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

The two children, whose faces were obscured, let go of each other's hands and each extended a hand to him. Hyuga Neji walked over to them uncontrollably.

The moment he grasped those two hands, a feeling of joy welled up within him, and a smile appeared on Neji's face, a laugh that didn't sound like his own chuckle escaped his throat.

He looked at the blindfolded, black-haired girl who was surrounded by him and four other children, kneeling in the middle with her head bowed.

「かごめ、かごめ（cage seam, cage seam）」

The four children began to spin around happily, singing nursery rhymes in their childish voices, and Neji also joined in, somewhat bewildered.

"かご中の鸟は (bird in a cage)"

The blood-red afterglow of the setting sun cast their shadows on the ground, like a bamboo cage confining them and the girl inside.

「いついつやる（When can I come out）」

The singing suddenly intensified, and the children quickened their pace, the long shadow of the bamboo cage entangling the blindfolded girl in the center.

"Ye Ming けの晩に (Dawn Night)"

"Crane and turtle slipped"

Who's facing you from behind?

The four children stopped and looked at the girl in the middle.

"..."

Hyuga Neji also looked at the blindfolded girl in the middle. Looking at the girl's unfamiliar yet familiar back, his previously chaotic thoughts gradually became clear.

The nursery rhymes sung in tender voices still echoed, and against the backdrop of the dilapidated scenery, the originally cheerful and innocent lyrics seemed particularly eerie.

The biting coldness emanating from his hands, in particular, instilled a sense of fear in Hyuga Neji.

He suddenly understood the song, the rules of the game, and its meaning.

—If the girl guesses who is behind the bird, then that person will have to take the place of the caged bird and die.

"..."

The blindfolded girl raised her head, her pink lips slightly parted.

“Hyuga…Neji…” she said softly.

Hearing her pronounce his name, Hyuga Neji's entire body trembled uncontrollably, and the two children beside him gently released his hands.

"No! I don't want it!"

He uncontrollably lifted his foot, walked to the girl, and knelt down. The four children gathered around, their eyes devout and fervent, as if witnessing a ceremony.

Finally, the girl raised her hands together and gently stroked Hyuga Neji's face, but her thumbs pressed against his eyes.

puff!

Thick, scarlet blood gushed out, flowing onto the ground with a loud thud.

"what!!"

Hyuga Neji let out an extremely shrill scream, as if a red-hot steel bar had been pierced into his brain.

But after he put on the "blindfold," the four children held hands and spun around again, their swaying shadows sewing him into the cage, and the cheerful yet eerie nursery rhyme started playing once more.

「かごめ、かごめ（cage seam, cage seam）」

"かご中の鸟は (bird in a cage)"

「いついつやる（When can I come out）」

The childish voice gradually transformed into a vague and bizarre language, and a large amount of noise filled Hyuga Neji's retina, causing distorted images to flash before his eyes.

Gradually, the scene before my eyes began to change.

He saw countless people with ugly curse marks carved on their heads, saw them stand in front of those without curse marks, and saw them die one after another on the battlefield of flesh and blood.

He saw a person with a caged bird but whose face was obscured killing; he saw that person gouging out the eyes of others; he saw that person rolling around on the altar, covering their eyes and screaming silently.

He saw the man walk down from the altar, carve something on a stone tablet, and then walk away. Whether they had carved a curse mark or not, anyone who tried to stand in his way was slaughtered by him with a wave of his hand.

Even when someone raised their hand to activate the incantation, it still didn't stop the person from walking.

Hyuga Neji saw the figure enter a shrine. The survivors gathered outside the shrine, not daring to go in. The only sound in the silent air seemed to be the overlapping of heavy breathing.

Soon, the magnificent ancestral hall was engulfed in flames, and the figure emerged from the firelight, the flames licking at the person's cheeks.

In the man's hand was an old head, its face still bearing traces of fear, with its pale, scarlet spine dragging on the ground, leaving glaring dark red bloodstains wherever it went.

The man stopped, and the blood on the ground formed a dark red mirror, reflecting the terrified white eyes of the others, which in turn reflected the man's bloodstained eyes.

