Chapter Summaries

Neji Hyuga arrived at the Ninja Academy entrance exam, where Might Guy recognized him as a training partner and helped Tenten after Neji accidentally frightened her unconscious. As the children began their fitness test, Might Guy told Kakashi that Neji was strong beyond what his age suggested.

• Might Guy greeted Neji Hyuga, who handed him the unconscious Tenten and explained that he had frightened her on the way to the Academy.
• Might Guy carried Tenten to the infirmary while Kakashi followed, and Neji completed registration and joined the other children on the field.
• A thick-browed boy tried to defend Neji from the children whispering about his frightening appearance, but they moved away from him.
• Tenten woke up, spotted Neji, and shyly moved to another corner as the children gathered for their entrance test.
• The Academy teacher began the test by ordering the children to run ten laps around the field.
• Kakashi asked how Might Guy knew Neji, and Might Guy called Neji very strong before insisting that he was stronger than a typical six-year-old.

Might Guy recalled Neji Hyuga's exceptional strength and how Neji had improved his Strong Fist, while Takashi Hyuga reported that Neji defeated him in one strike. Hiashi Hyuga dismissed Takashi as Hinata's guard, and Takashi wondered whether Neji would truly free him from the Caged Bird Seal.

• Might Guy remembered Neji Hyuga's training and how Neji's advice had greatly improved his Strong Fist.
• Takashi Hyuga told Hiashi Hyuga that Neji had defeated him with one strike and left him badly injured.
• Hiashi Hyuga asked whether Takashi had activated his Byakugan, and Takashi falsely said he had not.
• Hiashi Hyuga decided Neji's strength was impressive but regretted that Neji had trained the Strong Fist instead of the Gentle Fist.
• Hiashi Hyuga removed Takashi from his post as Hinata's guard.
• Takashi Hyuga touched his forehead protector and wondered whether Neji would keep his promise to free him from the Caged Bird Seal.

Neji Hyuga passed the Ninja Academy entrance assessment and planned to sell Might Guy Flesh-Repair Pills to fund his training without enriching the Hyuga Clan. After Tenten thanked him for bringing her to the assessment, Neji went to the infirmary to make a deal with Might Guy.

• Neji Hyuga passed the routine pre-enrollment assessment and retrieved his bag.
• Neji Hyuga decided to earn money by selling Might Guy Flesh-Repair Pills rather than let the Hyuga Clan benefit from his work.
• Tenten thanked Neji Hyuga for bringing her to the Ninja Academy, and he told her to move aside.
• Tenten watched Neji Hyuga leave and wondered at how calm and unusual he seemed.
• Might Guy introduced Kakashi Hatake to Neji Hyuga, who said he had come to make a deal.

Neji Hyuga offered Might Guy and Kakashi a Lesser Flesh-Repair Pill, claiming it could restore stamina and Chakra, repair injuries, and briefly save someone near death. Guy swallowed one and became intensely energized, while Kakashi questioned whether its full effects had been proven; Neji invited him to test it with Guy.

• Neji Hyuga showed Might Guy a Lesser Flesh-Repair Pill and explained its claimed effects.
• Might Guy and Kakashi reacted with surprise to the pill’s potential value to shinobi.
• Might Guy swallowed the pill and immediately became flushed, overheated, and full of energy.
• Neji Hyuga explained that Guy’s peak condition made the pill act like a powerful stimulant and demanded five hundred thousand ryo.
• Kakashi challenged whether Guy’s reaction proved the pill’s other effects, and Neji invited him to test it with Guy.

Neji Hyuga watched Kakashi and Might Guy's battle, which escalated as Guy opened the fourth gate before Kakashi defeated him with a Rasengan. Neji offered them Lesser Flesh-Repair Pills and said he had developed them himself, keeping their creation separate from the Hyuga Clan.

