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

Although the war with Kumogakure had come to an end, Hiruzen Sarutobi's intuition told him that it was not over yet.

If it's truly over, then let it be a tribute to the fallen heroes. But if there are still those who harbor ill intentions...

"..."

After a long silence, Hyuga Kumokawa seemed to realize Hiruzen Sarutobi's expectation and nodded very slightly, almost imperceptibly.

“Yes,” he said.

There were no grand promises, just a simple gesture and answer, yet it seemed to carry immense weight.

"Good good."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's wrinkles softened a little. He didn't say anything more encouraging, but simply reached out his wrinkled and calloused hand and gently placed it on Hiruzen's left shoulder.

"Then I won't bother you here any longer. Get some rest and recharge your energy. I'll send my secret service to pick you up tomorrow."

With that, he smiled, withdrew his hand, turned and left, his figure disappearing into the light and shadow of the corridor.

The faint smell of licorice smoke lingered for a long time, and in the now quiet ward, Hinata Kumokawa remained in that position.

The bright sunlight shone on his face, half of it radiating hope, while the other half was shrouded in deeper shadows.

Will he give a speech in front of the memorial monument in Konoha, in front of all the Konoha ninja?

Hinata Kumokawa looked at the "Greed" sword leaning against the corner of the wall, his thoughts swirling as he gazed at the tightly closed pupil on the hilt.

This is truly an unexpected delight.

------

The sunset over Konoha, like cooled embers, cast a deep shadow over the Hyuga clan's main residence.

The kidnapping of the Hyuga main family by the Hidden Cloud Village, which once shocked Konoha, has been gradually buried by the continuous friction and conflict.

As dusk fell, twilight descended.

The wind chimes under the eaves occasionally chime crisply in the evening breeze, but they cannot dispel the lingering desolation of the deep courtyard.

In the shadows of the porch, Hyuga Hizashi gazed at the distant Konoha Hospital, his forehead still wrapped in a clean white bandage.

To others, it was to cover up the scars inflicted by the Cloud Village ninjas. No one knew that it was actually to cover up the ugly Caged Bird Seal.

It has been a long time since the "death of Hizashi".

Hijiri, who replaced his older brother, has become increasingly skilled at acting, and now he can even convincingly portray the character.

However, it wasn't entirely unnoticed...

"Father, it's getting cold." A timid, soft voice came from behind.

Upon hearing the sound, Hyuga Hizashi did not turn around, but the fingers of his left hand, which was behind his back, curled up very slightly.

Hinata Hyuga carefully approached him from behind, holding a cup of hot tea in both hands, and slightly raised her head to look at the figure in front of her.

She remembered the time after Neji's brother's father died. His aura was so cold that it almost froze her. Communication was limited to cold commands and cold, indifferent scrutiny.

But, I don't know when it started...

She sensed a barely perceptible crack appearing in her father's cold exterior.

Those Byakugan eyes, which used to only show "rules" and "righteousness," now seemed to hold a complexity that Hinata Hyuga couldn't yet comprehend.

They even discovered that she usually didn't eat enough, something Hinata would never have dared to imagine before.

Like right now.

Hinata Hyuga held her breath, as if she had waited for a year, and the figure in front of her finally turned half a body to the side.

The dim light outlined his hard face. His gaze lingered for a moment on the cup of tea in her hand, and he spoke in a tone less icy than before:

"Put it there."

His voice remained low and indifferent, but Hinata's heart skipped a beat as she felt a touch of warmth.

That warmth was so faint, like a fleeting touch of warmth across the surface of ice, quickly returning to its cold hardness, yet it made Hinata almost unable to suppress the small joy that rose on her face.

"Yes, Father."

She lowered her head, her voice barely audible, yet one could detect a hint of barely concealed joy.

She carefully stepped forward and placed the teacup on the low table. Instead of immediately backing away, she mustered the greatest courage of her life and quickly looked up.

But when Hinata met those Byakugan eyes, which remained as deep and cold as a pool, seemingly unmoved by her presence, her small joy was instantly dampened.

She hurriedly lowered her head again, hiding her dimmed eyes, and whispered, "Father, I...I'm going to review my lessons."

Then, as if fleeing, he jogged away from the corridor, his light footsteps quickly fading from Hyuga Hizashi's ears.

"..."

As Hyuga Hizashi turned his head slightly to watch Hinata's disappearing figure, he could better understand just how stubborn his older brother was.

I used to think Hinata was weak by nature, but now it seems that most of it was caused by her father.

Thinking of this, Hyuga Hizashi sighed, closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, there was only a light colder than iron in his eyes, which tightly sealed off all his surging emotions.

He turned and left, his footsteps echoing in the empty corridor as he walked back to his room.

Reaching the seemingly ordinary storage room door, he quickly formed several hidden hand seals, and the unknown seal was silently broken.

boom.

The wooden door opened inwards, revealing a cold, damp staircase leading underground, from which a pungent musty smell and the unique dampness of the underground instantly rushed out.

Without hesitation, Rizashi stepped down the stairs. The wooden door behind him quietly closed, and the seal was activated again, isolating any potential spying.

In the dimly lit secret room, only a few candles were lit in the grooves in the walls, casting a dim, yellowish light that cast ghostly, swaying shadows on the walls.

Click! Click!

As Hyuga Hizashi ventured deeper into the area, the sound of chains gradually became clearer.

Finally, he entered the secret room and saw the figure inside.

It was a figure whose limbs were firmly bound by four thick chains, and needles were inserted into all 108 meridians and acupoints on its body.

