Ch. 267 – Desperate Hyūga
"Thank you for your trust, Hokage-sama. If Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun don't mind, I'm willing to join."
Yakushi Kabuto bowed respectfully.
"Don't worry," Uchiha Fugaku said with a small smile. "They'll be thrilled."
And just like that—while Naruto and Sasuke were still taking their graduation exam—Fugaku had already decided the third member of their future team with only a few casual words.
After all, there was no way those two would fail. If they weren't ready, Uchiha Itachi wouldn't have allowed them to apply for early graduation in the first place.
---
Hyūga Clan Compound
Inside the Hyūga compound, a young man lying on a futon suddenly opened his eyes.
But unlike ordinary clan members… his eye sockets were empty.
He had no eyeballs at all.
The boy—Hyūga Jō—was completely blind.
A look of sheer horror spread across his face.
After a long silence, he muttered,
"Damn… I really transmigrated."
His expression immediately twisted in despair.
"Great, just great. It wasn't enough to transmigrate into the Hyūga branch family, I'm also blind and don't even have the Byakugan?!"
He clenched his fists.
"Why couldn't I have transmigrated into the Uchiha?! I want the Sharingan!"
Hyūga Jō kicked and flailed on the bed in frustration.
The noise drew attention.
A middle-aged woman rushed in, her expression bright with excitement the moment she saw him awake.
"Jō! You're awake!"
Hyūga Jō stiffened. He couldn't see anything at all—just endless darkness—but the voice was familiar.
From the original owner's memories, he recognized it as the voice of his mother, Hyūga Rin.
She wasn't from a prestigious branch—just an ordinary woman of the clan.
The Hyūga, much like the Uchiha, typically married within the clan to preserve their bloodline. Uchiha Fugaku and Mikoto, Itachi and Izumi—all examples of internal clan marriages meant to keep their kekkei genkai intact.
Hyūga Jō had inherited the original owner's memories, but he still wasn't used to calling this woman "Mother."
After hesitating for a long moment, he finally murmured,
"…Kaa-san."
Hyūga Rin, overwhelmed with joy, didn't notice her son's stiffness.
A month ago, her son had suffered a terrible accident while on a mission outside the village—his eyes were severely damaged by a detonating tag at close range. To save his life, the medics had been forced to remove both his eyeballs.
Even so, the doctor warned that he might never wake up again if he remained unconscious for more than two weeks.
Those two weeks were almost over.
She had been terrified.
And now—miraculously—her son had awakened.
"Jō, lie back down! I'll call your father—we need to get you to the hospital immediately."
She gently guided him down, placing her warm hands on his shoulders.
Hyūga Jō lay stiffly, following her direction.
Being blind was incredibly frustrating.
Was he—someone who transmigrated—really fated to spend his new life crippled?
Could he truly not be cured?
But this was the Naruto world. Medical ninjutsu here could regenerate limbs and pull people back from the brink of death. Perhaps a medical-nin at the Konoha Hospital could restore his sight.
Even transplanting replacement eyes should be possible, right?
After all, Uchiha shinobi could transplant Sharingan and use them almost immediately.
Surely the Hyūga weren't behind in this area?
As Rin hurried outside to call his father, Jō heard her footsteps fade away.
A tiny spark of hope rose in his heart.
---
Left alone, Hyūga Jō whispered:
"Is anyone here? …No? Good."
He cleared his throat.
"System? Do I get a system? Deep Blue? Add Points?"
Silence.
He waited.
Still silence.
A cold emptiness settled in his heart.
No system.
No cheat.
Nothing.
"…Are you kidding me? A transmigrator without a system? That's just disrespectful!"
He felt his soul dying inside.
He had been living a perfectly comfortable life—university freshman, video games daily, takeout food, air-conditioning, cola…
Life was good.
The future was promising.
He was even supposed to meet a beautiful junior from his college for a "life discussion" at a hotel.
He remembered taking a taxi there, buying protection from the pharmacy across the street, crossing the road impatiently without waiting for the light—
Screech.
A blaring brake sound.
Darkness.
And then, he woke up here.
Hyūga Jō wanted to cry.
Those legs! Those beautiful legs! He died before even getting to enjoy them for one night!
As he lay there drowning in regret, he suddenly froze.
His face twisted in horror.
Wait.
WAIT.
This is bad.
VERY bad.
Hyūga Jō screamed internally.
"I DIDN'T DELETE MY ADULT VIDEO APP FROM MY PHONE—!!"
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