• Kakashi led Might Guy away from the school, and Neji Hyuga followed them toward Konoha's forest.
• Might Guy opened the third and then the fourth gate while fighting Kakashi, forcing Kakashi to use his Sharingan to track him.
• Kakashi struck Might Guy with a Rasengan, leaving him dizzy but without serious injury.
• Neji Hyuga gave Kakashi and Might Guy Lesser Flesh-Repair Pills to try.
• Kakashi asked whether Neji Hyuga or the Hyuga Clan had made the pills, and Neji said he had developed them himself.

Kakashi examined Neji Hyuga's powerful Lesser Flesh-Repair Pill, wary of its unknown risks, while Might Guy vouched for its effects. Neji gave Kakashi and Guy two pills and left, and Kakashi realized Guy had become much stronger after Neji's guidance.

• Kakashi doubted that Neji Hyuga had developed the Lesser Flesh-Repair Pill himself and worried that the pill's value could put Neji in danger.
• Might Guy praised the pill's effects and tried to eat another, but Kakashi stopped him and told him to save it for an emergency.
• Neji gave Kakashi and Might Guy two Lesser Flesh-Repair Pills, including the one Guy had already taken, and told them to buy more next time for five hundred thousand ryo each.
• Might Guy vowed to take an S-rank mission to support Neji's business, while Kakashi relaxed after Neji left.
• Kakashi noticed his injuries from sparring with Guy and asked whether Neji had guided Guy in taijutsu.

Neji returned to the forest near the Naka River and began practicing Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall as a way to build himself a home. When his Iron Body-focused clone consciousness objected to pausing training, Neji convinced it that Earth Style research would lead to Steel Release, leaving him intrigued by the idea of a future clash with Wood Release and Susanoo.

• Neji found a forest near the Naka River where he planned to live during his six years at the Ninja Academy.
• Neji copied Kakashi's hand seals and chakra flow to perform Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall for the first time, complete with lifelike dog heads.
• Neji studied nature and shape transformation, drawing on his deep understanding of energy to analyze the technique.
• Neji's Iron Body-focused clone consciousness gave him a headache for interrupting Iron Body training to study Ninjutsu.
• Neji explained that Earth Style practice would help him develop Iron Body into Steel Release, which persuaded the clone consciousness and sparked his interest in a future battle against Wood Release and Susanoo.

Neji Hyuga used Earth Style to build and harden a complete courtyard, then continued training Iron Body while waiting for income from his Flesh-Repair Pills. He expected Might Guy to recognize the pills’ value after facing a life-threatening situation and to buy them in the future.

• Neji Hyuga studied Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall and used Earth Style: House Construction Technique to create a fully equipped courtyard without hand seals.
• Neji Hyuga applied Earth Style: Hardening Technique to strengthen the courtyard and explained that he could also use it to petrify enemies.
• Neji Hyuga decided not to offer Might Guy unsolicited advice about his training and spending.
• Neji Hyuga continued training Iron Body despite lacking money for daily necessities, expecting sales of his Lesser Flesh-Repair Pills to bring in money soon.

Neji headed out to fish after learning he had been assigned to Class A at the Ninja Academy, and Tenten chased him down to thank him for helping her. The two became friends and classmates, and Neji took Tenten to dig for earthworms.

• Neji saw the Academy notice and learned that enrollment would begin in three days and he had been assigned to Class A.
• Tenten spotted Neji leaving and followed him to thank him for helping her two days earlier.
• Neji told Tenten his name and accepted her offer to treat him to food another time, since he was going fishing.
• Tenten asked to join Neji, and he agreed to let her come along despite her not having a fishing rod.
• Tenten learned that Neji was also in Class A, asked to call him Neji, and declared they were friends.
• Neji and Tenten headed out to dig for earthworms.

Neji Hyuga took Tenten fishing at a tributary of the Naka River, where she gathered bait and firewood and helped prepare their catch. The pair began grilling fish for lunch, with Tenten repeatedly marveling at Neji’s skills.