Those were eyes unlike any other.

Those were deep blue eyes.

Neji Hyuga stood at the very back of the crowd, unable to move or make a sound, watching as a mere bystander.

Having just experienced the agony of becoming a "scapegoat," and now witnessing this massacre firsthand, he felt a morbid sense of exhilaration.

However, the next moment, the figure raised his always lowered eyelids and actually met Hyuga Neji's eyes.

Hyuga Neji suddenly had a feeling.

That person saw himself.

He saw two lines of thick, pungent blood flow from those eyes, gradually sliding down that blurry face.

"Such an ugly family has no reason to exist."

The man slowly raised one hand, his palm seemingly holding a sword, golden light extending upwards and breaking through the dark clouds in the night sky.

"Let's cleanse the filth and promote purity," the man said softly. "Golden Wheel... Reincarnation Explosion."

The golden light descended, illuminating the pitch-black night, and the fear of death materialized.

boom!

Faced with the stark reality of death, Hyuga Neji almost instinctively tried his best to dodge, but he only managed to open his eyes suddenly and before he could react, he tumbled off the bed.

"..."

He stared blankly at the ceiling, the slight pain in his body finally pulling him back to reality.

"What's going on?" he murmured. "Who is that person?"

"And those eyes..."

Chapter 16 Blindly Obeying Orders Leads to Delusional Thoughts

creak.

The wooden planks made a teeth-grinding sound. Hyuga Neji sat up straight, supporting himself with his hands on the ground. The alarm clock on the bedside table showed 2:00 AM. The room was still dimly lit.

He subconsciously turned his head to look out the window and saw a figure standing quietly in front of the window, exuding a sense of loneliness.

Hyuga Neji, whose emotions were still fluctuating, was startled at first, but quickly recognized the melancholy face under the moonlight.

"Father?"

Neji's questioning voice reached his ears, and Hizashi Hyuga, who had been staring blankly at the night sky outside the window, came back to his senses and looked at his son.

"Did you have a nightmare?"

Hyuga Hizashi's gaze was somewhat complicated, but he still revealed a gentle smile and raised his hand to touch Neji's hair.

"It shouldn't be considered a nightmare."

Neji Hyuga's face tightened slightly as he raised his hand to press his throbbing temples.

He tried to recall the details of his dream, but it felt like everything in the dream was disappearing like snow melting in the early sun. His memories were like fine sand in his hand, flowing uncontrollably through his fingers and disappearing with the wind.

Reluctantly, I opened my palm and found that only a few grains of sand remained.

For example, the eerie nursery rhymes in the dilapidated shrine, the fear and resentment of becoming a "scapegoat," those extremely beautiful blue eyes, and finally, the golden light that cuts through the night sky.

"Father."

Hyuga Neji gripped the few grains of sand tightly, looked up at Hyuga Hizashi, and subconsciously asked, "Is it possible for the Hyuga clan to possess eyes other than the Byakugan?"

Upon hearing this, Hyuga Hizashi paused for a moment, looked at him with confusion, but still explained, "If the bloodline is not pure enough, one may never be able to awaken the Byakugan in their entire life, and will have eyes like an ordinary person."

He paused for a moment, as if remembering something, and added, "Speaking of which, our Hyuga clan actually has a branch of bloodline with the surname 'Little Hyuga,' but their bloodline is so diluted that no one in the clan has awakened the Byakugan." (From Itachi's True Story)

Of course, if any member of the Hyuga clan were to awaken the Byakugan, they would be brought back to the Hyuga clan immediately, have the Caged Bird Seal inscribed on them, and then join the Hyuga branch family.

"So," Hyuga Neji murmured, pursing his dry lips, "was it just a dream?"

Everything reminded him that he had just had a dream, but the figure carrying a severed head and walking out of the fire, along with those beautiful eyes, seemed to be etched into his mind.

He could even recall the star-like radiance in those eyes, and the horror of the final golden beam piercing the sky and striking down.

What happened before that?

