"What did you see that you weren't supposed to see?"
Naruto's low voice echoed through the cramped infirmary.
Hinata clutched the corner of the blanket tightly, her little face flushed so red it looked ready to bleed.
She did not dare lift her head to meet those aggressively piercing blue eyes.
"I... didn't..." Hinata's voice was as thin as a thread, and her body still trembled slightly.
Naruto braced one hand beside her pillow and leaned in another inch.
The Yang Release hormones unique to his perfect Sage Body formed an invisible giant net around Hinata, trapping her firmly within it.
At such close range, that domineering masculine presence made it hard for Hinata even to breathe. A tingling numbness even spread through her lower abdomen.
She felt as though all strength had been drained from her body. She could not even turn her face away.
Just as Hinata thought Naruto would do something even more excessive, that oppressive pressure abruptly receded.
Naruto straightened up, and the wicked smirk at the corner of his mouth turned into a sincere, gentle smile.
He reached out with his large hand and lightly rested it on Hinata's soft, dark-blue short hair, rubbing it twice as though soothing a frightened kitten.
"Don't be afraid."
Naruto gazed into those pure white eyes, his tone gentle. "Actually, I quite like gentle girls like you."
Hinata froze completely.
She suddenly lifted her head and stared blankly at the blond boy so close before her.
Fourteen years.
Ever since that snowy afternoon when he had stepped forward and stood in front of her, her eyes had never been able to leave that lonely back.
She had trained desperately, all so she could get a little closer to him, even if it only earned her a casual glance from him.
Now, those simple and direct words were like a massive bomb, shattering all the inferiority, grievance, and bitterness deep in her heart, turning them into an uncontrollable flood of sweetness that swept through her entire body.
The overwhelming happiness struck her mind, and tears spilled from her eyes without warning.
[Ding! Hinata Hyuga's favorability has exceeded 80, forming an initial deep bond!] [Bond critical-hit reward obtained: Pure Byakugan bloodline!] [Notice: The Pure Byakugan is dormant by default, with a passive detection range of 10 meters. Once actively activated, it possesses all abilities beyond those of an ordinary Byakugan. However, its iris color will turn silver-white upon activation. Host, please take care to conceal it.]
A crisp mechanical voice exploded in his mind.
Naruto only felt an extreme coolness spread through his eyes.
The region where his optic nerves connected to his brain seemed to have been remade, and some ancient, pure ocular power took root and sprouted within him.
He did not even need hand seals to clearly sense the drip rate of the medicine bottles in the next hospital room.
This meant that, from this moment on, he possessed the Shinobi World's highest-level powers of x-ray vision and perception.
Naruto took a deep breath, gently wiped the tears from the corners of Hinata's eyes with his thumb, and leaned close to whisper in her ear, "Get some proper rest. I'll come see you again. And what you saw just now can count as our little secret."
With that, Naruto turned around, unlocked the door, and strode away.
Hinata was left limp on the hospital bed, covering her burning cheeks as she panted heavily. Her heartbeat was so loud that even she found it deafening.
Not long after leaving the infirmary, someone stepped out from the shadows at the corner of the hallway.
Half of Neji's face was wrapped in bandages and swollen badly, while his one uninjured eye was bloodshot.
Blood still seeped from the corner of his mouth, and his breathing was rapid and heavy. Clearly, his injuries had not healed.
But humiliation and jealousy had completely burned away his reason. He ignored the pain in his body and forcibly gathered chakra, blocking the middle of the corridor.
"Hyuga prodigy? Is it really that hard for you to admit someone else is stronger? I think you're so jealous you can't even use Gentle Fist anymore. Take a good look with those Byakugan of yours. This is a gap you'll never catch up to in your entire life. You think the fate of the branch family is unfair? Fate hasn't treated you unfairly. What has failed you is your own narrow heart."
Naruto kept both hands in his pockets, his eyes full of mockery.
"You monster dead last, don't get too cocky!"
