"Wait a minute, Dad. If we're naming according to the family tree, wouldn't the daughter be named Hinata?"
After being stunned for a moment, Yuki quickly voiced his doubts. After all, in his opinion, since he had taken Hinata's position, he should at least compensate her by letting her be his younger sister. Wouldn't this just erase her completely? That was too cruel.
"You've read the family tree? But 'Hinata' is the name for a girl of your generation. If you were a girl, you would be called that. But if it's a second daughter, the name has to be changed to 'Hanabi.'"
As a large clan with a long history—much older than Konoha itself—the Hyuga clan naturally had many internal regulations. For instance, the way descendants of the clan were named couldn't be taken lightly.
So what Hiashi said was correct. Currently, if his child were the young master, he'd be named Yuki. If it was the young lady, she'd be named Hinata. And the second daughter would naturally have a different name.
Seriously? Although Hanabi was also very cute, without Hinata, it felt like something was missing.
Frankly speaking, ever since learning he was the Hyuga clan's eldest son, Yuki had been looking forward to the arrival of a younger sister named Hinata.
"Brother, can you take Hinata out to play?"
"Brother, it's thundering. Can Hinata sleep with you?"
"Hinata likes her brother the most. We should always be together."
When he imagined a soft, gentle little sister following her brother around, calling out to him, Yuki felt immensely pleased.
But if his younger sister's name was Hanabi instead of Hinata... well, she was still cute, but it just didn't feel quite right. It was like Pepsi becoming Coca-Cola.
It wasn't that Yuki disliked Hanabi. In fact, Hanabi's appearance and figure were also excellent. But she felt more strong-willed; she lacked the softness and gentleness of a little sister. She was fine as an elder sister, but...
"Um, Honorable Father, can we discuss this?"
"Discuss what?"
"If Mother gives birth to a daughter this time, can we name her Hinata? How about we name the next one Hanabi?"
"Who said there would be a next one? Why are you so obsessed with this name?"
Seeing his son's inexplicable and obvious obsession, Hiashi couldn't help but feel a little puzzled. After all, in his opinion, it was just a name. It didn't seem to make much difference, right?
"Ahem, what if I said I just really like the name 'Hinata'? Would you believe me?"
"I believe you. How about I change your name to Hinata when we get back? It's not like it can't be used for boys anyway."
"No, no! Why change my name? Isn't that a girl's name?"
"I never said boys can't use it. It's decided. From tomorrow, Hyuga Yuki will disappear, and Hyuga Hinata will carry on."
"Father, could you please stop joking? It's not funny at all."
Hiashi seemed to have recently grasped the trick of teasing his son. His series of remarks almost made Yuki want to bury his head in the ground, leaving him speechless.
"Although I don't know why you like the name 'Hinata' so much, it's not impossible for your sister to be called that."
Oh? There's a chance? Just when Yuki thought his father would refuse him, Hiashi unexpectedly said this quite openly.
To be honest, the Hiashi Hyuga from the original story definitely wasn't such an easy-going person. Perhaps because he had spent too much time with Yuki, a genius, over the past two years, he had become tinged with a bit of humor.
"Yuki, you're five years old this year, right?"
"I don't think either of us could get my age wrong... So what?"
"Generally speaking, five-year-old children have to attend the Ninja Academy for further education. I heard the Uchiha clan's second young master will enroll this September, so..."
"So you plan to have me obediently go to the Ninja Academy to play house?"
Upon hearing Hiashi's words, Yuki couldn't help but swallow hard. He had deliberately mentioned to his father before that he didn't want to go to the Ninja Academy so early.
As early as the Second Hokage's era, the Ninja Academy was established—an institution for all young ninjas to receive basic training, much like a regular school, except they weren't taught general knowledge.
Generally speaking, there wasn't a strict age requirement for admission to the Ninja Academy. The average child would enroll at five or six years old.
These young children would be divided into different groups after a few years of learning the basics at the academy, proceeding to the next stage of three-person teams under a Jōnin instructor, slowly adapting to the dangerous ninja world.
From this perspective, the establishment of the Ninja Academy was actually a feat that smoothed the path for ninjas considerably. Just think—in the era of Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara, even five- or six-year-old children had to step onto the battlefield like adults, without any protection. It was a miracle among miracles that anyone survived to adulthood.
But although the Ninja Academy had many benefits, from Yuki's perspective, he definitely didn't want to enroll so early.
First of all, Yuki's current strength already far surpassed most of his peers. Although he hadn't fully mastered the Gentle Fist, he could skillfully refine chakra and use it in attacks. Few children his age could compare.
In that case, what was taught at the Ninja Academy was almost useless to him. The Hyuga clan's taijutsu was already famous in Konoha, and they didn't use ninjutsu or genjutsu much anyway. So what was the point of going to the academy?
If it was just for graduation, he could wait until he was eight or nine to enroll. He could just get a diploma in a few years and join a team. There was no need to enroll at five and waste precious time.
Before, the graduation age at the Ninja Academy was still flexible. Geniuses like Itachi and Kakashi could graduate in a year or two. However, after the Third Great War, the Hokage had changed the rules, requiring students to be at least twelve years old to graduate. This made Yuki very unhappy.
However, after hearing Yuki's complaint, Hiashi snorted coldly and said, "The Uchiha have been promoting their second young master, Uchiha Sasuke, everywhere, claiming he's also a super genius, no worse than Uchiha Itachi, who became a Chūnin at ten. I just don't believe all the geniuses have been monopolized by their family!"
"So you plan to have me enroll at the same time as Uchiha Sasuke and then... show him up at the academy?"
That's so childish. Although Yuki was long accustomed to his father's competitive streak when it came to the "Uchiha Clan," he still felt a bit helpless now that the matter was brought up.
The "Hyuga Clan" and the "Uchiha Clan" were known as Konoha's two great clans. On the surface, they were semi-independent "lords" within Konoha. But in Yuki's eyes, they were just two groups of fools who had been manipulated.
Although he didn't know which Hokage proposed lumping the two clans together as the "two great clans," Yuki truly admired that move. Because this way, the "Hyuga Clan" and "Uchiha Clan" became rivals who refused to admit defeat, avoiding any possibility of the two sides joining forces to seize power.
Even though the Senju clan's influence was still immense in Konoha, if the "Byakugan" and "Sharingan" joined forces, there was a great chance to turn the tables. But given the current situation where the two clans couldn't stand each other, that was definitely impossible. He had to admire Konoha's clever tactics in this regard.
"Don't talk nonsense. Just say whether you'll go or not. If you go, then your sister can be named whatever you want. If not, we'll just call her... Hyuga Hammer."
"Didn't you say it would be Hanabi before?! Why would a girl be called 'Hammer'?!"
"Because you, as her older brother, lack the collective sense of honor of the Hyuga clan. So we can just choose your sister's name casually. It doesn't matter what we call her anyway."
Hmph, kid, I can't handle you? Seeing Yuki's stunned expression, although Hiashi's face remained expressionless, he was secretly laughing inside.
Hyuga Hammer... Hyuga Hammer... I don't want that!
Instantly, scenes flashed through Yuki's mind of someone with a head like a steel hammer calling him "Brother."
"Brother, can you take Hammer out to play?"
"Brother, it's thundering. Can Hammer sleep with you?"
"Hammer likes her brother the most. We must always be together."
Oh my god! A horror movie?! This is it! We're not playing Fullmetal Alchemist here!
In a corner where no one could see, Yuki let out a roar only he could hear.