Seemingly having heard Hyuga Hizashi's footsteps, the disheveled figure finally raised his head.

That face, identical to Hyuga's, was without a doubt the real Hyuga Hiashi.

Chapter 114 We are only connected by hatred

Compared to the once glorious head of the Zong family.

At this moment, Hiashi Hyuga looked extremely disheveled, his face was deathly pale from being in darkness for so long, and his white eyes were filled with fine blood vessels.

Time seemed to stand still in the darkness.

He had no idea how much time had passed in the outside world.

One day? One week? One month? Or one year?

Having been imprisoned in darkness for so long, he had completely lost his ability to perceive the passage of time.

However, he was not thin, nor was his face gaunt, indicating that he was well fed and clothed.

It can be said that Hyuga Hizashi had already shown his brother the highest level of respect, while ensuring that Hyuga could not escape.

However, the high-ranking head of the Hyuga clan's main family, having been framed and replaced by his own younger brother from the branch family, is clearly in a very poor mental state.

"Brother, it's been a long time."

Hyuga Hizashi greeted him calmly.

Hiashi Hyuga didn't speak, but stared intently at him, his voice hoarse as he asked, "What... exactly do you want to do..."

Even though he is blind now, he can still express extremely deep hatred.

“That’s not up to me,” Hizashi replied calmly. “I think you know how terrifying that man is. I can only do what he tells me to do.”

Click! Crack!

Upon hearing this, Hiashi Hyuga's expression turned ferocious, and he began to struggle violently, the chains rattling as he moved.

"Hyuga Hizashi!"

Hiashi's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as he struggled and roared like a madman, "You know perfectly well that guy has ill intentions! Do you want to destroy the Hyuga clan?!"

How could he not know how terrifying that guy was?

It is precisely because we know that we feel fear!

Since he was switched at birth and manipulated into entering the secret room, he has only learned about the outside world from Hizashi.

He didn't know what the relationship was between that monster who single-handedly killed Magnet Release ninja Troy and hundreds of Cloud Village ninjas and that guy.

All he knew was that the guy who seduced Hizashi into betraying, deceiving, and replacing him, his brother, was a complete and utter devil!

"The current division of the family is a good thing."

Hyuga Hizashi said calmly, "Neji has emerged from the shadows and is working even harder. I even let him peek at the unsealing of the library. Without the constraints of the main family, he will only go further."

"As for Yun Chuan, having broken free from the constraints and burdens of the Hyuga clan, he has become a 'hero' of Konoha, making significant contributions on the battlefield against Kumogakure."

"On the other hand, the main family you value is still stubborn and self-willed, rotten to the core."

"So stop wasting your energy, neither you nor I can change anything."

Hyuga Hizashi placed the thermos full of food on the table, and while opening it to take out the food, he calmly said:

“You chose to be the head of the main family, and I simply made my own choice, which is to be Neji’s father.”

"Whether the final outcome is good or bad, at least this choice was made by myself."

As he spoke, he held the food to Hiashi Hyuga's mouth, but Hiashi only opened his dim white eyes, seemingly staring intently at Hizashi in front of him.

The next moment, he completely lost the demeanor of the head of the Zong family.

"Pooh!"

"..."

His chest was splattered with stains, but he didn't react or even wipe them off. He just watched his brother's ugly state with indifference.

Uncontrollably, feelings of hatred, pity, pain, and... twisted pleasure arose within him.

"Ugh...cough cough! Cough!"

Hyuga Hizashi expressionlessly stuffed food into Hiashi's mouth, his deep voice echoing hollowly in the underground chamber: "Can you feel it?"

"Think about how coldly you treated me when you controlled me with the curse mark."

"Think about how you made that decision, pushing me out to take the blame for your mistakes."

"The pain of being 'out of control' and the despair of 'helplessness'."

Hyuga Hizashi's voice was calm and even, yet every word was like a knife cutting into Hiashi's nerves, his cold words spitting out on Hiashi's face: "Can you empathize now?"

Having said that, he straightened up and looked down at Hyuga Hiashi, who was like a lump of mud.

There was no victor's expression on that face, only a bottomless weariness and a heavy sorrow that seemed to drown him as well.

"You must live, you absolutely must live." Hyuga Hizashi's voice suddenly turned icy. "You are the head of the main family, and I am Neji's father."

"If we cannot be family, then we can only be connected by hatred."

"Therefore, I want you to live and see what the future of the Hyuga clan will be like."

After saying that, Hyuga Hizashi did not wait for Hiashi's response any longer, but simply fed Hiashi again, his actions revealing an almost eerie care.

After doing all this, Hyuga Hizashi didn't look at Hiashi again, turned around and walked out of the tomb-like secret room.

He never took any steps to prevent Hiashi from committing suicide.

Because Hyuga Hizashi knew very well that this guy simply didn't have the courage to face death.

boom……

The door to the secret room closed, and the darkness once again swallowed Hiashi's dejected face, leaving only a few dim candlelight flickering and casting distorted shadows on the walls, like a silent mockery.

Only the chains binding him, trembling with his body, continued to make a faint yet suffocating clattering sound, echoing repeatedly in the deathly silence of the underground.

Meanwhile, in Hyuga Hizashi's eyes, Hyuga Neji, who stole the library seal to learn ninjutsu, was actually searching for a book he had never seen before.

Inside the huge but low stone chamber, bookshelves reaching the ceiling were densely packed together, the smell of decaying books mixed with the smell of dust.