Morning.
Iroha, Tokimasa, and Tetsu came to visit Makoto at his home.
"Are you going to the frontlines?" Makoto asked, surprised, looking at them.
Iroha's injury was likely still not fully healed, and Tokimasa and Tetsu were both newly graduated Genin.
Konoha had even sent them.
"Yeah, we came to say goodbye," Iroha said, scratching his head.
Makoto looked at them, unsure of what to say.
Tokimasa and Tetsu's youthful faces probably didn't understand the full brutality of war yet.
"When are you leaving?" Makoto asked.
"Half an hour from now. We just got the notice and quickly packed up at home," Iroha replied.
Makoto hadn't received any instructions to go to the battlefield, meaning the Hyuga clan had still kept him at home.
It was already a time of life and death for Konoha, yet the Hyuga clan still acted this way.
Makoto sensed something more from their actions.
The three of them exchanged a few words, but there was no emotional display.
Makoto simply reminded them to be careful and told Tokimasa and Tetsu to listen to Iroha more on the frontlines.
Then they left, with Iroha mentioning that he still needed to say goodbye to Natsu.
Natsu also wasn't going to the frontlines.
Makoto noticed that the Hyuga clan compound was even quieter than usual.
He wandered around for a while but didn't see a single person.
Once outside the Hyuga compound, the streets of Konoha were the same.
There was a lot of trash scattered around that hadn't been cleaned up, and there were only a few pedestrians.
Not a single ninja in sight, and many shops had their doors shut, not conducting business.
The entire village seemed to be suffused with a heavy, oppressive atmosphere.
Makoto went into one of the shops that hadn't closed and bought some things before heading to the hospital to visit Hizashi.
The Konoha hospital was probably the only place still bustling in the village.
Hizashi was alone in his hospital room, but he appeared downcast and didn't speak much when Makoto arrived.
He only asked Makoto one question, seemingly out of the blue.
"Do you think you're lucky or unlucky?"
After thinking for a moment, Makoto replied.
"Luck and misfortune are judgments of the past. I only focus on the future."
These words made Hizashi ponder deeply, and he began muttering to himself.
"The past is gone, the future is coming."
Makoto didn't know what had happened to him, so he didn't ask further and left the hospital.
When he returned to his place, he found that Ayari had arrived again, sitting on the sofa, holding Spi in her arms, lost in thought.
The survival of Konoha was closely tied to each person, and the war on the frontlines had erased the smiles from most faces in the village.
"What's wrong?" Makoto asked her.
Ayari looked at him but hesitated to speak.
"Are you worried about the frontlines?"
"Makoto, do you think we can win?"
Makoto paused in the action of pouring water, giving a firm reply: "Yes."
However, Ayari's expression remained heavy, and she shook her head, saying.
"What do you, a child, understand about the affairs of the country?"
She felt that Makoto's confidence in his village was blind; given the current situation, Konoha had no ability to turn things around.
Ayari sighed deeply and said to Makoto.
"Lord Taikei will hold a clan meeting tonight. I'm just here to let you know. Remember to go to the inner courtyard at 9 p.m."
She stood up, still holding Spi in her arms. "Let Spi stay with me today."
Makoto's mind raced with thoughts, and the strange appearance of Hizashi he had seen earlier flashed through his mind.
Suddenly, he stepped forward and grabbed Ayari's arm as she was about to leave.
"Makoto?"
Makoto's gaze fixed firmly on Ayari, his pitch-black eyes causing Ayari to feel inexplicably uneasy, as though she had been seen through.
Spi curiously looked at Makoto in Ayari's arms.
"Is Hyuga planning to leave Konoha?"
Shock spread across Ayari's face, and she froze, staring at Makoto in a daze.
"Makoto... how do you know?" she stammered.
"How many people?" Makoto asked again.
"What?"
"Is everyone being evacuated?"
Ayari hesitated for a moment before replying,
"The list set by Lord Taikei includes me, my sister, Hizashi, you, and Natsu.
Lord Taikei also said that before we leave, he will leave his eyes for you."
Makoto pressed, "What about Lord Hiashi and the others?"
This question was met with silence.
The answer was clear.
They had been abandoned.
In the face of the survival and continuity of the clan, even a main family branch seemed insignificant.
With the Hokage already at the frontlines, the village was in chaos.
