Konoha Village.
Hyūga Clan Compound.
Chirping sparrows fluttered down from the sky, weaving through the courtyard. Perhaps they were tired, looking for a tree to rest in.
Suddenly, a hand—white and jade-like—shot out and caught one of them, closing firmly around its small body.
"Hyūga Ming," a deep voice said sternly, "from today onward, you are assigned as a death guard to the clan heir, Hyūga Hiashi."
The speaker was an elder with a square face, his expression severe.
Hyūga Dema—one of the elders of the Hyūga clan.
Hyūga Ming, however, didn't even turn his head.
Dressed in standard Hyūga attire, he sat leaning against the doorway, gaze unfocused, as if his mind were somewhere else entirely.
The name Hyūga Dema had once made Ming seriously suspect that this old man might also be a reincarnator.
After all, his own name wasn't supposed to be Hyūga Ming either.
It was supposed to be "I'm Xiao Ming."
He'd only pulled the Byakugan from a paid gacha draw in a game—
and somehow, even his name had been forcibly rewritten.
Wasn't that going a bit too far?
"ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?!" Hyūga Dema roared, his voice booming through the room.
"I heard you, I heard you," Ming replied lazily, digging a finger into his ear.
To show at least a token effort, he stood up and walked inside, sitting across from Hyūga Dema.
The elder's face darkened.
"Remember this well. You are a member of the branch family. Being chosen as the heir's death guard is an honor. If you fail in your duties and are punished—"
"The Caged Bird Seal, right?" Ming interrupted.
He lifted the cloth on his forehead, revealing the faint green seal etched into his skin.
A cursed mark that placed the branch family's lives entirely in the hands of the main family—capable of destroying the brain and eyes to prevent the Byakugan from being stolen.
Originally meant to protect the bloodline.
Now also used to prevent the branch family from tearing the main family apart.
Ming's lips curled into a grin, flashing white teeth.
"Why don't you just have them kill me outright if you've got the guts?"
He was a player.
Did these people really think they could scare him?
What a joke.
Hyūga Dema rubbed his temples, a headache forming.
This boy was outstanding at the Academy—but not to the level of a true genius. Worse still, his personality was completely lawless.
How had someone like him been chosen as Hiashi's death guard?
"I can tolerate your attitude," Hyūga Dema said slowly, his gaze deepening.
"But do not talk back in front of the heir. He—"
The sentence was left unfinished.
The threat was obvious enough.
Ming didn't care in the slightest.
The Caged Bird Seal could restrain others—but whether it could restrain him was another matter entirely.
Seeing his reaction, Hyūga Dema said no more.
Once this boy tasted real pain, he would learn obedience.
Perhaps the clan head intended for Hyūga Ming to serve as Hiashi's whetstone.
"Report to Training Ground Two at seven tomorrow morning," Hyūga Dema said, turning and leaving in a hurry.
Ming clicked his tongue.
The Hyūga clan was divided into main and branch families.
The main family led the clan.
The branch family existed to die for them.
And in this generation, the main family had only one heir.
He'd wanted to stay as far away from the main family as possible.
Unfortunately, he was too outstanding.
He'd been noticed.
"I wonder…" Ming muttered, eyes narrowing,
"if killing Hyūga Hiashi would make the Byakugan drop."
His grip tightened.
When he opened his hand, the sparrow fell lifelessly to the ground.
A translucent notification flashed before his eyes.
[Gained EXP: 1]
A faint orb of light lingered in his palm. He crushed it casually.
A single feather appeared.
[Obtained: Sparrow Feather]
Completely useless.
He tossed it aside.
"What a shame there's no quest system," Ming muttered.
"Otherwise, a death guard mission like this would probably pay pretty well."
With a thought, a familiar interface unfolded before him.
Name: I'm Hyūga Ming
Class: None
Level: Lv.12 (160/2000)
Chakra: 99/120
Skills:
Gentle Fist (Lv.3)
Clone Technique (Lv.2)
Substitution Technique (Lv.5)
Transformation Technique (Lv.2)
Eight Trigrams Air Palm (Lv.3)
Byakugan (Lv.3)
EXP Pool: 311
Equipment: None
Inventory:
Kunai ×10
Explosive Tags ×10
Shuriken ×99
Steel Wire ×10
…
Hyūga Ming was a player.
In his original world, full-dive virtual reality had just been perfected, and he'd bought a headset immediately.
There was only one game available:
Anime Grand Brawl Online.
Each server was built around a different anime world.
Players could exist within one setting while using abilities from others.
He'd entered the game full of excitement—
—and somehow ended up here.
Reborn as an infant.
No other players in sight.
NPCs that were supposed to be rigid were terrifyingly alive.
All signs pointed to one conclusion:
He hadn't logged in.
He'd crossed over.
Over twelve years, he'd figured out how the system worked.
There were no quests.
Only one core mechanic:
Defeat enemies to gain experience. Kill them to get drops.
Killing wasn't even mandatory—
the system only judged whether the opponent had lost combat capability.
It had taken him twelve years of dominating kindergarten and monopolizing the Ninja Academy to reach his current level.
If the Academy hadn't stopped giving experience, he wouldn't even have bothered graduating.
Repeatedly defeating the same target caused experience gains to halve each time, until only a single point remained.
And defeats only gave EXP.
Loot only dropped on death.
That conclusion had been reached after countless battles with wild beasts in the forests outside Konoha.
"At last, I can leave the village and take missions," Ming said quietly.
"Though being a death guard is inconvenient. I need to get rid of that status as soon as possible."
"And there's also…"
He tapped his forehead.
The Caged Bird Seal.
"This depends on class advancement."
Did they really think this thing could trap him for life?
The next day.
Training Ground Two.
A blonde woman wearing a green flak jacket sat casually atop a wooden post, her expression openly impatient.
Hyūga Hiashi entered the field and bowed respectfully.
"Jōnin Tsunade."
Behind him, his younger brother Hyūga Hizashi bowed as well.
"Jōnin Tsunade."
The Princess of Konoha.
She was the jōnin assigned to lead their newly formed squad—secured through an exchange of interests between Hiashi's father and the Hokage.
With Tsunade as the team leader, Hiashi's safety was guaranteed.
The Hyūga main family's treasure could not afford even the slightest injury.
Tsunade frowned.
"And where's the last one?"
She had no interest in babysitting brats.
"Are you calling for me?"
A figure dropped upside-down from a nearby tree branch.
Hyūga Ming hung there casually, looking at the newly formed team.
"You're Hyūga Ming?" Tsunade asked, frowning.
This kid didn't feel like a Hyūga at all.
Hiashi and Hizashi both frowned in displeasure.
Ming acted as if he didn't notice.
He released the branch, flipped in midair, and landed lightly on the ground.
Turning to Hiashi, he grinned, showing his teeth.
"Your new teammate. Hyūga Ming."
A cold, murderous intent washed over Hiashi and Hizashi.
Both men stiffened for a brief instant—
then returned to normal.
"Hey, kid," Tsunade said, stepping forward, her voice low and dangerous.
"Don't release killing intent toward your teammates."