Under the shroud of night, Hyuga Satoru sat quietly on the veranda outside his room, his senses extending outward, carefully tracking the several signatures of chakra racing toward the Hyuga compound.
Ever since mastering sensory ninjutsu, he had gotten into the habit of releasing a sensory field during training, familiarizing himself with the chakra of everyone living around the Hyuga estate.
But these approaching chakras—all unfamiliar.
Satoru's eyes narrowed. Looks like the ones I've been waiting for have finally arrived.
There was one question that had long troubled him—how exactly had the Cloud-nin in the original timeline managed to breach the Hyuga Branch Family's multiple defensive layers, find Hinata's room with such precision, and abduct her without being noticed?
How incompetent did the Branch Family have to be for the clan head, Hyuga Hiashi, to personally step in and deal with the intruder?
What Satoru had never truly considered was that the Hyuga Clan he lived in now was not the same divided, mistrustful Hyuga Clan from the original timeline where Hinata existed.
Yes, the Caged Bird Cursed Seal gave the Main Family complete control over the Branch Family's lives—but that didn't mean the branch members were obedient puppets. Otherwise, why would the Hyuga Clan have ever developed such deep internal rifts between the main and branch families in the first place?
Hinata was no prodigy like Hyuga Satoru. The Branch Family had no faith in her potential as the future heir.
And resentment? That wasn't limited to Hyuga Hizashi's household alone.
If anything, Hinata's appearance as the "future heir" only deepened that unspoken bitterness.
Had the Cloud-nin's infiltration really gone unnoticed by the branch guards that night?
Unlikely.
Perhaps… they had let it happen. Perhaps some of them secretly hoped the incident might lead to a change in succession—a new heir for the Hyuga Main Family.
The Caged Bird Cursed Seal wasn't some all-powerful "Kotoamatsukami"; it prevented outright rebellion, yes, but it couldn't control one's degree of effort.
A slight lapse in vigilance during guard duty could mean the difference between life and death—and that was something no seal could stop.
Even if Hiashi had later suspected as much, he would have had no legitimate reason to invoke the seal's punishment.
But the current Hyuga Clan was entirely different.
This was still a world ruled by strength.
And Hyuga Satoru's overwhelming talent and power had crushed the seeds of resentment and inequality buried in the hearts of the Branch Family.
It was precisely because Satoru was that exceptional that he could hold the clan together. His strength alone had forced harmony—at least on the surface.
Someday, the tension between the main and branch families might resurface.
But for now, it would not.
"Bang, bang, bang—"
The sharp clatter of wooden clappers echoed through the night.
The Hyuga guards had sensed an intruder and were sounding the alarm.
Ever since the assassination attempt on Satoru a year ago, the clan's security had been tightened to the extreme. Even though they lived in the very heart of Konoha, the Hyuga never let their guard down.
The incoming enemies were clearly elite—that much was obvious.
But against the Hyuga's Byakugan, what assassin could truly hide their presence?
Hearing the alarm, Satoru paused mid-sense.
He had assumed the intruders would have some means to bypass the compound's defenses and infiltrate directly into the Main Family—but it seemed they had already been detected just by approaching.
Their infiltration skill was… disappointing.
Satoru had been ready for battle, but now it seemed the attackers would have a hard time even reaching him.
"Clack—"
The door of the neighboring room slid open.
Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Shisui emerged, clearly roused from their sleep by the alarm.
Seeing Satoru already dressed in his training garb, a ninja pouch fastened to his waist, both men exchanged a look of surprise.
"Satoru," Kakashi asked, frowning slightly, "weren't you asleep?"
"Why are you sitting here like this? What's going on?"
He doubted Satoru had simply woken to investigate the noise—his full battle readiness said otherwise.
Had he expected this attack all along?
Suppressing his questions, Kakashi waited for an answer.
"It's probably nothing serious," Satoru replied calmly. "That was just a signal for the guards to stay alert—likely some strangers were spotted near the estate."
"If something serious were actually—"
Before he could finish, a shrill whistle split the air from the southeastern corner of the compound—the piercing sound of the enemy invasion alert.
Not just a warning this time—an announcement of actual combat.
"They're in!"
A hard glint flashed through Satoru's eyes.
And before the words even faded, a blinding flash of lightning erupted from that direction, followed by a thunderous explosion.
The night sky lit up; a section of the Hyuga estate vanished into smoke and debris.
Through his Byakugan, Satoru focused his gaze in that direction.
Beyond walls and courtyards, he could see the battlefield clearly—collapsed buildings, scorched rubble, and three Branch Family shinobi lying motionless amid the wreckage.
Their chakra still flickered faintly within their bodies, but their core flames—those vital chakra nodes—were already guttering, like candles in the wind.
At the center of the chaos, a group of masked men swiftly converged, their bodies wrapped tightly in dark garb. One of them was a skilled sensor.
After finishing off the guards, they paused briefly—then turned and charged straight toward Satoru's location.
Fifteen in total.
As they stormed into the Hyuga grounds, the branch guards responded instantly, moving to intercept.
"They're coming for us," Satoru said quietly.
"Shisui-niisan, Kakashi-senpai—get ready for battle."
His brows furrowed slightly.
The number of attackers was far greater than he'd anticipated, and their speed was extraordinary.
Even though the branch guards had locked onto their positions, they couldn't move fast enough to intercept all of them.
Moments later, the clash began.
"Clang—!"
Steel met steel outside the Main Family.
The intruders broke through, but only four of them managed to reach the inner courtyard—the rest were held off by the Branch Family.
To an outsider, it looked like the Hyuga defense system was working perfectly.
But to Satoru's eyes, it was clear—the guards were being dragged down by decoys.
These outer attackers were the abandoned pawns meant to buy time for the real strike team.
"Whish—"
A hiss of displaced air cut through the night as four shadowy figures vaulted over the wall, landing soundlessly in the courtyard.
At once, Shisui and Kakashi drew their blades, flashing forward to shield Satoru, positioning themselves between him and the intruders.
The four men were tall and broad, faces hidden behind cloth masks with only their eyes exposed.
The moment their gazes fell on the pale-eyed boy behind the two defenders, their target was confirmed.
They had found him.
Just as they were about to move—
"Who goes there?!"
A sharp, commanding voice rang out from above.
Descending from midair, clad only in sleeping robes yet emanating deadly pressure, landed Hyuga Shin, the elder himself.
He positioned himself before the three youths, his expression grim, veins bulging at the corners of his eyes as the Byakugan flared open—its pale gaze locking fiercely onto the four intruders in the courtyard.
The battle for the Hyuga's future was about to begin.
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