Chapter 17: Peeping Hinata
One week later — weekend, Training Ground 3.
Naruto still preferred training by the river here. The air was fresh and it was quiet.
For the past week, he had been sending a Shadow Clone to attend school.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
With this activation, the proficiency of Shadow Clone Jutsu finally reached max level.
Shadow Clone Jutsu (10000/10000)
Once the proficiency was maxed, Naruto gained a sudden insight and grasped a key trick.
It felt like if he explored in that direction, he might be able to comprehend Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu.
"The Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, who created the Shadow Clone Jutsu, probably figured out Multiple Shadow Clone the same way," Naruto guessed.
Now that Shadow Clone was maxed, it was time to start training chakra natures.
But before that…
Naruto glanced toward a large tree in the distance.
Someone was secretly watching him from behind it.
He pretended to walk casually in that direction. As he got closer…
Hinata, hidden behind the tree, panicked. She became flustered, her mind buzzing.
Getting caught peeping on someone was extremely embarrassing.
So Naruto didn't expose her directly. Instead, he acted as if he had just happened to run into her.
"Hm? Hinata? What a coincidence. You came to the training ground to train too?"
Hinata froze for a long moment, then nodded rapidly like a pecking chicken. She was so nervous she couldn't speak properly and could only make soft, muffled "Mm… mm…" sounds.
Naruto remembered that when he had borrowed 500,000 ryo from her, he had promised to help her train. So he suggested:
"Then how about we train together?"
"Ah? Okay!" Hinata agreed without thinking.
Half an hour later.
Under Naruto's guidance, Hinata began breathing in the rhythm of Wind Breathing.
Naruto had no hesitation about teaching her the breathing method.
In this world, Hinata was currently the person closest to him.
With her personality, he didn't have to worry about her secretly teaching it to others.
Besides, without his personal guidance, it wouldn't be easy to learn the breathing technique anyway.
Naruto activated Transparent World and looked at Hinata's lungs.
He was purely observing her breathing rhythm. Absolutely nothing else.
"Make your inhale one second longer and your exhale 0.5 seconds shorter," Naruto corrected her breathing pattern.
Hinata's talent wasn't bad, and with Naruto teaching her hands-on, she improved quickly.
Two hours later, as the sun began to set and evening arrived, Hinata gradually grasped the essentials.
Just as she was about to enter the Wind Breathing state for the first time, a cold voice rang out.
"Lady Hinata, the clan head has ordered me to bring you home!"
The newcomer also had a pair of white eyes. He had delicate features and looked one or two years older than Hinata.
Although he called her "Lady Hinata," his expression was icy and showed no respect whatsoever.
Hyuga Neji — Naruto recognized him at a glance.
Naruto stepped forward and blocked Neji from approaching Hinata.
"Wait a moment. Hinata is at a critical point in her training right now."
Neji glanced at Naruto and didn't give him any face.
"Hmph. Get out of my way!"
His arrogant tone and attitude annoyed Naruto, who shot back directly:
"And what if I don't?"
Neji narrowed his eyes. At this stage, he was still deeply trapped in the pain of his father's death as a branch family sacrifice and his hatred for the main family's caged bird system.
His personality was still quite unpleasant.
"Then don't blame me for being rude!"
Without another word, Neji activated his Byakugan and took the Gentle Fist stance.
"Oh? You're quite brave," Naruto said with a playful glint in his eyes. He bent down, picked up a tree branch from the ground, and used it as a weapon.
Seeing that playful look, something fragile inside Neji snapped.
No longer hesitating, he attacked with Gentle Fist. His first strike aimed straight for a vital point on Naruto's chest.
Transparent World was already active. In Naruto's eyes, Neji's Gentle Fist was full of openings.
First Form: Dust Whirlwind Slash!
He instantly turned into a cyan tornado and flashed toward Neji.
Even in Byakugan state, Neji felt a surge of alarm at the ferocious incoming strike.
The overwhelming pressure of the First Form gave him no time to hesitate. He could only switch from attack to defense.
"Rotation!"
Neji spun at high speed, forming a circular chakra shield around himself.
This was the Hyuga clan's secret technique. Its defensive power was astonishing — almost no blind spots except from below.
It could even repel and heavily injure opponents.
Naruto hadn't expected Neji to have already learned Rotation at this age.
However, the "shield" of this Rotation looked much smaller than in the original story. Clearly, he hadn't fully mastered it yet.
Neji thought Naruto would dodge his technique.
But Naruto charged straight into the Rotation.
Seeing this, the corner of Neji's mouth curled into a cold smile. "Hmph. You're asking for death!"
He could already imagine Naruto being blasted away and spitting blood.
However, when the cyan tornado collided with the white Rotation—
The tornado instantly shattered the Rotation!
The destructive power of the First Form was far beyond what this incomplete Rotation could withstand!
Neji was sent flying more than ten meters and crashed heavily to the ground. Blood leaked from the corner of his mouth, and his smooth black hair was scattered messily.
Lying on the ground, he stared at the steadily landing Naruto with eyes full of disbelief and roared hoarsely:
"How is that possible?! How could Rotation be broken?!"
Having endured the wind blades of the First Form, the tree branch in Naruto's hand had shattered into countless wooden splinters. He looked calmly at the beaten Neji.
"So this is what they call a genius? Truly fragile."
In the academy, Neji was often called a genius by his classmates.
After hearing it so many times, he had indeed developed some arrogance.
Now, being crushed in a single move by someone his own age, the huge gap left Neji feeling deeply defeated.
But Naruto wasn't done.
"Earlier you called Hinata 'Lady Hinata,' but the look on your face showed you were clearly unwilling. Right?"
These words made Neji's defeated eyes turn cold again.
"Heh. You take all your resentment toward the main family and branch family system and vent it on a cousin who actually cares about you. With such a narrow mind, how are you any better than the main family?"
Neji felt as if he had been struck by lightning and froze in place.
"Neji-niisan, where are we going to play today?"
"Neji-niisan, these three-colored dango are so delicious. Do you want some?"
...
Neji recalled the days before the caged bird seal, when Hinata would always follow behind him, calling him "Neji-niisan" warmly.
But ever since his father died, he had never shown this little sister a kind face again.
Combined with his belief that his talent far surpassed hers, yet he still had to call her "Lady," resentment had naturally built up in his heart.
Now that Naruto had pointed it out, Neji felt a complex mix of emotions — shame and powerlessness.
At that moment, Hinata finally managed to enter the Wind Breathing state.
But instead of joy, tears welled up in the corners of her eyes. She had heard the entire conversation between Naruto and Neji.
Seeing the tears in Hinata's eyes, Neji felt as if he had been stabbed. He didn't dare meet her gaze.
He turned around and staggered away in panic.
"Naruto-kun… thank you…" Hinata looked at him and said softly.
Naruto's actions just now had made her feel genuine care.
"It's nothing."
Naruto smiled and reminded her, "Remember this breathing state."
He then gave her some sincere praise.
Listening to Naruto's gentle words and feeling the positive feedback from successfully training made Hinata feel deeply satisfied.
It was the complete opposite of the oppressive atmosphere at home.
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