Tailgating and the Sun

(This book is now available on the Huanle Shuke app...)

After the first human swallowed the sap of the Divine Tree's main trunk, regaining youth and dispelling illness, conflict erupted. The sap of the Divine Tree could cure all diseases, preserve eternal youth, and grant immortality.

Such legends began to spread wildly among human settlements, like a lingering evil spirit.

Thus, the vicinity of the Divine Tree's massive main trunk became surrounded by endless wars.

Every day, blood flowed, people died, and bones were buried in the vast land around the Divine Tree.

Day after day, year after year.

Human ambition and greed seemed inexhaustible.

Of course, some succeeded. Powerful tribes that emerged from nowhere occupied the Divine Tree's main trunk with force and power. They built cities and established empires here, defending against external enemies. The other tribes united, opposing their monopoly over the Divine Tree and immortality.

The empire eventually crumbled. Unequal distribution of the Divine Tree's resources caused the empire to fall apart from within.

Then, the blood-red light of war once again enveloped the Divine Tree.

Chaos, hatred, greed, disorder.

Many, many years passed, and on the land soaked in mountains of corpses and seas of blood around the Divine Tree, a lush forest slowly began to grow.

This forest was made of white bones as trees and flesh and blood as soil.

Any human or beast that approached the Divine Tree and stepped into this bone forest would be pierced by the seemingly living bone forest, and their flesh and bones would also become part of the bone forest.

Humans began to revere the Divine Tree once more.

Hyuga Residence.

The bath.

Hanabi and her older sister Hinata soaked in the bath, which was comparable to a hot spring. They relaxed their limbs and bodies, which had been trained in the Gentle Fist, finding it incredibly comfortable as their fatigue gradually eased.

"This feels so good..." Hanabi squinted contentedly. Father trained her incredibly rigorously every day, which put a lot of pressure on the young Hanabi.

"I'm sorry, Hanabi. It's because I'm useless..." Hinata said from the side, a look of guilt on her face.

If she hadn't been so useless, Hanabi wouldn't have had to suffer like this.

"Sister, don't blame yourself. We're sisters, after all. One of us has to go through this, right?" Hanabi, like a little adult, comforted her sister, whom she found a bit clumsy.

"..." Hinata didn't speak, feeling a little down.

"Huh? What's this?" Hanabi glanced at Hinata and suddenly noticed something, looking at Hinata's right shoulder with great surprise. "Did you get a tattoo, Sister?"

On Hinata's smooth and tender right shoulder, there was a black pattern.

"No..."

Hinata bashfully covered her right shoulder, blushing. "It's not a tattoo..."

Hanabi became even more curious. "Then what is it? Oh, let me see, Sister..." she said coquettishly.

Hinata had no choice but to let go, revealing the black pattern on her shoulder again.

Hanabi leaned closer and poked it with her finger, exclaiming in surprise, "It looks like a flame..."

"Mhm," Hinata nodded.

"It's clearly a tattoo; look, you can't even wipe it off." Hanabi rubbed Hinata's right shoulder with her hand, but the black flame pattern couldn't be wiped off at all.

"I already told you it's not," Hinata twisted away from her sister's hand, blushing, and submerged her shoulder in the warm bathwater.

"That's really strange..." Hanabi mused, but she still reminded her sister, "Don't let Father see it, or you'll get scolded by him again."

"I know..." Hinata replied sullenly.

Hinata, this Flying Thunder God mark won't disappear... That way, I can appear by your side anytime.

Hinata recalled Naruto's words from that day, and her heart filled with sweetness.

"Yare yare... Sister, your expression is so strange..." Hanabi had come over again at some point, her pure white eyes curiously examining Hinata.

"What are you talking about..." Hinata blushed and splashed water at Hanabi.

"Ah, Sister, you're so sly!" Hanabi, not to be outdone, started splashing water too.

The sisters' laughter and the sound of splashing water echoed in the spacious bathroom.

"Sister, your chest is so big..."

"Haha... ha... Hanabi, stop tickling me..."

The next day, Hinata went out as usual.

But what was different was that a little tail was secretly following behind her.

Sister seems a little different... Father isn't home today because he has something to do... I'll secretly take a look and see what happened to Sister outside...

Hanabi stealthily followed not too far behind Hinata.

Hinata wasn't a chakra-sensing ninja, nor would she normally walk around with her Byakugan active, so naturally, she didn't realize her sister was secretly tailing her.

"Sister seems to mention that Naruto from their team a lot..."

Thinking this, Hanabi followed Hinata to a training ground in the Konoha forest.

"Huh, is it team training? What a hassle. If their team had a scout, I'd be exposed..."

Byakugan!

Hanabi channeled chakra to her eyes, and the scene within her vision immediately inverted to black and white.

"Huh? There's someone else here..."

With her enhanced vision, Hanabi spotted a woman wearing glasses in the trees not far away in another direction.

Keeping that in mind, Hanabi focused her attention on the forest clearing Hinata had entered.

Besides Hinata, she saw the other two members of Team 7.

Sasuke was resting on a tree branch. He wasn't a stamina monster like Naruto, and after training since early morning, he needed proper rest.

As for Naruto, he had activated Golden Body Mode and was sitting cross-legged on the ground below, eyes closed.

Reverse Sage Mode.

Even though he had long mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique, Naruto still kept this training method.

Dispersing his chakra into the surrounding space, this feeling... Naruto was gradually becoming addicted to it.

It felt as comfortable as returning to his mother's embrace.

Perhaps it was because this method was taught by his father... Naruto sometimes chuckled at himself.

Meanwhile, Hanabi's Byakugan was already wide open, her expression one of utter shock.

"This person's chakra... it's so vast... truly terrifying..."

"Around Naruto-kun..."

On another tree, Karin sensed Naruto, who was sitting cross-legged in front of her.

"It's like a giant furnace is burning..." Karin was dumbfounded, unconsciously swallowing nervously, and murmured, "Is he the sun?"

Crack. Stirred by her emotions, Karin accidentally made a sound.

"Who's there!" Sasuke, who had been resting on the branch, suddenly became alert and threw a kunai.

Thwack. The kunai embedded itself in the tree trunk next to Karin.

Sweating slightly, Karin had no choice but to step out. She had only intended to thank Naruto-kun, how did it turn into stalking... Karin was frantic inwardly.

"Oh, it's you," Naruto deactivated Golden Body Mode and stood up, looking at Karin with a smile. "Is your business all taken care of?"

Hinata also looked over curiously.