💎 WEEKLY POWER GOALS 💎
🔥 30→2ch | 60→5ch | 100→8ch | 200→15ch | 400→25ch
⏰ Resets Monday!
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
"Tsukimi-sensei!"
The voice cut through the lively chatter of the Leaf's #1 BBQ Joint. A figure stood up, waving toward the group of four entering the restaurant.
"Juri?"
It was Uchiha Juri.
Sitting beside him were three kids.
Huh?
Juri had become a squad leader too?
Heshu remembered he was in Root.
"…Does our sensei's smile look a bit… cheap right now?" one of the kids beside Juri muttered, staring at his beaming teacher.
"Hmm… how to put it…" a chubby boy next to him replied, rubbing his chin. "When you see a great beauty like Special Jōnin Tsukimi Heshu, it's understandable for a man's smile to get a little desperate."
"True!" a girl chimed in, cupping her cheeks as she gazed starry-eyed at Heshu.
"Juri, what's all this?" Heshu approached their table, nodding at the three little turnips.
Juri followed his gaze. "Ah… I got reassigned. New job!"
Heshu was surprised. Juri was one of the Uchiha clan's top talents of this generation. For Danzō to let him go…
Juri saw his expression and coughed lightly. "Ahem… Danzō-sama said I was… 'unsuited for Root.'"
"!"
Heshu's jaw dropped.
For Danzō to admit that himself… What in the world had Juri done down there?
"Ahem. So, you guys here for BBQ too?" Juri asked, eyeing the three kids with Heshu.
Heshu nodded. "Wanna join tables?"
He smiled, all sunshine and flowers.
Juri's head bobbed up and down eagerly. "Yes! Please!"
Perfect.
"Find your own seats."
Running into Uchiha Juri was an unexpected bonus. Heshu happily proceeded to order half the menu.
When eating with a rich second-generation heir, why hold back?
"Itachi, order whatever you want. Don't be shy." After placing his own order, Heshu slid the menu to Itachi beside him, still smiling brightly. He had originally planned to make Itachi—another rich kid—pay for the meal before spotting Juri.
"…Thank you." Itachi took the menu. For some reason, Tsukimi-sensei's smile felt… unnerving.
The BBQ was immensely satisfying.
As they were leaving, Hyūga Tenri started fidgeting nervously.
"Ah… Tenri. Is there something else?" Heshu noticed her squirming.
Tenri's cheeks flushed. She looked down, twisting her fingers, opening and closing her mouth without a sound.
"…"
Heshu felt this was entirely unnecessary.
He could already feel the strange looks from people on the street.
"Tenri, if you have something to say, you can tell your sensei directly." You don't have to writhe around on the spot!
The smile on Heshu's face grew stiff.
He tilted his head back slightly, as if to clear his vision.
In that moment, a familiar silhouette leaped across the rooftops opposite him.
"Kakashi?"
Heshu hadn't expected such a coincidence.
On the rooftop, Kakashi's movement hitched. His gaze snapped toward the source of the voice.
On the street below, Heshu was talking to an unfamiliar young girl. The girl… her face was red. Her eyes were darting away…
This didn't look good.
Kakashi's eyes shot back to Heshu. His usual dead-fish stare was gone, replaced by pure, unadulterated shock.
"…"
It was over.
He could jump into the Yellow River and never wash this away.
Heshu's lips twitched.
Kakashi averted his gaze, then vanished from the rooftop, his mind undoubtedly reeling.
[Ding! Affection level for Conquest Target Kakashi Hatake: 95!]
Seeing the affection level rise instead of fall, Heshu's expression turned strange.
Why had it gone up?
Heshu rubbed his chin. Time to buy a copy of Make-Out Paradise.
"Tsukimi-sensei, I… I want to invite you… to my house!" Tenri finally blurted out, the words a struggle.
Heshu's eyes lost their light.
That's it?
That's it?
That's it?
"Ah… About that…" Heshu's tone was the textbook definition of a polite brush-off.
"Tsukimi-sensei!" Tenri immediately tensed, cutting him off. "The clan head's daughter was just born! Please, come and see her!"
She looked at him with hopeful eyes.
Daughter?
The clan head's daughter?
Hyūga Hinata?
"Alright."
"Eh?" Tenri had already prepared her next line of persuasion, but Tsukimi-sensei had agreed just like that.
"Let's go." Heshu took the lead, walking ahead.
Watching his back, a flicker of confusion crossed Tenri's face.
Guests flowed in and out of the grand entrance of the Hyūga compound. Receiving them were Hyūga Hiashi and, beside him, Hyūga Hizashi.
But compared to the smile on Hiashi's face, Hizashi's expression was much colder. His smile didn't reach his eyes.
When he spotted Heshu, a glimmer of genuine warmth finally appeared in his gaze.
"Heshu." Hizashi greeted him with a small, real smile.
"Hizashi-sensei. Hiashi-sama." Heshu nodded to both.
