If Aoba wanted the Caged Bird secret technique of the Hyuga clan, as the clan head of the Hyuga, there was absolutely no way he could agree.
But if he only wanted to study the Caged Bird seal on clan members, then he had no objection.
From the beginning of its design, the Caged Bird was never meant to have a solution. Even he, as the clan head, had no method to undo the Caged Bird.
Once engraved, there was no way to remove it.
The Hyuga clan was not afraid of others researching the Caged Bird seal, because in nearly a thousand years, no one had ever broken it.
This was the wisdom of their ancestors.
Seeing Aoba nod slightly, Hyuga Hiashi asked again, "Aoba, can you tell me why you want to study the Caged Bird?"
In his view, Aoba had no reason to want to undo the Caged Bird. The Hyuga member he had the most contact with was only Hyuga Natsu.
'It can't be that he has fallen for Natsu, right...'
'Wait!'
Hyuga Hiashi's eyes turned sharp.
He seemed to understand something.
Aoba naturally had no idea what his father-in-law was thinking, and explained, "I just had a sudden idea. Maybe I can get some inspiration from the Caged Bird technique."
'That can count as a reason…'
Hyuga Hiashi's mouth twitched, "Since that's the case, I'll find a clan member to cooperate with your research, maybe…"
"How about just letting Natsu do it?", Aoba interrupted the name Hyuga Hiashi was about to say before he could speak.
"..."
'Damn! Damn! Damn!'
Hyuga Hiashi silently said "damn" three times in his heart.
He already understood everything. The hidden dagger was revealed.
After building up so long, he thought Aoba really cared about the Hyuga clan, 'So this is the real purpose?'
After almost running off with both his daughters, now he wouldn't even let his maid go.
Who would he target next? He didn't even dare to imagine.
Looking at Hyuga Hiashi, who suddenly fell silent with a somewhat twisted expression, Aoba felt like he might've misunderstood something.
Then again, maybe it wasn't really a misunderstanding.
"Phew—", Hyuga Hiashi let out a long sigh, suppressed his emotions, and forced a straight face, "I'll talk to Natsu about this."
"Then thank you very much, Uncle Hiashi. As for the timing, how about starting after the Chunin Exams are over?"
"Alright," Hyuga Hiashi agreed with a fake smile.
"Aoba, don't tell Hinata and the others about our conversation. Also, don't let others know you intend to study the Caged Bird," In the end, Hyuga Hiashi still gave a reminder.
After all, Aoba's identity was rather sensitive. Considering how much Tsunade valued him, his actions often represented Tsunade herself.
"I understand," Aoba was fully aware, otherwise he wouldn't have chosen to speak with Hyuga Hiashi alone.
Their conversation ended.
Aoba also got up and went to the study door.
But when the door slid open, a little "kitten" collapsed onto him.
"Aoba-nii," Hyuga Hanabi, caught eavesdropping, blinked her big watery eyes.
'Trying to get by with cuteness?'
Aoba didn't say anything, just smiled and pinched her cheek.
"Aoba, stay for lunch," Seeing they had finished talking, Hyuga Ayako invited Aoba to stay for lunch.
"Okay," Aoba gladly accepted the invitation.
During the time that followed, he gave Hanabi some guidance on her training. She was his disciple after all, he couldn't just not teach her anything.
But right now, what Aoba could teach Hanabi were only some monstrous strength techniques.
Medical ninjutsu, unless she wanted to become a medical ninja, it was too early to learn now.
Gentle Fist combined with monstrous strength might actually be pretty promising.
But ever since their conversation ended, he kept feeling like Hiashi's gaze on him was a bit strange.
Full of wariness and suspicion.
At first he thought it was because of Hinata and Hanabi.
But during lunch, when Ayako was about to serve him food and got intercepted by Hiashi, Aoba realized where the problem lay.
He was sure Hiashi misunderstood something. But such things were hard to explain, so he just decided to sneak away.
———
After lunch, the sky outside had cleared up.
Aoba said goodbye to Hinata and Hanabi and headed back home.
He hadn't walked far…
"Shizune-neesan, are you waiting here especially for me?"
Looking at Shizune in a green dress standing before him, Aoba teased her lightly.
Shizune seemed too embarrassed to raise her head, and nodded with her head lowered.
She had just found out from Tsunade about what Yugao and he did every night. And thought of the task Tsunade-sama had given her.
Shizune now couldn't bring herself to look Aoba in the eye.
Aggrieved, ashamed, angry, yet expectant emotions filled her heart.
Her reaction made Aoba even more curious.
He walked up to her and waved his hand in front of her face, "Shizune-neesan, are you okay?"
Shizune snapped back immediately and quickly replied, "Ah… I'm fine!"
But her appearance made Aoba even more curious, "Shizune-neesan, are you looking for me for something?"
"Uh… Tsunade-sama just gave me a half-day off."
That answer had nothing to do with the question.
Aoba pondered silently. Looking at the unfamiliar dress she wore and her shy demeanor, he probably figured out her intention.
"This dress looks really nice, Shizune-neesan."
"R-Really?", Shizune lifted her head, her eyes full of joy from being complimented, "It's my first time wearing this kind of dress. I didn't know how it would look."
"It's a bit too pretty," Aoba praised again.
"It's not that exaggerated…", Shizune shrank her shoulders shyly and smiled.
"It's not exaggerated at all," Aoba said, "But why did Shizune-neesan suddenly decide to change clothes?"
"…Because of Tsunade-sama's mission."
"?", Aoba's eyes widened, 'That sounds kind of wild.'
"Then what's the mission Sensei gave you?"
Shizune just blinked and didn't answer.
Apparently not a serious mission.
"Have you had lunch?", Aoba changed the subject.
"Not yet, I was just out picking clothes," Shizune shook her head.
"Then let's fill your belly first." [T/N: 😅]
"But Aoba, you've probably already eaten, right?"
"It's fine. If I'm with Shizune-neesan, eating another meal is no problem."
"That won't do. Eating too much in one meal is bad for your health."
"…Then I'll just watch you eat."
"…That works."
"..."
Aoba and Shizune walked side by side.
No hand holding.
No talking.
Aoba felt like Shizune today was really easy to tease.
Like she used to be a big bad wolf, and now she'd become a little lamb.
He reached out and held her hand.
Shizune didn't resist, and even adjusted her grip to interlock fingers.
Her shy eyes held a hint of urgency.
She had raised Aoba all these years. Why was it that Yugao already did those things with him, and she still had to rely on herself.
She also wanted to go a step further.
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