It was far too easy for the Hyuga to quietly send a few people away at this point.
It was likely not just the Hyuga clan; other clans probably did the same thing.
Makoto's expression shifted as he stood in place, and after a moment, he suddenly ran out the door.
Ayari saw this and quickly shouted,
"Makoto, where are you going? Don't go out and say anything nonsense!"
Makoto returned to the Konoha hospital, intending to find Hizashi.
At this point, he had no choice but to seek Hizashi, since Ayari had no real influence in the clan.
His steps were hurried, and he nearly collided with a passerby who was carrying something.
"Watch where you're going!" the person exclaimed, their tray filled with glass bottles for intravenous use.
"Sorry," Makoto apologized, but as he looked up, he realized the person seemed somewhat familiar.
At that moment, a staff member at the end of the hallway called out toward them.
"Shizune, hurry up, they need it urgently over here."
"Coming."
The girl quickly responded and then disregarded Makoto, turning to walk briskly toward the medical staff.
Shizune... Shouldn't she have already left the village with Tsunade by now?
Setting aside these unnecessary thoughts, Makoto approached Hizashi's room but did not immediately knock to enter.
After standing there for a while, his thoughts finally began to calm down.
"Why don't you come in?"
Suddenly, Hizashi's voice rang out from the hospital room.
When Makoto opened the door, he found Hizashi sitting on the bed, calmly gazing out the window.
The white window curtains fluttered in the breeze coming from outside, and the faint shadow on the floor shifted along with the movement.
Makoto closed the door behind him and slowly walked to Hizashi's bed.
It was Hizashi who spoke first.
"Makoto, you seem a bit agitated, different from how you were before."
"..."
"Lady Tsunade has returned to the village, and she's in Lord Jiraiya's hospital room. That girl came back with her."
Although Hizashi had been in the hospital the entire time, his Byakugan allowed him to see everything happening in the building, including the incident where Makoto nearly collided with Shizune.
Makoto spoke quietly, "Lord Hizashi, we can't leave."
Hizashi smiled lightly, "You seem to have found out quite quickly. Did Ayari tell you?"
He gazed steadily at Makoto and asked, "Why can't you leave?"
Makoto replied, "If we leave the village now, it would be considered defection."
When Makoto mentioned the word "defection," Hizashi's expression remained unchanged.
He slowly got off the bed, closed the window, and drew the curtains, causing the room to darken instantly.
Only then did Hizashi speak in a calm voice,
"On the contrary, Konoha is about to fall.
We are the torchbearers of Konoha's hope, tasked with the responsibility of rebuilding and revitalizing Konoha."
Makoto furrowed his brows lightly. "Just the five of us?"
Hizashi replied, "What, do you think it's not enough?"
Makoto responded, "Not enough. Even with the entire Hyuga clan, it's still not enough."
Hizashi narrowed his eyes.
He had always thought there was special about Makoto, and he was very good at hiding it.
This special quality was hard to discern, and even his own older brother and father had been deceived.
But he could feel it—Makoto, like him, shared a deep hatred for those shackles and cages, and a strong desire for freedom.
"Why do you say that? Do you know how lucky you are to be on this list of five?" Hizashi continued.
"Is it because of my eyes?"
"You're quite clever," Hizashi sneered.
"Natsu is top-tier in both personality and appearance within our clan.
Many of her peers are infatuated with her.
She will be your wife in the future. Isn't that enough for you?"
"Or do you perhaps prefer Ayari?"
Makoto expression remained unchanged as he listened to Hizashi mention his fiancée's name.
He could tell that Hizashi was suppressing something, and that this suppressed emotion was about to erupt.
"If you really like Ayari that much, I could..."
"What has Lord Taikei given you?" Makoto suddenly interrupted him.
"What has Lord Taikei promised you?"
Hizashi fell silent, his eyes fixed intently on Makoto.
"Release the Caged bird curse seal, the status of the main family, the same position as Lord Hiashi?"
Hizashi was silent for a long while before briefly replying, "Correct."
Makoto felt a deep sense of disappointment.
What Hizashi hated wasn't the caged bird; he only hated the fact that he himself was bound by it.
Once he became the beneficiary of the system, he would start to support it.
End of chapter
Exclusive access : Get 80 advanced chapters ahead of everyone else
Join now : patreon*com/DeCakraWnloverz