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After parting ways with Hinata, Neji returned to his quiet home.
The courtyard, once filled with laughter and footsteps, now echoed only silence. Truly alone now.
He wasn't crying couldn't cry. Not after he'd gouged out his own eyes with his bare hands. There were no tears left in his heart to shed.
Maybe... there never were.
Inside, he retrieved a first-aid kit, sterilizing and fitting artificial prosthetics into his empty sockets not for vision, but to prevent long-term disfigurement. If he was going to walk around blind, at least he'd walk tall.
His logic was clear: if they were going to brand him with the Cursed Seal, then the Byakugan... was better off gone.
Eyes? Replaceable.
Freedom? Priceless.
In fact, losing them only made his Observation of Haki sharper. His sensory field, or "Mind Net," as he called it, had grown stronger. He was learning the way of men like Uncle Issho and Gyomei Himejima who saw not with their eyes but with their hearts.
Of course, none of this should've happened.
His first life, a reckless journey through a pirate-infested sea in another world, ended in tragedy. Too naïve. Too late.
So he sold everything his soul, his fate, his future for a second chance.
Now, he lived as Neji.
"If only I hadn't been so stupid the first time... maybe I'd still have both my life and my eyes."
With a half-sarcastic grin, he opened the interface floating in his vision his system panel.
[Level: 1]
[Class: Sensory Combat Specialist]
"Figures," he muttered. "Blind and broke. If only I was Ashura... I'd be selling steel bowls outside a shrine by now."
Still, this life had a different path.
The Hyūga clan's famed Gentle Fist required the Byakugan. Without it, Neji would have to create something new. A martial art built from inner force, not bloodline.
And ironically, thanks to the stunt he pulled, the Hyūga elders didn't know what to do with him. No eyes meant no seal. And no seal meant... freedom.
Hiashi hadn't punished him. Quite the opposite he'd started personally guiding Neji in chakra control, even acquiring access to medical ninjutsu training.
So Neji threw himself into it all: chakra Control, meditation, body training, and mastering both forms of Haki.
He didn't stop until a full year passed, and it was time for...
Ninja Academy.
---
At the Academy Gates
Hiashi personally brought Neji and Hinata to the entrance an unusual sight that raised eyebrows.
People whispered. Of course, they did.
Rumors reached Neji through his enhanced senses whispers of a boy who ripped out his own eyes, whose father died a traitor. But he didn't flinch.
"Neji," Hiashi said firmly, "your sensory prowess convinced not just me, but Lord Third as well. You belong here."
He hesitated. "If only your eyes hadn't..."
Neji interrupted him with a calm voice. "Please, Clan Head. Let the past stay buried."
Hiashi nodded solemnly. This boy, just six years old, spoke with the weight of a grown man.
"I've spoken to the instructors. They'll be keeping an eye on you for support, not surveillance."
Neji raised an eyebrow. 'Was Hiashi... feeling guilty?'
He bowed slightly. "Understood."
From beside them, Hinata piped up sweetly, "Good luck, Neji-nii!"
That alone made Neji smile.
"I'll be going now."
Despite the blindfold, he walked confidently, navigating the crowd with practiced ease. Parents and students alike stared some in awe, others in disbelief.
One girl, her hair tied in twin buns, couldn't take her eyes off him.
"Is that the Hyūga boy who blinded himself?" she whispered. "Why... why does he look kinda cool?"
Tenten, wide-eyed, hurried after him.
Along the way, Neji also noticed another... peculiar student.
Thick brows. Braided hair. A green jumpsuit.
Rock Lee.
'Even in this life... that guy still makes an impression,' Neji mused.
---
Opening Ceremony
It was boring.
Third Hokage gave his usual speech full of Will of Fire rhetoric. Neji tuned out halfway through, his breathing calm and slow, as if asleep.
Coincidence or fate, his desk neighbors ended up being Tenten and Lee.
Tenten peeked sideways with star in her eyes!
'He's really sleeping?! While the Hokage is speaking?! That's... kinda badass?'
As the ceremony ended, a teacher's voice cut through the noise. "Students, time to assemble!"
Tenten was about to wake Neji when—
"I'm Lee!" a confident, boisterous voice declared. "Our teacher is calling! We must go, together!"
Tenten blinked. "I'm Tenten..."
Neji's ears twitched. He slowly sat up.
"I'm Neji," he said softly. "Let's go."
His calm voice cut through the tension like a breeze. Tenten felt her heart flutter.
'He doesn't seem scary at all... maybe the rumors are wrong.'
And so, the trio walked together.
---
In Class
Their homeroom teacher took attendance and then smiled at the new trio.
"Lee, Tenten, you'll sit next to Neji and help him out, alright?"
He addressed the class. "You've probably heard stories... but listen up. Neji's enrollment was personally approved by Lord Hokage himself. And his skills are no joke."
Murmurs filled the classroom.
Except Lee, who just scratched his head in confusion.
"What's so special about Neji?"
(He really had no idea.)
Neji ignored the noise. He wasn't here to impress anyone. Just to survive... and prepare.
He gently passed his fingers over his textbook, flowing chakra into his fingertips. The letters and diagrams formed in his mind like echoes reading without seeing.
A blind prodigy.
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[Support with 100 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter]