Celebration

Leaving aside Zi Xu, who had been slacking off, the fight between Chino and Gen was still intense. Overall, though, Chino had the advantage. The Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist was famous for a reason. Even without the Byakugan, she could use her knowledge of the human body's pressure points to weave her Chakra into every blow that landed on Uchiha Gen, disrupting the flow of Chakra in his body. The Uchiha Clan wasn't particularly strong in Taijutsu; most Uchiha reached their peak after awakening the Sharingan. Neither of them had awakened their eyes yet, so Chino, who had mastered the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist, held a slight edge.

"Thud." Chino's final palm strike hit Gen in the chest. He felt a tightness in his chest, and the flow of Chakra in his body was severely obstructed. He no longer had the strength to keep fighting. Takeshi Goda saw this and stepped in to stop them. After all, he had to show some respect to the great clans.

"All right, this fight is over. Chino's team wins." Takeshi Goda stood between them and raised Chino's outstretched hand as she held her fighting stance. Uchiha Gen was a little unwilling to accept the loss, but he knew that if they kept going, he'd lose anyway, so he accepted it soon enough.

Hatsumi helped the "injured" Zi Xu over to Chino, wearing a happy smile.

"We won!" Zi Xu and Hatsumi congratulated her. Chino rarely smiled, but a trace of a smile appeared on her face. Then she saw Nohara lying unattended in the distance and Zi Xu being supported by Hatsumi, and the corners of her mouth dipped slightly.

"Are you hurt?" Her voice was as cold as ever, though there seemed to be some concern in it.

"It's just a small injury. Nothing serious." It really was a small injury—or perhaps it was more of an itch.

"Thanks for the effort. I'll... ask the clan for some medicinal herbs later..." Chino looked conflicted, as if she really didn't want to deal with the old men in her clan.

"I... I'll ask my clan for some medicine, too. It's all thanks to Zi Xu this time. Otherwise, my hand might have..." Hatsumi looked very guilty. Zi Xu had helped her so much again, and she didn't know how to thank him anymore.

"No need. They're only minor injuries. Besides, we all share the same Will of Fire, don't we? It's only natural for teammates to help each other." Zi Xu smiled. He really didn't need treatment. It would be bad if they realized he wasn't hurt at all while treating him.

"Teammates...?" Chino paused, as if the word felt unfamiliar to her. Then she smiled, though it vanished in an instant. She hid it well.

"If we're teammates, then you have to accept our help. Don't you consider us your teammates?" Chino's reply was firm, leaving Zi Xu no room to refuse. Hatsumi chimed in from the side, too. Seeing how badly Nohara had been hurt, she didn't believe Zi Xu was truly as uninjured as he claimed.

With no choice, Zi Xu accepted the two girls' kindness. Just then, Takeshi Goda urged them to come up and receive their prize.

"First, let's congratulate these three students: Hyuga Chino, Uzumaki Zi Xu, and Aburame Hatsumi. They performed exceptionally well in this match, so I'm giving their team a gift as a reward..." Takeshi Goda waved his hand. Three scroll-shaped objects appeared in his palm. He handed one to each of them with a mysterious air and explained:

"These are Sealing Scrolls. They contain Space-Time Power and have about one cubic meter of space inside. You can seal all sorts of tools in them and take them out when needed..."

Everyone's eyes lit up as they listened to Takeshi Goda's explanation. They were practically drooling. Scrolls containing Space-Time Power were rare. Few people could wield Space-Time Power and sealing techniques, making them specialists in high demand. Sealing Scrolls were scarce, too. Some children's families didn't even have a few scrolls among them. Now three were being given away at once, and the students who had just lost the match regretted it bitterly.

This was, of course, an order from the higher-ups. It was meant to make the students more competitive, while also sending a message to the clans behind them: "Konoha is powerful now. You'll benefit by standing with us." That would surely make the clans even more loyal to Konoha. Hiruzen Sarutobi clearly knew exactly what he was doing when it came to politics.

Zi Xu was naturally delighted, too. It was basically free storage space. His system would probably unlock a similar feature eventually, but for now the Sealing Scroll could be used right away. Besides, he could later use it to disguise the act of taking items out of his system.

The awards ceremony ended amid everyone's eager stares and renewed fighting spirit. Zi Xu's thoughts, however, lingered elsewhere. He was concerned about Nohara, whose leg bone had cracked. In his view, it was better not to make enemies at all—but if you did, you should eliminate them completely. He felt the little guy's gaze was full of resentment and anger. But he was in someone else's territory and couldn't just kill him in the village, or his infiltration plan would be ruined. The real reason, though, was that Nohara was still just a child. Zi Xu thought he should give him another chance. If he didn't cherish it... Zi Xu wouldn't mind letting him feel the wrath of Beast Kaido.

