As a self-respecting anime, manga, and game nerd, Miyuki was at least somewhat familiar with this ninja world. He wasn't a diehard superfan or anything, but he remembered the major characters, the backstories, and the general plot well enough.
And one thing he knew for damn sure: Hyuuga Hiashi did not have a son named Miyuki. The man had two daughters. Hinata and Hanabi. That was it.
So I'm a bonus kid. Timeline divergence, probably. Once that clicked, Miyuki let out a dry laugh, but shook it off quickly.
It was what it was. No point agonizing over details he couldn't change. Might as well buckle down and enjoy this new life...
"Here. This is the place. Go on in."
"Huh?"
Before Miyuki could even finish his little internal pep talk, his bargain-bin dad Hiashi stopped in front of a dark opening tucked deep into the back of the main building. He pointed at what could only be described as a pitch-black cave.
"I'm going in... there? To do what, exactly?"
Staring into that creepy hole, Miyuki felt beads of sweat forming on his tiny forehead. He did not want to go in there. Not even a little.
"I already told you. Clan law requires the firstborn heir to perform a three-hour ancestral prayer ceremony at age three. You kneel, you pray, the ancestors bless you."
"Oh. So I have to sit in there alone for three hours?"
"No, no, no. Technically, you have to kneel for three hours."
A faint glint of amusement flickered through Hiashi's pale eyes, the ones that always looked a little cold thanks to the whole Byakugan situation.
Clearly, Hiashi had gone through this exact same thing as a kid. He knew the pain. And he was enjoying watching his son discover it.
Whatever. Fine. It's not like I have anything better to do.
After confirming that no amount of talking was going to get him out of this, Miyuki sucked it up and walked into the cave, heading deeper toward the shrine's inner chamber.
The tunnel was ancient. The stone walls looked like they hadn't been touched in centuries, and the passage went far deeper than expected. Walking through it felt like stepping through a crack in time itself, like he was being swallowed into a world that existed a hundred years ago.
"Oh, okay. This actually isn't bad."
When he finally reached the inner chamber, Miyuki couldn't help but let out a low whistle.
At the center of the shrine stood a life-sized statue carved from a single block of white jade. The craftsmanship was insane. Every detail was razor-sharp, clearly the work of a master artisan.
The face on the statue was unmistakable. Elegant, refined, but radiating an intense authority. No question about it: this was the "ancestor" Hiashi had been talking about.
"Too bad they got it wrong, though. The real Hyuuga ancestors are those aliens chilling on the moon right now. And trust me, they don't look nearly this normal."
Miyuki snickered. He couldn't help it. He knew exactly where the Hyuuga bloodline actually came from.
Then again, the Hyuuga weren't special in that regard. The Uchiha, Senju, Uzumaki, all the major clans were descendants of the same bunch of extraterrestrial weirdos. Honestly, calling this world "Ootsutsuki Theme Park" wouldn't even be that much of a stretch.
"So wait... does that make me part alien too?"
He glanced at the statue, then down at the cushion placed in front of it, and his mouth twitched.
Three hours of kneeling. Whichever past clan head came up with this ceremony definitely did it to punish their kids for being little brats. There was no other explanation.
"Screw it, I'm taking a nap. Nobody's watching, right?"
He checked the room. The shrine was small. One door, one passage, and every other surface was solid stone covered in old seal markings.
In other words, once that door closed, nobody outside would have a clue what was happening inside. He could sleep for three hours and no one would know the difference.
Decision made, Miyuki stood up. Because honestly, only an idiot would actually kneel in front of a statue for three hours when nobody was checking.
"Yeah, this spot works. Looks comfy enough."
His tiny body flopped onto the ground behind the statue. He closed his eyes.
"G'night, ancestor dude."
Lying on his side in the shadow of the jade figure, Miyuki drifted off.
In his sleep, he saw things. Visions, maybe. Flashes of the future. A colossal divine tree descending from the sky. A three-eyed, white-haired woman appearing on the face of the earth like something out of a nightmare...
"Ootsutsuki... Kaguya."
The name slipped out of his mouth while he slept. And honestly, fair enough. That three-eyed demon goddess was hard to forget even on a good day. Plus, technically speaking, she was his actual ancestor now. His literal great-great-great-however-many-greats grandmother.
But the instant that name left his lips, something changed.
A faint light bloomed in the pitch-dark chamber. And along with it, Miyuki felt something. A gaze. Someone was watching him.
He hadn't opened his eyes yet, but anyone who's ever felt eyes on them in the dark knows the sensation. That prickling awareness crawling up the back of your neck. You don't mistake that for anything else.
Who? No, that's impossible. I'm the only one in here. But this feeling, this presence...
The sudden shift snapped him awake. His drowsiness evaporated in an instant.
Slowly, carefully, he cracked his eyes open. Turned his head toward whatever was behind him at the absolute slowest speed he could manage. And then...
"WHAAAAAT?!"
His shriek bounced off the walls of the shrine over and over, echoing like something straight out of a horror movie.
"?"
But while Miyuki was busy losing his mind, the figure that had materialized behind him simply tilted its head to the side. A confused expression. Like it genuinely couldn't understand why its master was freaking out.
This is... what...
Once his heart rate dropped enough for him to actually see what he was looking at, Miyuki froze all over again. Because this mysterious "creature" that had appeared out of nowhere was... a very cute little girl.
Yes. A very cute little girl.
She looked about three or four years old, but that tiny face already carried the blueprint of something devastating. Classical features, the kind of beauty that in a decade or two would bring entire nations to their knees. A pair of round, arched eyebrows gave her an oddly playful elegance. She wore a loose white dress that was way too big for her small frame.
But the thing that hit hardest was the hair. Pure white, flowing down past her feet like a waterfall and pooling on the stone floor without picking up a single speck of dust. And on top of her head, two protrusions stuck straight up. They looked exactly like rabbit ears.
The whole picture was like staring at a tiny, human-shaped moon rabbit...
Wait. Why did my brain go to "rabbit"? Looking at her more carefully, she doesn't look like a rabbit at all. She looks like...
The realization hit him like a truck. He whipped his head away, thought about it for half a second, whipped it back, stared at the little girl, and clapped his hands together.
"Right! You don't look like a rabbit. You look like Ootsutsuki Kaguya. Ha ha ha... PLEASE HAVE MERCY!"
The moment it clicked, Miyuki's body moved on pure survival instinct. He hit the ground in the most spectacular dogeza of his entire life, past or present. Forehead to the floor. Palms flat. Full submission.
In anime terms, this was the ultimate technique. The legendary "Flying Prostration of Absolute Surrender." You launch your entire body downward at maximum speed, slam your hands and face into the ground, and beg for your life with every fiber of your being.
Historically speaking, this move had a near-perfect success rate. If you pulled it off correctly, you survived. Which made it, arguably, the greatest defensive technique ever invented. A move that could grant immortality through the sheer power of groveling.
"???"
But despite Miyuki busting out his strongest move, the tiny Kaguya didn't react at all. She just hovered there, watching him, doing absolutely nothing.
Huh? She doesn't seem to... know anything? What is this, then?
Realizing that baby Kaguya had zero intention of smiting him, Miyuki's courage started creeping back. He raised his head and looked at her again, more carefully this time.
Hold on. Something's off. Why do I feel this... closeness with her? Like there's a connection between us. Like she's part of me, somehow.
After studying her for a few seconds, he worked up the nerve to reach out his hand toward her.
At the same time, the tiny Kaguya raised her own pale, delicate hand and reached back toward him.
"Ngh...! This is...!"
The instant their fingertips touched, a flood of information surged into Miyuki's brain like an electric shock.