The Ninja Academy's second semester was drawing to a close, and spring in Konoha had given way to early summer. Taijutsu sparring classes had been running for several months. The students grew through bout after bout, but some troubling trends had also begun to emerge.
The students who repeatedly lost their Taijutsu matches harbored growing resentment and anger. They could not accept their defeats, much less bear the fact that the gifted students could beat them so easily. A twisted mindset began to spread among them-if they could not win in a fair fight, they would find other ways to get their "revenge."
That was how bullying began at the academy.
These losers began roaming in groups, singling out students who looked relatively weak. They cornered their targets during breaks and demanded their pocket money or lunches, sometimes deliberately shoving, punching, and kicking them. Worse still, they spread rumors and ostracized students who refused to submit.
Surprisingly, the academy tacitly condoned it.
"The world of shinobi has always been one where the strong prey on the weak," a Chunin instructor said at a staff meeting. "Letting them experience the importance of strength from an early age isn't necessarily a bad thing. In this environment, the weak either grow stronger or get weeded out. That is precisely how the Ninja World works."
This hands-off attitude allowed the bullying to escalate. Ironically, however, the truly gifted students became the targets the bullies most wanted to attack-and least dared to provoke.
Uchiha Itachi, the boy hailed as a "genius among geniuses," became the object of widespread jealousy because of his outstanding strength and aloof personality. Neji Hyuga, the prodigy of the Hyuga Branch Family, inspired both hatred and fear with his resentment toward the Main Family and his defiant nature. Then there was Sasuke Uchiha, a young member of the Uchiha Clan who had already displayed astonishing talent.
These prodigies' fiercely independent ways left them out of place among their peers. They disdained interacting with ordinary students and certainly would not go out of their way to please anyone. Such arrogance naturally earned them the hatred of the warped bullies.
Yet whenever anyone tried to attack these prodigies, the results were disastrous.
A group of older students once tried to "teach Uchiha Itachi a lesson." In less than ten seconds, Itachi knocked all seven or eight of them to the ground. Some were left bruised and battered; others passed out on the spot. More frightening still, Itachi's expression never changed throughout the entire encounter, as though he were doing something utterly trivial.
Neji Hyuga had faced a similar group attack. The bullies thought their numbers would give them an advantage, only for Neji's Gentle Fist acupoint techniques to leave them howling for mercy. He precisely sealed each attacker's acupoints, leaving them writhing in agony on the ground, unable to move freely.
As for Sasuke, although he was the youngest, his Uchiha Clan bloodline and the rigorous training he had received since childhood made him equally ruthless in the face of these provocations. His Taijutsu was still immature, but his innate combat instincts and cold disposition were enough to intimidate the vast majority of bullies.
These failed attempts at "revenge" did nothing to satisfy the bullies. Instead, they only deepened their hatred of these prodigies and the clans they belonged to.
"Damn those Uchiha!"
"Everyone in the Hyuga Clan is a monster!"
"Why do they get to be stronger than us from birth?"
Such resentful remarks often rang out in the academy's corners. Unable to deal with the prodigies themselves, the warped bullies began turning their attention toward people connected to them.
By early June, the heavy snow had finally stopped, and Konoha welcomed a rare spell of clear weather.
Inside the Hyuga Clan Compound, a petite figure was carefully arranging her clothes in her room.
Hinata stood before the mirror, carefully combing her long, silky hair. Today, she wore a pale purple kimono with an elegant ribbon tied around her waist, along with white tabi socks and wooden sandals. She looked like an exquisite doll.
"Lady Hinata, are you going out?" the maid asked cautiously.
"Yes." Hinata nodded gently, undisguised anticipation on her face. "I'm going to meet a friend."
"A friend?" The maid looked a little puzzled. "Do you mean Lady Ino?"
Hinata blushed faintly and did not answer directly. After all the time they had spent together, she had come to see Toru Kujyo as her most important friend, perhaps even... someone more important than that. But she still could not fully understand these complicated feelings, much less dare to mention them to anyone.
Pushing open the gates of the Hyuga Clan Compound, Hinata took a deep breath of fresh air. Ever since her strength had improved dramatically under Toru Kujyo's guidance, her father, Hyuga Hiashi, had noticeably changed his attitude toward her. His former disappointment and sternness had given way to a measure of approval and trust.
The most obvious change was that she could now enter and leave the compound relatively freely. She no longer needed someone constantly watching and restricting her as before. To her, that freedom was more precious than any gift.
It's all thanks to Kujyo... Hinata thought warmly, her steps growing lighter.
Their agreed meeting place was a small park in Konoha's southeastern corner. Few people usually came here, and Toru Kujyo had carefully chosen it as their meeting spot. Hinata arrived early and waited quietly beneath a cherry tree.
A gentle breeze brushed past, and pink petals occasionally drifted onto her shoulders. She reached up to brush them away, her eyes full of warmth. Waiting like this was no burden to her, but a happy anticipation.
"Huh? Isn't that the little girl from the Hyuga Clan?"
A slightly gruff voice suddenly came from behind her, breaking the peace. Hinata turned and saw three older male students closing in around her. They looked two or three years older than she was and were much bigger than her.
"Do you... need something?" Hinata cautiously stepped back, instinctively taking a defensive stance.
The boy leading them was fat and covered in freckles. He looked Hinata up and down, malice gleaming in his eyes. "You're from Neji Hyuga's clan, right? You're pretty cute."
"Big Brother Neji?" Hinata blinked. "You know Big Brother Neji?"
"Know him?" The fat boy sneered. "Of course we 'know' him! That bastard beat us up so badly just because he thinks he's some kind of genius!"
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