The Trouble Named Hyuga
The White Eyes He Shouldn't Have
"Yo, Aoba-kun, long time no see. What's with the goggles? I'm not used to seeing you like this," the owner of the Konoha ninja tool shop said, handing Kawaki Aoba his custom ninja tools with a friendly smile.
"Ah, haha, is that so? Well, it can't be helped. I suffered an eye injury on a mission recently. I can't expose them to strong light for a while, so I found these goggles to wear," Aoba replied casually.
Though he looked like he was on a casual stroll through the village, Kawaki Aoba was actually eager to get home. Even someone like the shopkeeper—who didn't interact with him often—could tell something was off. It'd be even worse if he ran into someone who actually knew him.
If not for the fact that his ninja tools were damaged in the last mission, he wouldn't have even left the house.
After some small talk, he quickly took his new tools and rushed back toward his apartment.
Kawaki Aoba was a shinobi of Konohagakure—one with Hyuga blood in his veins.
But he was also something more unusual: a transmigrator. He'd arrived in this world—the world of Naruto—because of a freak accident in another life.
Although born with Hyuga heritage, Aoba didn't inherit the clan's Kekkei Genkai: the Byakugan. That's because he was mixed-blood. His father was a Jōnin from the Hyuga branch family, and his mother was a Chūnin from a non-ninja civilian background.
This wasn't unheard of in Konoha. While the Hyuga and Uchiha clans both prized pure bloodlines and typically married within their circles, this was only strictly enforced within their main households. The Hyuga branch family, while still bound by clan laws—including the cursed seal system—were sometimes allowed to marry outside the clan to maintain population numbers and operational flexibility.
In the case of children born from such unions, there were typically two outcomes.
The first: the child inherits the Hyuga's Kekkei Genkai and is born with the trademark milky-white eyes. These individuals carry the Hyuga surname and, upon becoming shinobi, often awaken the Byakugan.
The second: children like Kawaki Aoba—born without the pale eyes, with irises the color of any ordinary person. These individuals are not acknowledged as Hyuga in any formal sense. They are often denied the clan name and do not receive formal training in the Gentle Fist (Jūken). Still, they are considered suitable candidates for marriage from the Hyuga perspective due to their diluted bloodline.
Mixed-blood children like Aoba live lives not much different from ordinary shinobi.
That is, until the abnormal happens.
Wearing dark goggles, Kawaki Aoba now sought to hide the stark change that had occurred: he had awakened the Byakugan.
Why it happened—whether from intense emotion or life-threatening danger—didn't matter now. What mattered was concealment.
The Hyuga clan's strict views on bloodline purity and secrecy were infamous. If they discovered he had the Byakugan—especially after previously dismissing him as a non-Hyuga—it could spell serious trouble. Historically, even the Hyuga Affair with Kumogakure had led to bloodshed over the secrets of the Byakugan.
The Kekkei Genkai wasn't the problem. The timing was.
If he had awakened it during his Academy years, he might've gotten away with the goggles excuse for years, chalking it up to a quirky fashion sense.
If it had awakened after he became a seasoned Jōnin, his strength and reputation would have protected him from clan politics.
But now? The worst possible timing.
And now, no matter what he did, his newly awakened white pupils couldn't be hidden without looking suspicious.
His only option was to keep a low profile—avoid Hyuga territory, train in secret, and rise in rank. Only when he became powerful enough—perhaps on par with someone like Neji Hyuga, who was a genius among the branch family—could he confront the Hyuga elders.
But for now, laying low was key.
Unfortunately, fate wasn't on his side.
As the saying goes, "What you fear the most always finds you." Just as he turned onto his street, heading for the safety of his doorstep, two shinobi stepped out to block his path.
They were Hyuga.
One tall, one short. Both wore flak jackets—standard Chūnin attire—and both had unmistakably white eyes.
Someone had told the Hyuga clan.
Maybe one of his teammates from the last mission—they had seen him activate the Byakugan in a moment of desperation. Or maybe it was from the top—Yuhi Kurenai, his team leader, would have had to report the incident to the Third Hokage.
Either way, the Hyuga clan had found out.
And now they'd sent people to retrieve him.
Kawaki Aoba wasn't a fool. He knew how the Hyuga elders worked. He knew about the Caged Bird Seal—the technique forced onto branch family members to protect the clan's bloodline. If they considered his Byakugan "illegitimate," what would they do? Would they try to mark him too?
No. He refused to live as a prisoner in his second life.
The two Hyuga shinobi blocked his path. One of them spoke bluntly:
"Kawaki Aoba. The elders request your presence at the clan compound. Come with us."
It wasn't a request. It was a command.
Aoba gave a wry smile.
The Hyuga clan might act reserved around outsiders, but when it came to those they viewed as beneath them—especially mixed blood like him—they could be arrogant, even oppressive.
Still, Aoba responded calmly, voice low and laced with sarcasm:
"Good dogs don't block the road. Please move."
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Still Have to Fight
Kawaki Aoba considered his tone perfectly civil. He had said "please," after all.
But the Hyuga duo didn't think so. Their eyes widened, clearly unaccustomed to being talked down to—especially by someone they viewed as inferior.
"You bastard! What did you just say?!" one of them barked, clearly restraining himself from striking Aoba right there.
"Was I unclear?" Aoba shrugged. "You're standing in front of my door. I asked nicely. Please move."
His tone was calm. His words, incendiary.
He was provoking them.
Why? Because at this point, what did he have to lose? His Byakugan was already exposed. There was no turning back.
No point in begging. No point in submitting.
If fate wanted a fight, he'd give it one.
The shorter Chūnin took a threatening step forward.
Aoba was already moving. With a Body Flicker Technique (Shunshin no Jutsu), he landed several meters back, drew a kunai from his pouch, and assumed a defensive stance.
"If you attack a fellow Konoha shinobi within the village walls, does that make you enemy agents?" he said sharply. "Hiding behind the Hyuga name won't save you if the Hokage hears about this."
"Are you blind?" the taller Chūnin snapped. "We're Hyuga! How could we be enemy agents?!"
Veins bulged on their foreheads—but not from activating the Byakugan. No, this was raw anger.
Aoba didn't flinch. He leaned into the role of victim, forcing them to look like aggressors.
"You expect me to believe you're real Hyuga with fake eyes like those? Tch. Poor craftsmanship. Even a genin can tell those white eyes are imitation."
He wasn't fighting them with strength.
He was fighting with narrative.
Moral high ground.
He was a Konoha shinobi.
They were thugs sent by a noble clan to abduct someone outside of official channels.
And if it came down to a real battle?
Well, that was a problem for a few seconds later.