Hyuga Natsu didn't catch what Hyuga Genko was muttering about.
She even found him rather noisy.
She simply tilted her head up with a hint of anticipation, gazing forward as if searching for something, or perhaps hoping for something.
Until Hyuga Genko, with a trace of anxious unease, repeated what he'd just said more loudly:
"Natsu, when we get back to the village, let's get married!"
"Huh?" This time, Hyuga Natsu heard him clearly.
She looked at Hyuga Genko with some bewilderment, finding the notion utterly absurd.
But Hyuga Genko looked at her earnestly and said:
"Become my wife, and you'll become part of the Main Family. Although the Caged Bird seal cannot be removed, from then on, no one will treat you as a Branch Family member."
"You'll enjoy everything the Main Family has. You won't have to go out on dangerous missions anymore, and you won't have to deal with other Main Family members—"
Hyuga Natsu interrupted him: "Genko-sama, I am Hyuga Yu's fiancée."
"I know, that strange Branch Family genin, right?"
Hyuga Genko furrowed his brow and laughed with a snort:
"You asked me once before to keep him from participating in this mission."
Hyuga Natsu shook her head: "Then you should understand—"
Hyuga Genko interrupted her, staring at her with profound eyes.
"Are your feelings for him that strong? But what do strong feelings really mean? Branch Family marriages are assigned by the Main Family. Canceling this engagement is just a matter of one command from me."
"If you ask me, you should think more about yourself—"
"You've worked so hard, constantly taking missions to earn money ever since becoming a ninja. But what's the purpose of saving that money? Isn't it for a better life?"
"Become my wife, which is equivalent to becoming the lady of a Main Family house. Everything you want can be realized the moment you agree to my proposal!"
"And besides, as a marriage partner, I should be far superior to that Hyuga Yu, shouldn't I?"
"A cowardly genin who needs to rely on you and Elder Takahiro to pull strings to get him here—don't you find it tragic to be stuck with such a man?"
Hyuga Natsu suddenly laughed.
When someone is speechless to the extreme, they really do laugh.
Regarding the matter of Hyuga Yu, she didn't want to argue with him anymore.
She blinked her beautiful eyes, looked at Hyuga Genko, and showed a somewhat hesitant expression as she asked:
"But, Genko-sama, why would you suddenly propose to me? What kind of person do you think I am?"
Hyuga Genko spun his lies without missing a beat: "Because I've been watching you all along. I fell for you a long time ago."
"Your loyalty, reliability, and ambition—I've seen it all. And... you're truly adorable!"
Hyuga Natsu nodded along, like a lovestruck young girl blinded by sweet talk.
"What else, what else?"
Seeing Hyuga Natsu take the bait, Hyuga Genko's eyes immediately lit up, and he poured out one flattering line after another:
"In the entire Hyuga Clan, only when I see you do I feel something special. This feeling is wonderful, like..."
However,
What about Hyuga Natsu?
Amid these sweet words that could move almost any lovestruck girl, her thoughts drifted to the past.
...
She had asked someone else the same question once. It was the year they graduated from the Academy, the first time she learned that her arranged marriage partner was actually Hyuga Yu. She had asked him:
"Hyuga Yu, what kind of person do you think I am?"
That guy had maintained a stiff expression, stayed silent for a while, then answered honestly:
"You're very duplicitous."
Hyuga Natsu got a bit angry: "What kind of way is that to talk about a girl?"
Hyuga Yu looked somewhat uneasy, scratched his head and said: "Then maybe I'm sensing it wrong. As you can see, I'm not a very good marriage partner. I'll go find Elder Takahiro right now and have him cancel the engagement."
"Don't."
Now Hyuga Yu was stunned. "Why?"
Hyuga Natsu smiled and asked in return: "When you defied Lord Hiashi before, didn't you say you were going to become Hokage?"
Hyuga Yu hung his head. "I'm truly sorry for making you witness such an embarrassment."
Hyuga Natsu suddenly spoke: "I believe in you."
"Huh?"
She stared at Hyuga Yu with an unusually serious gaze, direct and intense.
"Also, I'm going to become the Hokage's wife!"
...
What does a Hyuga Branch Family member need to become Hokage?
First and foremost—they need to escape their Branch Family status.
Hyuga Natsu didn't know how to escape that status. Once the Caged Bird seal is applied, it exists forever. Even the Main Family cannot remove it.
However, according to the theory Hyuga Yu had taught her, any jutsu has flaws that can be exploited.
The Caged Bird seal, as a curse mark, was no exception.
Hyuga Yu had a very thick notebook filled with content written in characters Hyuga Natsu couldn't understand.
But as someone close to him, after gradually probing to learn the translation of 26 letters through roundabout questioning, Hyuga Natsu quickly made inferences and decoded about seventy to eighty percent of the notebook through phonetic Chinese characters.
The title of this notebook was "Conjectures Regarding the Caged Bird."
It listed four methods that had been partially verified and might be effective in removing or restricting the Caged Bird:
First: Introduce another curse mark. By disrupting the activation sequence between curse marks, suppress the time when the Caged Bird triggers. Sources for curse marks: Root, Uzumaki...
Second: Eye transplant. The transplant is just a means; the purpose is to achieve genetic atavism, tracing back the Otsutsuki bloodline. According to "The Last," the Branch Family of the Otsutsuki Clan could directly attack or even destroy the Main Family, meaning that in the past, the Caged Bird's purpose might not have been a tool for control and oppression like it is in the current Hyuga Clan. Try transplanting other clan members' eyes, preferably Main Family eyes. Requires mastery of the Delicate Illness Extraction Technique...
Third: The Kaguya Clan with the Shikotsumyaku, the Taketori Clan who are distant relatives of the Hyuga. Extract and attempt to fuse genes from these distant relatives of the Hyuga Clan. Genetic fusion projects aren't taken seriously at Konoha Hospital. Need to obtain Orochimaru's technology...
Fourth: Obtain the Caged Bird seal scroll. By studying the principles of the jutsu, find other ways to remove it. The problem is, the scroll is in the hands of the Main Family head, Hyuga Hiashi...
After decoding this notebook,
Watching Hyuga Yu grow increasingly despondent after failing the Chunin Exams,
Hyuga Natsu formulated a bold plan.
...
"So, Natsu, will you become my wife?"
In the silence of the nameless forest,
Hyuga Genko suddenly stopped, turned around to block Hyuga Natsu's path, and asked somewhat anxiously.
Hyuga Natsu's delicate brows furrowed slightly as she snapped back to reality.
But soon, she adjusted her expression.
"Sure."
"Or rather, it's my honor. After all, receiving a confession from you, Genko-sama, makes me very happy."
Hyuga Natsu looked at Hyuga Genko with a smile, staring at his Byakugan. Within her narrowed white pupils, a trace of cold killing intent flashed quietly as she smiled and said:
"As long as you can make it back to Konoha alive."
"Phew..."
Hyuga Genko finally breathed a sigh of relief, feeling some sense of security only after Hyuga Natsu agreed.
However,
Just at that moment—
An untimely, indifferent laugh suddenly rang out from ahead of them.
They saw Ao of the Hidden Mist, along with his squad's sensory-type jonin, leap down from a nearby tree trunk, blocking the path of Hyuga Genko and his companion.
"You two... this isn't the place for romantic chatter!"
————
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