Hinata, Stop Pretending

He seemed to have maintained that posture for far too long. Only when he turned and saw bursts of light coming from outside the cave entrance did he stop adding firewood to the campfire.

He silently rose to his feet and walked out of the cave. The moment he stepped outside, two black crows flew back onto his shoulders. After cawing for a while, they vanished.

Thinking back on everything that had happened a few days ago, Itachi Uchiha felt no ripples in his heart. He was a man with convictions, pursuits, and dreams, though his dream had now been shattered.

But he had never felt regret or remorse after making a decision, taking action, and successfully achieving his goal.

Besides, even if he had not acted at that time, the Uchiha Clan would not have escaped destruction. By acting, however, he had kept his most cherished younger brother, Sasuke Uchiha, out of the incident.

Though recalling the last words his parents had said to him could still bring tears to his eyes, this was not meant to say how kind he was. It was only to prove that he, too, possessed emotions.

He knew that he had already embarked on a path completely different from that of the other clansmen. Though he had set his own fate, as he traveled along that destined road,

there were still many stages he had yet to discover, stages he would need to explore on his own. Perhaps they might prove quite wonderful.

Over the past two days, he had also learned of a highly mysterious organization called Akatsuki. According to the intelligence he had gathered, this organization seemed to have begun recruiting S-rank Rogue Ninja wandering throughout the ninja world long ago.

For the sake of his mission, he had to investigate this potentially dangerous organization. But taking the initiative to seek them out and lower himself to beg to join them

had never suited his image. Besides, even if he found the organization and joined them, he would undoubtedly end up as nothing more than cannon fodder.

So he had already made his decision. Rather than awkwardly presenting himself at their doorstep, it would be better to wait for them to invite him. His reputation was already famous enough.

As long as he showed himself a little, they would definitely notice him. This would also make it easier for Itachi to judge just how dangerous the organization truly was.

Hinata woke from her dream feeling refreshed. Perhaps it was a habit her body had developed long ago, but the time happened to be just past six in the morning.

After getting up and changing into training clothes, she headed straight to the courtyard where she had trained yesterday. Today, she saw neither Hanabi nor Hyuga Hiashi.

In such a vast training ground, she was the only tiny little girl there, which made her feel somewhat uneasy.

Hinata knew why neither Hanabi nor Hyuga Hiashi had appeared. The Hyuga Clan's territory was so vast that it would surely exceed anyone's expectations. Hanabi was likely receiving Hiashi's guidance in another training ground right now.

Seeing that there was no one around, Hinata immediately grew a little excited. No one was good—no one was wonderful. She had just learned the Eight Trigrams Palms from the system yesterday.

But knowing it did not mean she was proficient. If she wanted to use it skillfully, Hinata still needed to train diligently.

After estimating that no one would likely disturb her during the morning, she stopped hesitating. She circulated the not-so-abundant Chakra throughout her body, gathering it in her hands. Following the images in her mind,

she began striking palm after palm, each seemingly concealing a pattern. After going through the sequence several times, Hinata began to pant slightly. Soon afterward, sweat appeared on her forehead.

It looked like she was beginning to struggle. After a while, she finally stopped. Though her body was exhausted, her spirits were unusually high.

After finding a spot in the training ground and sitting down, Hinata sank into thought again. Having no one watching really was nice. She could perform however she wanted without worrying about exposing her trump cards.

But if she completely mastered the Tenseigan in the future, then one day, if the urge struck and she wanted to test it out, even a casual move would probably leave this training ground in a bad state.

How could that not draw other people's attention? Besides, even without using the Tenseigan, if she learned some advanced ninjutsu someday

that required circulating a large amount of Chakra, then while training it, if she suddenly caught the attention of a Byakugan peeking out from some corner, the situation would be far from pleasant.

Her persona was supposed to be someone who played the pig to eat the tiger. She looked adorably innocent, so she absolutely could not openly show how powerful she was, how damn awesome she was.

Otherwise, if the system got upset and took back her Golden Finger, then even if she wanted to find somewhere to cry, she would have nowhere to shed her tears.

So, she realized that she was starting to dislike living among a bunch of voyeurs. Even if she caught one, they could just roll their eyes at her and act as though the matter were over.

She still had to think of another way. Or should she simply go train in the Forest of Death?