"By the way, why don't we celebrate with some barbecue together?" Hatsumi suggested after school. She wanted to treat Zi Xu to something nice to thank him.

Chino paused while packing her schoolbag, then nodded in agreement.

Zi Xu agreed, too. He hadn't eaten much these past few days, trying to make sure he didn't run out of money for the month and go hungry. Given his appetite, if he ate as much as he wanted, he could probably spend his whole monthly allowance in a single day.

The three of them walked home beneath the sunset's afterglow. Zi Xu had his hands in his pockets and gazed at the setting sun, thinking about what to eat. Hatsumi walked ahead, enthusiastically telling Zi Xu and Chino about the barbecue restaurant's specialties, her eyes gleaming behind her glasses. Chino walked alongside Zi Xu with her arms crossed, staring at the sky as if lost in thought. The sunset stretched their shadows longer and longer, until the three shadows merged into one.

"Can I really eat as much as I want?" Zi Xu stared at the tender red-and-white slices of meat covering the table. He listened to the "sizzle" as the marinated meat hit the grill at the neighboring table, and smelled the aroma of meat mixed with cumin and other seasonings. Tears were practically running from the corners of his mouth.

"Of course. Think of it as my way of thanking Zi Xu, and Chino for helping us win." Hatsumi picked up her small cup, filled with a drink. Zi Xu and Chino picked up their cups, too, and gently clinked them together.

"Cheers!"

Everyone downed their drinks and began grilling.

At first, Hatsumi didn't think much of it. But when she realized the food wasn't arriving fast enough to keep up with how quickly Zi Xu and Chino were eating, she sensed something was wrong. By the time the plates were stacked almost higher than their heads, she knew things were getting out of hand. She couldn't understand how Zi Xu and Chino had managed to stuff so much food into their stomachs. Zi Xu made sense, since Kaido's Physique gave him a huge appetite. But Chino? How was this little girl eating so much?

Zi Xu and Chino exchanged a glance. They'd confirmed it: they were both foodies. Under the astonished gazes of the restaurant staff and Hatsumi, the two finally slowed down.

I should be able to afford this. There's enough money in my piggy bank, and if it comes to it, I can use the New Year's money Grandpa gave me... Hatsumi silently did the math. Her little wallet was in for a beating.

"Maybe we've eaten a little too much..." Zi Xu said, a little embarrassed, slowing his hands.

"Yeah, a little..." Chino wiped her mouth with a napkin, agreeing with him.

"N-no, it's fine. Keep going." Hatsumi gave them a somewhat unnatural smile. The two of them had certainly changed her understanding of how much a person could eat.

"Then I won't hold back." Chino said it with a straight face.

"!!!"

"I'm joking." Chino rarely cracked a joke.

"Honestly."

"Hahahahaha!"

Just as everyone was having a good time, an untimely voice interrupted their laughter.

"Hm? Isn't that Chino from the Branch Family? Out this late instead of going home, fooling around here? I knew Branch Family kids were all bastards." A chubby teenager who looked about fifteen or sixteen walked into the barbecue restaurant and taunted Chino.

At those words, Chino's face turned cold. Her pale, crystalline eyes widened, and veins began to rise around their corners.

"I can do what I want. It's none of your business. And you're from the Branch Family, too." Zi Xu felt the temperature around them drop several degrees. The flames grilling the meat did nothing to ease the bone-deep chill.

"I may be from the Branch Family, but both my parents are members of the Hyuga Clan. My bloodline is pure Hyuga, unlike someone else here, who's a bastard." The chubby teenager opened his eyes, which had been closed the whole time. Unlike Chino's eyes, the veins around his were all bulging, making him look terrifying.

Chino's eyes seemed to blaze with fury. A faint red glow had even appeared in her right eye. She calmly moved away from the table and took up the basic stance of the Gentle Fist. She was about to charge at the boy.

"Wait. Calm down." Zi Xu grabbed Chino before she could attack. He wasn't sure what was going on, but his instincts told him the boy hadn't come here for no reason.

"What are you trying to do? We're still students at the Ninja Academy. Is this how a great clan of Konoha treats its fellow villagers? Do you still remember the Third Hokage's Will of Fire? Every one of us students is supposed to contribute to the village! Are you going to betray Lord Third?" Whatever happened, it was best to slap a big accusation on the other guy first. He couldn't let himself lose the upper hand.

The boy across from him was stunned by Zi Xu's words. For a moment, he was left speechless, stammering as he struggled to think of a response.