My Mom Called Me Home for Dinner

Smack!

A shuriken struck the 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 an environment like this, 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 place is still at least several hundred meters from the Uchiha Clan Territory, isn't it?"

Hyuga Satoru said helplessly.

"You are..."

A trace of astonishment appeared on Uchiha Rin's face, and the hand holding her kunai unconsciously relaxed.

She had originally thought some unfamiliar ninja was trying to sneak into the clan territory under the cover of dusk. She had not expected him to be merely a boy around her own age.

And those eyes...

"I think I've seen you before?"

Uchiha Rin frowned slightly.

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

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

"Is that so..."

Uchiha Rin tilted her head.

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

One was called Iroha, and his talent was passable. The other seemed to be a bottom-ranker who slept through class every day, mockingly dubbed the Hyuga Clan's Obito by his classmates???

Apparently, that was the guy standing before her.

"What are you doing here?"

"Uh..." Hyuga Satoru wore an awkward expression and pointed at the clothes he had left on the shore.

"Would you believe me if I said I came here to take a bath?"

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

Holy shit! Yuan Hua!

"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: rusted pots, bowls, and utensils, iron wire, shuriken, even underwear and the like...

This guy was not some kind of pervert, was he?

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

Just as Hyuga Satoru was about to explain, Uchiha Rin shot toward him with a whoosh. Her slender leg swung from the hip, and the tip of her foot viciously swept toward his chest.

Hyuga Satoru abruptly bent backward at the waist, narrowly evading Uchiha Rin's attack.

"Classmate, I think there might be some misunderstanding between us."

Hyuga Satoru's scalp tingled as he hurriedly explained.

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 charged straight at Hyuga Satoru.

Hyuga Satoru defended with difficulty.

He could understand the first part.

But what the hell was that second part???

The Uchiha Clan... truly were strange creatures.

The two clashed on the shore, the smacking sounds of flesh striking flesh echoing through the little grove.

Uchiha Rin's attacks were exceptionally vicious, every blow aimed at Hyuga Satoru's vulnerable spots, yet he blocked them all with only narrow escapes.

Once could be a coincidence, twice could be luck, but three times, four times...

Uchiha Rin frowned slightly.

Could it be that she had been slacking off lately, training only nine hours a day, and had let her strength decline?

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

There was now a hint of gravity in her gaze as she looked at Hyuga Satoru.

Hyuga Satoru had no way to explain his suffering.

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

The sky gradually darkened, dusk fading away. The two stood in the hazy night, confronting each other.

"Miss, how about I come apologize to you another time? 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, her body was continuously forced back along the shore.

"This guy..."

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

Hyuga Satoru remained calm, using his kunai to block them steadily.

Uchiha Rin began forming hand seals, and her hands moved quickly.

Hyuga Satoru's eyelids twitched. A ninjutsu?

This girl had actually already learned ninjutsu.

During the gap as Uchiha Rin formed her seals, he suddenly rushed forward. Pale blue lightning flickered around his palm as he firmly pressed it against her chest.

Buzz!

With a dull boom, Uchiha Rin's body was abruptly sent flying backward, falling into the nearby Naka River amid splashing water.

"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 for his life.

Splash!

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

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

She had lost?

She had lost so easily?

What had that palm strike been?

Gentle Fist?

This was fucking Gentle Fist?

Hyuga Satoru's back gradually vanished into the night. Soaking in the freezing river water, Uchiha Rin suddenly curled her lips into a smile.

"I thought Kakashi was already unrivaled in the world. I never expected someone even fiercer than him!"

"Hyuga Satoru? Interesting..."