The Hokage Who Appeared Last

No one was watching, and her body was already exhausted. Hinata leaped onto a tree and lay on a branch, gazing at the sky.

Night had fallen. The night sky gave off a faint, hazy glow, like a calm deep sea without the slightest ripple.

Staring at the countless stars of varying sizes, flickering in and out of brightness, Hinata began letting her thoughts wander again.

When she had first watched Hokage, Hinata had always thought it was about effort, effort, and more effort—that as long as one worked hard enough, they could surpass geniuses.

But by the end, wasn't it just a war between aristocrats?

A thousand years of ninja history was nothing more than the grudges and tangled romances of the Otsutsuki family.

She must have had lard for brains back then not to wish for the ability to grow stronger while lying down.

Still, this was fine too. At least she was training. Otherwise, if she lay in bed every day, she really would become a useless young lady.

Feeling that the time was about right, Hinata jumped down from the tree, rolled across the ground, and then ran toward home.

She had gotten herself filthy from head to toe. If she didn't let Hyuga Hiashi see it, wouldn't that roll have been for nothing?

After asking a clan ninja where Hyuga Hiashi was, Hinata ran to the Training Room and knocked softly on the door a few times.

"Come in!"

Hinata pushed open the door, bowed, and said, "Father, I'm back from training."

Hyuga Hiashi glanced at Hinata. Her face was covered in sweat, and she was filthy all over. One look told him this was the result of diligent training.

Glancing at Tokuma Hyuga, who lay on the floor looking half-dead, Hyuga Hiashi thought, I still went too easy on him. Forget it this time. Once he recovers, I'll give him another beating!

Hyuga Hiashi looked at Hinata and said, "Go wash up and get some rest early. You still have school tomorrow!"

Hinata was about to respond when she caught sight of someone lying on the floor, so battered and bruised that she could no longer tell who it was.

How miserable!

Had he failed a mission and gotten beaten up by Hyuga Hiashi?

"Father, your daughter will take her leave!"

"Mm!"

As soon as she returned to her room, Hinata saw Neji standing outside her door, waiting for her.

"Brother Neji!"

"Lady Hinata!"

Hinata asked curiously, "Is something the matter, Brother Neji?"

It was the first time Neji had seen Hinata in such a state. Worried, he asked, "Lady Hinata, did you get into a fight outside?"

Hinata usually trained in the Training Room at home. Even at the Ninja Academy, she paid close attention to cleanliness in order to maintain her image as a young lady and had never gotten herself so dirty.

Hinata's eyes shifted as she said, "I just went to train on the Back Mountain."

Neji thought, Lady Hinata is so talented, yet she trains this hard. I have to work even harder too. Otherwise, how will I protect Lady Hinata in the future?

Hinata asked again, "Brother Neji, what were you waiting here for?"

Neji nodded, took out his allowance, and said, "Father just gave me my allowance. I don't have much use for it, and Lady Hinata likes snacks, so please take it."

He gets it! And he's generous!

Now this was what a great older brother should be!

What kind of good older brother was Itachi Uchiha?

The moment he saw Sasuke, it was Tsukuyomi. Whenever he had nothing better to do, he poked Sasuke's forehead with two fingers. He lied all day long too—not a single word out of his mouth was true.

He should learn more from Neji!

Of the allowance he had saved up for over two years, aside from what he absolutely needed, he had handed almost all of it over to Hinata.

"Thank you, Brother Neji!"

"Get some rest early."

"Goodbye, Brother Neji!"

With Neji's allowance in hand, Hinata's wallet swelled once again. Satisfied, she took a bath, went to sleep, and even had a wonderful dream.

Her days were peaceful yet full of joy. Though the crisis in the ninja world drew closer by the day, Hinata paid it no mind and happily lived her little life. Why should she care if the ninja world's future turned upside down?

In taijutsu class, aside from Naruto and Sasuke, the person Hinata most enjoyed beating up was Kiba Inuzuka!

After all, he would be her teammate in the future. If her teammate grew stronger, wouldn't things become easier for Hinata?

As for her other teammate, Hinata knew who he was—Shino Aburame.

But knowing his name was useless. This man had absolutely no presence. More than a year had passed since the Ninja Academy began, and Hinata only caught a glimpse of Shino when the teacher called roll. At any other time, she could not find him at all.

But the people Hinata got along with best were definitely Choji and Shikamaru.

Originally, Hinata had no interest in children's ninja games. But Shikamaru was highly intelligent and could always come up with all sorts of strange games.

At first, Hinata had not thought much of them. But after playing once, she discovered that the games hid all kinds of mysteries.

Aside from strength, nearly all the ninja knowledge taught at the academy—stealth, traps, disguises, and so on—could be used in the games.

Over time, Choji and Shikamaru became Hinata's little followers.

Well, actually, Hinata was the one following them around to play ninja games.

It really wasn't childish. This wasn't hide-and-seek; it was a ninja game.

When it came to training, although Hinata was rather lazy and always found all sorts of excuses to slack off, she really was incredibly powerful.

There was no reasoning with a Talent Cheat.

Whether it was chakra, Gentle Fist, ninjutsu, ninja fundamentals, or combat experience, Hinata only needed to train casually for her strength to soar higher and higher.

It was as if she had activated ten times the experience gain.

After all, Hinata's talent was not being compared to Mangekyo Madara or Rinnegan Madara, but Six Paths Madara!

In other words, Hinata only needed to train casually to beat Madara senseless without relying on the Ten-Tails' power, even after he had become the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki and gained the Rinnegan.

Compared to her Talent Cheat, Hinata felt that even her Tenseigan Cheat hardly seemed like much.

However, Hinata did not yet dare reveal all her strength. Even Hyuga Hiashi was being kept in the dark.

Though Konoha was currently peaceful, darkness still lurked beneath its calm surface.

To be honest, Hinata was not afraid of the Akatsuki, Orochimaru, or even the other ninja villages. But she was extremely wary of Danzo.

External enemies could simply be killed.

But enemies hidden within were much harder to deal with.

Danzo was, after all, an elder of Konoha. Even if Hinata gained the power to kill Danzo easily in the future, it would still be difficult to actually kill him.

She couldn't exactly defect from the village just to kill Danzo, could she?

She would have to wait until Tsunade took office!

Third and Danzo were old buddies. He could tolerate Danzo, but Tsunade would never tolerate a rat from the gutter like him.

She was already in her third year. School had let out early again today, so Hinata bought a huge bag of food and went above Hokage Rock, enjoying the view of Konoha while sampling all kinds of snacks.

This place was already Hinata's territory.

"Hehehehe! Hiding here to snack again, are you? I wonder if you could spare a little for me?"

An aged yet kindly voice sounded from behind Hinata. Hinata turned around and hurriedly rose to her feet. "Lord Hokage!"

Third smiled and patted Hinata's head, saying slowly, "This isn't a formal setting, so there's no need for so much ceremony."

Then can I call you Old Pervert?