Chapter 3: Departure

Hizashi did not stay long. He had come in secret, keeping it hidden from his father, and wanted nothing more than to avoid drawing the notice of anyone else, especially the members of the main house.

He had arrived soundlessly, and he left without leaving a trace.

Shingo's ordeal acted like a heavy blow, snapping Hizashi out of his ignorance regarding the true cruelty of the Hyūga branch house's destiny.

For the first time, Hizashi saw with terrifying clarity the impassable chasm stretching between the main house and the branch house.

Yet deep within his heart, a shred of desperate luck still clung on.

His eldest brother Hiashi had grown up alongside him, treating him with fraternal warmth and never showing a hint of condescension over his branch house status.

That was Hizashi's lived experience after more than a decade of sharing food and roof together, something that could never be faked through acting.

Because of this, Hizashi felt that perhaps... maybe... he was still different from the other branch house members. Surely the day would never truly come when he was forced to sacrifice everything for the main house. 

The cold wind whipped across his cheeks, but the tangled thoughts churning in Hizashi's mind felt like a burning fever that refused to dissipate no matter what.

He could only clutch desperately at that scrap of brotherhood for comfort, trying to keep his future from looking quite so bleak.

After Hizashi left, Shingo's dwelling returned to absolute isolation. Aside from the maid who deposited meals outside his door at scheduled hours each day, not a single soul approached the small cottage.

Shingo welcomed the peace, pouring all his energy into honing his Mind's Eye.

Peaceful days always slipped away quickly. Amidst the daily grind of training, Shingo's Mind's Eye soon leveled up to Lv.2.

Its perceptual range roughly doubled, stretching out to twenty meters.

Within this radius, the outlines of objects, spatial orientation, the flow of air, the signature of chakra, and the fluctuations of all things were rendered with crystal clarity in Shingo's perception.

Even beyond twenty meters, or when separated by barriers like walls and packed earth, Shingo could still precisely lock onto a target's position and general shape. He simply missed out on the finer details.

Now that the Mind's Eye had reached Lv.2, a twenty-meter radius in close-quarters combat was effectively indistinguishable from the Byakugan's 360-degree field of view.

Not to mention that compared to the Byakugan, the Mind's Eye possessed even greater insight and perceptual depth.

The only shortcomings left were the lack of telescopic vision and X-ray penetration.

Soon enough, the day arrived for Shingo's bandages to be removed.

As he sat eating a bowl of thoroughly chilled, utterly flavorless morning porridge, Shingo perceived two figures approaching from a distance.

The pair stopped at his threshold without stepping directly inside.

After a brief exchange, the one carrying a medical box stepped forward, rapped lightly on the door, and pushed it open.

The other remained stationed outside, his back to the entrance as he gazed out at the scenery in the distance.

"Hello, I'm here to remove your bandages."

Shingo nodded gently. "Sorry to trouble you."

The physician set down his box, drew out a pair of scissors, squatted down beside Shingo, and said with a calm tone, "Just doing my duty."

Shingo sat straight and still, leaving the procedure entirely to the medical ninja.

Disinfection, untangling the gauze, cleaning away the residual congealed blood and grime.

Finally, a soothing wave of warm chakra radiated from the physician's hands, which were pressed against both sides of Shingo's temples.

A comforting, relaxing warmth rippled through his eye sockets and the surrounding chakra pathways.

As the physician's hands lifted away, Shingo slowly opened his eyes, welcoming back the light.

The sunlight streaming through the window felt piercingly bright, but thanks to the lingering chakra left in his eyes, the discomfort vanished almost instantly.

His Lv.2 Mind's Eye did not become sluggish now that his physical sight had returned.

Instead, it worked in tandem with his eyes, delicate ripples resembling flowing currents of wind constantly weaving through Shingo's field of view.

The middle-aged physician, wearing glasses and carrying an air of refined gentleness, conducted a meticulous examination, paying particular attention to the eye Shingo had gouged out himself, repeatedly asking how it felt.

