That Person's Gaze

That Person's Gaze

When Ringo arrived at the training ground—the sun had not fully risen yet—his hand was already warm. Not from body heat, but from the Wind Cutter Technique card in its slot, faintly heating up.

The training ground was empty. Six wooden posts stood in neat rows. He stood ten meters away from them and waited for over a minute.

He was not afraid. He was feeling it out. How to use this technique. It was harder than physical enhancement. Physical enhancement belonged to the body; Wind Cutter was released outward.

A small cluster of wind rested in his palm. It could not be seen, but it could be felt. Like holding something invisible that breathed.

In Konoha's training ground at dawn, dew still clung to the wooden posts. The ground raised no dust. In the distance, the four stone faces of Hokage Rock loomed through the thin mist. Naruto had said that one day, his face would be up there. Ringo did not need that. His face was right here, with himself.

He raised his hand.

The golden card in his chest spun rapidly. It spun for about a second, and then wind flew from his palm.

It was not a ball of wind. It was a curved, transparent slash. Like an invisible blade being thrown.

The first wooden post went swish and snapped. Not cracked—cut. The surface was clean.

The second one broke too.

The third paused for half a second, then broke as well.

Three wooden posts fell. Ringo lowered his head and looked at his hand.

"I... did that?"

It was not wild joy, but confirmation. He turned his hand over and examined his palm. There were no wounds. He had sent it out. He had not injured himself.

As Wind Cutter flew past, it swept up the sand and dirt from the ground, leaving a shallow trench. It stretched from beneath his feet to the third wooden post. The trajectory had left a trace.

The sound of the posts breaking was not crisp. It was like tearing cloth—very thick cloth.

His palm tingled slightly after using the technique. System notification: cooldown, three minutes.

He crouched down and touched the cut surface. It was not a crack. It was a cut, like a knife slicing tofu.

Then his back tightened slightly.

Someone is watching me. He had not seen anyone; he had felt it. The feeling was not malicious. It was attention.

He turned around. At the edge of the training ground stood several large trees, their leaves rustling. Was it the wind, or—

Could it be Kakashi-sensei? No, the teams had not been assigned yet. Maybe someone passing by—

A bird flew away from a tree. It was not a person. Was it really not a person? Or had that person already left—

He stood and looked around again. No one. It was an illusion. Maybe he had been too tired lately.

He picked up the broken pieces of the wooden posts. He had to clean this up. He could not let anyone discover that someone had sliced three training posts apart.

The fragments were clean, their cut surfaces smooth. Gold and purple were different. They were not on the same level.

Behind a tree, Hinata crouched beside its roots. One hand held the trunk. The bark pricked her skin, but she did not feel it.

She had not meant to spy on him. She had only been passing by. But her Byakugan had not been activated on purpose. It had just—

That chakra was not blue, nor was it white. It was gold.

In her Byakugan's vision, Ringo's chakra resembled no ninja she had ever seen. Other people's chakra was like water, like mist—scattered and shapeless. Ringo's chakra was like something being forged, molten gold with form and warmth, still moving.

She saw Ringo throw out Wind Cutter. She saw the chakra's path, from its golden core to the focus in his palm, where it became a transparent blade.

The Byakugan's field of vision was three hundred and sixty degrees, yet her focus rested only on that one person. She was not watching him; she was being drawn toward him.

Only when Wind Cutter struck the wooden post did Hinata come back to herself. She realized she had been holding her breath. Since when did I—

She covered her mouth. Her face grew hot. Not the heat of a fever, but—

Her heartbeat was not fast. It was heavy. Thump. Thump. Her Byakugan shut off automatically, but she did not want it to. Just one more look. Only one.

That boy's golden chakra was not gold like the sun. The sun's gold was bright, dazzling. His gold was warm, but sharp, like—the color of—the coal—in a winter fireplace—burning at—its hottest.

Hinata carefully backed away from behind the tree. Her steps were light as—not because of Hyuga training, but because she had trained herself. So no one would find out, find out that she had been secretly watching.

She did not know Wind Cutter, but she knew it was not from the Academy, not from the Hyuga clan. It was his own technique.

She was not afraid. She was curious. What was his name?

She asked herself. But—

I know. His name was Ringo. He sat in the last row of the classroom, by the window. He was always the last to leave the classroom. Always the first to arrive at the training ground.

She actually knew. They had simply never spoken.

As she retreated, she stepped on a fallen leaf. Crack. She froze.

But Ringo was already focused on gathering the pieces and did not hear it. So close. Her heart beat faster than before. Not because she had nearly been discovered, but because—

Tomorrow, she would come watch again.

Hinata returned to her room and closed her eyes. What filled her mind was not the wooden posts on the training ground, but that boy. His golden chakra, and the expression he wore when he clenched his fist. It was not a smile, nor anger. It was—confirmation. Like—the expression of someone who had always known—he would—succeed.

Tomorrow, should she—talk—to him?

No. Tomorrow, she would just—watch—him—again.

She placed a hand over her eyes. The Byakugan's acupoints were faintly warm. She had used them several times just now, more than during training. More than—when sparring—with—Brother Neji.

The Hyuga clan crest hung on the wall of her room. She had always felt that crest was heavy. Now, it seemed a little lighter. Because there was something else that made her want tomorrow to come a little sooner.