Chapter 233. Shaken Heart
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"Konoha…"
A familiar scene.
The First, Second, Third, and Fourth Hokage faces carved into the mountain… the familiar Hokage Rock.
The old Hokage building, the streets, the ninja academy, and the lazy atmosphere of an early morning.
Everything before her eyes—
It stirred up old memories in her mind.
Hyuga Hanabi glanced around, the corners of her mouth curling up involuntarily as if she were lost in nostalgia.
This morning.
Since she had returned to Konoha once again, after a moment of hesitation, she decided to go for a walk.
Although this Konoha was slightly different from the one in her memories—
There were a lot of strange new things, like Yuto Milk Tea, Yuto BBQ, Yuto Cinema, Yuto Dance Hall, and Yuto Internet Café—overall, it was still pretty much the same.
Aside from all those oddities, this ninja world wasn't too bad.
But still—
She hadn't found a way to leave this illusion!
Hanabi smiled bitterly. "Before I figure out how to leave here, I'll need to sort out my identity—and figure out a way to make money."
She couldn't just keep borrowing money from Yuto-san forever.
As for the identity issue…
Since she was from the Hyuga main family, she knew some of the clan's secrets. Or rather… ever since that incident, it was no longer a secret in the ninja world that the Byakugan didn't belong solely to the Hyuga clan.
So… it wouldn't be too hard to resolve.
"This river really brings back memories." Hanabi's eyes softened as she gazed at the small grove and the gently flowing river before her, a gentle smile appearing on her face.
This was the place where Konoha's children often played. But after Konoha's reconstruction and expansion, this river had disappeared.
She smiled, looked around again, then raised her head toward the sun. After a moment of thought, she murmured, "Why aren't any kids playing here now?"
Could it be that the children of this world don't play here anymore?
However—
Just as she finished speaking—
"At the edge of the vast horizon…"
A loud burst of music echoed through the air, startling birds into flight and causing ripples in the river. Even the trees seemed to tremble slightly.
Hanabi was stunned. She listened to the strange music and, almost instinctively, turned toward the source of the sound.
To her surprise—
Even though it sounded odd, there was something oddly entertaining about it.
It had a certain… charm.
But still—
Who is singing here at this time?
After a moment of hesitation, Hanabi followed the sound, curious.
After walking about thirty steps, the trees suddenly opened into a wide, flat clearing. The land was level, the trees neatly aligned, and there were vague silhouettes of people moving about.
And then—
What the hell?!
Hanabi's eye twitched as she took in the scene before her:
People dressed in bright red outfits, holding strange pink fans with ribbons attached to the edges, dancing rhythmically to the strange music as the fans fluttered in the wind.
And at the very back—
A certain figure stood out:
Silver-white hair, red markings beneath his eyes, a red cloak draped over his shoulders, and a pink fan in each hand…
He spun and leapt.
He moved with grace.
He danced seductively.
"…"
Hanabi took one look and immediately shifted her gaze away, fixing her eyes on the swaying green trees in the background.
Her mouth twitched.
If she kept watching—
Her Byakugan might be ruined for life!
It was painful to look at!
She had been wrong last night.
Her heart… could still be shaken.
There's really something wrong with this ninja world!
Now she more or less understood why… despite the good weather and clear skies, no children were playing in this childhood playground.
Without hesitation, she quickly wiped the earlier scene from her mind, turned around, and headed toward the center of the village.
"As expected… I really need to figure out how to get out of here!"
Her resolve to leave this place had never been stronger!
This ninja world…
It wouldn't be a loss to leave it behind!
She kept walking.
As the scenery around her returned to its usual calm, Hyuga Hanabi breathed a sigh of relief again. Setting aside the bizarre people, this place wasn't so bad after all.
"Oh well, might as well keep looking around." Hanabi paused for a moment, analyzing the information in her mind. But whether it was Infinite Tsukuyomi… or some other illusion, she still hadn't noticed any flaws after all this time?!
It seemed… this illusion wasn't simple.
Maybe it was really Tsukuyomi?
She wondered if the Seventh Hokage and the others had come up with any way to wake her up.
With a helpless sigh, she continued to observe the street around her.
She had to admit—
Yuto-san really knew how to run a business. As she walked through the village, every store with the word "Yuto" in its name was packed with customers coming and going in an endless stream.
No wonder his business had expanded to other countries and ninja villages!
After all, this wasn't the peaceful era after the Fourth Ninja World War, where ninjas from different nations had put aside their grudges and worked together to maintain peace in the ninja world!
Even without being a ninja, it wasn't easy to do business in other ninja villages with the name Uchiha.
But still—
Something about it felt… off.
She couldn't quite put her finger on what was strange. After all, as a Hyuga Clan Leader, how could she know too much about the Uchiha clan's affairs?
Hanabi smiled bitterly and shook her head. "Maybe I'm overthinking it."
After all, he was still her savior.
Just as that thought crossed her mind—
"Hanabi-san!"
Two voices called out to her from behind. Hanabi stopped in her tracks and turned around. Her thoughtful expression disappeared instantly, replaced by a smile as she greeted the two approaching figures.
"Good morning, Yuto-san, Suzune-san."
"Good morning~" Suzune also smiled and nodded. "We didn't see Hanabi-san this morning, so we wondered where you had gone."
"My apologies! I just suddenly felt like going for a walk this morning, so I didn't want to disturb you." Hanabi apologized politely, then glanced at the two of them. "Were you two… out shopping?"
"No~ We just dropped off Honoka at school." Suzune smiled warmly. "Yuto wasn't around when Honoka started school, so he wanted to check it out now that he's back."
"Honoka-san?" Hanabi smiled and nodded. "That's really sweet."
Although—
Why would an Uchiha and a Hyuga… have a red-haired daughter?
No matter how you looked at it, that red-haired girl looked more like Sister Kana!
[Yuto-san… is really strange. Has Suzune-san not noticed?]
But since this was a dream world… there was no need for her to dig too deeply.
Since they had bumped into each other, the three of them naturally walked together. The street had become livelier by now, but…
"Is Danzo's movie almost finished?" Yuto glanced at the numerous advertisements plastered around the village: "Root Studio's New Movie – Grand Premiere!" He looked at Suzune, puzzled. "Why are his ads everywhere in the village?"
"It's probably almost done. I received news that they started wrapping up production a few days ago. This new movie tells the story of the First Ninja World War." Suzune nodded thoughtfully. "A lot of people are looking forward to it."
After all, many of the village elders had lived through the First Ninja World War. Seeing those ads would probably stir up some nostalgia.
However—
Suzune hesitated for a moment, then leaned toward Yuto and lowered her voice. "Lately, there's been a lot of buzz about it online. I think they might've paid for trending searches!"
Although she had lowered her voice, Hanabi, standing nearby, pretended not to hear and smiled politely.
As expected—
She really wasn't used to this ninja world!
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