With Shisui vanishing into the shadows to resurrect the legend of the Body Flicker and build the terrifying reputation of their new alliance, Kei returned to his brutal routine. He channeled the Body Revitalization Jutsu through his optic nerves during the day, and conducted his gruesome human experiments deep in the subterranean laboratory at night.
Just as Kei began to settle into the rhythm, calculating that the village would remain quiet for a few months, two distinct ripples of chaos disrupted the peace of Konoha.
The first disturbance radiated from the Uchiha compound. After three months of relative silence following Shisui's 'suicide,' the suppressed fury of the clan was beginning to boil over once again. The ceasefire was holding for now, but Kei knew the pressure was mounting. The catastrophic civil war was inevitable; it was only a matter of time.
The second disturbance erupted much closer to home.
The Hyuga Main House, deeply frustrated by their absolute failure to locate Saku's killer, had decided to make a public example out of a small faction of Branch members who had previously filed official grievances against the dead servant.
Among those punished was a quiet, solitary Branch member who had lost his entire family during the Third Shinobi War. He had routinely suffered physical abuse at Saku's hands, and now the Main House was publicly flogging him for a murder he didn't commit.
The relentless, suffocating injustice finally broke the man's mind. Driven past the point of sanity, he strapped himself with explosive tags and launched a suicide run directly at the Main House compound.
The intelligence Kei received later that evening confirmed the assassination attempt had failed. The Branch member had only managed to detonate his payload against an outer wall, destroying a single guardhouse before he was killed.
There were no Main House casualties. However, Kei understood perfectly what the explosion signified. The terminal rot between the Main and Branch families was finally beginning to surface. The poisonous seeds of rebellion he had planted weeks ago were finally starting to sprout.
In the immediate aftermath of the bombing, the atmosphere within the Hyuga compound became suffocatingly tense. The Main House locked down the estate, subjecting any Branch member who approached the gates to a brutal, humiliating strip-search to ensure they weren't carrying explosives.
While the immediate panic eventually subsided, Kei knew the peace was merely an illusion. The fuse had been lit.
Later that afternoon, Kei was resting in his office after discharging his final patient when his sensory web snagged on Neji's familiar chakra signature approaching the clinic. But Neji wasn't alone. A smaller, incredibly timid chakra signature was trailing nervously behind him.
"Sensei," Neji announced, stepping into the office and offering a respectful bow. "Lady Hinata requested an audience with you. I escorted her here."
Following Kei's strict psychological blueprint, Neji had spent the last three months aggressively cultivating a warm, subservient relationship with Hiashi's family. He had volunteered to act as Hinata's primary sparring partner, and over time, the two cousins had forged a genuine, familiar bond.
Kei nodded, turning his bandaged face toward the doorway. "How may I be of assistance, Lady Hinata?"
Hinata hovered nervously behind Neji, her small hands clutching the fabric of her jacket. Even without his eyes, Kei could feel the heavy, suffocating aura of confusion, anxiety, and profound disappointment radiating from the girl.
"J-Just Hinata is fine," she stammered, taking a tiny, hesitant step forward. She took a deep breath to steady her nerves. "I... I have a problem. And I was hoping you could give me an answer."
Hinata nervously explained her dilemma, and Kei instantly mapped the psychological root of the issue.
Simply put, Clan Head Hiashi had recently mandated that Hinata spar extensively with Neji to sharpen her combat instincts. However, regardless of how fiercely she trained, she was utterly incapable of landing a single blow on her cousin.
Even though Neji was following Kei's orders and actively pulling his punches to keep the spars competitive, Hinata was still losing every single engagement.
This consistent failure had profoundly disappointed Hiashi. Hinata, hyper-sensitive to her father's crushing disapproval, was drowning beneath the weight of his expectations. She felt entirely lost, unsure of how to fix herself.
Sensing the girl's overwhelming despair, Kei offered a warm, reassuring smile. "Very well, Hinata. Why don't you and Neji conduct a brief spar right here in the courtyard? I will analyze your spars and identify the flaw."
Hinata's psychological collapse was entirely predictable. As the designated heir to the most prestigious clan in Konoha, Hiashi placed a suffocating, impossible burden of perfection squarely on her small shoulders. When she inevitably failed to meet that impossible standard, Hiashi withdrew his affection, leaving Hinata paralyzed by anxiety.