Hiashi smiled and nodded back. "Special Jōnin Tsukimi."
"Clan Head!" Tenri was the daughter of a main family elder.
Hiashi acknowledged her with another nod and a gesture of invitation.
Ignoring a look from his brother, Hizashi chose to escort Heshu directly into the inner courtyard.
Hiashi watched his brother's retreating back, a trace of helplessness in his eyes.
"Sensei… not in a good mood?" Heshu asked quietly.
Hizashi gave a bitter smile. "You noticed."
"…"
It's not that I noticed. It's that you're radiating it.
Heshu held back a grimace.
"Tenri, why don't you go find your friends first?" Hizashi looked like he had something serious to discuss, so Heshu gently sent the girl on her way.
"Ah? Oh! Okay!" Tenri had wanted to be the one to show Tsukimi-sensei around. With a tiny pout of disappointment, she shuffled off, glancing back every few steps.
Heshu and Hizashi stopped before a large tree in the Hyūga clan's vast garden. It was deep autumn. Leaves drifted down one by one.
"Heshu… you know about this mark on my forehead, right?" Back in Amegakure, Hizashi had removed his forehead protector in front of Heshu and the others.
Heshu nodded.
"To protect the kekkei genkai, the Hyūga clan is divided into the Main House and the Branch House." Hizashi's voice was low, controlled. "The Main House inherits the Byakugan bloodline limit through the generations. The Branch House exists to protect the Main House with their lives. And… when the heir of the Main House reaches three years old… all members of the Branch House receive this cursed seal upon their foreheads."
His fists slowly clenched.
A turbulent, hate-filled light swirled within his usually placid white eyes.
"That system… it's rotten." Even though he knew this from his past life, hearing Hizashi say it out loud still filled Heshu with disgust.
The Caged Bird. The name was too fitting. A bird stripped of its freedom, forever caged, driven by its master.
"I'm already trapped. But Neji…" Hizashi turned to look at Heshu, his gaze solemn, pleading.
Heshu understood.
Wasn't that why Hizashi had wanted Neji to become his student in the first place? To avoid this same fate?
"Sensei, don't worry." Heshu's voice was firm.
That kid Neji is too handsome. Marking him up with that ugly thing? Out of the question.
…
The birth of the Hyūga Main House clan head's eldest daughter was a major event. The celebration was appropriately grand.
Heshu sat at the banquet table. Hizashi sat directly opposite him. Beside Hizashi sat Miyu, holding a sleeping Neji.
"Thank you all for honoring us with your presence at my daughter's one-month celebration." Hiashi's speech was full of old aristocratic cadence. It was, in a word, boring.
The tedious feast finally concluded. Heshu was asked to stay behind alone.
As the last guests trickled away, the vast Hyūga compound sank back into profound silence.
"Special Jōnin Tsukimi, please." Hiashi gestured toward a sliding door.
Heshu pushed it open and sat on the tatami within.
Hiashi sat across from him. Behind Hiashi stood five or six elders, all well past their prime. Main House elders, no doubt.
A maid silently served tea to Heshu and Hiashi, then withdrew, closing the door.
"Was there something else, Hiashi-sama?" Heshu's eyes swept over the row of stern-faced elders before settling on Hiashi with a pleasant smile.
"Special Jōnin Tsukimi is spoken of highly by all in the Leaf. Seeing you today, you truly live up to your reputation." A practiced smile appeared on Hiashi's face.
The words made Heshu's skin crawl.
"Hiashi-sama, if you have something to say, please speak plainly. I'm not very good with roundabout talk." Heshu offered an apologetic smile.
"…" The smile on Hiashi's face stiffened.
"You are very close to Hizashi, the head of the Branch House," Hiashi said, not meeting Heshu's eyes, looking down at his tea. "There are certain clan matters… I hope you will refrain from interfering."
The elders behind him fixed Heshu with piercing stares. As if refusing would prompt… measures.
Heshu raised an eyebrow. A faint, derisive smirk replaced the polite expression on his face.
"And what if I choose to interfere anyway?"
Hiashi looked at him, genuinely surprised.
The Hyūga clan's position within the Leaf was paramount. Their votes always carried significant weight in Hokage selections. If Tsukimi Heshu harbored ambitions for the hat, he would not want to make an enemy of the Hyūga.
"If you insist on interfering, do not blame us for being discourteous!" The speaker was an elder behind Hiashi, his face dark with threat.
"Pfft—"
Heshu couldn't help but laugh. "And how, exactly, do you plan to be 'discourteous'?"
His attitude infuriated the elder. He had lived his entire life bound by rules and hierarchy. "You impudent child! Do you have any idea what the Hyūga clan represents in Konoha?"
"What does it represent?" Heshu tilted his head, genuinely curious. He really wanted to know.
"You—!" The elder's eyes nearly shot sparks.
Heshu swirled his teacup, smiling at him.
"Old man. Don't flatter yourself." The smile didn't reach his cold eyes.
