The Gap Between a Top Student and a Genius

Stare!

Secretly observing!

It was taijutsu class that afternoon, so school let out early.

Hinata did not want to go home so soon either. With the allowance money for both herself and Neji tucked into her pocket, it would be terribly rude to keep Konoha's delicious food waiting too long.

She had not gone far beyond the school gates when Hinata sensed that someone was following her.

Could someone be after my Byakugan?

Byakugan!

Alarmed, Hinata quickly activated her Byakugan and observed her surroundings.

The Uchiha Clan's Sharingan needed stimulation before it could awaken. Every evolution of the Sharingan represented another experience of pain.

The Hyuga Clan's Byakugan, however, was much easier to awaken. As long as one had enough chakra and mastered the method, the Byakugan would naturally open.

"..."

Aside from Tokuma Hyuga, who was hidden in the shadows, the ones following her were actually those two brats, Naruto and Sasuke.

Stalking her?

Hinata shuddered.

They couldn't possibly have some inappropriate thoughts about me, could they?

Hinata shook her head. She must have been overthinking it. Those two boys had not even reached puberty yet. How could they possibly be capable of that?

She casually deactivated her Byakugan. With Tokuma Hyuga protecting her anyway, she could not be bothered with those two reincarnated deities.

The principle that opposites attracted did not apply to Naruto and Sasuke.

From the perspective of reincarnation, those two had loved and fought each other for a thousand years.

Once she reached the snack street, Hinata's arms were soon piled high with snacks.

Though she possessed an adult soul, it was worth considering whether the soul controlled the body, or whether the body's physiological responses controlled the soul.

Ever since she had transmigrated into a child, especially a little girl, Hinata felt that her behavior had increasingly begun to resemble that of a child.

When she reached Hokage Rock, Hinata sat down and looked over the scenery of all Konoha. Three-Color Dumplings paired with red bean soup—what bliss!

Not far from Hinata, Sasuke hid behind a large tree and secretly watched her.

Of course, Sasuke had not been bewitched by her looks and come to harbor improper intentions toward Hinata.

He simply was not that kind of person.

Sasuke merely wanted to see how Hinata usually trained.

Burdened by a blood-deep vendetta, what Sasuke desired most was strength.

As for Naruto, he had actually followed Sasuke there.

Hinata was the first friend Naruto had made at the Ninja Academy, but for some reason, the person Naruto cared about most was Sasuke.

Naruto and Sasuke had barely spoken a few words to each other. Naruto simply could not stand Sasuke's arrogance, so he often provoked him and used that to draw everyone's attention.

Yet there seemed to be some invisible force pulling them together. Sasuke and Naruto's first bond had formed in this unintentional way.

She came all the way here just to eat snacks?

Sasuke simply could not understand Hinata's behavior.

In class at the Ninja Academy, Hinata either stared blankly into space, secretly ate snacks with Choji, occasionally slept with her head on the desk, or read novels.

Even during outdoor classes, Hinata rarely trained with any focus.

Take Shuriken practice, for example.

When others practiced with Shuriken, they would first throw them at the target, then retrieve them, throw them again, and repeat the process over and over.

But what about Hinata?

She would throw the Shuriken handed out by the teacher at the target, then vanish from the spot. You might later find her sound asleep beneath the shade of some tree.

Yet despite being someone who never studied seriously, she came first in the class in every exam, while Sasuke was always stuck in second place.

There was not a single subject in which Sasuke's grades surpassed Hinata's. At best, he could only tie her with a perfect score.

During sparring in taijutsu class, as long as Hinata got even a little serious, Sasuke could hardly last more than a few moves against her.

After finishing two skewers of dumplings, Hinata tucked the sticks between her fingers and flicked her wrist. The two sticks shot through the air and embedded themselves in the tree where Sasuke and Naruto were hiding.

"You've followed me all this way. Come out!"

If anyone else had followed her, Hinata would have simply pretended not to notice.

But Sasuke and Naruto were the saviors of the world, the future big shots of the ninja world.

Hinata had to be extra careful around people like them.

With their whereabouts exposed by Hinata, Naruto and Sasuke stepped out of hiding.

Without even sparing Naruto a glance, Sasuke demanded, "Do you not train at all normally?"

Oh!

Hinata immediately became interested.

Sasuke was upset!

Let me show you the gap between a genius and a top student!

Hinata nodded very seriously. "That's right! Training is exhausting. I train for two hours at most every day."

Sasuke and Naruto: "..."

Setting aside the cheats Naruto and Sasuke possessed, they actually trained very hard. Though they did not train in the self-torturing manner of Rock Lee, every session still left them covered in injuries.

In the Original Story, Naruto's training for the Rasenshuriken had genuinely put his life in danger.

Naturally, Sasuke believed Hinata was lying to him. He immediately said in dissatisfaction, "Then how could you possibly be this strong?"

Hinata took a bite of her dumpling, looked at Sasuke with an innocent expression, and smiled. "Maybe it's because my talent is just that good!"

Hinata naturally dreamed of becoming very strong as well.

Judging by the timeline, in around ten years, Obito Uchiha would declare war at the Kage Summit and begin the Fourth Shinobi World War.

But training was simply too exhausting.

If Hinata had been a diligent person, she would not have been labeled a poor student in her previous life. After graduation, the Hinata of her previous life had even earned the title of "shut-in." Her figure had not been much worse than those of the Akimichi Clan.

At the beginning of her transmigration, Hinata had still longed for the wondrous ninja arts.

But as time passed... heh, that was all there was to it. Nothing particularly remarkable.

Besides, Hinata's talent could now be called the greatest in the history of the ninja world. She truly only needed to train casually for her strength to improve rapidly.

At seven years old, aside from her insufficient chakra reserves, Hinata already possessed the strength of a Chunin.

She simply lacked combat experience and the ability to adapt in the split second between life and death.

She could fight a Chunin to a draw in a spar, but in a life-or-death battle, Hinata would not be a match for one.

Sasuke felt somewhat despairing. Could effort truly not compare to talent?

Itachi Uchiha was the strongest genius in Sasuke's heart, yet Sasuke could not even defeat Hinata now. How could he ever speak of taking revenge on Itachi Uchiha?

Seeing Sasuke looking somewhat dejected, Naruto could not bear it and shouted, "I'll definitely defeat both of you!"

"Mm! Good luck!" Hinata smiled sweetly.

Naruto's face immediately turned bright red, and even his body stiffened.

What an innocent child.

Hinata did not want to crush Sasuke too badly, so she said, "All right! Stop following me. Instead of wasting time here, you should go back and train properly. Your talent is very good, but compared to me, you still have a long way to go."

In the Hokage storyline, ever since Shippuden began, Sasuke had somehow developed the illusion that he was the strongest person in the world. He dared to challenge anyone he met.

If someone had not always been there to protect him, grass would probably have been growing on Sasuke's grave by the time the Fourth Shinobi World War began.