Naruto: From Fake to Real, Deceiving the Ninja World.

Black fluid gushed from the shadow beneath his feet, climbing up his ankles like liquid and gradually covering his entire body. Hinata Kumokawa looked up at himself in the mirror.

He was wearing a hooded black robe, the hem of which flowed and billowed, appearing more like a living thing than fabric, while his face was shrouded in unfathomable shadows.

[Shadow Robe: A black robe transformed from a shadow. Regardless of the host's size, it can change its shape as needed, interfering with most spying and perception. If damaged, it will automatically repair itself like liquid. Normally, it is hidden in the shadow (already bound)]

At this moment, Hinata Kumokawa had only one thought.

Those 2000 points that come true are worth it.

Chapter 12 is truly tragic; the unfortunate people...

The mansion of the clan patriarch was not well-lit, and the night air exuded a chill.

Bang…bang…

Silent hammering sounds echoed from the courtyard. A boy with fair skin and a bandage covering his forehead stood in the courtyard, continuously striking the wooden stake with fluid punches.

However, as he swung his fist, his dazed, youthful face gradually became distorted and ferocious, with a hint of ruthlessness. His usual peaceful expression was gone, and his soft fists gradually became vicious and violent.

He didn't use chakra with each strike. This self-destructive way of hitting gradually made his fists a bloody mess, and glaring bloodstains began to appear in the deep indentations on the surface of the wooden stake.

It was less of a practice and more of a venting session.

Even so, he showed no sign of stopping.

All that remained in Hyuga Neji's mind was the scene from a few days ago when he first witnessed the caged bird.

Just like every day for the past few years, I went to spar with that eldest daughter of the main family.

He had already been branded with that ugly curse mark, but he didn't understand what it meant at all. He naively thought it was what the other clansmen said, symbolizing the "responsibility" of protecting the main family when the branch family was separated.

responsibility.

These two words held no real meaning for him; in his view, protecting his younger sister was simply his duty as an older brother.

Even without this so-called "responsibility," he had done the same thing every day in the past, treating Hinata as his own little sister.

Until that day, that moment.

He witnessed his revered father clutching his head, his body convulsing, howling and screaming in agony on the ground like a dog.

He once couldn't understand why his father wouldn't take off his headband, even at home.

Until that moment, the headband fell off his father's forehead, revealing the forehead marked with a curse, the bulging veins like centipedes, and the ugly blue curse mark seemed to be writhing.

The so-called head of the clan, the man who should have been addressed as "uncle," merely stared coldly at him and his father, relentlessly activating the curse seal without a shred of pity.

"Just this once." Hiashi Hyuga's Byakugan gleamed coldly in the dark room as he said indifferently, "Don't forget your mission."

That was the first time Hyuga Neji saw the ugliness of the Caged Bird Seal, and the first time he understood what the seal truly meant to them.

The so-called cursed seal could easily destroy their brain nerves, which meant that the main family, which possessed the cursed seal, held the power of life and death over the branch family.

If a member of the branch family harbors rebellious or presumptuous intentions, or fails to fulfill their obligations and responsibilities, the head family can use a curse seal to execute that member.

In everyone's eyes, this curse-like mark can only be broken by death.

From then on, the once gentle Hyuga Neji became cold, and the look in his eyes when he looked at Hinata was no longer that of a doting older brother, but rather that of an enemy with disgust and hatred.

Crunch!

Hyuga Neji gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, as if his father's admonitions were echoing in his ears once again.

"Neji, don't resent the main family. The caged bird is not a curse, but a protective measure."

"I understand, Father."

"Our Byakugan is coveted by enemies. The main family is doing this to protect the Byakugan from falling into enemy hands, and for the sake of the Hyuga clan's future."

"I understand, Father."

"This is our mission as a branch family, and this is our destiny as a branch family. One day, you will understand."

“I understand, Father…”

Click! !

With a piercing shriek as if the air were being torn apart, the wooden stake finally succumbed to the pressure and broke in half, sending splinters flying like snow.

Hyuga Neji staggered and knelt on the ground, looking down at his blood-dripping hand. His long black hair obscured his face as he murmured, "I understand, Father..."

But I don't understand.

Why are the members of the main family able to accept all of this so calmly?

How can the main family members accept all of this so calmly?!

Those who harmed their own kind, what right do they have to sit on the back of the branch family and accept everything with a clear conscience, and what right do they have to call the sacrifice of the branch family "fate"!

Click.

The door made a slight creak, breaking the deathly silence in the courtyard.

The dim, yellowish light behind him was turned on, and a figure gradually walked behind Neji, his broad shadow enveloping him.

"Neji..."

Looking at his child with his back to him, Hyuga Hizashi's expression was incredibly complicated.

In fact, after decades or even centuries of "inheritance", most children of the branch family have been instilled with the idea from childhood that "the branch family is born to protect the main family", and almost no branch family members would resist the main family.

They rejoice at the praise of the head family, fear at the anger of the head family, and rage at the sorrow of the head family.

Hyuga Hizashi should have instilled the concept of master and servant in Neji from a young age, just like everyone else, but he ultimately did not do so.

He may have regretted it over the past three years, but whenever he saw the genuinely doting smile on Neji's face when he looked at Hinata, he was glad that he hadn't done it.

He didn't want Neji and Hinata's relationship to become like his relationship with his older brother. He hoped that when Neji was branded with the Caged Bird Seal, he would genuinely feel that being branded with the Caged Bird Seal was no big deal and that he could treat Hinata like his older brother had always been.

In his opinion, given Hinata's personality, she would never use the cursed seal on Neji, and the two could still get along like they did when they were children.

However, Hyuga Hizashi never imagined that the scene he had witnessed, his impulsive act of wanting to kill Hinata, would have such a profound impact on Neji and change him so drastically...

