Hinata, Stop Pretending

But considering that she could not use her Tenseigan, she really did not seem to be a match for Neji Hyuga. After all, Neji Hyuga was a publicly acknowledged genius.

Just then, a cute little girl wearing a pink outfit resembling a Chinese qipao with a small side-buttoned jacket, two hairpins in her hair, walked over and said, "Neji, you haven't gone home yet? Oh, and this little sister is...?"

Neji said coldly, "Tenten, don't meddle in other people's business."

Tenten blinked her large black eyes, then helplessly waved her hand and turned around. "All right! All right!" With that, she left directly.

So that girl just now was Tenten? Hinata was not entirely sure, but after thinking about it, Neji really had called her Tenten.

Still, the younger Tenten was much better than the slightly more masculine version she would become later. If one had to trace the reason, then Tsunade definitely had to take the blame.

Who told her to leave behind such a huge reputation with nothing better to do? A great reputation would have been one thing, but she had also left behind that kind of personality. That was what caused countless young girls to regard her as an idol and imitate her in every way. Tenten was undoubtedly among the most deeply infected.

Hinata secretly calculated that if she could keep Tenten away from such bad influences, then in another dozen or so years, would she not become someone who could be both sweet and fierce?

But then again, she felt that Neji was definitely too young to realize the consequences of rejecting a beautiful girl like that.

If this had been her previous life, he would definitely have been a lifelong bachelor. And Tenten too—given Neji's attitude, she still silently liked him later on. Could that really be called unwavering devotion?

After Neji used that strange, sarcastic tone to lecture Hinata again, he finally left the academy with her and headed toward the clan compound.

As Hinata walked, she recalled what Neji had said earlier. It seemed she had discovered something incredible. Thinking back to the timid personality of the original Hinata—

Then imagining Neji's sarcastic tone and certain unspoken threats, Heh. Now I can be sure that Hinata's timid personality was absolutely Neji's fault.

You never knew until you thought about it, and once you did, it was terrifying! If a child whose mind had not fully matured was threatened by Neji once or twice every day, and treated like that for years on end, it would be strange if she could still grow up bold.

While they were on their way home, a sudden commotion came from a nearby alley. Hinata immediately wondered whether Naruto had been cornered by a few little punks again.

She saw Neji stop, so she stopped as well. At that moment, she saw Neji activate his Byakugan. After glaring at her, he said, "Lady Hinata, please do not move. I'll be right back."

With that, he used the Body Flicker Technique and vanished. Hinata frowned. Had there been some hidden detail in the original story where Neji helped Naruto? It did not seem like there had been!

As she pondered it, another commotion came from the alley. Before long, Neji emerged from it with a child who had black hair, black eyes, extremely thick eyebrows, a white cloth shirt, and gray shorts.

Hinata raised an eyebrow. Those eyebrows, that sense of familiarity... Could this be Rock Lee?! Shouldn't he have been wearing that forgiveness-green skintight training suit and crazily practicing taijutsu somewhere with Might Guy? What was this?

Actually, this was simply the impression she had formed while watching anime in her previous life. By the time Rock Lee first appeared, he was already wearing that forgiveness-green outfit and had begun his crazed taijutsu training under Might Guy—Guy the Great.

But in reality, Rock Lee had only officially begun training under Might Guy after graduating from the Ninja Academy.

Rock Lee opened his wide eyes and said earnestly, "Neji, thank you."

Neji said arrogantly, "Rock Lee, although you have the talent to cultivate Chakra, you cannot learn ninjutsu, Genjutsu, or Fūinjutsu. You cannot even master the simplest Clone Technique, Transformation Jutsu, or Substitution Technique.

"In that case, you will never become a ninja. I advise you to choose another path in life as soon as possible."

A determined look appeared on Rock Lee's face. "Yes, I do not possess those things, but I believe that as long as I master taijutsu, I can still become a ninja. A man's youth knows no surrender."

Neji snorted coldly. "Then I won't disturb you further. A piece of trash who cannot even deal with a few hooligans still wants to achieve something in taijutsu?"

With that, he turned and left. Rock Lee remained silent, but his tightly clenched fists made it clear that he had absolutely no intention of giving up like this.

After hearing the latter part of their conversation, Hinata had more or less figured out what had happened. Her Brother Neji might indeed be rather punchable, but he still had some kindness in his heart!

Fine, then. If she decided to teach him a lesson in the future, she would go a little easier on him. As for how much easier, that would depend on Hinata's mood when the time came!

The Lonely Old Man, Hiruzen Sarutobi