Morning.
Iroha, Tokuma, and Tetsu came to Shinji's house together.
"You're going to the front lines?" Shinji looked at them with astonishment.
Iroha's wounds probably hadn't fully healed yet. Tokuma and Tetsu were both freshly graduated genin.
Konoha had even resorted to using them.
"Yeah, so we came to say goodbye," Iroha said, scratching his head.
Looking at them, Shinji suddenly didn't know what to say.
The childlike faces of Tokuma and Tetsu probably didn't yet understand the cruelty of war.
"When do you leave?" Shinji asked.
"In half an hour. We just got the notice and quickly packed up at home," Iroha replied.
Shinji hadn't received any orders to go to the battlefield, which meant the Hyuga clan was still keen on keeping him at home.
Even at this critical moment when Konoha's survival hung in the balance, the Hyuga still made such a decision. Shinji sensed something else behind this.
The three friends talked for a while without getting too emotional. Shinji only cautioned them to be careful and told Tokuma and Tetsu to listen to Iroha at the frontlines.
Then they left, with Iroha saying he still needed to say goodbye to Natsu.
Natsu hadn't been sent to the front lines either.
Shinji noticed the Hyuga compound was much quieter than usual. He wandered around for a long time without seeing anyone.
The Konoha streets outside the Hyuga compound were the same—garbage lay scattered with no one cleaning it up, few pedestrians walked about, and not a single ninja could be seen.
Many shops had closed their doors, and a suppressive atmosphere hung over the entire village.
Shinji found an open store and bought some things to visit Hizashi at the hospital.
Konoha Hospital was the only place in the village that was still busy. Hizashi was alone in his room, looking dejected. He didn't say much when Shinji arrived.
He only asked Shinji one strange question.
"Do you think you're fortunate or unfortunate?"
After some thought, Shinji answered: "Fortune and misfortune are judgments about the past. I only look toward the future."
This response prompted deep thought from Hizashi, who began to mutter a phrase.
"The past is gone, the future is coming."
Shinji didn't know what had happened to him and didn't ask further before leaving the hospital.
Returning home, he found Ayari had visited his house again, sitting on the sofa holding Subi, looking preoccupied.
Konoha's survival affected everyone, and the war at the front had wiped smiles from most villagers' faces.
"What's wrong?" Shinji asked her.
Ayari looked at Shinji but seemed to hesitate.
"Worried about the front lines?"
"Shinji, do you think we can win?" she asked.
Shinji paused while pouring water, then gave a firm response: "Yes."
Ayari's expression remained heavy as she shook her head: "What would a child like you know about national affairs?"
She thought Shinji was blindly confident in their village.
In the current situation, Konoha no longer had the ability to turn the tide.
Ayari sighed heavily and said to Shinji: "Tonight, Lord Takaguya will convene a clan meeting. I came by to notify you. Remember to go to the inner courtyard at 9 PM."
She stood up, still holding Subi: "Let Subi keep me company today..."
Hearing this, Shinji's mind raced, flashing back to Hizashi's strange behaviour earlier. He suddenly stepped forward and grabbed Ayari's arm as she was about to leave.
"Shinji?"
Shinji's gaze fixed intently on Ayari.
Those pitch-black eyes made her inexplicably uncomfortable, it felt as if it could see through far more things than her own byakugan.
Subi looked curiously at Shinji from Ayari's arms.
"Is the Hyuga clan planning to leave Konoha?"
Shock spread across Ayari's face as she stood frozen, staring at Shinji.
"Shinji... how... how did you know?" she stammered.
"How many people?" Shinji asked.
"What?"
"Is everyone leaving?"
Hearing this, Ayari hesitated, then said: "Lord Takaguya has made a list. It includes me and my sister, Hizashi, you and Natsu. Lord Takaguya also said that before we leave, he will give his eyes to you."
Shinji pressed further: "What about Lord Hiashi and the others?"
This question was met with silence.
The answer was obvious: they were being abandoned.
In the face of clan survival, some main family members who couldn't be rescued seemed insignificant.
