Konoha's Hyuga Compound was a place of silence and structure. Ancient stone walls guarded its inner sanctum, and rules weighed heavier than the very air its clan breathed.
There, in a secluded courtyard under moonlight, Neji Hyuga stood alone—barefoot, shirtless, practicing palm strikes against a reinforced post etched with impact seals.
Sweat poured down his body. Each strike reverberated through the compound like a whisper of thunder.
"Sixty-Four Palms…"
He struck again.
"…One Hundred Twenty-Eight…"
Again.
Why am I still not enough?
His Byakugan flared with chakra. He saw the flow of his own tenketsu. Every point. Every failure. Every limitation.
And then he heard it.
A voice.
"Your cage was made of chakra, not iron."
Neji spun, chakra spiking defensively.
But no one was there.
Then—
Something dropped from the sky and landed silently before him: a scroll.
Ancient. Bound in black silk. Marked with an emblem he had never seen before.
A symbol shaped like a spiral… devoured by a void.
Neji approached slowly, instincts screaming.
He unrolled the scroll.
His Byakugan flickered—and then flared wide.
Inside were diagrams. Forbidden ones.
A method for disabling the Cursed Seal of the Hyuga Branch Family.
"Impossible…"
The techniques referenced weren't based on medical ninjutsu or seal breaking… but on dimensional resonance. On disrupting chakra pathways by mimicking void decay patterns.
At the bottom of the scroll, one word was written in flawless ink:
"Choose."
Elsewhere – On a Rooftop Near the Academy
Ardyn watched from a distance as Neji absorbed the scroll.
He hadn't written it himself. The System had auto-generated the technique based on his Void Chakra algorithms.
A gift. Or a weapon.
Let's see what you do with freedom, Neji Hyuga.
The Next Morning – Academy Classroom
Ardyn sat in the far corner, as usual. Eyes half-lidded. Bored.
The other students had mostly adjusted to him—mostly. Naruto still watched him with equal parts confusion and suspicion. Sasuke ignored him. Sakura kept trying to ask questions but bailed every time he looked her way.
But Hinata… she was changing.
She glanced at him more often. Sat closer. As if drawn.
Today, she finally gathered the courage to whisper, "You look tired…"
Ardyn blinked slowly.
"I fought a demon engineered by a madman last night."
She smiled nervously, thinking it was a joke. "Haha… right."
He stared at her.
She stopped smiling.
Then blushed and looked away.
System Interface – Background Sync Running…
[Neji Hyuga's Mental State: Elevated]
[Branch Family Tension: +17%]
[Mission Trigger Unlocked: "Break the Chains" – Side Quest Available]
Later – Hyuga Compound
Neji stood before his uncle, Hiashi Hyuga.
In his hand: the scroll.
"This," Neji said, voice tight, "is proof the seal is not our destiny."
Hiashi's eyes narrowed. "Where did you get that?"
Neji said nothing.
Hiashi approached, reading the scroll over his shoulder.
And for the first time… the clan head paled.
"This symbol… this method…" Hiashi looked up slowly. "This is not of our world."
Neji turned.
"I don't care where it's from. I want it tested."
"Do you understand what this would mean?" Hiashi's tone darkened. "If this reaches the Elders—"
"They won't stop me. Not this time."
Hiashi's hand rested briefly on Neji's shoulder. A gesture of warning. Or perhaps… restraint.
"We'll speak again. In private."
Elsewhere – ROOT Archives
Danzo stared at a flickering console displaying clan data.
The Hyuga branch seal.
Now… corrupted.
Someone had fed the Hyuga heir a backdoor to an ancient curse.
And only one entity in the village had the access, the intellect, and the void-aligned code signature to bypass it.
Danzo's lip curled.
The boy isn't just dangerous. He's destabilizing the village.
He slammed his fist on the console.
"Prepare the next move."
That Night – Ardyn's Quarters
He sat in his bed, the room silent except for the occasional chirp of crickets outside.
System Interface: Active.
Multiverse Anchor Stability: 91%
New Void Signature Detected: South Konoha Border
Entity: Unknown | Status: Weak | Alignment: [ ??? ]
He narrowed his eyes.
Not from this world.
Not from any known timeline.
He stood, grabbed his cloak, and whispered to himself:
"And the cracks begin to spread."
In the Forest – South Konoha Border
A figure stumbled out of the trees, collapsing onto the road.
She was bruised, bloodied, and clearly not native to this dimension. Her eyes glowed gold, her hair a shimmering white.
And around her neck…
Hung a cracked Omnitrix.
[CHAPTER END | NEXT: The Girl from Another Multiverse]