Chapter 46: Old Geezer! Raising Hamsters Here?
The next morning.
Konoha was still breezy and sunny, the Uchiha Compound bathed in soft morning light.
Izumi Uchiha awoke with a start from her sleep, fine beads of sweat still on her forehead.
She had stayed in the Illusion World for far too long, causing her to have nightmares all night; each time she woke in fright, she feared she was still in the Illusion World, about to endure the pain of the Night of the Uchiha Clan Downfall again.
This torment had plagued her all night.
While washing up, the girl in the mirror had faint dark circles under her eyes, her tear mole adding even more beauty.
In the living room, there was a prepared bowl of miso soup and rice ball on the table, held down by a note.
【I’m off to work! Izumi, you keep it up too—Love, Mom】
Her fingertips brushed over the note, and a warm current surged in Izumi’s heart, washing away much of last night’s Night of the Uchiha Clan Downfall nightmare.
After breakfast, Izumi put on her ninja headband, checked her gear, and headed out to the team’s meeting point, ready to do a mission with her teammates and guidance teacher.
Inside the Uchiha Compound, it was peaceful and beautiful, with some elderly stay-behinds greeting Izumi kindly.
This peace made Izumi grip her ninja tool pouch tightly.
‘So, what exactly is that mysterious person trying to do?’
After leaving the compound, Izumi couldn’t help thinking of all she had experienced in the “endless cycle of the Night of the Uchiha Clan Downfall.”
As a member of the Uchiha Clan, Izumi naturally knew Illusion Techniques and had undergone training from clan elders on Sharingan usage.
But the Illusion Techniques she learned mainly affected an individual’s senses, like the “Illusion Technique,” which only made one see the most terrifying scenes in their heart.
Yet the mysterious person’s Illusion Technique last night was like a real world.
Izumi “died” multiple times without finding any flaw in the Illusion World, simply convinced she was still in the Illusion World.
The entire Illusion World seemed confined to the Uchiha Compound and the Konoha Military Police Force; once leaving that area, she would be intercepted by masked Konoha ninjas.
Izumi had heard of these masked ninjas—they belonged to the Hokage-sama’s Anbu Ninjas.
But why would Anbu seal off the Uchiha Compound?
“Ohayo, Izumi.” A clear voice interrupted her thoughts.
Izumi looked up and saw Shisui Uchiha, dressed in a black high-collar short-sleeve shirt and black pants, with brown armor on his right shoulder, greeting her gently.
“Good morning, Shisui bro.” When Izumi had just moved back to the compound with her mother, everything was unfamiliar, and she had received help from Shisui.
Shisui’s gentleness was like this to everyone, treating the newly arrived Izumi like a little sister.
“You look like you didn’t sleep well?” Shisui walked with Izumi, noticing her complexion with his observant eyes.
“No… it’s just…” Izumi didn’t know how to say it.
She remembered seeing Clan Head Fugaku and his wife killed by Itachi in the Uchiha Compound during the “Night of the Uchiha Clan Downfall,” and Uncle Yashiro, Uncle Tekka, and others killed by a mysterious masked man at the Konoha Military Police Force.
But thinking carefully, it seemed Shisui was the only one whose shadow she hadn’t seen.
“If you’re too tired, take a proper break.” Shisui thought Izumi, fresh out of the academy as a genin, was just not yet used to the intensity of ninja missions.
Izumi opened her mouth, but in the end, couldn’t say it.
Should she tell Shisui that in the Illusion World, she saw Itachi and a mysterious person massacre the entire Uchiha Clan?
And that Anbu ninjas from Konoha were blockading information outside the compound, hunting down surviving Uchiha clansmen?
“Yeah, I’ll adjust myself!” Izumi tried to respond to Shisui with a smile.
“Don’t push yourself too hard.” Shisui stopped; he had arrived at the Konoha Military Police Force.
After parting, Izumi looked back three steps at a time, watching the Uchiha clansmen coming and going from the Military Police Force building, feeling it all somewhat unreal.
Even after meeting her teammates and carrying out low-level missions under the special jonin team leader—such as weeding, clearing clogged rivers, catching pets for noble ladies—Izumi remained absent-minded.
——————
Hyuga Clan Territory, the morning scene like a fine ink wash painting.
Hinata knelt on a cushion, the lacquered tray before her like a delicate bonsai.
Two neat slices of salmon rested on the edge of a bowl of miso soup, along with a small bowl of rice and a small dish of fruit slices—that was her breakfast.
“I’m full!” Hinata set down her bowl and chopsticks; though about a quarter remained, she had been raised with clan etiquette, everything done by the rules.
“Don’t force yourself.” Hinata’s mother smiled over at her.
Her father, Hiashi Hyuga, was holding his bowl lost in thought, not noticing his daughter’s state.
Hinata was about to say more when another voice sounded in her mind.
‘You never get full, do you.’ Big Sister Hinata took control of the body.
‘Sister… don’t do this…’ In the spirit world, little Hinata feared her sister would do something outrageous again and hurriedly stopped her.
But Big Sister Hinata said gravely: ‘Last time Menma told me you eat a lot, and I never noticed, so… you’ve never been full, have you.’
‘Sister…’
‘It was my oversight; leave the rest to me.’ Big Sister Hinata hadn’t been a big eater in the Limited Tsukuyomi World, and over these three years, mostly spent sleeping, she hadn’t noticed Hinata’s appetite.
Opening her eyes again, Hinata’s entire demeanor had changed; the softness and timidity in her Byakugan were gone, replaced by defiance and confidence.
Hinata’s mother immediately noticed the change in her daughter.
She was well aware of her daughter’s peculiarities, but before she could ask, Hinata shouted coquettishly: “Old man! You raising a hamster here or what!”
Crack—
The bowl in Hiashi’s hand cracked with web-like patterns.
A pair of Byakugan lifted gravely, looking at Hinata.
If it were any other Hyuga Clan member, being stared at by the patriarch like this, they would already be cowering.
But Big Sister Hinata was very dissatisfied with her father: “Bring two more portions… no, five portions’ worth!”
“Such grueling daily training and you still don’t feed me full! Afraid I’ll eat you out of house and home?”
Big Sister Hinata’s sharp tongue stabbed like kunai precisely into Hiashi’s chest.
This little cotton jacket was not only filled with black-hearted stuffing but also drafty.
“Hinata, how do you talk to your father?” Hinata’s mother spoke up.
She first instructed a servant to add more food for Hinata, then slowly rose, came to Hinata’s side, and hugged her daughter gently: “Tell Mom what’s going on.”
To her as a mother, whether little Hinata or the fiery-tempered one, both were her daughters.
It even felt like raising two daughters with completely different personalities—quite interesting.
“Mom…” Big Sister Hinata felt her mother’s warmth and hesitated for a moment.
This world’s mother was very good to her; Hiashi, though always getting sniped at and challenged for his authority, was tolerant of her too.
But in that other world, she also had parents and a family.
She was gradually understanding what Menma kept nagging about in his mouth all day: “This isn’t real.”
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