Makoto returned home to find Hyuga Ayari sprawled zily across his sofa, a pure white dog nestled comfortably in her arms.

  She was much older than him—already an adult. Her features bore a strong resembnce to her sister Ayano, though her demeanor was more serene, less intense.

  Makoto walked over, poured himself a gss of water, and sat down on the far end of the couch.

  “I’m pretty sure I locked the door.”

  “Not happy to see me?” Ayari gnced at him, her expression calm as her hand idly stroked the dog’s silky fur.

  That dog used to be Makoto’s. Ayari had always been fond of it and would often drop by to py with it. Before heading off to the battlefield, Makoto had given her a spare key, figuring she could help clean up the pce every now and then.

  In his memories, their retionship had always been close. Their homes were right next to each other, and he had once harbored a youthful crush on this beautiful older sister.

  But it could only ever be a crush. Like her sister, Ayari was already engaged—to none other than Hyuga Hiashi’s younger brother.

  It wasn’t unusual for a teenager to admire an older, capable woman. Perhaps Ayari had noticed his feelings long ago, but she’d never taken them seriously. The age gap between them was too big. In a couple of years, Ayari might have kids, while Makoto would still be a clueless brat.

  “Spibi,” Makoto called.

  The dog, resting in Ayari’s p, perked up immediately and trotted over, happily rubbing against his legs. He scooped it up and set it on his knees, gently petting its fur.

  Ayari looked slightly exasperated as her fluffy companion was stolen from her arms. She sat up slowly, brushing her long hair over her shoulder, her gaze quietly settling on Makoto as he sat silently, stroking the dog.

  Since coming back from the battlefield, this once-chattery neighbor kid had completely changed. He’d become quiet, withdrawn—nothing like the boy who used to swing by her pce all the time, sometimes so often it annoyed her.

  But now? He hadn’t come to see her once. And even when they were together, he hardly spoke. Not a single word about what he went through out there.

  From the cn, Ayari had heard the full story: Makoto’s entire team had been wiped out during a mission. He was the sole survivor. And his eyes… were destroyed.

  Was it the trauma? Ayari felt a wave of sympathy.

  War was cruel. No one could escape it.

  Trying to steer the silence, she asked, “Did you get to meet Lord Minato?”

  “Yeah.”

  “What’s he like?”

  “Just like the stories say.”

  “I heard he might be the next Hokage.”

  “So did I.”

  “…Is he easy to talk to?”

  “He’s… pretty kind.”

  That was all. The conversation fizzled out.

  With Minato’s growing reputation in the vilge, anyone else would’ve jumped at the chance to gush about him—how heroic, how brilliant, how strong. But Makoto didn’t seem interested in continuing the topic at all.

  Ayari sighed inwardly, debating whether she should leave. Just then, Makoto asked out of the blue, “Are there a lot of preserved Byakugan in the cn?”

  The abrupt shift in topic caught her off guard. “I guess… quite a few?”

  She paused to think, then added, “When the main family members pass away, their Byakugan are preserved if they’re intact. Even some exceptional branch members have theirs removed by the cn leaders before death. These eyes are all sealed and stored through special methods. Over generations, the number must’ve grown quite rge.”

  “Where are they kept?”

  “How would I know that?” Ayari chuckled. “Only Lord Hiashi and the people in charge of that stuff would know.”

  Then she gnced at him curiously. “Why do you ask?”

  Though rare, repcing damaged Byakugan wasn’t unheard of. If a cn member suffered an injury or developed an eye disease, the elders would arrange for an eye transpnt. It was part of why there were never any blind members in the Hyuga cn.

  But Makoto… his case was different. His eyes were destroyed by the Caged Bird Seal.

  He said calmly, “No reason. I’m just about to get a new pair and started wondering whose eyes I’d be getting. Kinda weird feeling. Thought maybe I could take a look at them first.”

  Ayari ughed. “What’s there to look at? They’re just eyeballs. Probably pretty creepy.”

  She regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth. With everything Makoto had been through, his sensitivity was understandable.

  After a moment of thought, she added, “You’d probably need Lord Hiashi’s permission for something like that.”

  She assumed Makoto was worried about the transpnt—and he was. But not for the reason she imagined.

  The Byakugan was the pride of the Hyuga cn. A Kekkei Genkai that existed nowhere else in the shinobi world.

  But Makoto wanted no part of it.

  The cn wanted to give him new eyes not out of kindness, but to reapply the Caged Bird Seal—to shackle him again.

  Why else would someone like him, a mediocre branch house member with no great talent or status, be worth summoning the cn’s elders for a full meeting?

  How could he avoid this fate?

  There was no way he could take on the entire Hyuga cn by himself.

  Too bad this wasn’t some low-tier webnovel where sleeping with girls magically made you stronger. His only real edge was his knowledge of this world and its future. But if he couldn’t change his fate, what use was power? He’d still end up under someone’s thumb.

  “Makoto?”

  He looked up, meeting Ayari’s gaze. Her eyes were clear, soft like moonlit water, quietly observing him.

  “What are you so worried about?” she asked.

  What was he worried about? The cn had plenty of Byakugan to choose from. Surely one of them would suit him. The elders were paying close attention to his case—shouldn’t he feel honored?

  Ayari couldn’t understand. She stared into his dark eyes—eyes that weren’t his. Was that why they felt so unfamiliar?

  Spibi, still lounging on Makoto’s p, looked up briefly, then lowered its head again to enjoy more petting.

  The room was silent, save for the soft ticking of the wall clock. Tick. Tock.

  Makoto sighed. “Ayari-nee.”

  She blinked. It had been a while since he’d called her that.

  “I just don’t know what the future holds,” he said, voice calm.

  Ayari said nothing at first. She stared at the troubled boy before her for a long moment, then quietly replied, “Don’t worry. I’m sure they’ll find a Byakugan that suits you. If you really want to see them, I’ll ask Hizashi to help push it through.”

  “Thanks, Ayari-nee.”

  She gave a small smile. “Don’t overthink it. Just focus on recovering for now.”

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