"How dare you!" The elder, who had never been called 'old man' in his life, gaped.
Hiashi was also stunned. He instinctively activated his Byakugan to check the elder's face. The elder was trembling with rage, his expression twisted. Hiashi felt an unfamiliar, deep-seated sense of satisfaction. It was rare to see this, but damn if it wasn't cathartic.
"Dare?" Heshu flicked his wrist. The teacup flew from his hand, perfectly arcing over Hiashi's head. Hot tea splashed directly onto the elder's face.
Hiashi stared, dumbfounded. He had never felt this… liberated in his life. He fought to keep the corners of his mouth from twitching upward.
As clan head of the Main House, he was far from all-powerful. Much of his authority was checked by these very elders.
As children, he and Hizashi had been close. The system of Main and Branch Houses had gouged an uncrossable chasm between them. Hiashi was not without his own resentment.
"Too bad for you, I have the strength to back up my insolence." Heshu stood up, looking down at the sputtering elder. "I think we're done here. Another second in this room, and I might be sick."
"You…!" The elder pointed a trembling finger at him, his gaze venomous. "Do you think our Hyūga compound is a place you can come and go as you please?"
The words sounded familiar. A figure flashed in Heshu's memory.
He looked at the elder. "Do you know who the last person to say that to me was?"
Heshu tapped his chin, pretending to think. "If I remember right… it was the Third Mizukage of Kirigakure."
So, are you stronger than a Kage?
"All I know is, this is the ancestral home of the Hyūga!" the elder snarled.
In the next instant, the room was suddenly filled with young Hyūga shinobi. Dozens of them, appearing as if from the walls themselves.
"Should I call you naive… or just stupid?" Heshu's eyes held pity.
You're just adding to the body count.
"Hmph!" The elder gave a sinister chuckle. "Do you think the Hokage will still trust you once word gets out that you assaulted fellow Konoha shinobi?"
Heshu snorted. "So that's your plan?"
What a joke! Did they think his 100 Affection with the Third was for show?
And his [Kotodama Jutsu] wasn't a decoration either! If it weren't for wanting to keep life a little interesting, these old fossils would be weeping for their mothers right now.
"What? Having second thoughts?" The elder wore a smug, sly grin.
"Got dementia? Which eye sees me having second thoughts?" Heshu casually kicked away a young Hyūga who tried to sneak-attack from the side.
"…!" The elder was practically foaming at the mouth.
In a flash of movement, Heshu vanished. He reappeared directly behind the elder.
Cold sweat drenched the old man's back.
"Listen up, old fossil. If you're gonna threaten someone, do your homework first." Heshu patted the elder's smooth, egg-like bald head.
"What are you all waiting for? Attack!" Another elder shrieked, his scalp crawling with fear.
The Hyūga shinobi lunged. Attacks came from all sides, the air whipping with the sound of palms tearing through the air. One hit from those, and your brain would be scrambled.
"Since that's how it is…"
"I won't hold back either."
Heshu kicked the elder beside him away with disgust.
He raised his hand. His pale, slender fingers curled slightly.
As Hiashi and the elders watched, their pupils dilating, he spoke softly, clearly.
"Domain Expansion."
"Unlimited Void."
The cold, sterile light of the room reflected in his eyes. For a moment, those stunning, sapphire-blue irises seemed to magnify a hundredfold, dominating their entire field of vision.
Everything around them was instantly replaced by a deeper, vaster space.
Like a tunnel through time, streaks of light flashed across their retinas.
Then.
Information. An infinite, explosive torrent of it, flooding into their minds.
In that moment, everyone in the room froze. Their bodies locked in place, their expressions blank.
In their vision, a single, enormous blue eye stared down at them.
As if from the edge of the universe, gazing upon a speck of dust.
Infinitesimally small. Terrifyingly insignificant.
Their pupils dilated. They could only endure. Endure the flood of data. Endure the crushing, divine pressure.
Endure the feeling that their heads were about to burst.
No one could move. Not even a finger. The effort was monumental.
They couldn't think anymore. Their minds were full. Overflowing. Like balloons pumped with too much air, ready to pop at any second.
"Seems you've had quite a scare."
Heshu released the Domain.
He looked at the group before him. Their clothes were soaked through with cold sweat. Their faces were still deathly pale, eyes bloodshot. Their bodies trembled violently, looking ready to collapse at any moment.
His voice echoed in their ears. All that remained in their hearts was pure, unadulterated terror.
"You don't look so good." Heshu smiled. "That's why I said it. Don't go threatening people so casually."
In a flicker, he was gone.
Silence.
Absolute, dead silence.
It felt like an eternity before someone in the room finally spoke.
"That… was terrifying power." Hiashi's voice was hoarse, strained.
Behind him, he could still hear the chattering of the elders' teeth.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
Read up to (40+ ) advanced chapters on Patre\on
Visit us here: patreon.com/GoldenLong
Happy reading, everyone!