Unexpected

It was just past twelve noon when Hyuga Shinichi arrived at the Senju compound. With a newly purchased ninja tool pouch in hand, he stood before Nawaki's front door.

He knocked and waited for a moment. When no one came to open the door, he wondered if the house was empty, then called out loudly.

"Hello! Is anyone home?"

"Is that you, Shinichi? Come on in."

It was Nawaki's voice. Why wouldn't he open the door if he was home?

Hyuga Shinichi felt a bit strange, but he slid the door open anyway and called out.

"Excuse the intrusion."

Why was it so quiet? Looking at the cluttered entryway, something felt off.

He immediately activated his Byakugan to peer toward the living room at the end of the hallway, but something blocked his vision, preventing him from seeing the situation inside.

Was it a barrier technique? No, that hadn't been there before. In his view, only Mito could create a high-level, or even forbidden-level, barrier technique capable of blocking the Byakugan's penetration.

But why would Mito go to the trouble of setting up a barrier of this scale? Could it be!

At that moment, only one guess crossed Hyuga Shinichi's mind: enemies had targeted the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Mito, and were using Nawaki as leverage to lure him, a guest, inside to finish them both off.

He didn't think about seeking reinforcements because Hyuga Shinichi knew that if there were truly enemies, they had already discovered him and invited him inside.

If he ran away now, Mito and Nawaki might face life-threatening danger because the reinforcements hadn't arrived yet, alerting the enemy in the process.

Damn it, this didn't happen in the original story. Had his presence changed things?

Drawing the wooden sword with the broken tip from his back, Hyuga Shinichi charged toward the living room.

At this moment, his only thought was that if he fled now, he would regret it for the rest of his life. He had to give it his all!

He shoved the living room sliding door open with force, leaped inside, and immediately assumed a defensive sword stance.

Bang! Bang!

Was that the sound of exploding tags? How unlucky; he hadn't lived nearly enough yet.

Hm? Why were there so many ribbons falling? Hyuga Shinichi looked at the scene in the living room again.

A banner reading "Happy Birthday" covered the entire wall, and everyone around was smiling at him: Mito, Nawaki, Inuzuka Gai, Aburame Tomohiro, and even Tsunade, who had been away on a mission.

"Happy Birthday!" X5

"Woof woof!"

Hearing the cheers of the group and the sound of the ninja dog Black Charcoal, Hyuga Shinichi finally remembered.

Today was his birthday in this life.

Nawaki and Inuzuka Gai, who had just fired the party poppers on either side of him, stepped forward, grabbed Hyuga Shinichi's shoulders, and said with a laugh.

"How about it, Shinichi? Surprised? Didn't see that coming, did you?"

Hyuga Shinichi felt all the strength drain from his body, as if he had been pinned to the floor by the two of them. His wooden sword clattered to the ground, and he let out a breath, chuckling dryly.

"Heh, it really was a surprise. You scared me. As long as everyone is okay, that's what matters."

The elderly Mito and the experienced Tsunade noticed Hyuga Shinichi's condition. They couldn't help but think even more highly of him, while also regretting going along with Nawaki's prank.

"Nawaki, you idiot. You insisted on setting up a barrier to block the Byakugan because you were afraid Shinichi would see the living room early and ruin the surprise. Look at this mess—you scared him half to death."

As Tsunade scolded Nawaki, Mito apologized to Hyuga Shinichi.

"I'm sorry, Shinichi. It's all my fault for letting this old woman go along with Nawaki's nonsense."

The three friends realized what had happened and immediately apologized to Hyuga Shinichi.

"Sorry, Shinichi." X3

"Woof woof."

"Hahaha, it's nothing. Mito and everyone else did this just for me."

Hyuga Shinichi thought for a moment and continued.

"This is the first time anyone has ever celebrated my birthday since I was born. I'm very touched. Thank you, everyone."

As he said this, tears began to stream down Hyuga Shinichi's face.

In his previous life, his parents had passed away early, just like in this one. With no friends to speak of, no one had ever celebrated his birthday, so he had no habit of observing it and had long since forgotten the date.

Now, having elders and friends celebrate for him, he found himself deeply moved the moment it hit him.

Although he wanted to act mature, he couldn't stop the tears from falling.

"Tha... thank you all... I'm really... really happy."

Inuzuka Gai and Nawaki laughed as they pulled Hyuga Shinichi up, and Aburame Tomohiro stepped forward to hand him a tissue.

"What's with that? Why get so emotional?"

"Exactly, exactly. You almost made me cry, too."

"You've got snot running down your nose, hurry up and wipe it off."

"Woof woof!"

Uzumaki Mito and Tsunade, seated nearby, could not help but smile at the heartwarming scene of the four boys and the dog; this was what bonds were all about.

Nawaki, Inuzuka Gai, and Aburame Tomohiro spoke up.

"Alright, the star of this birthday party needs to take his seat so we can start the celebration."

"That's right, we've been preparing for this for a long time, we guarantee you'll have a feast."

"Here's your birthday hat, put it on."

"Woof woof!"

Hyuga Shinichi took his seat and looked at the variety of delicacies on the table; they looked lavish and were likely quite expensive.

"Sorry, I've made you all spend so much for my birthday."

"We're brothers, what are you talking about? We'll just have you treat us back when our birthdays come around. Besides, you're the first one among us to have a birthday, so you'd better make mine even more luxurious than this, or I'm not coming."

Nawaki's boisterous joke made everyone burst into laughter.

"By the way, why are you holding that broken sword?"

"Oh, this is the wooden sword I borrowed from you; I accidentally broke it."

"You mean this? My grandfather just made this as a toy using Wood Release a long time ago and it had been sitting in the warehouse, so it doesn't matter that it's broken."

"Huh? Ah! I thought the craftsmanship was so good that it must be expensive, I even bought something to compensate you."

Nawaki picked up the wooden sword and looked at it carefully, failing to see what was so special about the craftsmanship.

"Oh? I already gave it to you, why buy something to compensate? But I suppose I wouldn't mind taking it, hahahaha."

Hyuga Shinichi walked out of the living room and retrieved the ninja tool pouch he had left in the entryway.

"I saw you practicing shuriken throwing lately, so I bought you a bigger one that can hold more shuriken, that way you won't have to run back to pick them up when you miss."

"Hey! The birthday gift I got you is also a ninja tool pouch. Wait, who are you saying misses their shuriken? I'm hitting the bullseye every time now."

Seeing that the birthday gift Nawaki had prepared for him was also a ninja tool pouch, Hyuga Shinichi joked back.

"That works out perfectly, you don't have to compensate me anymore, so I'll just take this as my birthday gift."

"No way! Absolutely not! We agreed this was compensation, the birthday gift is separate."

As he said this, he snatched it from Hyuga Shinichi's hands and strapped the ninja tool pouch on, turning his back to the group to show it off; it seemed Nawaki was quite satisfied.

Everyone else brought out their gifts for Hyuga Shinichi: Nawaki gave a ninja tool pouch, Inuzuka Gai gave a strap to secure a sword to one's back, and Aburame Tomohiro gave a bracer to protect the forearm.

"Here, little brother Shinichi, this is my gift for you: an iron chest plate. It might be a bit big for you right now, but the straps are adjustable. Put it on and see how it fits."