• Tenten helped Neji Hyuga dig up earthworms, and he wrapped them in a large taro leaf before leading her through the forest to the Naka River tributary.
• Neji Hyuga tried fishing while Tenten made a small water-filled pit and gathered firewood, but the fish stole the bait without biting the hook.
• Tenten fell asleep in the shade and woke to find several large fish flopping in her pit, then grabbed a crucian carp and praised Neji for catching them.
• Neji Hyuga cleaned and skewered the fish after correcting Tenten’s attempt to roast one without preparing it.
• Tenten worried that they had no way to start a fire, so Neji Hyuga used Chakra to ignite dry leaves, and they began grilling the fish with seasonings.

Tenten got lost in the forest, and Neji Hyuga escorted her home after they spent the day grilling fish. The next morning, Tenten found Neji again and offered to help furnish his bare courtyard, and Neji agreed to go shopping with her.

• Tenten woke late, realized she had forgotten the way out of the forest, and Neji Hyuga carried her back to Konoha's residential area.
• Neji Hyuga returned to the Naka River tributary for fish, added them to his courtyard pond, and resumed training Iron Body.
• The next morning, Tenten wandered into the forest looking for Neji Hyuga, and he saved her from a green snake.
• Tenten shared meat buns and sesame balls with Neji Hyuga, and he carried her back to his courtyard.
• Tenten saw how sparsely Neji Hyuga lived and offered to buy furnishings with her spending money, and he agreed.

Tenten and Neji Hyuga stocked their forest courtyard with furniture and appliances, then realized they had no electricity. Neji proposed building a wind-powered generator tower, and he planned to teach Tenten Chakra and prepare her for the ninja academy while they worked on it.

• Tenten bought household goods and a calf at the market while Neji Hyuga carried their purchases back to the courtyard.
• Tenten arranged the new furniture and discovered there was no electricity for the appliances.
• Neji Hyuga suggested hiring construction workers to build a wind-powered generator tower, but Tenten offered him money instead.
• Tenten decided she and Neji Hyuga should build the tower themselves, and Neji agreed.
• Neji Hyuga said he would teach Tenten Chakra and help prepare her for the ninja academy before cooking in the courtyard.

Neji explained Chakra’s origins to Tenten and encouraged her to question what she heard and seek the truth for herself. He then prepared to teach her how to extract Chakra.

• Tenten asked Neji to teach her how to jump between trees by extracting Chakra.
• Neji described Chakra’s alien origins and how it became a weapon after people disagreed about how it should be used.
• Tenten wondered whether Chakra could let her and Neji know each other’s thoughts, then struggled to explain her feelings about that.
• Neji told Tenten to investigate different perspectives and judge whether information, including his own, was true.
• Tenten promised to uncover the truth, and Neji began to teach her how to extract Chakra.

Neji Hyuga taught Tenten and the Little Buffalo Calf how to extract and circulate Chakra, then fed them after their first practice. Over the next two days he continued instructing them, until it was time for the Ninja Academy to begin.

• Neji Hyuga guided Tenten through her first Chakra extraction using the method he had designed.
• Neji Hyuga also taught the Little Buffalo Calf to follow Chakra circulating through its body.
• Tenten finished practicing, felt energized, then grew hungry and ate beef with Neji Hyuga and the Little Buffalo Calf.
• Neji Hyuga taught Tenten and the Little Buffalo Calf Chakra-extraction basics over the next two days, before the Ninja Academy began.

Tenten waited at a crossroads for Neji so they could go to the Ninja Academy together, while her father grew jealous and suspicious of their closeness. Neji arrived, and Tenten introduced him to her father, who privately opposed the bond between them.

• Tenten's mother prepared her lunch after Tenten's attempt to cook ended in a mess.
• Tenten's Father insisted on escorting her to the Ninja Academy, but she waited for Neji instead.
• Tenten told her father about fishing, buying furniture, and making plans with Neji, prompting him to worry that Neji had used her allowance and become too intimate with her.
• Tenten's Father saw Neji emerge from the forest and recognized him as a Hyuga, then inwardly rejected the idea of Neji taking his daughter away.
• Tenten greeted Neji happily and introduced him to her father.

Neji Hyuga walked Tenten and her father to the Ninja Academy, where Tenten tried to make Neji feel less alone after learning about his parents. The chapter ended with Neji spotting a blond child sitting alone on a swing.

