Konoha Year 51, heavy snow.
As the morning light just pierced through the clouds, the sprawling ancient estate of the Hyuga Main Family was still immersed in a deathly silent shade of blue-gray.
"Hiss..."
A heavily suppressed cry of pain came from a bedroom deep within the side courtyard.
Five-year-old Hyuga Nozomi suddenly woke up from a nightmare.
He didn't cry or fuss like an ordinary child, but instead immediately reached out his trembling small hand to frantically feel around under the expensive silk pillow.
His fingertips touched a cold metallic sensation.
It was his sunglasses.
With almost a snatching speed, he placed those specially-made round-framed sunglasses onto the bridge of his nose.
As the special lenses filtered out 90% of the light and Chakra radiation in the air, Hyuga Nozomi's violently heaving chest gradually calmed down.
Sweat had long since soaked his pajamas, sticking clammily to his back, which was very uncomfortable.
"It's like this again..."
Hyuga Nozomi leaned against the headboard, gasping for air, his delicate but pale little face full of exhaustion.
In this world of ninjas, people all yearned to possess a pair of special eyes.
Sharingan, Byakugan, Rinnegan... these Bloodline Limit were all symbols of power.
But for Hyuga Nozomi, these "Six Eyes" that had accompanied his transmigration were a torture that had lasted for five years.
They couldn't be turned off.
From the moment of his birth, these eyes, gleaming with a pale blue luster, had been passively and forcibly receiving all the information from his surroundings.
The Brownian motion trajectories of dust in the air, the molecular vibrations of the snow melting outside the window, the faint heartbeat of the maid in the next room, even every pulse of Chakra within the patrolling ninjas hundreds of meters away... a massive amount of information was like a never-ending rainstorm, ignoring his will and frantically washing over his still-tender cerebral cortex.
If the Great Elder hadn't found the best craftsmen to forge these sunglasses that could block Chakra vision, and if he didn't eat high-sugar snacks like meals every day to supply his brain's consumption, he would have likely died young from brain death long ago.
"Young Master?"
A maid's cautious voice came from outside the door, "The Great Elder is here."
Hyuga Nozomi took a deep breath, grabbed the jar of Konpeitō on the nightstand, poured out a handful of colorful sugar grains, and stuffed them all into his mouth.
The cloyingly sweet taste exploded in his mouth, and the glucose quickly rushed through his blood to his brain, relieving that needle-like stinging pain.
"Please let Grandfather in."
Hyuga Nozomi adjusted his sitting posture to make himself look less disheveled.
The paper door was pulled open.
A cold wind mixed with the scent of wind and snow poured in, followed by the sound of a heavy ebony cane thumping on the floor.
Hyuga Sozetsu.
The Great Elder of the Hyuga Clan, and one of the most conservative power-holders in this rigid family.
The old man wore a solemn black Montsuki Haori, his silver hair combed meticulously, and when those cloudy but majestic Byakugan fell upon Hyuga Nozomi, they rarely showed a hint of warmth.
"Headache again?"
The Great Elder walked to the bedside, looking at his grandson's pale little face, his brow slightly furrowed.
"An old problem, I'll be fine after some sugar."
Hyuga Nozomi crunched the sugar in his mouth, making a crisp snapping sound, his voice soft and waxy, carrying the unique childishness of a five-year-old, "Grandfather, why are you here so early? Is something the matter?"
The Great Elder was silent for a moment, seemingly hesitating on how to speak.
He reached out a withered hand and gently stroked the top of Hyuga Nozomi's head.
"Nozomi, today is the day of that child Neji's... branding."
Hyuga Nozomi's movement of chewing the candy paused for a split second.
Branding.
That is, the implantation ceremony for the "Caged Bird Curse Seal."
It was the eternal nightmare of the Hyuga Branch Family, a shackle that locked away the Byakugan's blind spot and simultaneously locked away the lives of the branch family members.
"Neji is only four years old," Hyuga Nozomi said softly, "He's still so small."
"This is the rule."
The Great Elder's voice became stiff again, "The branch family exists to protect the main family. If the curse seal is not branded, the secrets of the Byakugan will leak out. Nozomi, you must remember, this cruelty is for the continuation of the clan."
Speaking to this point, the old man's gaze became fervent as he stared intently at the sunglasses on Hyuga Nozomi's face.
"But you are different."
"Your eyes show signs of atavism, containing possibilities that surpass the Byakugan. For the sake of these eyes, I have withstood all the pressure within the clan and promised that you do not have to be branded with the Caged Bird before you reach adulthood at twelve."
This was Hyuga Nozomi's only privilege in this suffocating family,
But this privilege came at a price.
"If you cannot prove the value of these eyes..." The Great Elder didn't finish his sentence, but the meaning was already clear.
If he was a waste, then sooner or later, that curse seal which restricted freedom would also climb onto his forehead.
Hyuga Nozomi didn't speak.
Behind the sunglasses, those pale blue pupils shifted slightly.
[Six Eyes]
His vision penetrated the old man's body.
He saw the life-fire within the Great Elder that was like a flickering candle in the wind, saw the mass of black congested old injury at the other's right knee, and also saw the tightened blood vessels at the old man's heart due to years of overwork.
This old man might be very cruel to the branch family, being a maintainer of the system.
But his care for Hyuga Nozomi was a genuine, all-or-nothing gamble.
"Grandfather."
Hyuga Nozomi suddenly reached out his small hand from under the covers and gently pressed it against the old man's knee.
"On snowy days, your leg must be hurting again, right?"
The Great Elder was stunned for a moment.
