My Mom Called Me Home for Dinner

Smack!

A shuriken sank into a tree trunk several meters away from Hyuga Satoru.

"What a pain!"

Hyuga Satoru frowned deeply.

He had already tried his best to keep his movements quiet, but it seemed he had still been noticed.

There was no helping it. It was nearly evening, and the banks of the Naka River were exceptionally quiet. In such an environment, his movements were bound to stand out.

A few seconds after that startled shout rang out, a slender figure emerged from the forest, gripping a kunai as she coldly stared at Hyuga Satoru.

"Who are you? Why did you trespass into the Uchiha Clan Territory?"

"Uh... strictly speaking, this is still at least several hundred meters away from the Uchiha Clan Territory, right?"

Hyuga Satoru said helplessly.

"You are..."

A trace of astonishment appeared on Uchiha Rin's face, and her grip on the kunai loosened slightly without her realizing it.

She had originally assumed some unfamiliar ninja was trying to sneak into the clan territory at dusk, but she had not expected him to be merely a boy around her age.

And those eyes...

"I think I've seen you before?"

Uchiha Rin frowned slightly.

Hyuga Satoru looked familiar to her, but she could not remember where she had seen him.

Hyuga Satoru sighed and said speechlessly, "Miss, unless my Byakugan has gone farsighted, we should be classmates..."

"Really..."

Uchiha Rin tilted her head.

Her eyes only noticed the strong. Among her classmates, she remembered only the few with decent strength. As for the Hyuga Clan, there seemed to be two students.

One was called Iroha, whose talent was fairly decent. The other seemed to be a dead last who slept through class every day and was jokingly called the Hyuga Clan's Obito by his classmates???

So this was that guy.

"What are you doing here?"

"Uh..." Hyuga Satoru looked awkward and pointed at the clothes he had left by the riverbank.

"Would you believe me if I said I came here to bathe?"

Because he had been panning for ore in the river, his pant legs were rolled up to the roots of his thighs, and most of his body was soaking wet. If he had a fish spear too, he was genuinely afraid Uchiha Rin would yell that classic line...

Holy crap! Yuan Hua!

"So you cleaned out the riverbed while taking a bath?"

Uchiha Rin stared at him coldly.

Beside Hyuga Satoru's clothes was a conspicuous pile of rusty junk: corroded pots, bowls, ladles, iron wire, shuriken, even underwear...

This guy isn't some kind of pervert, is he?

The more Uchiha Rin thought about it, the more disgusted she felt.

Hyuga Satoru was about to explain when Uchiha Rin flashed to his side with a whoosh, her slender leg driving her toes in a vicious sweep toward his chest.

Hyuga Satoru suddenly leaned backward, narrowly dodging Uchiha Rin's attack.

"Miss, I think there may be some misunderstanding between us."

Hyuga Satoru's scalp prickled as he immediately tried to explain.

But Uchiha Rin clearly had no intention of listening, her voice icy.

"First! I don't like people disturbing me while I'm training! Second..."

"I don't like other people bathing in the same river as me!"

The instant Uchiha Rin's cold voice fell, she rushed straight at Hyuga Satoru.

Hyuga Satoru defended himself with difficulty.

He could understand the first reason.

But what the hell was that second one???

The Uchiha Clan really were strange creatures.

The two exchanged blows by the riverbank, the smack smack of flesh colliding echoing through the small grove.

Uchiha Rin's attacks were exceptionally vicious, every strike aimed at Hyuga Satoru's vulnerable spots, yet he narrowly blocked every one of them.

Once might have been a coincidence. Twice might have been luck. Three times, four times...

Uchiha Rin frowned slightly.

Could it be that she had slacked off in training lately? Had training only nine hours a day caused her strength to decline?

"Looks like you're not as simple as you appear..."

A hint of solemnity entered her gaze as she looked at Hyuga Satoru.

Hyuga Satoru had his own troubles.

This place was too close to the Uchiha Clan Territory. If they made too much noise, they would inevitably draw other ninjas over.

The sky gradually darkened. Dusk faded away, and the two stood in the hazy night, facing each other in a standoff.

"Miss, how about I come back next time to apologize? My mom called me home for dinner."

"I already said it. First..."

"Stop!"

Hyuga Satoru decisively gave up on negotiating.

Uchiha Rin suddenly felt the pressure surge.

As their fists and legs collided, she kept retreating along the riverbank.

"This guy..."

Uchiha Rin's expression gradually turned solemn. After dodging Hyuga Satoru's attack, she suddenly leaped backward and flung out two shuriken.

Hyuga Satoru remained calm and blocked them steadily with his kunai.

Uchiha Rin began forming hand seals, and she formed them quickly.

Hyuga Satoru's eyelid twitched. A ninjutsu?

This girl had actually learned ninjutsu already.

During the gap while Uchiha Rin formed her hand seals, he suddenly rushed forward. His palm was wrapped in pale blue lightning as he firmly pressed it against her chest.

Bzzz!

With a dull blast, Uchiha Rin's body was suddenly sent flying backward, crashing into the nearby Naka River and splashing water everywhere.

"Sorry! My mom really called me home for dinner!"

Hyuga Satoru shouted awkwardly. He wrapped that pile of ore in his coat, slung it over his shoulder, turned, and ran wildly.

Splash!

Uchiha Rin emerged from the river, astonishment and disbelief in her eyes as she watched Hyuga Satoru's fleeing back.

At that moment, her chest twitched faintly as though shocked by electricity, numb and tingling. Her clothes were soaked through, clinging tightly to her body along with her waist-length hair and outlining her completely flat chest.

She had lost?

She had lost that easily?

What was that palm strike?

Gentle Fist?

What the fuck kind of Gentle Fist was that?

Hyuga Satoru's figure gradually vanished into the night. Uchiha Rin soaked in the freezing river water, and the corner of her mouth suddenly curved upward.

"I thought Kakashi was already unmatched beneath the heavens. I never expected someone to be even more fearless than him!"

"Hyuga Satoru? Interesting..."