It Was Takasaki Who Helped Me Become Stronger

What had she gone through over the past month, and why had she improved so much?

Hinata knew very well that she had grown stronger because of Takasaki's diary.

To be precise, she hadn't gotten stronger over the past month. She'd gotten stronger two hours ago.

Her total chakra had increased by ten percent. It still wasn't enough to defeat Neji, but at least it let her last longer when they sparred—from half a minute to three minutes.

Six times as long.

An astonishing improvement.

"Hinata, how did you improve so much?" Neji asked again.

Hinata actually wanted to tell him about the diary. After all, she was a member of the Hyuga Clan and bore the responsibility of helping restore the family's strength. She hoped that, with Takasaki's diary, she could help the entire Hyuga Clan grow stronger.

But she couldn't tell him.

Otherwise, she would die.

Hinata could only make up an excuse. "Brother Neji, I got stronger through hard work."

"Hard work?" Neji furrowed his brow.

"Yes, Brother Neji. Hard work can change your fate."

Hinata lowered her head slightly. Whenever she lied, she couldn't stop her face from turning a little red.

Fortunately, she was exhausted, and her cheeks were already flushed, so no one could tell anything was wrong.

Seeing that Hinata could stand steadily now, Neji stopped supporting her and fell into thought.

Through hard work, Takasaki had learned the Three Body Technique. He was no longer the dead-last student Neji had once thought him to be.

And through hard work, Hinata had grown much stronger. She could now last far longer than three minutes against Neji.

Neji murmured, "Hard work... can it really change your fate?"

If so, could he break the Caged Bird mark on his forehead through hard work, too?

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, Neji shook his head with a bitter smile.

Even if he wanted to break the Caged Bird mark through hard work, he couldn't even figure out where to start.

Then—

He looked at Hinata, whose face was flushed from exhaustion, and suddenly seemed to realize something. "Hinata, did you start working hard this month because Takasaki inspired you?"

"Y-yes!" Hinata lied again.

She lowered her head in shame.

Neji didn't read too much into her reaction. After all, he knew his cousin's personality. She was shy, easily embarrassed, and reserved.

What mattered was that her answer had suddenly cleared up a lot of things for him.

No wonder Hinata had invited Takasaki to their home and treated him like an honored guest.

It was because Takasaki deserved it!

Under Takasaki's influence, Hinata's strength had improved by leaps and bounds over the past month.

Not just Hinata—if Neji had experienced the same thing, he would have been deeply grateful to Takasaki, too.

"Looks like I really misunderstood Takasaki. He helped you, and yet I provoked him like that."

Neji felt even more guilty toward Takasaki. "Once the weekend's over, I'll go to the academy on Monday and give him a sincere apology."

Just then, as the two were talking, Hyuga Hiashi strode into the Training Room, dressed in a white robe.

Hiashi had been in a good mood after seeing Hinata's improvement, and a smile had been on his face.

But the moment he vaguely heard that Hinata and Neji seemed to be talking about Takasaki, his mood soured.

Hiashi's smile vanished, and he asked sternly, "Are you talking about Takasaki?"

At that, Neji and Hinata turned to look at Hiashi.

As the head of the Hyuga Clan, Hiashi commanded great respect among its members. Whenever they saw him at the estate, they had to bow—even his own daughter, Hinata, had to do so in public.

But this time, when Neji and Hinata saw him in public, neither bowed right away.

Hinata merely stared at Hiashi, seemingly lost in thought.

Neji's gaze was more direct. He looked Hiashi up and down, suspicion written plainly across his face.

Could this be Takasaki in disguise?

It wasn't that Neji was naturally suspicious. Takasaki had played so many tricks on him that he was still wary.

He felt guilty toward Takasaki, but whenever he remembered how Takasaki had fooled him three times in a row, he still felt a little annoyed.

In a proper fight, Takasaki definitely wouldn't be Neji's match.

But when it came to underhanded tricks, Neji had to admit he couldn't beat Takasaki.

"What are you two so suspicious about?"

The old fox Hiashi saw straight through them. "I heard about the trouble Takasaki caused at the estate. Are you wondering if I'm Takasaki in disguise?"

As he spoke, veins bulged around Hiashi's eyes.

The chakra radiating from his body formed an oppressive aura that bore down on Neji and Hinata. A moment later, both of them were breaking out in a cold sweat.

"Father!" Hinata stopped suspecting him.

Neji quickly bowed. "Clan Head!"

Hiashi's expression softened a little, but his opinion of Takasaki had only worsened.

If Takasaki hadn't caused a scene earlier, his daughter and nephew wouldn't have doubted his identity.

Rather than ask Hinata how she had grown stronger, Hiashi now wanted Neji and Hinata to stop spending so much time with Takasaki—especially Hinata.

The problem was, he felt that Hinata and Takasaki seemed to be on very good terms.

Cutting off their relationship all at once would be cruel.

Instead, he might as well have Neji set an example first.

After all, Neji was much more decisive than Hinata.

Hiashi immediately asked, "Neji, how do you plan to treat Takasaki from now on?"

"I... I..."

Neji stammered several times, but in the end, he couldn't bring himself to say what he was thinking.

He really did intend to apologize to Takasaki. But he had never apologized to anyone before, and saying those words aloud was still difficult.

To Hiashi, however, his hesitation looked like he couldn't bear to sever a friendship with a classmate.

Hiashi decided to give Neji a push. "Why are you hesitating? Go ahead and say it. Tell your sister!"

Neji took a deep breath and declared, "I plan to apologize to Takasaki tomorrow!"

What?

Hiashi froze. Even though he'd heard every word clearly, he still found it hard to believe.

As far as he knew, Takasaki had played Neji for a fool three times.

And now Neji planned to apologize to him?

No matter how you looked at it, if someone much weaker than you tricked you three times, even if you were magnanimous enough not to take revenge, you wouldn't lower your head and apologize to them.

Wasn't this just nonsense?

If anyone else had said this, Hiashi would have reprimanded them harshly. But this was Neji.

In Hiashi's eyes, Neji wasn't rash. He was very methodical in how he handled things.

There had to be a special reason for Neji to say this.

Putting Neji aside for the moment, Hiashi turned his gaze to Hinata. "Hinata, I can tell that you've improved a great deal in this spar with Neji compared to last month."

Hiashi smiled as he spoke to her. His voice softened, and his gaze grew gentler. "How did you do it?"

Hinata didn't dare lie in front of her father, but she couldn't tell him about the diary, either. "Takasaki helped me become stronger."

What?

Hiashi's brow furrowed.

Wasn't Takasaki the dead-last student in Hinata's class, someone nobody liked? He'd just caused a scene at the estate and been chased off by Neji.

Why, then, was his nephew Neji—a boy who had always handled things so carefully—planning to apologize to Takasaki?

And now his daughter was saying that Takasaki had helped her become stronger.

What was going on?!