Naruto: The Primal Hyuga Pierces the Shinobi World.

In front of the Hyuga clan's ancestral hall, clan members gradually gathered to attend the funeral.

After Shinichi Hyuga arrived, many members of the branch family came up to greet him. As he grew older, Shinichi Hyuga, now seven years old, was already well-known among the family members.

In addition, over the past two years, Hiashi has been intentionally building up Shinichi's reputation, and Shinichi often invites members of various branch families to spar and train when he attends events. Through battle after battle, Shinichi's strength and talent have gained the recognition of his clansmen.

As a result, the respect that the Hyuga branch family members have for Hyuga Shinichi is no longer simply respect for the identity of the "main family," but rather respect and recognition for Hyuga Shinichi's individual strength.

Two years older, Shinichi has lost some of his childishness, and his face now has more subtle angular features, adding a touch of youthful vigor.

Although he still looks like a child, having lived in the main family for many years, Shinichi exudes a faint aura of authority, making him somewhat conspicuous in a crowd.

Exchanging pleasantries with representatives from each branch of the family is a necessary procedure for Shinichi every time he attends a funeral. Among the coffins placed in front of the ancestral hall, how many of the clan members are Shinichi actually knows?

Maybe there aren't any.

However, as the head of the main family, he absolutely could not be absent from such an occasion. Not only him, but also Hiashi and his two-year-old sister could not be absent.

These clansmen died on the battlefield, sacrificing themselves to protect Konoha, but their sacrifice was also to protect their clan.

As the head of the clan, they are beneficiaries of the clan system, so how could they not be present on such an occasion?

"Big brother!"

Just as Shinichi was lost in thought, staring at the coffin in front of the ancestral hall, a crisp "Big Brother" interrupted his thoughts.

Turning around, standing behind Shinichi was a young boy dressed in plain clothes, whose eyebrows bore a six-point resemblance to Shinichi's.

The boy timidly tugged at Shinichi's sleeve, but when Shinichi turned around, he quickly let go and bowed respectfully to him.

"Neji, when did you arrive? Where's your uncle?"

Shinichi's expression softened a little when he saw the little girl behind him. He bent down slightly, gently rubbed Hyuga Neji's head, and asked softly.

Hyuga Neji, the son of his uncle Hyuga Hizashi, is only three years old this year, but he has already begun to receive ninja training.

Even Hyuga Neji's first teacher in physical combat was not Hyuga Hizashi, but Hyuga Shinichi.

Neji's talent is outstanding. Although he cannot be compared with his cousin Shinichi Hyuga, the talent Neji has shown so far is enough to make some members of the branch family admire and envy him. Hizashi is also happy for his son's excellence.

In this cruel world, higher talent means a higher survival rate.

Even as a member of the Hyuga clan, it is impossible to live peacefully in such a chaotic world, and these coffins placed in front of the ancestral hall are the best example of this.

"I just arrived. Father went to see Uncle."

"He told me to follow you."

Neji lowered his head slightly under Shinichi's gaze and explained. Shinichi's gaze made Neji feel a little pressured, but he quickly raised his head and looked at Shinichi with expectant eyes.

Neji Hyuga's feelings for Shinichi Hyuga are somewhat complicated. Such a young child is at the age where he needs playmates, but due to his background, Neji Hyuga didn't even have time to make friends with other children his age in the clan before he started ninja training at a young age.

Within his limited social circle, Shinichi Hyuga was the person closest to him in age.

Perhaps it was because Neji's martial arts training was with Shinichi Hyuga, or perhaps it was because Neji had been hurt in his sparring with Shinichi in the past, that Neji had a natural fear of Shinichi.

However, this fear was overshadowed by the bond of kinship, and Neji couldn't help but want to get closer to Shinichi. Awe and affection are not actually contradictory.

"Okay, then you stay by my side and don't wander off."

Shinichi looked around the venue and saw Hyuga Hiashi and Hyuga Hizashi standing with the deceased's family in the inner hall of the ancestral hall. The funeral for the clan members would be presided over by Hyuga Hiashi, who was the clan head. As Hiashi's right-hand man, Hizashi was also helping to handle some miscellaneous matters, so he would probably be very busy today.

Hizashi's wife had not been in good health since giving birth to Neji and did not attend such occasions, so the task of taking care of Neji naturally fell to Shinichi.

As for this, Hizashi was quite at ease with his eldest nephew...

Inside the hall, Hizashi seemed to have noticed Shinichi's gaze and gave him a slightly apologetic look.

Shinichi understood, sighed softly, and nodded silently.

"Excuse me, could you please move aside?"

Just then, a cold and deep voice rang in Shinichi Hyuga's ear. Shinichi instinctively took Neji's hand beside him, slightly stepped aside to make way, and then looked in the direction of the voice.

The tall Orochimaru, wearing a standard Jonin vest, strolled past Shinichi, glanced at him slightly, and then turned back to walk towards the deceased family members in the shrine.

Behind Orochimaru followed a girl of about thirteen or fourteen years old. Shinichi had seen the girl a few times before. Her name was Mitarashi Anko, and she was Orochimaru's disciple.

The moment Shinichi's eyes met Orochimaru's, he felt immense pressure emanating from him. The feeling, like a thorn in his back, made Shinichi frown, and it didn't disappear until Orochimaru walked away.

Beside him, Hyuga Neji seemed to be intimidated by Orochimaru's aura, and had already shrunk behind Shinichi, finding a "cover" to avoid the other party's sight.

"Big brother...who is that person? He's not from the Hyuga clan!"

Neji peeked out after Orochimaru had walked away and asked in a low voice.

The one who answered Neji was not Shinichi, but Shinichi's bodyguard, Hyuga Keisuke:

"That person is Lord Orochimaru, one of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha."

"He is the highest-ranking commander on the front lines of the Mist Ninja, and also the leader of Yuta and the others."

The "Yuta" that Keisuke mentioned was lying among the many coffins in front of him.

Neji Hyuga nodded as if he understood, while Keisuke looked at Shinichi in front of him. His words were mainly meant to explain to Shinichi Hyuga.

"No wonder you came here."

Shinichi nodded slightly upon hearing this, but his furrowed brows did not relax.

Orochimaru...

This is definitely not a good person...

Although it's unclear how far Orochimaru has gone in his corruption at this stage, Shinichi has absolutely no desire to have anything to do with him.

The reason is simple: he doesn't want to associate with people who are out of his control, because that means unpredictable risks!

It now seems that this "risk" is unavoidable, almost as if it has come knocking on our door.

...................