"Father."

Hyuga Neji stood up and hid his hands behind his back.

Hyuga Hizashi snapped out of his daze, gently patted Neji's head, and smiled warmly: "Neji, you've already mastered the Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms. In a little while, I'll be able to teach you the advanced Gentle Fist."

"Yes, Father." Hyuga Neji's expression was calm, without any joy.

Seeing Neji like this, Hyuga Hizashi couldn't help but fall silent, letting out a silent sigh.

"Go and treat your wound." He glanced at Neji's hand hidden behind his back. "Don't do that again next time."

"..." Hyuga Neji lowered his head, and after a moment he spoke, "Yes, Father."

Watching Neji stride into the house, Hizashi Hyuga stood there in silence for a long time.

He had once tried to resist so-called fate, but now he understands that fate is not someone standing in front of him who can simply strangle him.

Fate has no flaws; it can advance or retreat, and neither you nor I can escape it.

"I only hope that as Neji grows up, he can get rid of the resentment in his heart." Hyuga Hizashi said to himself in a low voice, "All the suffering I am experiencing now will become a treasure that makes Neji even stronger."

As soon as he finished speaking, just as he was about to leave, a sneer drifted into his ears on the wind.

"It's truly pathetic," someone said. "Unhappy people always create people who are even more unhappy than themselves."

Chapter 13 Hyuga Hizashi, Tell Me Your Choice

"Who is it? Get out!"

The moment that voice reached his ears, Hyuga Hizashi activated his Byakugan without hesitation.

But to his astonishment, he sensed that apart from Neji, there was no one else around.

Only the sound of the wind and the rustling of leaves, along with my own breathing and heartbeat, could be heard; it was so quiet that even the chirping of insects seemed to have vanished.

Hyuga Hizashi activated his Byakugan and looked around, but could not find the source of the sound.

"Where are you looking?"

That ethereal voice came again.

This time, Hizashi Hyuga heard it very clearly and turned around abruptly to look behind him, following the sound.

However, it remained empty.

The trees stood silently before me, their dense branches swaying in the wind, casting shadowy shapes, as if countless figures were hidden among them.

Then, a soft, slow footstep sound slowly approached.

Just by listening, one can sense the ease and comfort of the footsteps. Although walking in the Hyuga clan's territory, which is filled with Byakugan, it gives the feeling of strolling leisurely in a garden.

A moment later, a figure emerged from the shadows, its ink-black color spreading in Hyuga Hizashi's Byakugan.

The dark figure stopped in front of him. Hyuga Hizashi stared intently at the face beneath the black robe, as if trying to see through it to discern every inch of flesh beneath the hood.

However, beneath the hood, only dense shadows surged like living things, chewing up and swallowing his probing gaze, which he cast like a moth to a flame, yet he could not expect the other party to spit out even a trace of dregs out of pity.

A monster as deep as the abyss.

The thought suddenly popped into his mind, and cold sweat trickled down Hizashi Hyuga's forehead.

A guy who silently infiltrates Konoha, ignores Konoha's sensory barrier, even infiltrates the Hyuga clan's territory, and can disregard the Byakugan's perception.

Even though the other person is standing right in front of you, you can't sense them at all.

If the other party hadn't spoken, he probably wouldn't have noticed until someone stood behind him, raised their hand, and slit his throat.

Is this some kind of secret technique?

Or perhaps some kind of bloodline limit?

Even "penetrating the air" couldn't do that, right?

"who are you?"

While frantically analyzing intelligence in his mind, Hyuga Hizashi tried to stall for time by putting his hand inside his robes, as if to signal an enemy invasion.

"The moment you give the signal, I can slit your throat and kill the child before reinforcements arrive."

A cold, calm statement was laced with an undeniable killing intent.

Hizashi instinctively stiffened, and his hand movements instantly stopped.

The strange way the person in front of him appeared and the calmness in his tone made Hyuga Hizashi dare not doubt the truth of his words in the slightest.

Given the bizarre ability the other party displayed to block his senses, if he truly possessed the power to kill him instantly, he could indeed leave this place silently and safely, without being discovered by anyone afterwards.

So, does the other party possess the power to kill him instantly?

"..."

Hyuga Hizashi pulled his hand out of his robes, stared intently at the dark figure before him, and said in a deep voice, "What do you want to do?"

Yes, he didn't dare to gamble.

This guy in front of me is too strange.

It didn't matter whether he lived or died, but Neji was right behind him.

The fact that the other party did not directly attack him suggests that they may not have intended to kill him.

But Hyuga Hizashi had no idea that the dark figure in front of him, whom he feared and even dreaded, was actually the person he had met not long ago.

The shadowy figure, Hyuga Kumokawa, did not answer Hyuga Hizashi's question, but instead calmly stared at him.

A deathly silence fell between them once more, broken only by the rustling of the wind through the leaves, Hyuga Hizashi's increasingly heavy breathing, and even his increasingly rapid heartbeat.

Just as the atmosphere became extremely oppressive and heavy, Hyuga Hizashi's fingers twitched slightly, and he couldn't help but want to make a move.

"You're saying that all the suffering that child endures will become an even greater treasure for him?"

The dark figure in front of them finally spoke. Although the voice was still hoarse and terrifying, Hizashi breathed a sigh of relief.

The guy in front of him was looking at him at eye level, but it felt like he was looking down at him from above, his deep gaze sweeping over him little by little.

It was as if an invisible black hand was holding every inch of his skin and slowly squeezing it, as if trying to squeeze out a pool of blood.

"What do you want to say?"

The last vestiges of resistance vanished, and Hyuga Hizashi frowned, speaking in a deep voice.