Chapter 14 C14

Hinata Hyuga's birthday is December 27th.

A month ago, the entire Hyuga clan began preparing for her birthday celebration. From the moment she was born, it was already destined that, regardless of her talent, personality, or abilities, she would be the heir of the Hyuga clan in this generation. As the future head of the clan, no matter how grand the celebration, it was only right—even though she was only three years old.

No, it should be said that it is precisely because she is three years old that this is such a grand occasion.

When the eldest son of the clan turns three, he will be formally introduced to the entire clan to confirm his status as the heir.

For this reason, children of the same generation in the branch family will also be marked with a curse mark. This is a symbol of the future head of the main family exercising power over the branch family for the first time, and it is also a ritual of loyalty offered to the heir.

As the days passed, the old Japanese-style buildings began to be carefully decorated with lanterns and decals. The ancient clan territory welcomed the once-in-decades festival and became lively. Since the beginning of this month, fewer members of the Hyuga clan have gone out on missions—the main family and the Konoha leadership had applied in advance.

Unlike the jubilation of the main family having a successor, as the day drew closer, the enthusiasm on the main family's faces turned into the blazing firewood burning under the family division shrine. The sweltering air gradually expanded in the high-piled steamer, only to be swallowed up by the black hole in their hearts, eventually turning into a deathly ashes.

"Arsonist," Kana shook her head, clicking her tongue. "I heard it's like being sent to the Copper Pillar Hell."

Among Hinata Hyuga's generation, the only branch family members who haven't yet had their curses engraved are Kana, Neji, a one-year-old, and a three-month-old. The older ones had their curses engraved on the day they graduated from the Ninja Academy.

For those younger than Hinata Hyuga, the curse will be placed after they turn three years old, due to health reasons. After all, their years of experience have taught them that if they cannot withstand the erosion of the curse seal, they will die. The mortality rate for children under three years old is too high.

In conclusion, in a few days, only two unlucky souls will be captured and sent as sacrifices to Hinata Hyuga's execution platform.

Because Kana often practices her flute in the clan compound out of boredom, most people don't like her. However, due to her pitiful background, they choose to ignore her, choosing to avoid seeing her altogether. But recently, their attitude towards this invisible person has become unsettlingly kind. A walk around the streets of the branch family area will leave her with a handful of delicious food, nice clothes, and useful items. Even the arrogant main family members have become more tolerant of her flute playing.

After learning her lesson once, Kana always took a detour.

Of course, compared to her withdrawn and eccentric personality, the innocent and naive Neji is definitely more endearing. His branch family members would all kneel down and pat his head when they saw him; the men would hold him and play with him high in the air; the women would cook all his favorite foods for him—everyone doted on him.

—Everyone was deceiving him.

Neji, now four years old, is still a silly puppy. He came to her with a big box of plum crackers, wanting to share, and scratched the back of his head shyly, chuckling as he said that everyone seems to be doing well lately.

"It's almost New Year's, everyone should be happy," Kana said casually, glancing at the scroll.

Neji sidled up to her, but was stopped by Kana's eyes just before they touched. "But sister, Mom and Dad have been very unhappy lately."

He frowned like a little adult, "Every night, my mother cries secretly."

“Dad stopped doing his tasks and got into a fight with the uncles and elders who came to our house. He got really angry and even chased them away.”

If there were a course on "comforting people" in university, Kana would most likely fail, but if there were a course on "deceiving people," she would be very confident.

"That's an adult's problem. You're a child, so don't worry about it."

"But......"

“Little one,” Kana interrupted him, “I told you not to call me ‘older sister’.”

"Oh, I understand." The obedient girl lowered her head, but her eyes were still darting around.

A typical "I was wrong, but I'll do it again next time" attitude.

Seeing Kana put away the scroll, Neji asked, "Sister..."

"Hmm?" Kana raised an eyebrow.

"...Kana-neechan, are you going out again?" The little kid even emphasized the word "again," having learned to stress things out.

"ah."

Recently, Yuko and the others have been completely indulgent towards her, letting her do whatever she wants. In the past, they would nag her if she came home too late, but now they don't even say a slightly harsh word to her.