Kei remembered the canonical timeline perfectly. Eventually, Hiashi would force Hinata to duel her younger sister, Hanabi. When the five-year-old Hanabi defeated the older Hinata, Hiashi would formally discard his eldest daughter, deeming her a worthless failure, and shift his entire focus to the younger sibling.
However, in Kei's clinical assessment, Hinata's loss to a five-year-old wasn't due to a lack of talent. The Gentle Fist was a martial art entirely dependent on physical speed, muscle density, and reach. It was mostly impossible for a five-year-old to physically overpower an older, larger opponent unless the older opponent simply surrendered.
Hinata had lost because she possessed a cripplingly gentle heart. She had actively chosen to let her little sister win, combined with a total collapse of her own self-worth under her father's glare.
Hinata hesitated at the prospect of another humiliating defeat, but she eventually nodded. Desperate to earn her father's love, she was willing to try anything. Neji had spoken so highly of the blind doctor's brilliance; she prayed he could fix her.
They moved to the clinic's private courtyard. The spar began instantly.
From the very first exchange, Neji dominated the fight. Even holding back, his precision and speed overwhelmed her. Hinata, buckling under the immediate pressure, lost her rhythm completely. Her footwork became chaotic, her strikes panicked and sloppy.
Within two minutes, she was on her back in the dirt.
Hinata scrambled to her feet, her head bowed in deep shame, the aura of despondency around her growing even heavier.
Kei tapped his cane, walking over to the defeated girl. He crouched down, bringing himself to her eye level. "Do not be sad, Hinata," he said, his voice incredibly soft and warm. "I have already diagnosed the root of your defeat."
"T-Truly?" Hinata's head snapped up. Seeing the gentle, unwavering smile on the doctor's face, she felt a sudden, strange wave of relief wash over her.
"Absolutely," Kei nodded reassuringly. "And now that we have isolated the cause, we can begin to cure it. Shall we move to my office where we can sit comfortably?"
Hinata nodded quickly. She had arrived at the clinic expecting another harsh lecture about her failures. She hadn't expected the famous doctor to diagnose her so effortlessly, and with such kindness.
Neji moved to follow them inside, but Kei reached into his pocket and handed the boy a thick stack of ryo. "Neji. Would you mind running to the commercial district and purchasing a large order of premium ramen to-go?"
Neji looked down at the massive wad of cash. "This is an extraordinary amount of money, Sensei. Is this entirely for ramen?"
"Buy as much as this will cover," Kei instructed.
Neji nodded and vanished using the Body Flicker. Kei gently guided Hinata into the consultation building and offered her a plush armchair.
"Hinata, before we discuss your combat mechanics, may I ask about your daily routine?" Kei asked, keeping his tone light and conversational. He needed to lower her defensive barriers before he began the psychological surgery.
"In the mornings, I am instructed in formal clan etiquette and political history," Hinata answered quietly, staring at her hands. "In the afternoons, I undergo intense physical conditioning and Gentle Fist katas under the supervision of the Main House instructors."
Kei nodded slowly. It was exactly as he suspected. She was being relentlessly groomed for political leadership, subjected to an exhausting, daily crucible of physical and mental pressure.
"And how long are these afternoon combat sessions?" Kei pressed gently. "What is the instructors' official assessment of your technical proficiency?"
"Usually three to four hours," she murmured. "The instructors consistently report that my technical execution is flawless."
"And what is your personal assessment? Do you find the advanced katas difficult to comprehend? Are you struggling with the chakra theory?"
Hinata shook her head emphatically. "No. I understand the mechanics perfectly. The forms make sense to me."
"But..." her voice dropped to a frustrated whisper. "I simply cannot execute them when I am forced into an actual spar..."
Because Kei was radiating such absolute, non-judgmental warmth, Hinata's walls began to crumble. She slowly opened up, pouring out the agonizing confusion that had plagued her for years.
Kei sat perfectly still, maintaining his warm smile, listening intently without interrupting her once.
When she finally ran out of words, Kei leaned forward. "Hinata. When I observed your spar with Neji, I mapped your chakra flow and your muscle memory. Your foundational mechanics are absolutely perfect. You are neither devoid of talent, nor are you lazy."
Hinata's pale eyes widened in shock. "Then... then why do I always fail?"
It was the question that haunted her every waking moment. Whenever she asked her father, his only brutal response was that she simply wasn't trying hard enough. Yet, she was pushing her body to the absolute breaking point, and still falling short.
Just as Kei opened his mouth to deliver the diagnosis, Neji blurred into the office, carrying a massive, towering stack of steaming ramen bowls.