• Tenten pulled Neji toward the Ninja Academy, and her father joined them despite her initial objections.
• Tenten's Father asked Neji about his parents, and Neji explained that his mother died giving birth to him and his father died by suicide before the Hyuga Clan and Lord Hokage handed over his body to Kumogakure.
• Tenten offered to share her father with Neji, but Neji told her to cherish her own father, easing her father's fear.
• The three arrived at the Ninja Academy, where Neji noticed a blond child sitting alone on a swing and watching families come and go.

Neji Hyuga and Tenten passed Naruto Uzumaki, who sat alone outside the Ninja Academy, and Neji reflected on Konoha’s treatment of the child. When Neji and Tenten entered Class A, Neji faced the same isolation and whispered hostility as Naruto.

• Tenten asked her father why people called Naruto Uzumaki the Demon Fox, but he said he only knew that families thought Naruto brought bad luck.
• Naruto Uzumaki noticed Neji Hyuga, Tenten, and Tenten's Father and hoped for company, but Neji led the others toward the academy.
• Neji Hyuga thought Konoha had unjustly isolated Naruto and despised the village leaders for allowing it.
• Tenten's Father felt relieved that Tenten had not befriended Naruto, while worrying about her association with Neji.
• Tenten said goodbye to her father and ran with Neji to the Class A classroom, where Neji met discriminatory looks, isolation, and hushed whispers.

Neji Hyuga entered Class A and faced his classmates’ mockery, while Tenten defended him and clashed with Uchiha Bingwei. The teacher arrived before the classroom’s escalating argument could turn into a fight.

• Neji Hyuga sat at the back of Class A as the children whispered about and insulted his appearance.
• Tenten angrily confronted the children, but they continued to mock Neji and praise Uchiha Bingwei.
• Uchiha Bingwei declared Neji his only rival and challenged him to prove whether the Uchiha Clan or Hyuga Clan was Konoha’s greatest noble clan.
• Tenten smashed a desktop with Chakra and rebuked the class for insulting Neji and boasting without ability.
• Neji calmed Tenten, and Uchiha Bingwei briefly praised her before the teacher arrived and the children returned to their seats.

Neji Hyuga and his classmates introduced themselves at the academy before Hiruzen Sarutobi visited and delivered a speech about the Will of Fire. Neji judged Hiruzen’s political failures harshly, foreshadowing that the Hokage’s compromises and suppression of the clans would eventually provoke a backlash.

• Bunta Yamano welcomed Class A and asked each student to introduce themselves and their ambitions.
• The students introduced themselves, including Uchiha Bingwei, who vowed to restore the Uchiha clan’s honor, and Tenten, who promised to defend Neji Hyuga from gossip.
• Neji Hyuga said he had no particular likes or dislikes and planned to unify the world, unsettling his classmates.
• A teacher announced that Hiruzen Sarutobi was coming, and Bunta led the students to the field.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi addressed the assembled children about the Will of Fire while Kakashi Hatake and Might Guy stood behind him.
• Neji Hyuga considered Hiruzen’s political compromises and suppression of the clans responsible for draining Konoha’s strength and risking a backlash.

Neji Hyuga began his first day at the Ninja Academy, where Hiruzen Sarutobi worried over his condition and considered warning the Hyuga Clan. After classes ended, Neji was told that Teacher Yamano wanted to see him in the faculty room.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi watched Neji Hyuga leave the playground and considered how the Hyuga Clan's Caged Bird Seal prevented him from trusting Neji.
• Might Guy praised Neji's strength and stamina-restoring pills, prompting Hiruzen to decide the Hyuga Clan needed another warning.
• Bunta Yamano organized Class A, handed out books, and explained rules while avoiding assigning Uchiha Bingwei and Neji class duties.
• Tenten ate lunch with Neji, while the other boys watched the girls gather around Uchiha Bingwei and Ninomiya Kaido grew heartbroken over Sachiko Egawa.
• Neji attended afternoon lessons, and a student leader told him that Teacher Yamano wanted him in the faculty room.