The Hyuga clan's territory is truly unbearable to live in now. On one side, there's joy and celebration, while on the other, there's a deathly stillness, as if the whole world has been torn in two. Anyone with a weaker mentality would suffer from schizophrenia.

"Remember to close the door when you go out, and be careful on your way home." Kana disappeared in front of him in an instant as soon as she finished speaking.

No matter how many times he watched it, Neji always thought it was amazing.

The last time he went to the main family compound with his father, when he heard those people say "Kana has no value for training", he almost jumped up to refute them if his father hadn't stopped him in time. His sister is so powerful. She has been able to use the clone technique and the body-flicker technique for a long time. She can also heal the wound on his knee. There are also many scrolls in her house that he can't understand. But his sister made an agreement with him that this is a secret between them and that no one else can know it, not even his parents.

His older sister hates people who don't keep their promises, and he doesn't want to be disliked by her.

Of course, Neji wasn't always fearless. He was hurt by her cold words and went to his mother to cry.

Mom said that his older sister was always unhappy because all the things she liked had been taken away from her; Mom said that his older sister must have liked him, because when he was in danger in Mom's womb, it was his four-year-old sister who ran out to find help; Mom also said that even before he was born, he would call out to his older sister in his dreams.

So he made a promise with his mother that he would share all the things he liked with his sister so that she would also have things she liked. One day, he would let his sister live with them, and then he would call her "sister" every single day, a hundred times!

Kana, who had been arranged without her consent, sneezed as she walked down the street.

Perhaps it was because of the recent events involving the family split that Kana became more sensitive, but she felt that some adults in the village were looking at her strangely. In order to avoid being touched on the head by random people, Kana had no choice but to bother her partner.

However, his partner now has his own teammates—they are from the same genin class, and they regularly train in teamwork to carry out missions smoothly.

Kana watched from a distance for a while.

Friends are more important than partners, a choice even a fool would make, especially since Uchiha Itachi was a genius. So Kana changed her destination.

Shisui's reputation grew louder and louder, and he became increasingly busy. The chances of seeing him were not as high as the probability of bumping into Kakashi, the ANBU member, on the street. Kana sat by the lake, her breath turning into a mist of white smoke. She extended her index finger, and the mist would sometimes form a horse, and sometimes transform into a bird, depending on her movement.

The frozen lake is always very quiet in winter.

Many animals wisely choose to hibernate; swallows choose to build their nests under the warm eaves of human dwellings; and a thin layer of ice on the lake completely isolates the churning water from the underwater turbulence.

Later, a group of children walked noisily along the path on the slope, then were called by a voice from afar, said goodbye to each other, and went home for dinner.

Without television, without Wi-Fi, without Shelley, without Nietzsche, without cases, this world has nothing.

Someone once said that if you can find enjoyment in wasting time, then it's not a waste of time.

But what if there's no fun at all?

Kana stood up, stomped her feet which were a little numb from the cold, and decided to make taro and braised pork belly for dinner tonight.

While waiting for the owner to slice her meat at the stall, as he sharpened his knife, Kana suddenly realized—ah, so the way they looked at us was like looking at pigs about to be put on the slaughterhouse. Before we were turned into food for people, they would feed us a little more, making us whiter and fatter, and easier to cut.

Neji is clearly a puppy.

Not a piglet.

Her partner got angry because she teased Sasuke like a puppy, but at least cats and dogs are furry. Turning a dog into a pig—these people are worse than pigs and dogs!

Kana said to the system, "I'm afraid I'll forget, so please write this down for me."

System: "Go ahead, mission taker." Although it felt the mission taker wouldn't forget, there must be a reason for anything forgotten.

"They—beep—beep—"

The system was shocked: "Are you serious?"

Kana gave her a "Why are you making such a fuss?" look: "Isn't this just how it should be?"

"Or do you think I should—beep—"

"The former." This last sentence reminded the system of the fear of being dominated by Number 87, and it stated firmly, "It perfectly aligns with the core socialist values. I support you."