Only after confirming that Shingo's vision was entirely unimpeded did he let out a quiet sigh of relief.

He glanced nonchalantly toward the direction of the door, where the Hyūga branch family member who had accompanied him was stationed.

That branch family guard still had his back turned to the cabin, head tilted up to the sky, apparently paying no attention to what was happening inside.

Taking advantage of this, the physician lowered his voice and spoke to Shingo:

"If you experience any discomfort with your eyes in the future, come find me at the Konoha Hospital. I'll inform the front desk receptionists ahead of time, just ask for Dr. Mitarashi Sōsuke. If anything else is bothering you, you can come see me for that too."

Ever since the eye-transplantation surgery that day, Mitarashi Sōsuke hadn't managed a single night of sound sleep.

At the time, he had no idea why a Hyūga clansman had come looking for him at the hospital.

Sōsuke naturally tried to ask questions, but the Hyūga representative who came was evasive, his attitude stiff and guarded.

Eventually, seeing that Sōsuke was reluctant to accompany them to the Hyūga estate, the man simply stated coldly that the matter had already been reported to the Hokage, telling Sōsuke he had no need to pry further.

With things put that way, there was no room left to push back.

With no other choice, Mitarashi Sōsuke had to summon his assistant and follow the Hyūga clansman straight into the Hyūga compound.

It wasn't until he and his assistant were led into the Second Elder's quarters that he discovered they wanted him to gouge out the Byakugan of a mere six-year-old child.

As a healer, it violated his professional ethics; as a citizen of Konoha, he felt it ran completely counter to the Will of Fire.

Yet he was standing deep inside the Hyūga compound, with several heavily armed Hyūga guards standing watch outside. The threat of warning was glaringly obvious.

The Second Elder of the Hyūga had even told him that this was an internal clan affair, one that the Hokage was fully aware of, and if Mitarashi Sōsuke refused, they wouldn't stop; they would simply find another physician.

He had effectively been coerced into performing the operation.

Though Sōsuke wanted no part of it, his medical skills ranked among the very best in Konoha, and he had the confidence to ensure Shingo suffered no lingering physical sequelae.

If the surgery had to be done, having him handle it was at least better than letting the Hyūga clan find some incompetent quack.

Seeing Shingo again now, Mitarashi Sōsuke's heart was heavy with guilt and pity.

Hearing the name "Mitarashi Sōsuke," Shingo tilted his head slightly to observe the man more closely. A mere glance that day hadn't given him a proper chance to take in the physician's appearance.

His features were quite handsome, but a few strands of silver mixed into his purple hair and the fine lines at the corners of his eyes betrayed his age. He was in his mid-to-late forties.

His warm brown eyes paired with a tailored light-gray tunic with clean, sharp lines; the cuffs and length were cut to absolute perfection, looking impeccably neat and refined. The fabric itself was clearly no ordinary cloth, possessing a fine, crisp drape.

Mitarashi...

With a surname like that, he was likely an elder relative of Mitarashi Anko, the girl who would eventually grow to be a chubby sweet-lover in Boruto.

Shingo nodded solemnly, accepting Mitarashi Sōsuke's goodwill.

"Thank you, Dr. Sōsuke."

Looking at the poised, dignified boy before him, Sōsuke felt a profound wave of emotion.

He gently patted Shingo's shoulder, offering a reassuring, encouraging look before packing up his kit, pushing the door open, and stepping out of the cottage.

Shingo's gaze followed the wide-open doorway, landing on the Hyūga branch family member standing guard outside with his back turned.

Hyūga Shizuma, the exact same age as Shingo's eldest brother Takanobu, a childhood playmate of Takanobu, and his most obsequious lapdog.

His family line had a tradition of service.

Shizuma's father was a trusted confidant of Masamitsu, and his grandfather was one of Moritsuna's most capable enforcers.

Three generations of unyielding loyalty made their household much more than mere branch family members; they were domestic slaves whose entire family destiny was staked on the Second Elder's lineage.

By all rights, given Shizuma's status, he ought to have accompanied Takanobu as a bodyguard on that fateful mission.

Unfortunately, his strength fell short, and he hadn't made the cut. He had spent his days fretting over it, never imagining that his inadequacy would end up saving his life.

Unlike the security guards who either died covering Takanobu's retreat or dragged themselves back to Konoha only to be brutally punished under the pretext of failing to protect the main house, left wishing for death.

After exchanging a few terse words with Mitarashi Sōsuke, the physician turned and left the Hyūga compound without a single backward glance, eager to escape a place that suffocated him to his core.

As soon as Sōsuke's figure vanished at the end of the alleyway, Shizuma turned back around, his tone dripping with impatience and arrogance as he barked:

"Shingo, get out here. I've got something to tell you."

Shizuma made no move to step inside the cottage, acting as though Shingo's room were some kind of foul-smelling latrine.

Shingo stepped briskly out the door, standing right before Shizuma, locking his gaze onto eyes that initially tried to meet his before sliding away in aversion.

Under Shingo's Mind's Eye, all of Shizuma's complex emotions were stripped of any disguise, laid bare before him.

Contempt, disdain, schadenfreude...

And a shred of fear, buried deep down yet impossible to conceal.

Shingo sighed inwardly. Of course, as long as they're branch family members, how could they not overthink things when they see someone like me end up like this?

Expelling him from the Hyūga was probably driven in large part by the fear of keeping such a living reminder around to constantly trigger memories of what had happened.

Shizuma's hands clenched tightly into fists, as though that could inject a bit of warmth into his body out here in the biting wind.

"The clan head and the elders have made their decision."

"Now that your wounds are healed, pack up and get out of the compound."

With that, Shizuma reached into his robe, fished out a key, and tossed it toward Shingo.

"That place at 12 Kitaki Street will be your home from now on. Remember to be grateful for the clan's charity."

Shingo caught the key, his fingers rubbing against the mottled rust spotting the metal.

Having lived in Konoha for all these years, Shingo knew the village's layout by heart.

The Hyūga compound sat in the southwestern corner, tucked away near the village border; isolated, enclosed, with no other clans nearby and zero civilian residents in the vicinity.

Kitaki Street, on the other hand, was located directly to the east of the Hokage Rock, likewise near the outer edge of Konoha.

That neighborhood hadn't been established for very long; most of the people living there were civilians who had drifted into Konoha following the First Ninja World War.

To travel from the Hyūga compound to Kitaki Street meant practically cutting straight across the entire breadth of Konoha.

Shingo saw right through it: they wanted him as far away as possible, safely out of sight of any Hyūga clansmen, so he could quietly fade from their memories.

"Right, I understand. I will never forget the great benevolence of the main house," Shingo answered, casually tossing the key into his pocket and nodding.

Watching Shingo's chillingly indifferent expression, Shizuma felt an inexplicable prickle of unease.

"Since you've lost your Byakugan and are moving out of the compound, it's no longer appropriate for you to keep the Hyūga surname."

"The Second Elder said, you have half a day to pack your things. When I come back here tonight, I hope I don't see you around anymore."

"And I hope I never have to hear anyone in the village linking you to the Hyūga name again."

With his message delivered, Shizuma frowned, turned on his heel, and strode off in a hurry, unwilling to waste another second in that place.

Shingo felt no lingering attachment to the Hyūga anyway.

After Shizuma left, Shingo stepped back inside to pack, only to find there was virtually nothing worth taking.

Aside from the funds provided by Hizashi and his brother, Shingo grabbed only a few spare changes of clothes that bore no Hyūga clan crest, and turned his back on the compound for the last time.

Stepping out past the gates of the Hyūga domain, a biting gust of wind slipped down the collar of his coat, yet a sudden sense of liberation washed over Shingo's heart.

Standing on the empty street to glance back one last time at the towering gates of the Hyūga, Shingo could almost visualize the living souls locked away inside that cage.

Pulling his coat tighter around himself, Shingo turned around, saying a final farewell to his prison.