Konoha Notes

Chapter 402 Dogeza (Facing the Buddha)

As Shuji entered Samui's office, two figures emerged from inside.

Omoi lowered his head, muttering things like "I'm sure I'll get scolded."

Karui followed behind him, her face also looking rather grim beneath her red hair. Upon seeing Shuuji, the two quickly bowed and left.

“Miss Samui also puts pressure on the students.” Shuji stood at the door.

The blonde woman behind the desk looked up.

“After all, the fact that Kumogakure was at the bottom of the special training class has already reached the Raikage’s ears,” Samui said. “He is quite unhappy about it.”

"The strongest is Deidara from Iwagakure, followed by Gaara, and those kids from Kirigakure are also quite outstanding." Shuji walked into the office. "As for Konoha, their home turf..."

"Even the best people we can offer at this stage are not as good as him."

“If there were better options in the village, we wouldn’t have let Omoi and the others stay here any longer, Shuuji.” She leaned back in her chair. “As the instructor of the Cloud Village’s Konoha Ninja Academy, I’m quite troubled.”

Xiu Si smiled and said, "That can be considered a small return gift for all the trouble that Miss Samui has caused me."

"A return gift?" Samui smiled. "Mr. Shuji is a nuisance to me every day."

"after all--"

"and many more."

Shuji raised one hand, making a clear pause gesture.

“Miss Samui, what you’re about to say,” he said, a rare hint of helplessness in his expression, “is probably going to be too cheesy. I can’t handle it, so let’s stop here.”

"You win."

Samyi looked at him, his eyes crinkling with a smile.

She picked up a document from the table and handed it over.

"This is a document that Mr. Shuji needs to sign."

"In addition, my guidance for the second half of the year will shift to official business and cross-village collaboration practices."

"I suppose this is the result that Mr. Shuji hoped to see when he reformed the curriculum for upper-grade students."
-
Hyuga Neji stuffed the green bodysuit into the bottom of his ninja tool bag and decided to get a new bag as soon as he got home that night.

After finishing his special training at the Ninja Academy, Neji returned to his clan's territory and stepped into the main family's residence.

As he entered the gate of the main family mansion, he saw a girl wearing a dark training uniform.

"Neji-nii-nii." The girl stood to the side, her fingers twirling the hem of her clothes.

"Hinata-sama."

Hinata shrank back at the cold greeting. Neji didn't look at her again and turned straight to the open wooden door on the side.

Click.

The wooden door closed behind Neji.

The dojo was dimly lit, and Hyuga Hiashi was wearing a simple dark gray kimono.

Neji silently took off his shoes and stepped onto the wooden planks of the dojo.

Without any further pleasantries, the two of them almost simultaneously assumed the starting stance of Soft Fist.

Initially, it was just a test. Hiashi's movements were steady, and each strike came at the point when Neji's attack was about to be launched, forcing Neji to change his moves and defend again and again.

Neji's Byakugan was fully activated, and veins bulged on his forehead. In the gaps between his counterattacks, he frantically recorded every movement of the clan leader—his footwork, the flow of chakra, and the timing of his muscle activation.

Thirty-seven palm strikes, forty-two palm strikes, forty-nine palm strikes...

A tentative exchange ended in silence, and Japan suddenly retreated.

"How far have you progressed in mastering the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms?"

He began to speak.

Neji lowered his arm and said, "All of them."

Two simple words, carrying an almost defiant certainty.

The Japanese team has regrouped.

"Call us."

Without hesitation, without holding back, Neji unleashed all the techniques he had pieced together over the years through observation, conjecture, and countless solo practice, starting with his very first strike.

The palm strike suddenly became fierce.

The crisp sounds of chakra clashing echoed throughout the dojo. Neji's every attack was aimed at Hiashi's pressure points.

"The thirty-seventh palm strike was at a lower angle by three points."

During the Japanese team's turnaround, he was making comments.

"The forty-sixth palm strike was too hasty, and the footwork became disordered."

boom!
A precise palm strike landed on Neji's shoulder. The force wasn't strong, but it instantly made his entire arm go numb.

Neji gritted his teeth and attacked again.

The rhythm of his palm strikes, footwork, and breathing. Hiashi's instructions flowed in his ears, each word targeting the weakest point in his moves.

This feeling... this feeling of being seen through, analyzed, and guided forward. It's just like a distant afternoon from my memory.

His father placed his hand on his back, and his deep voice sounded in his ear: "Here, it needs to sink a little deeper."

Neji.

The sound of Japanese football tears apart memories.

Neji's Byakugan reflected a face strikingly similar to his father's, yet possessing a completely different air of authority and coldness. His brows lacked any benevolence, displaying only the dignified bearing befitting the head of the main branch of the family.

This is not a father.

This is what killed my father, the clan head.

With his next strike, Neji's attack was filled with killing intent, aimed at Hiashi's neck.

Hijikata's disdainful look revealed everything.

His expression remained unchanged, not even a flicker of emotion in his eyes.

His palm slipped through the gap in Neji's movements.

boom!
A dull thud echoed through the dojo.

Neji flew backward, his back slamming into the dojo wall before sliding to the ground.

He didn't get up immediately, but just leaned against the wall and waited.

Waiting for the pain to explode from my forehead, waiting for the punishment of the Caged Bird Curse to arrive as promised.

But nothing happened after that.

Neji suddenly laughed: "Because I was chosen by Lord Shuji, even if I wanted to kill the head of the main family, you wouldn't punish me, would you, Lord Hiashi?"

He leaned against the wall and slowly stood up. His white pupils stared straight at Hiashi, churning with all the emotions that had been building up over the years—anger, resentment, and bitterness.

Hiashi watched him quietly.

"The Hyuga clan possesses extremely high value due to the system of main family and branch family."

"The branch families, which exist to protect the main family, are people the village can absolutely trust and will never betray you, no matter what mission they are carrying out."

"I will never reveal any secrets I see."

“Even to Mr. Shuji,” Hiashi paused, “as the head of the main family, I am more important than you.”

Neji chuckled but didn't refute it; wasn't this something he already knew?
A person's fate is predetermined from birth and cannot be changed.

The sky outside the window darkened further, the orange light fading into a deep purple, and the shadows inside the dojo grew even heavier.

Riji asked, "Will the special training program continue after the break?"

Neji adjusted his breathing, restoring his voice to its surface calm: "Yes, it's just that the training time has been adjusted."

"Ask for leave."

The two words are not "discuss," but "inform."

Neji nodded silently.

“I’ll practice Senbon Kumite with you; at this stage, it’s more meaningful for you.”

This made Neji's eyes widen.

The Senbon Kumite is a practical training method passed down through generations of the main family. Each glance counts as one repetition, and it requires a total of one thousand repetitions.

"Why?!"

Even Neji himself was startled when the sound burst from his throat.

Not only the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, but now even the most core training program of the main family is being used on him.

Why on earth?
Hiashi did not answer, but instead took out a scroll from his clothes.

He tossed the item to Neji, who caught it instinctively.

Neji read through each word, line by line.

The above states what the sun wants to tell him.

Regarding the choice made that day, why he volunteered to die in place of his brother, and the final liberation that Hyuga Hizashi could find amidst the shackles of the main family and the branch family.

"This is... fake."

He raised his head, his voice hoarse.

But to their surprise, the clan patriarch, who had always stood tall and straight, was now kneeling on the ground.

He bent over and pressed his forehead against the cold wooden board.

Earth seat.

"That day..." came Hiashi's voice, "I was prepared to die."

"I'm sorry, Neji."

(End of this chapter)