This "Hinata" had slightly longer hair.
More importantly, when Hyuga Arin looked at her smooth, unblemished forehead, a trace of disgust surfaced on his face.
A main family member.
"Hey, you lot."
Hyuga Arin bent down and picked up a few small stones from the ground.
The three kids in front of him stopped throwing rocks and turned to look at him.
Judging by their builds, Arin was much taller and stronger than them. But since he wasn't an adult, it wasn't enough to make them scatter in fear.
"Another White-Eyed monster," one of the kids made a face at Arin. The three immediately turned and ran.
They weren't stupid—just from his build, they knew they couldn't win.
Unfortunately, they weren't faster than Arin's throws.
"One, two, three, four. All hits."
Three running figures were knocked flat to the ground. The last one who tried to get up was struck in the forehead again and dropped back into a crouch, clutching his head.
"You just wait!"
The three little brats shouted angrily at Arin before scrambling off, not even caring about the pain.
"And why did you hit me too?"
The "Hinata" stood up and glared at Arin with big angry eyes.
She'd thought he was here to save her. Instead, this guy didn't even distinguish friend from foe.
"How about this one instead?"
Arin took out a kunai and weighed it in his hand, a dangerous smile on his face.
This wasn't a case of confusing allies and enemies—she, the one being bullied, was the enemy here.
The girl involuntarily took a step back, as if recalling something. She stared at Arin and blurted out,
"You're that treasonous Hyuga Arin!!"
"Not listening to the main family is treason? Living your own life is heresy?"
Arin said coldly.
He didn't want to keep talking to this little girl. No matter how bad his relationship with the main family was, he wasn't going to bully a child.
Seeing him about to leave, the girl suddenly spoke up.
"Wait!"
"What?"
Arin still held the kunai. "Want to try what a kunai tastes like?"
Her face instantly turned pale, tears welling up at the corners of her eyes as she sniffed hard.
"C-can you take me in?"
"…Huh?"
"So your name is Hyuga Kana, Hyuga Hi's granddaughter. And because you don't want to marry Hyuga Hiashi, you ran away from home."
Hyuga Arin gently set his teacup down, looking thoughtfully at the girl in front of him.
He remembered Hyuga Hi—a short-tempered old man from the main family.
He hadn't expected that man to plan to marry his own granddaughter off to Hyuga Hiashi.
Which meant the girl in front of him really was Hinata and Hanabi's future mother.
"Not marry him—become his fiancée!" Hyuga Kana corrected him loudly.
"If nothing changes, the engagement ceremony will be next year!"
"I'm only six!"
"Even next year I'll only be seven! Why do I already have a fiancé?!"
"A child bride isn't anything strange in the Hyuga clan."
Arin rolled his eyes.
Plenty of Warring States–era customs still survived in the Hyuga clan, unchanged. Toss them back into the Warring States period and they'd adapt instantly.
Still, Hyuga Hi didn't look like a doting grandfather. Otherwise, Kana wouldn't have turned out like this.
The Hyuga clan was obsessed with etiquette.
But forcing an engagement with Hyuga Hiashi this early felt… rushed.
Arin suddenly sensed something off.
Marriage in the main family wasn't free, but even then, engagements at sixteen were more common—and even then, not usually with a child just entering the Academy.
The current head, Hyuga Masayuki, had married in his twenties, and even then his wife had been from the branch family. As long as they were Hyuga, the main family could marry whomever they wanted.
There was no reason to lock it down this early.
Unless something had happened that forced Hyuga Hi's hand.
Arin didn't know Hyuga Hi very well beyond his temper, so he couldn't guess the motive.
"Do you know why Hyuga Hi wants to marry you off to Hiashi?" Arin asked curiously.
"How would I know?!"
Hyuga Kana slammed the table and shouted.
"If I knew the reason, would I have run away?!"
She wouldn't have ended up being bullied by a bunch of kids either.
Arin raised an eyebrow. Kana immediately straightened her posture, looking properly ladylike again.
"So… can you take me in?"
She asked carefully.
She'd thought it through.
Other Hyuga would definitely send her back. She didn't know any other ninja clans.
Only this man—also a Hyuga, but openly opposed to the main family—might actually take her in.
And the main family would never think she was hiding here.
Plan Complete, Kana, she praised herself internally.
"As long as you cook and clean, keeping you here isn't a problem," Arin said calmly. The house was big enough—one or two more people didn't matter.
Hyuga Kana slammed both hands on the table and stood up.
"The stove is taller than me! You want me to cook? I've never cleaned a house in my life! How am I supposed to do that?!"
So she can cook, then.
Arin just looked at her indifferently.
"If the stove's taller than you, stand on a stool. If you've never cleaned, learn slowly. If you can't do it…"
He pointed toward the door.
"There it is. You're free to leave anytime."
Her little face scrunched up.
"Fine, fine. As long as I don't have to go back, anything's okay."
She absolutely refused to get engaged to Hyuga Hiashi.
Arin, meanwhile, was thinking about Hyuga Hi's real purpose.
"The Hyuga clan head was killed on the front lines."
The very next day, Orochimaru provided the answer.
He was leading Nawaki and Aburame Mushi-hime in special training at a waterfall.
"Arin-senpai!"
Mushi-hime's eyes sparkled like stars as she came over holding a big red insect.
"This is a new insect dish I invented. Want to try it?"
"No, thank you."
Arin quietly edged away. He truly couldn't handle that stuff.
He glanced at Nawaki, who was being battered by the waterfall.
Why did every training session have this step?
"So Hyuga Masayuki really died?"
Arin asked, a hint of regret in his tone.
Orochimaru shot him a strange look.
"Yes. The body is being transported back. He was ambushed by the Raikage. The Hyuga head engaged the Raikage directly—Raikage was seriously injured, Hyuga Masayuki died."
Weren't these two on bad terms? Why did Arin sound regretful?
"What a shame," Arin muttered.
"He didn't die by my hand."
He hadn't even gotten a Byakugan drop yet.
As expected.
Orochimaru gave him a look that said I knew it.
Now it all made sense—why Hyuga Hi wanted Kana engaged to Hyuga Hiashi.
It was internal power struggle within the Hyuga clan.
Nothing to do with him.
"Even though the Chūnin Exams won't be hard for you, don't get careless," Orochimaru said.
"Got it," Arin replied perfunctorily, waving his hand.
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