First Meeting!

Three days later, the Hot Pot Restaurant opened for business.

According to Hiashi's instructions the night before, the Hyuga Clan would not send too many people in order to avoid suspicion.

The shop was also nominally under Neji's ownership, so it could be considered a test run.

Hiashi himself would attend in the capacity of Neji's uncle and guardian.

They had no intention of making a big spectacle of it. They would only truly invest once the profits proved substantial.

After all, the Hyuga Clan was already wealthy and powerful enough.

If not for the Uchiha Clan drawing most of the fire, they would have long been suppressed by the Hokage's faction.

Thus, when quite a few distinguished guests arrived for the opening, Hiashi received them, so Neji had no need to worry about that.

He only needed to entertain the friends he had invited, along with those Hinata had invited.

"Yo! Neji, congratulations on the opening."

"Neji, congratulations on the opening!"

A boy with a dazzlingly white smile and a girl with dango buns greeted Neji at the entrance.

They were Rock Lee and Tenten. As the two people closest to Neji at the Ninja Academy, they had agreed to come congratulate him together.

Neji smiled faintly. "You're here! Go inside and take a seat first. I'll come keep you company later."

Tenten looked at Neji, dressed in white and carrying himself with refined elegance, and a faint glimmer appeared in her eyes.

"All right, we know. You go ahead and stay busy, Neji. Rock Lee and I will wait for you inside!"

Before Rock Lee could say much, Tenten shoved him into the restaurant.

Hinata watched the two of them go inside, somewhat concerned about the girl from earlier.

Neji explained softly, "They're two classmates I became close with at the Ninja Academy. When things were inconvenient at first, they were the ones who helped me."

Hinata fell silent, thinking of Neji's eyes and how strong he still was, even capable of suppressing members of the Uchiha Clan.

Brother Neji must have trained very hard, so I can't fall behind either. You're Hinata, the one who has to protect Brother Neji.

Remembering their childhood promise, Hinata encouraged herself inwardly.

Girl, your focus was completely off!

"Hinata, we came to support you!"

Woof!

Kiba, with Akamaru perched on his head, was the first to call out. Many others stood beside him.

"Yo! We're all here."

Nara Shikamaru had one hand in his pocket and extended the other as he called out coolly.

"Hehe, we really have to thank Hinata for inviting us."

Ino happily came to Hinata's side, with Sakura beside her.

"And don't forget this great man!"

Naruto, who seemed to have only just caught up, was already shouting from far away.

This made Sasuke, standing off to one side alone, snort and give him a disdainful look.

Naruto immediately bristled, then started roughhousing with Kiba, who had been trying to break up the argument. They even dragged in Choji, who was eagerly waiting to eat hot pot, and soon the three of them were in a mess.

Shikamaru covered his face helplessly. It was simply too embarrassing.

Neji did not mind. "I'm Neji Hyuga. Since you're Hinata's friends, I'm very happy you accepted the invitation!"

"Now that everyone's here, let's go inside and get started!"

"The hot pot has been ready for quite some time, and we prepared plenty of ingredients this time!"

The moment he finished speaking—

A pair of eyes suddenly lit up fiercely amid the bickering crowd.

"Hot pot! Food!"

With one hand gripping Naruto and the other Kiba, Choji's powerful presence bore down on Akamaru, the little ninja dog, making even the usually aloof Sasuke glance over.

At the mention of food, Choji let out a heavy snort. Naruto and Kiba both shuddered, then turned away and whistled to show that they were done fighting.

Everyone exchanged knowing smiles. Sure enough, no one could stop Choji's love for delicious food.

The group entered the restaurant boisterously, where Tenten, already seated, waved at them.

Soon, everyone sat around a large table. The spread of food made their eyes sparkle, while a divided pot in the center bubbled away.

They had seen the advertisements several days ago. The legendary hot pot let them toss fresh ingredients into the pot, then eat them right away.

It was simply too magical. They had been looking forward to it for ages.

Neji smiled. "All right, it's opening day today. Eat as much as you want!"

"OHhhhh..."

The group instantly launched into a food-grabbing competition, with Choji, Naruto, and Kiba fighting the fiercest.

Hinata elegantly yet swiftly made quite a few ingredients vanish from before her, all without delaying her conversation with Ino, Sakura, and the others. She was truly hiding her skills, making Neji sigh in admiration.

Neji also joined the feast, but these guys did not go easy on him just because he was blind.

They grabbed food however they pleased. This also counted as Neji's first real friendly interaction with them.

After all, they had only been attending the Ninja Academy for a short time, yet their relationships had already begun to take shape.

After the grand meal, nearly everyone was left with a round, bulging belly.

Only Hinata, the other girls, and Neji remained normal. Even the usually aloof Sasuke was no exception.

After all, Sasuke was only tsundere right now. He had not yet buried the hatred he would carry in the future.

Neji was actually rather curious why Sasuke had come, though he was not too surprised.

Although the two clans seemed to have been competing for Konoha's foremost clan for a long time, creating deep conflicts, war had changed things.

Many people had become comrades who had entrusted their lives to one another. Even among the Hyuga Clan and the Uchiha Clan, quite a few people had good relationships.

They did not care much about matters involving the children. It was only the adults who could not openly display too much closeness.

Otherwise, the Hokage's faction probably would not be able to sit still, especially that Pot Kage.

Thus, the conflict between the two clans was more of an outward display of attitude.

In truth, no one would genuinely let things become irreconcilable. That was the world of adults!

Neji and Hinata saw their classmates off. Every one of them praised the hot pot endlessly and said they would come again next time.

Neji and Hinata warmly welcomed that idea. After all, their food was far better and more affordable than a barbecue restaurant's.

Night.

After a busy day, Neji dragged his mentally exhausted body onto the bed.

The first day had gone well. Business should remain brisk for the next few days.

But the true result would only be seen after a month, once the novelty had worn off. That would reveal their normal revenue.

"At last, all these trivial matters are settled. Next comes the issue of grinding experience."

Neji removed his blindfold, felt the eyes he had been nurturing, and slowly opened them.

In the deep night, beneath the falling moonlight, the long-lost sight before Neji's eyes returned.

It made him sigh. Having gone without his eyes for so long, he had nearly forgotten the colors of this world.

"In the future, I still need to find some quiet places to train opening my eyes. Even beneath the blindfold, I should be able to use them easily."

After all, the essence of the Byakugan was seeing through things and seeing far into the distance. Compared to Kaguya Otsutsuki's Byakugan, who knew how many weakened versions it had become.

"There's no need to consider the Tenseigan for now. One method is fusing a large number of Byakugan. That wouldn't be too much of a problem, but there's no guarantee."

After all, he possessed Vinsmoke Lineage Factor technology, also known as the Life Blueprint.

It was a perfect cloning and genetic adjustment technology, though he did not know how much it differed from this world.

After all, this world had Chakra and things like Kekkei Genkai.

If he made plans for the future, he would still need to find Orochimaru, though he would likely need another identity.

There was absolutely no shortage of money. Let money make money and invest a little.