The veins around Neji's eyes bulged violently as his Byakugan locked tightly onto the chakra flow within Naruto's body. "I was careless and underestimated you in the classroom just now. Now I'll cripple every meridian in your body and crush the foundation you're so proud of!"
The air in the corridor suddenly turned cold.
High-density chakra gathered between Neji's palms, forming sharp whirlwinds.
He assumed the most orthodox Gentle Fist stance of the Hyuga Clan. The killing intent born from extreme humiliation and jealousy became a tangible pressure that rushed toward Naruto.
He would use this move to ruin Naruto's future and completely wash away the monstrous humiliation of being crushed in every possible way as a man.
Naruto did not even take his hands out of his pockets. He merely looked at him coldly. "Is this all the tolerance a Hyuga prodigy has? Is it really that hard to admit someone else is stronger than you, bigger than you? A pathetic branch-family weakling like you, who can only rage helplessly because he can't compare to someone else's size, is an embarrassment to men everywhere."
"You're courting death!"
Those words pierced straight through Neji's final psychological defense.
He went completely mad, losing all reason.
"Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms!"
His palm strikes were clearly less fierce than when he was at full strength. The Sixty-Four Palms he forcibly unleashed while injured even contained openings.
Neji stomped down hard, his body becoming an afterimage as palm winds filled the air like a raging storm and enveloped the vital points around Naruto's chest.
This attack held nothing back. It could absolutely cripple a Genin for life.
Facing certain death, Naruto advanced instead of retreating.
The violent power he had just acquired was immediately awakened within him.
Inside his mind, the first shackle of the Eight Gates shattered with a thunderous crash.
"Opening Gate, open!"
A visible ring of blue energy erupted around Naruto's body.
The terrifying physique of his perfect Sage Body, combined with the enhancement of the Eight Gates, sent his speed soaring to a horrifying level in that instant.
Before Neji's palm wind could even touch the corner of Naruto's clothes, that orange figure vanished from his sight.
Then, a devastating pain exploded in his chest.
Naruto moved after him yet struck first, lifting his leg and delivering a simple, unadorned front kick.
The sole of his shoe slammed viciously into Neji's chest, accompanied by a dull crack of breaking bones.
Neji flew backward like a cannonball, scraping across the corridor floor in a long trail of blinding sparks. Finally, with a thunderous bang, he and his stance were sent precisely headfirst into the huge metal trash can at the end of the hallway.
Waste paper and bloodstained cotton swabs scattered all over him.
The mighty Hyuga prodigy's legs hung over the edge of the trash can and twitched twice before he completely passed out.
"How... how is that possible?"
A clear cry of shock shattered the dead silence in the hallway.
Naruto turned his head to look.
At the other end of the corridor stood a girl in a pink Chinese-style short jacket, with two playful buns tied atop her head.
The metal medical tray in her hands fell to the floor, scattering bandages and scissors everywhere.
It was Tenten.
She had originally come to visit her teammate Neji, only to witness the horrifying sight of him being instantly defeated with a single kick.
Tenten's heart raced wildly, and her breathing became rapid.
The violent aura lingering around that blond boy was ten times more terrifying than any physical training she had ever seen.
He was absolutely not the troublemaking dead last from the rumors!
What made her heart tremble even more was that when Naruto's deep-blue eyes turned toward her, she actually had the dangerous illusion that her clothes had been stripped away in an instant and even her soul had been completely seen through.
At the same time, the long-awaited notification sounded in Naruto's mind.
[Ding! High-potential bond target discovered: Tenten.] [A new-stage conquest mission has been generated. Will the host accept it?]
Naruto glanced at Neji in the trash can, then turned toward the completely tense Tenten. The smile on his lips gradually widened.
The system's acceptance prompt still flashed in his mind.
Naruto laughed inwardly. Did it even need asking?
Of course he accepted.
He pulled his hand from his pocket, stepped over the medical instruments scattered across the floor, and advanced toward Tenten one step at a time.
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