With the Hokage already at the front lines and the village in chaos, it would be all too easy for the Hyuga to secretly send a few people away.
Likely not just the Hyuga, other clans were probably doing similar things.
Shinji stood there, his expression shifting, then suddenly bolted out the door.
Seeing this, Ayari quickly called out: "Shinji, where are you going? Don't... don't tell anyone about this!"
Shinji returned to Konoha Hospital to find Hizashi. In this situation, Hizashi was his only option, as Ayari had virtually no authority within the clan.
He hurried along, nearly colliding with a passerby carrying items.
"Watch out!" the person cried out. Her tray was full of glass vials for intravenous fluids.
"Sorry," Shinji apologized, looking up to find her somewhat familiar.
At that moment, a medical staff member called from the end of the corridor.
"Shizune, hurry up! We need those urgently."
"Coming!"
The girl quickly responded and hurried toward the medical staff without further acknowledging Shinji.
'Shizune... shouldn't she have already left the village with Tsunade by this time?'
Pushing aside these irrelevant thoughts, Shinji reached Hizashi's door but didn't immediately knock.
After standing there for a while, his mind finally calmed.
"Why not come in?"
Hizashi's voice suddenly came from within the room.
When Shinji opened the door, he found Hizashi sitting with bent knees on the bed, calmly gazing out the window.
The white curtain floated in the breeze, and a thin layer of shadows on the floor swayed with it.
Shinji closed the door tightly and slowly walked to Hizashi's bedside.
Hizashi spoke first.
"Shinji, you seem rather agitated. Different from your usual self."
"..."
"Lady Tsunade has returned to the village. She's in Lord Jiraiya's room. That girl came back with her."
Though confined to his hospital room, he could see everything in the entire hospital with his Byakugan, including Shinji's near-collision with Shizune.
Shinji spoke quietly: "Lord Hizashi, we can't leave."
Hizashi gave a faint smile: "You learned of the situation rather fast. Did Ayari tell you?"
His eyes fixed on Shinji as he asked: "Why can't we leave?"
Shinji said: "If we leave Konoha at this time, it would be considered desertion."
Hearing the word "desertion," Hizashi's expression remained unchanged.
He slowly got out of bed, closed the window, and drew both the sheer curtain and the drapes, instantly darkening the room.
Only then did Hizashi speak calmly: "On the contrary, Konoha is about to fall. We are the sparks carrying Konoha's hope, bearing the responsibility of rebuilding and reviving it."
Shinji frowned slightly: "Just the five of us?"
Hizashi replied: "What, you think that's not enough?"
Shinji said: "It's not enough. Even the entire Hyuga clan wouldn't be enough."
Hizashi narrowed his eyes. He had always felt Shinji was special, just good at hiding it. This uniqueness was difficult to discern, even his elder brother and father had been deceived.
But he could sense it: Shinji, like himself, harbored a hatred for the caged bird seal and a longing for freedom.
"What gives you the right to say that? Do you know how fortunate you are to be among the five names on that list?" Hizashi continued.
"Because of my eyes?" Shinji asked.
"You're clever," Hizashi sneered, "Natsu is unmatched in our clan for both personality and appearance. Many of her peers adore her. She's to be your future wife, aren't you satisfied with that?"
"Or perhaps you prefer Ayari?"
Hearing this, Shinji's expression remained unchanged.
He could see that Hizashi was suppressing something, and it was about to erupt.
"If you truly care for Ayari, I could..."
"What did Lord Hizashi receive?" Shinji suddenly interrupted.
"What did Lord Takaguya promise you?"
Hizashi fell silent, his eyes fixed intently on Shinji.
"Removal of the Caged Bird seal? Main family status? Equal standing with Lord Hiashi?"
After a long silence, Hizashi replied briefly: "Correct."
Shinji felt deeply disappointed.
Hizashi didn't hate the Caged Bird seal itself, he only hated that he was the one bound by it.
Once he became a beneficiary of the rules, he would start defending them.