Chapter 29 – Hyūga Neji
The Hyūga clan is very conservative! Not only do they not participate in any of Konoha's high-level decisions, but they also maintain a low profile within the village. Aside from interacting with clan members, they rarely allow outsiders to enter their compound.
Originally, after agreeing with Uchiha Itachi to win over the Hyūga clan, Izaya had wanted to make contact with them. But… he never found an opportunity. And the Hyūga Neji before him now… was a perfect chance for Izaya!
But Izaya still didn't know why Hyūga Neji would follow Tenten to his home… and come here to play. Based on Izaya's understanding of Hyūga Neji, under normal circumstances, Neji would never come out…
Although in the original Naruto story, Tenten, Hyūga Neji, and Rock Lee all belonged to Might Guy's taijutsu team, that was then! The Uchiha massacre hadn't happened yet. The Konoha 11 hadn't even enrolled in the Academy. Izaya absolutely did not believe that Tenten and Hyūga Neji knew each other at this time!
Thinking this, Izaya directly asked Tenten, "Who is this little boy? Why did he come with you?"
"Huh?" Seeing Izaya's question, Tenten stopped what she was doing with the food in her hands. She pointed at Hyūga Neji and said, "I don't know his name. But he was following me earlier, so I asked him if he wanted to go on a spring outing. He nodded, so I brought him along."
"Damn, so Tenten doesn't even know Hyūga Neji!" Upon hearing Tenten's answer, a look of surprise flashed across Izaya's face, followed by a helpless shake of his head. He had considered various possibilities before Tenten answered, but he never expected… that she had brought Hyūga Neji along without even knowing him…
After understanding the situation, Izaya casually walked over to Hyūga Neji. After observing him for a moment, Izaya noticed something very interesting: from the moment Hyūga Neji entered, he had been staring intently at Tenten!
"Good grief, is this guy Neji a lolicon?" Izaya hadn't thought so at first, but the more he looked at Neji, the more it seemed that way! "This kid is trying to steal the cabbage I've been cultivating!"
Realizing Neji's intentions, Izaya felt like the loli he had been raising was about to be taken. Although in the original story, Tenten and Neji were on the same team and shared a strong comradely bond, right now, Tenten belonged to Izaya!
Thinking this, Izaya went straight to Tenten and said in a warning tone, "Next time you encounter a little boy following you, be careful! He might be a bad person!"
"Oh…" Hearing Izaya's words, Tenten glanced at Neji, then said in a timid voice, "But… he doesn't look like a bad person…"
"No! I absolutely cannot allow these guys to develop early romances!" Upon hearing Tenten's reply, Izaya went directly to Neji and feigned confusion, "What's your name, little guy? And why were you following Tenten?"
"I wasn't following her." Facing Izaya's question, Hyūga Neji slowly raised his head. He looked at Tenten behind Izaya before continuing, "I was just brought here by her."
"What's with this guy?!" Hearing Hyūga Neji's answer, Izaya felt utterly helpless. He never expected Neji to give such a reply. To get to the bottom of this, Izaya asked directly, "What exactly happened?"
"It's like this…" Seeing Izaya's questioning expression, Hyūga Neji began explaining slowly.
Originally, Hyūga Neji had just wanted to wander around Konoha Village before returning home to train. But unexpectedly, while passing by a ninja tool shop, he accidentally bumped into a little girl. Under normal circumstances, Hyūga Neji would never pay attention to such a thing… but… just as he was about to leave, the little girl proactively asked him if he wanted to go somewhere fun. Hearing this, Hyūga Neji was momentarily stunned. Just as he was about to refuse, the little girl in front of him simply left… To figure out what was going on, Neji had followed her…
"So that's how it is…" After listening to Neji's explanation, a mix of helplessness and conflict appeared on Izaya's face. He then went straight to Tenten to question her.
By now, Tenten had also realized that Izaya's expression wasn't quite right and immediately explained, "He was following me. I thought he wanted to go on the spring outing too."
"From now on, you are not allowed to talk to strangers casually!" Izaya had always thought little Tenten was a harmless loli, but judging by this… that clearly wasn't the case… And also… Izaya truly hadn't expected Hyūga Neji to be so… unbelievable…
Looking at the two little kids beside him, Izaya shook his head helplessly. He then approached Neji and said, "Since it's all a misunderstanding, you should head back now…"
"Okay." Hearing Izaya's words, Hyūga Neji didn't say much and immediately turned to leave. But he stopped after taking only a few steps…
"What's wrong?" Seeing this, Izaya immediately asked. Noticing a flicker of conflict on Hyūga Neji's face, Izaya pressed, "Is there something else?"
"I'm lost…" After a moment of hesitation, Hyūga Neji stated the reason he had stopped.
"Lost?!" "You're lost?!" Upon hearing the reason, Izaya was shocked! He even wondered if he had misheard and asked again.
In Izaya's impression, with the Byakugan's penetrating vision, and given that Neji was one of the most well-rounded members of the Konoha 11 in the early story—not only outstanding in strength but also above average in responsibility, ability, and emotional intelligence—for him to now tell Izaya he was lost… made Izaya feel completely off-balance.
If not for the Byakugan in his eyes proving his identity, Izaya would truly suspect the guy before him was an imposter…
"Because it's my first time here, and it's far from the village center, so…" After giving his reason, a trace of embarrassment flashed across Hyūga Neji's typically cool face… If he really hadn't been unable to find his way home, he would never have given this reason.
"Alright, one more thing to do today…" Realizing Hyūga Neji wasn't lying, a look of helplessness crossed Izaya's face. He then called out to Tenten inside the house, "Tenten, come with me! We're sending this kid back!"
The moment he spoke, Tenten quickly came to Izaya's side and said obediently, "Okay…"