inch from its target.
Hiashi was genuinely impressed. The boy was only four, yet his movements were calculated and precise, far beyond his years. It was like sparring with a seasoned adult.
"Again," Neji said, getting to his feet. 'I must mind my footing,' he thought, his focus absolute.
A faint, approving smile touched Hiashi's lips as he settled back into his fighting stance. Neji mirrored him, his white eyes blazing with resolve.
Neji kept losing. The fight ended after a rapid series of precise strikes he couldn't counter: a palm thrust stopping an inch from his face, a two-fingered jab aimed at his eye, a flurry of light taps against his vital points, and finally, a solid palm strike to his stomach that sent him flying backward, the air rushing from his lungs.
Despite the losing streak, he pushed himself back to his feet each time. Hiashi watched, a flicker of approval in his stern gaze at the boy's sheer determination.
Their session was interrupted as the training hall door slid open, revealing Hinata.
"Come in, Hinata," Hiashi said. "Greet your cousin."
"Neji-nii," Hinata said with a cute bow. From his place on the floor, Neji could only manage a weak raise of his hand. Hinata's eyes widened slightly, noticing the faint veins around his eyes, he had already awakened his Byakugan.
'Neji-nii is so strong,' she thought.
"I will be leaving first," Neji announced, pulling himself upright.
"Very well," Hiashi replied.
Exhausted, Neji walked slowly back home. He unlocked his door, stepped inside, and relocked it out of habit. Stumbling into the living room, he simply lay on the floor, clicked his fan to level 3, and closed his eyes. Within moments, he was asleep.
But the same nightmare returned. He jolted awake just minutes later, his hand shaking as he shut off the fan. "I need to learn Medical Ninjutsu," he muttered to the empty room. 'I have to lock those memories away. They're bothering me.'
He went to his room and found the scroll his parents had left. As he unrolled it, he discovered a note from his mother: "Please learn about anatomy first. Start by practicing on a dead fish."
A search through the kitchen proved futile; the fish in the fridge were already cleaned and gutted. Settling for a quick meal, he took out a chicken breast, prepared some rice, and started cooking the easiest thing he knew: fried chicken.
As the chicken sizzled, he returned to the scroll. He was surprised to find Main Branch techniques listed, but what truly caught his eye was the advanced concept of emitting chakra directly from the tenketsu points.
'Hmm, I can implement that into a sensing technique, like from Absolute Regression,' he noted.
He was pulled from his thoughts by the smell of cooked chicken. Setting the scroll down, he moved the pan off the heat. His hands stung as he pulled the food out, but he gritted his teeth and persevered. After eating, he made a mental note: 'I need to cook vegetables next time. And make the chicken spicy.'
As he finished cleaning and grabbed money from his mother's wallet, a knock came at the door. Outside stood Hyuga Natsu, a maid from the main house.
"The Clan Head asked me to give this to you," she said, offering a small stack of ryo.
"Thank you," Neji said.
"You are welcome. The Clan Head also said you are always welcome to eat at his home if you are hungry."
"Please send him my thanks," Neji replied.
With a slight bow, Natsu took her leave.
Alone now, Neji headed to the nearest fishmonger to buy a dead fish he could use to practice Medical Ninjutsu.
"Have you eaten?" the seller asked.
"I have," Neji replied.
The seller felt a pang of guilt,seeing the son of the previous Side Branch Elder living all alone. "If you need anything, please tell me, okay?"
"Thank you for your concern," Neji said as he left with his purchase.
He also bought a book on human anatomy before heading home to begin his training. Activating his Byakugan, he read the instructions and guided his chakra into the fish's heart. When his initial output proved insufficient, he carefully increased the flow. The fish twitched slightly.
'I guess the Byakugan really does make learning Medical Ninjutsu easier,' Neji thought. 'I wonder why more Hyuga don't pursue it?'
Noting the time, he saw it was nearly time for kenjutsu practice. He stored the fish in a cooler and hid his scroll. Grabbing his wooden sword, he headed to Hyuga Sei's house.
Sei was surprised to see Neji already waiting, eager to train. Relieved to see the boy was fine, he began their usual sparring session. However, he quickly noticed Neji's grip was weak, and the wooden sword was easily knocked from his hand. Sei's eyes fell on the bandages wrapped around Neji's palm.
"Neji, you need to rest," Sei said.
"I'm fine," Neji insisted.
Activating his Byakugan, he focused chakra onto his palm, the minor wounds healing completely before Sei's astonished eyes.
Neji reclaimed his sword,his grip now firm. "I'm ready now."
Sei shook his head with a smile. "This kid..." he muttered, acknowledging that without Neji's influence, he never would have reached this level of skill.
His gratitude was directed at Neji, who pursued a simple philosophy: find the most efficient way to eliminate a threat. In this world of high attack power and low endurance, that meant a bladed weapon. The logic was undeniable; if a shinobi as powerful as Hokage Naruto could fall to a sword, it was sheer stupidity not to master it.