Before he could react, an extremely faint but incredibly pure Chakra seeped into his knee through that warm little hand.
That wasn't an ordinary medical Ninjutsu.
It was Hyuga Nozomi using the extreme micro-manipulation of Chakra from the Six Eyes to gradually clear those congested meridians.
[Reverse Cursed Technique (Prototype)]
A warm current surged.
The piercing pain that had tortured the old man for over a decade actually miraculously eased at this moment.
"This..." The Great Elder's eyes widened, looking at his grandson in disbelief.
"I can see that it's blocked there."
Hyuga Nozomi withdrew his hand. Because he had consumed Chakra, his little face became a few shades paler, but he looked up and gave a sweet smile.
"Grandfather protects Nozomi, so Nozomi must protect Grandfather too."
The Great Elder's lips trembled.
After a long time, he sighed deeply and pulled the thin Hyuga Nozomi into his arms.
"Good boy... truly a good boy!"
The old man's voice was somewhat choked up.
"Nozomi, you must grow up quickly and become strong enough. Even if I have to risk this old life of mine, I won't let anyone touch a single hair on your head."
Hyuga Nozomi leaned in the old man's embrace, smelling the old scent of sandalwood.
Under the sunglasses, his gaze was exceptionally calm.
That kind of calmness didn't look like a five-year-old child at all, but more like a bystander who had seen through the world.
"I will grow up, Grandfather."
As a modern person, he hated that feeling of losing freedom.
Umarete shimatta unmei nageku na.
(Do not lament the fate of being born into this world)
Bokura wa minna jiyū nanda kara.
(Because we are all free)
These were the lyrics of a song he liked very much in his previous life.
"And, I will grow taller than any of you can imagine, tall enough to crush that damn cage with one foot."
He said silently in his heart... Half an hour later.
Outside a quiet room deep within the Hyuga Main Family.
The cold wind howled, swirling the snow on the ground.
Hyuga Nozomi was wrapped in a thick black haori, a scarf around his neck, sitting on the corridor like a delicate porcelain doll.
And from behind that tightly closed sliding door, a series of hair-raising screams were coming out.
"Aaaah—!! Father!! It hurts!!"
That was Neji's voice.
Childish, desperate, and filled with fear of this world.
Hyuga Nozomi held a cup of hot drink in his hands, but he didn't take a single sip.
He listened quietly.
Through the perception of the [Six Eyes], he could clearly see the scene inside the room.
Several expressionless main family elders were holding down the struggling Neji, while a stream of dark green Chakra followed the practitioner's fingers, forcibly drilling into the four-year-old's brain, tying an irreversible knot at his optic nerve endings.
The structure of that technique was ugly, crude, and full of trampling on life.
Hyuga Nozomi's hand holding the cup tightened slightly.
In this family, bloodline was everything.
Just because he was born a few minutes late, just because he was from the branch family, he had to endure such a fate.
"Young Master, it's cold outside, let's go back inside."
The maid behind him advised in a low voice.
"No."
Hyuga Nozomi shook his head, his voice light but carrying an unquestionable firmness.
"I am his older brother; I have to stay with him."
Finally.
The screams inside the room stopped.
The door was pulled open, and a wave of heat mixed with the smell of blood poured out.
Hyuga Hiashi walked out with a heavy expression, followed by a despondent Hyuga Hizashi.
Hizashi was holding the already unconscious Neji in his arms.
That brand-new green bandage wrapped around Neji's smooth forehead was particularly eyesore.
Hyuga Nozomi jumped off the corridor and walked over with his short legs.
Seeing this favored main family young master, Hyuga Hizashi subconsciously tightened his hold on his son, a flash of irrepressible resentment crossing his eyes.
Why?
Both are children, why is your forehead smooth while my son has to be a slave for a lifetime?
This resentment was so heavy that Hyuga Nozomi didn't even need to specially perceive it to feel his skin being stung by it.
"Uncle Hizashi."
Hyuga Nozomi looked up at this man who was filled with tragedy in the original story.
He reached out his small hand, pulled a beautifully wrapped chocolate ball from his sleeve, and pressed it into Neji's cold palm.
"I couldn't bear to eat this myself; I'm giving it to Brother Neji."
Hyuga Hizashi was stunned.
He looked at the child with pure eyes (though wearing sunglasses), and for a moment, the resentment in his heart couldn't find an outlet.
"Thank you... Young Master "
Hizashi gritted his teeth, his voice raspy.
Hyuga Nozomi didn't care about Hizashi's attitude.
He turned around and looked at the snow falling all over the sky, his small back appearing somewhat thin in the wind and snow.
"Uncle Hizashi, tell Neji not to be afraid."
The childish voice drifted in the wind.
"Although this bandage is ugly, he won't wear it for a lifetime."
"When I grow up and have enough strength... I will help him tear down this cage."
Hyuga Hizashi's whole body shook, and he suddenly looked up, staring at that five-year-old back in disbelief.
He thought he had misheard.
Was this something a main family young master should say?
Tear down the cage?
That meant... overthrowing the main family?
Hyuga Nozomi didn't look back; he just pushed up the sunglasses on his nose and walked step by step toward his own courtyard, treading on the accumulated snow.
His five-year-old body was still very weak.
He stumbled slightly as he walked through the snow.
But those pale blue pupils hidden behind the sunglasses were now burning with a flame colder than the ice and snow.
Caged Bird Curse Seal.
What a ridiculous rule.
Since the heavens allowed him to bring these eyes to this world.
Then, wouldn't it be too boring if he didn't do something rebellious?