"Ah, excellent timing," Kei smiled brightly. "Let us continue this discussion over lunch. I imagine you are starving after that rigorous spar."
Hinata hesitated, her strict etiquette training screaming at her to decline, but the rich, savory smell of the broth was overpowering. As Kei had accurately deduced, she was famished.
Sensing her lingering apprehension, Kei didn't rush the therapy. He handed her a pair of chopsticks.
"The reason you fail in combat, Hinata," Kei said softly as they began to eat, "is because your internal foundation is fractured. You become paralyzed by panic because you do not possess a strong inner self."
"My... inner self?" Hinata blinked, entirely confused by the terminology.
Standing by the door, Neji's eyes narrowed slightly in understanding. The doctor had utilized the exact same psychological phrasing during his own rehabilitation.
"Yes. You are buckling under the immense, crushing weight of your own anxiety," Kei explained smoothly. "Hinata, you train harder than anyone in this compound. But you possess absolutely zero faith in your own power. You step onto the battlefield already believing you are destined to lose. Am I correct?"
Hinata froze, her chopsticks hovering over her bowl. She stared at the blind doctor, her heart pounding. "That is... that is exactly how I feel. But how could you possibly know that?"
"I am a psychiatrist, Hinata. It is my job to see the invisible wounds," Kei smiled warmly. She didn't question the logic. The doctor's brilliance was a legendary whisper throughout the clan.
"Therefore, to cure this affliction, we must execute a two-pronged protocol," Kei stated, raising a single finger. "First, we must rapidly reconstruct your shattered self-confidence."
Kei pointed his cane directly at her bowl of ramen. "Tell me, Hinata. What is your standard caloric intake during a family dinner at the Main House?"
Hinata's face instantly flushed a brilliant, embarrassed crimson. Her voice dropped to an almost inaudible squeak. "I... I usually consume one bowl. Perhaps a fraction more."
She was mortified to admit the truth. The rigid, aristocratic etiquette of the Main House demanded she eat tiny, delicate portions. A single bowl of rice was never enough to fuel her grueling training. She spent most nights starving, forced to sneak into the estate's kitchens after midnight just to survive.
Kei pretended not to notice her burning embarrassment. "Do you see? That behavior is a direct symptom of your affliction."
"E-Excuse me?" Hinata stammered, completely lost.
"You are denying your body the fuel it desperately needs simply because you are terrified of violating expectations," Kei declared softly. "Today, in this clinic, you will eat until you are absolutely full. You must forge confidence in your own strength, and that begins with honoring your own hunger."
Hinata hesitated, but looking at Kei's warm, uncompromisingly encouraging smile, she slowly picked up her chopsticks and began to eat in earnest.
Kei seamlessly transitioned back to the core trauma to distract her from her embarrassment. "Beyond your fractured confidence, Hinata... you are paralyzing yourself with external pressure. The moment you enter combat, you become terrified of disappointing your father."
Although the spar with Neji had been brief, Kei had easily detected the suffocating spike of anxiety in Hinata's chakra the moment she threw her first punch.
The pressure was entirely derived from her political identity. Hiashi's relentless, brutal demands for perfection were actively destroying his daughter's potential. In the realm of psychology, crushing a child beneath the weight of impossible expectations rarely forged a diamond; it usually just shattered the stone.
"I am intimately aware of the astronomical expectations Lord Hiashi has placed upon you," Kei said, his voice ringing with absolute, unyielding sincerity. "But I need you to hear this, Hinata. You have trained hard enough. You have not disappointed this family. And you have certainly not disappointed your father."
"T-Truly?" Hinata whispered, her voice trembling. "But... Father always tells me I am weak. He says I do not work hard enough..."
She looked up at the handsome, smiling doctor. Although his eyes were hidden behind thick bandages, his entire presence radiated an overwhelming, unconditional support she had never experienced in her entire life.
For some inexplicable reason, looking at Kei Hyuga, a tiny, fragile spark of warmth and confidence finally ignited in her chest.
"It is the absolute truth," Kei nodded firmly, locking the psychological trap in place. "Your mechanical execution of the Gentle Fist is flawless. I assure you, when I was your age, my technique was vastly inferior to yours."
"You are not weak, Hinata. You are simply allowing the terror of failure to sever the connection between your brilliant mind and your capable body."
"Once we rebuild the fortress of your self-confidence... you will unlock a level of power that will shock this entire family."