Chapter 42: Simulation Restarts - Rotation
In the Hyuga estate courtyard, night deepened.
Hinata sat alone in her room, gazing at the moon outside, humming a cheerful tune.
Three days had passed since last using the simulator. The cooldown time was about to end.
Hinata pinched the notebook's corner, taking a deep breath.
Last simulation's experience seemed still before her eyes, but now the Cloud delegation had left. Konoha Village had made a firm response. Uncle Hizashi had avoided the main family elders.
So this time... in the new future, what would she see?
She opened the notebook's title page, activating the simulation.
[Life Simulator activating...]
[Konoha Year 54.]
[Under Father Hiashi's strict requirements, I continue practicing diligently. This year, my progress has been very significant. Father increasingly approves of my performance. I try inquiring about the Cloud Village and border situation but still can't obtain any useful information.]
[Konoha Year 55.]
[Scattered conflict news arrives from the border. The Cloud Village refuses to back down, similarly deploying troops at the border. Reportedly, they've had some small-scale conflicts with Lady Tsunade's force, but the overall situation remains controllable.]
[Year's end—the first batch of branch family members who went to guard the border return to the compound. The second batch departs gradually after the new year. This news doesn't cause major ripples within the Hyuga clan. Father merely glances at casualty statistics before setting them aside.]
[The next day, Father takes me to visit Uncle Hizashi who just returned to the village. During brief interaction, I vaguely perceive Uncle Hizashi seems to have undergone some change. The way he looks at Neji, at me, grows increasingly complex.]
[Konoha Year 56]
[Father tells me I'll soon have a little sister or brother. Also, next year I'll enter the ninja academy.]
[Year's end—the second batch of border-guarding clan members also return. The third batch prepares to depart. Unexpectedly, Uncle Hizashi—not on this roster—proactively proposes to Father that he wants to go to the border. Father refuses. The two quarrel over this, ultimately parting unhappily.]
[I notice more and more clan members undergoing changes. Unease rises in my heart. I vaguely feel something major will happen.]
[I now have three options.]
[1. Seek out Kiyonari-kun and investigate privately.]
[2. Inform Father and investigate publicly.]
[3. Seek out Neji and ask directly.]
Hinata lifted her head, blinking blankly. "What happened?"
Since this change began after they returned from the border, the primary task was clarifying what happened at the border.
[I decide to seek out Neji, asking him to take me to see Uncle Hizashi and ask directly.]
[Neji feels surprised by my sudden visit but doesn't refuse. I see Uncle Hizashi looking as always, as if nothing happened. But I can clearly feel exhaustion that won't fade shrouding his brow.]
[I gather courage and ask him—what happened at the border? Why is he so insistent on going to the border again, even fighting with Father?]
[He looks at me, silent for a long time. Many complex emotions flash through those eyes: deep exhaustion, suppressed anger, helplessness... Finally, all transform into a long, heavy sigh.]
["Birds that have tasted free flight will never again adapt to caged life."]
[He won't say more, only leaving this sentence.]
[Konoha Year 57]
[My little sister is born. Father names her Hyuga Hanabi. I also enter the ninja academy this year. Happily, Kiyonari-kun is in my class.]
[Year's end—the third batch of border-guarding branch family members return to the compound. This time, the main family finally notices obvious changes in branch family members. They begin investigating, even directly questioning Lord Third, demanding to know what happened at the border.]
[Simultaneously, branch family members are no longer respectful toward the main family as before. For the first time, they publicly express dissatisfaction, voicing doubts about the main family.]
[Main family elders are furious. The main family decides the Hyuga clan's continuation. The branch family protects the main family—this order has been transmitted for hundreds of years. Branch family actions undoubtedly challenge this order.]
[Father falls into unprecedented dilemma. As clan head and older brother, he understands branch family anger but also shoulders responsibility for maintaining clan stability and inheritance. He regrets discovering too late. For a moment, he doesn't know how to choose to quell this turmoil.]
[What thoroughly ignited this conflict's fuse was the secret technique the Hyuga clan takes pride in—Gentle Fist: Rotation.]
[The branch family strongly demands removing restrictions on Rotation learning, allowing branch family members to master this main family secret technique. Unsurprisingly, this proposal meets the main family's outright refusal.]
[However, branch family anger will no longer remain silent. Rotation—called the Hyuga clan's absolute defense—is held by people who never go to battlefields, only use it to flaunt main family status and superiority!]
["We're also Hyuga clan members! We also have Byakugan! Why should we receive such differential treatment?" Branch family members' questions resound throughout the entire compound.]
[Facing branch family's unprecedented firm attitude, internal main family division occurs. Some advocate using the Caged Bird seal's punishment function to make the branch family recognize their "proper place." Others begin wavering, thinking perhaps Rotation restrictions could be partially lifted.]
[What specific confrontations and compromises occurred during this period, I don't know. But the final result—Father, bearing tremendous pressure, removes the learning prohibition on Rotation for branch family.]
[Branch family protest waves temporarily subside. But I know in my heart—this is merely brief calm before the storm.]
[Someday, their anger will explode again. When there's no "main family secret technique" buffer, what will happen?]
[This simulation ends here.]
[Evaluation: What killed the Hyuga clan's future?]
Hinata was soaked in cold sweat, heart pounding violently. Those angry voices seemed to break free from paper carriers, leaping into her ears.
"Caged Bird..." she murmured before vigorously shaking her head. "No—it's the main and branch family system. The system that forcibly tears Hyuga clan members into two kinds of people."
"Without the Cloud Village, without Rotation, there'll still be another fuse. The Hyuga clan will definitely walk toward that ending!"
Though the simulator didn't explicitly reveal the final result, that suffocating feeling of impending storm was enough to let her glimpse it!
"Branch family... Father... border... Lady Tsunade..."
Chaotic thoughts tangled like hemp. Ultimately, all pointed toward that figure who'd shown her direction in countless moments of confusion—the only "lifeline" bringing a trace of hope she most desperately wanted to grasp right now.
"Kiyonari, where are you?"
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