"Yemu, what happened?"
Qingxue Uchiha came up to Yemu Hyuga, curious.
When she saw Hinata Hyuga's cute little face, she paused in surprise.
Yemu Hyuga asked curiously, "Young lady, did the clan head ask you to do this?"
"No, I wanted to train with you myself. I want to become as strong as you, Yemu."
There was a hint of longing in Hinata Hyuga's eyes.
The memory of that little boy taking on three opponents alone had given Hinata Hyuga the courage to change.
"Ahem... I'm not really that great. Well, come with me." Yemu Hyuga scratched his head and didn't turn Hinata away.
Qingxue Uchiha followed behind them, her lips forming a slight pout.
But she said nothing more.
And so it went.
Under Yemu Hyuga's instruction,
Qingxue Uchiha and Hinata Hyuga improved rapidly.
Yemu Hyuga didn't hold back, either, beating the two girls until they could only groan in misery.
One evening,
inside the Hyuga Clan's Main Family compound,
Hyuga Hiashi, head of the Hyuga Clan, watched his eldest daughter, Hinata, practice water walking in the courtyard.
His eyes held a trace of satisfaction.
At first, he had been somewhat opposed to Hinata growing close to Yemu.
But after discovering that Yemu Hyuga seemed to be helping his daughter quite a bit, he had tacitly allowed it.
After all, finding someone useful enough to make his daughter stronger wasn't easy.
Ever since the incident three years ago, his eldest daughter had become timid and withdrawn. He hoped spending time with that boy might help her improve.
Before long,
a year had passed.
Large, feathery snowflakes were falling from the sky, blanketing the ground in white.
"Wake up, Yemu. It's time to get up."
Qingxue's sweet, gentle voice reached Yemu Hyuga's ears.
Feeling the weight on his body and her warm, moist breath against his ear, Yemu Hyuga had grown used to Qingxue Uchiha's wake-up service.
He realized
that without Qingxue Uchiha waking him up these days, he really might not get out of bed.
"What would you like for breakfast? Porridge, steamed buns, or... me first?"
Qingxue Uchiha stood beside the bed with a playful expression.
In response,
she received Yemu Hyuga's merciless chop to the head.
"Shoo, shoo. I need to get dressed. Get out," Yemu Hyuga said irritably.
"It's fine. I won't peek." Qingxue Uchiha covered her eyes with her hands, but her eyes were wide open behind the gaps between her fingers.
"You brat, are you itching for another spanking?" Yemu Hyuga raised his hand and pushed Qingxue Uchiha out.
He shut the wooden door.
Looking into the mirror, he saw a blue glow in his white pupils.
Yemu Hyuga knew that he was very likely evolving toward the Tenseigan.
By now,
Yemu Hyuga had more or less figured out how the system worked.
He could earn points by dismantling traits he didn't want.
Then he could use those points to upgrade his traits.
Now, Yemu Hyuga's Byakugan trait
had evolved from its original green grade to gold through those points.
[Atavistic Byakugan (gold): Your Byakugan's purity has reached an astonishing level of atavism, attracting special attention from the underground black market.]
The underground black market... Yemu Hyuga didn't know what to make of that.
"G-good morning, Yemu."
Hinata, who had already prepared breakfast, stood beside the table in a little apron and waved happily at Yemu Hyuga.
Her expression was a little awkward.
She still hadn't quite gotten used to this.
Even though she had been cooking for Yemu Hyuga for almost half a year.
"Hinata, you cooked again? Thanks for all your hard work."
Yemu Hyuga sat down at the table, feeling a little embarrassed.
Qingxue Uchiha, on the other hand, was perfectly composed. She was already sitting beside Yemu Hyuga, holding a white cup and elegantly sipping hot milk.
She had to admit
that their meals had improved dramatically since Hinata came along.
Moreover, Hinata got up early every day to come over and cook.
That perseverance had earned the shy little girl some of her respect.
As for any other feelings,
impossible. Absolutely impossible.
How old were they, anyway? How could they possibly have those kinds of feelings?
There was no helping it.
Qingxue Uchiha had no idea that children in the Shinobi World matured absurdly early.
"Hey, at least thank her. All you do is freeload."
Yemu patted the back of Qingxue, who had been sitting silently beside him.
Without even realizing it, she was displaying the pampered young lady's air from her previous life, intimidating Hinata so much that she hardly dared move.
They were both essentially princesses of their respective clans, yet their personalities couldn't have been more different.
"Thank you. Come eat with us."
Qingxue Uchiha wore a gentle smile.
It was as though she had already become the lady of the house.
"Oh, okay."
Hinata Hyuga nodded, smiled happily, and sat down across from them.
However, since she had quite a large appetite,
she ate more than Yemu and Qingxue combined.
It was only after Yemu had pointed this out that Hinata Hyuga had stopped trying to hide her enormous appetite.
Even so,
when she noticed that Yemu and Qingxue were deliberately slowing down their eating,
Hinata still felt warmth bloom in her heart.
"I... I'll wash the dishes."
After finishing her meal, Hinata Hyuga volunteered.
"No need. It's snowing today, so let's go for a walk."
Yemu Hyuga formed hand seals and summoned a Shadow Clone to wash the dishes.
Although its memories would eventually flow back into his mind,
a brief moment of trouble was hardly worth mentioning.
Dressed in padded coats and scarves, the three headed along Konoha's streets toward the park.
Once winter was over,
Yemu and the others would enter their second year. Meanwhile, that oh-so-filial son, Uchiha Itachi, would begin his clan massacre.
If this had been a year ago,
Yemu Hyuga might have ignored it.
He would have simply watched from the sidelines.
After all, he wasn't part of the Uchiha Clan. Why worry about them and invite trouble for himself?
But things were different now.
After spending a year together, Yemu Hyuga naturally couldn't stand by and watch Qingxue get hacked to death by that oh-so-filial Itachi.
People formed emotional bonds. Even spending a year with a dog would foster affection, let alone someone like Qingxue, who Yemu could clearly tell treated him extremely well.
It almost gave him the impression that she had entrusted everything to him.
Her only problem was that she was a little too controlling.
The three walked through the snow,
leaving three trails of footprints of different sizes.
Over the past year, Yemu Hyuga's outstanding looks had made him extremely popular with the girls, which had left quite a few boys at the Ninja Academy hostile toward him.
There was no helping it.
The girls they could only dream of exchanging a single word with were fawning over someone else.
Something like that would probably leave anyone utterly crushed.
The three arrived at Konoha Park.
Before long,
a few little boys gathered in front of them, blocking their path.
"Yemu Hyuga, come play with us, and bring those two girls with you."
"Yeah! If you don't agree, we'll beat you up!"
"That's right. My punches are really strong."
The little brats had snot running from their noses and didn't even dare look at the two girls beside Yemu.
They could only focus on Yemu.
There was no helping it. Those two girls were far too dazzling in their eyes.
Qingxue Uchiha's delicate brows furrowed.
She had experienced something similar half a year ago, except she had been cornered by a few girls who told her to stay away from Yemu Hyuga and forbade her from following him around.
The result was that Qingxue Uchiha had instantly activated her one-tomoe Sharingan and beaten those girls so badly their own mothers wouldn't have recognized them.
"Y-you... if you keep this up, I'll fight you."
To Yemu and Qingxue's surprise, the normally reserved Hinata Hyuga stepped in front of them and spread her arms, looking ready for battle.
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