Chapter 34 – Fallen Light

The arena was silent as the names lit up.

HINATA HYUGA vs NEJI HYUGA

Gasps rippled through the crowd. Clan against clan. Blood against blood.

Hinata stepped forward, staff in hand, and Kuro beside her. The dog growled low, reading the tension.

"Not this time," Hinata whispered, placing a gentle hand on her head.

Kuro whined and backed off, reluctantly. Michel stood just behind Hinata's shoulder, silent, alert.

Across from her, Neji descended. Calm. Cold.

"Wise," Neji said, glancing at Kuro. "You kept your mutt back. Shame. I was hoping to settle that mystery. No one's proven anything… but I know that dog's behind at least half the chaos in the compound."

Hinata didn't flinch.

Neji's voice dropped lower. "I've waited for this."

He stepped into position, eyes locked on her. "You're a disgrace to the clan. Your chakra—barely adequate for a genin. No Byakugan. No power. No purpose. Only a name you didn't earn."

Hinata looked down.

"The fallen princess," he continued. "A symbol of failure, dragging our name through the mud. You were born to lose. To be discarded."

Each word hit like a blade. Michel tensed. His threads ached to rise—but he held.

Hinata's hands trembled.

Then—

"Naruto," she whispered.

The memory of his voice echoed in her mind.

"Don't let them decide who you are."

She raised her head.

"I didn't come to lose."

Hayate signaled the start.

<<<< o >>>>

Neji's stance was perfect. Fluid. Traditional.

Hinata raised her staff.

Neji scoffed. "A toy against a Hyuga?"

Hinata formed three clones—basic illusions made manifest semesly by walking, a masterful use.

Neji rolled his eyes. "Pointless. I see the real one."

But then she moved.

The real Hinata vanished. One of the clones advanced—and disappeared. Behind Neji, the other clone lunged—too slow.

But it wasn't a clone.

Hinata struck.

Staff to ribs.

Boost.

Neji stumbled back, stunned.

The crowd gasped.

"Trickery," he spat. "Won't work again."

He surged forward. Gentle Fist flaring. She pivoted, preparing to evade—

—but he struck true.

Her right arm went numb.

"Tenketsu sealed," he said. "And now, as always, you lose."

Hinata backed away, panting.

Michel whispered to the sky, unseen.

Not yet.

She weaved hand signs—her genjutsu 'sensory overload'.

Neji paused. Frowned.

The world tilted around him—but only briefly.

He broke it.

Struck again.

Hinata fell.

"One arm left," he said. "Just like your options. None."

Hinata pushed herself up. Her lips trembled.

"Your life," Neji said, "is a series of defeats. You failed as heir. Failed as a shinobi. Failed your family. You were born to fall."

Hinata's eyes narrowed. Breath trembling. Heart screaming.

Boost.

She surged forward. All her chakra. All her fury.

Staff aimed at his heart.

Neji moved.

"Eight Trigrams: Palm Rotation!"

A dome of force exploded around him.

Hinata was flung across the arena.

She hit the wall hard. The sound of snapping wood—and bone—echoed louder than the crowd.

She lay still.

Silence.

Naruto's voice echoed again.

"Stand up. Even if it hurts. Especially then."

Her fingers twitched.

Kuro whimpered from above.

Michel's silver threads reached forward—stopping just short of touching her.

"No," he whispered. "This is hers."

Hinata rose.

Neji's eyes flared—Byakugan active.

Then they widened.

"What…?"

Her chakra—

—it was igniting.

Not just flaring.

Refining.

It coursed through her body not like a flood, but like a melody—each note deliberate. Even the disabled arm moved. Strings of chakra guiding it.

"She's… controlling it?" Neji muttered.

Michel gasped.

She's seeing it.

Hinata's lips parted.

"I can see you now, Grandfather."

Michel froze.

She sees me.

Not with memory.

But with instinct. With soul.

She gripped the broken half of her staff.

Neji attacked.

She moved.

Not with panic.

But with grace.

Micro-boosts. Not guided by Michel this time—but her own will alone, her own refinement of everything she'd learned. Two lives as one.

Precision dodges.

Every strike parried, redirected, evaded.

The audience murmured. Then shouted.

"Is that…leaf taijutsu?"

"No—it's something else!"

Kiba stood. Shino leaned forward.

Kurenai didn't speak. But her knuckles whitened around the railing.

Michel whispered: She's moving like the Silver World Hinata. And then—he felt it. A sudden pulse. Her mind awakening. She remembers... everything.

Each move flowed to the next.

Neji attacked with another spin "Eight Trigrams: Pa…"—

A micro boost—Hinata was already at Neji's side, followed fluidly by another boost and a sweeping foot trip.

—He hit the ground, dazed.

"What is this?!"

Hinata stood over him.

"Who says… I can't use the Byakugan?"

Neji's eyes widened—truly now.

Because he saw it.

Her chakra focused in her eyes.

Twin lights ignited.

Not the Byakugan he knew.

Something evolved.

And for a moment, she was free.

Whole.

Seen.

But then—

He saw the other thing.

The cursed seal.

It flared.

No one touched it.

No one activated it.

But the moment her eyes changed—

—the seal read it as manipulation.

It ignited.

Hinata screamed.

Michel roared in silence.

Chakra seared across her forehead.

The lights faded.

She fell.

The crowd went silent.

Neji knelt, stunned.

Hayate rushed in.

"Stop! Medical team!"

Michel descended slowly.

Not even silver threads dared touch her.

Her light was too bright, he thought. And they sealed it shut.

Fallen light.