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moshi moshi
Hinata frowned slightly, struggling to find words. "I don't know... it just feels like... you're wearing something. Like..." She touched her chest uncertainly. "Like a... like a heavy jacket."
Neji's heart skipped a beat.
It wasn't her mind that had sensed it.It was her instinct—something raw and primal within her, a sensitivity that even his True Eyes had failed to fully quantify.
Still, he couldn't admit anything. Not yet.
"You're imagining it, Hinata-sama," he said lightly. "I'm just me. Neji."He smiled again, perfectly crafted.
Hinata didn't look convinced, but she let it go with a small nod.
"Come," Neji said, his voice taking on a playful lilt. "Let's spar."
Hinata's eyes widened. "Spar?"
He nodded. "Nothing serious. Just a little match."
After a hesitant pause, Hinata bowed. "Yes!"
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The two squared off in the small clearing, leaves rustling around them.
Neji took his stance carefully—not the rigid, efficient posture he used during official training, but a looser, more fluid one.He had no intention of overwhelming Hinata. Instead, he planned to guide her, wordlessly, with the tempo of their spar.
As the match began, Neji whispered, voice low and only audible to Hinata:
"I wear a mask, Hinata-sama... one I can't remove yet. I need to grow stronger first."
Hinata blinked, stunned—but there was no time to ask.Neji moved, and she had to respond.
Strike—parry—step back—strike again.
Unlike Hiashi's harsh training sessions, Neji led her.When she faltered, he let his own guard falter a little too, gently encouraging her to press the attack.
When she overreached, he nudged her balance back into control.
Hinata, for the first time in her short life, felt something strange during a sparring match:Joy.
There was no crushing pressure to meet impossible expectations.No cold gaze judging her.Just a dance—awkward at first, then slowly, fluidly real.
Unknowingly, Hinata stopped stuttering.Stopped hesitating.Her strikes grew sharper, more confident.
Neji's heart swelled with quiet pride. She's learning... so quickly. With barely any instruction.
A pang of sorrow lanced through him, sharp and bitter.Hiashi fights her like an enemy, he thought grimly. Of course she struggles. She needs someone to nurture her, not break her.
Their spar spiraled faster, more intricate.Hinata's sticks found gaps in his defense; Neji deliberately widened them, inviting her growth.
Finally, with a decisive pivot, Hinata knocked Neji's wrist aside and tapped him firmly on the chest—where a real blow would have knocked him down.
The match ended.
Neji dropped to one knee theatrically, laughing softly.
Hinata stood over him, breathing heavily but smiling—really smiling, a bright, trembling thing.
Without hesitation, she offered her hand.
Neji, masking his emotions once more, took it and allowed her to pull him up.
"You could have defeated me now," Hinata said quietly."Just like you could have defeated me back then."
Neji froze.
"But you chose not to," she continued. "You're hiding something, Neji-san. I don't know what... but I'll find out. I'll find out myself."
Neji smiled again—warm, genuine this time.He didn't say anything. He couldn't.
Even Hiashi-sama and Elder Ranken couldn't see through my act, he thought with quiet awe. But she... she felt it.
Hinata, meanwhile, clenched her small fists.
Why does Neji-san wear a mask?Why does he look so determined and so mature when he thinks no one is watching?
She didn't understand it yet.But a seed of determination had been planted inside her.
Later that evening, back in his room, Neji lay on his futon, staring at the wooden ceiling beams.The dream... the Entity... Hinata's unexpected perception...
So much is changing, he thought.
The tactical delay he had planted into the Caged Bird Seal had only bought him a narrow window, not a permanent reprieve.His True Eyes had allowed him to scan and map the bio-ethereal framework of the seal during the branding process—a latticework of chakra threads deeply integrated into his very soul.
The seal wasn't just on his forehead.
It was woven into the fabric of his chakra system itself, like roots entwining around a tree.
To break it without dying, he would need more than power.He would need knowledge, precision, and control at a level even the Hokage might not possess.
But tonight, that wasn't the most important thing.
Tonight, he thought of Hinata.Her shy smile.Her clumsy but determined strikes.
Her quiet strength—still embryonic but unmistakable.
If she finds herself, Neji thought, she could become one of the strongest shinobi the Hyuga have ever seen.
And maybe... maybe he wouldn't have to wear the mask forever.
Maybe one day, someone like Hinata could reach him even where the True Eyes could not.
With that thought, Neji closed his eyes.
Far in the back of his mind, behind the intricate defenses of memory and willpower, the Entity's voice flickered once more:
"Find the craftsman, not the key."
A smile tugged at Neji's lips in the darkness.
If he came once... he can come again.
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