Hyuga Neji frowned as he tried to recall, but he couldn't remember anything, though he vaguely felt that it was important.

The dream was so real, so real, that it didn't feel like a dream at all; it made his heart flutter.

If I could also possess that terrifying power, would I also be able to...?

Neji Hyuga didn't say anything more, and Hizashi Hyuga didn't press the matter, resulting in a brief silence.

Clearly, both of them were experiencing complex emotions at that moment.

The former felt a firmness and longing that he himself was unaware of, while the latter kept recalling that brief freedom and craving it. What they had in common was that they both yearned for the figure in their hearts.

However, they did not know that the feelings of the father and son were actually sown by the same person.

--------

[Ding! Your lie has been judged as [bluffing], [deceptive], and [luring the enemy into a trap]. Hyuga Hizashi experienced a strong emotional fluctuation, reaching the level of [obedience]. You have gained 600 truth points.]

[Ding! Your lie [The Death of Hyuga] has been judged as [Falsehood] and [A Dream of Red Mansions]. Hyuga Neji experienced a strong emotional fluctuation, reaching the level of [Delusion]. You have gained 1600 Truth Points.]

[Remaining realization points: 11193]

"Do two achievements earn a thousand more points than three achievements?"

Inside the room, the clone exploded with a "bang" and turned into smoke. The black robe flowed like liquid into the shadow beneath the feet of another figure, gradually revealing Hinata Kumokawa's thoughtful face.

"Sure enough, only truly outrageous lies can earn more points."

After manifesting the "Shadow Robe," Hyuga Kumokawa originally had 10293 points remaining. Removing Hyuga Hizashi's Caged Bird Seal for ten seconds only cost 300 points, but trapping Hyuga Neji in the dream he created cost 1000 points.

However, this time, Hinata Kumokawa did not complain about the system being heartless.

After all, only by truly manifesting a trace of the Tenseigan's power could that scene be firmly imprinted in Hyuga Neji's mind, making it easier for him to continue designing even bigger lies later.

"Anyway, we broke even, so we didn't lose money, we made a killing."

Hinata Kumokawa changed his clothes and sat down at his desk, taking out his "diary" from the drawer.

While writing unrelated "diary" entries, he pondered whether there were any oversights in his actions and what he should do with the points he had accumulated.

His current strength is still not strong enough. Don't be fooled by Hyuga Hizashi's servility in front of Hyuga Hiashi. In fact, his strength is among the top in the clan, and his combat experience far exceeds that of Hyuga Hiashi, the head of the main clan.

Perhaps only a madman like him would dare to appear openly in front of Hyuga Hizashi, not only putting Hyuga Hizashi under immense pressure to the point of almost exploding, but also daring to threaten and fool him.

If he hadn't deliberately chosen Hyuga Hizashi's residence as the location, if he hadn't deliberately projected a calm yet powerful aura...

If he hadn't deliberately created an extremely oppressive atmosphere, if he hadn't deliberately chosen to appear on a lonely night.

If he hadn't exploited Hizashi's apprehension towards Neji, if he hadn't known Hizashi so well...

All these design elements are indispensable.

It may seem like the whole process is easy and carefree, but in reality, if there is even the slightest mistake, Hyuga Hizashi will notice it, and then there will be no way to escape.

Even Hinata Kumokawa, in reviewing the situation, couldn't help but marvel at his own audacity, yet at the same time, he felt a deep sense of pleasure from the thrill of it all.

"We need to be more careful in the future and focus on improving our strength first. We can't let this happen again next time."

Hinata Kumokawa nodded, secretly making up his mind.

Yes, I'll definitely do it next time.

[Ding! Your lie has been judged as [self-deception]. Hinata Kumokawa experienced a slight emotional fluctuation, reaching the level of [saying one thing and meaning another], gaining 1 point of truth.]

"...I can't be bothered with a brainless idiot like you."

Upon hearing the system notification in his mind, several black lines appeared on Hyuga Kumokawa's forehead as he silently recited, "Manifestation Ninjutsu - Lightning Release Armor."