She looked anxiously at the gentle "Toru Kujyo" beside her and asked softly, "Toru-kun, your original body... he used up so much strength and entered a weakened state. Will that affect you? What if your identity..."
She dared not pursue the thought. If his original body's weakened state exposed this Wood Clone, the consequences would be unthinkable.
But the "Toru Kujyo" before her smiled. He reached out and gently flicked Hinata's smooth forehead, just as he always did.
"Don't worry, Hinata." His voice was gentle and steady, carrying a reassuring conviction. "A Wood Clone becomes an independent individual the moment it's created. As long as the chakra originally put into my body hasn't run out, it doesn't matter whether my original body is sleeping the day away or drinking cold water. Neither will affect me."
He winked, a hint of playfulness in his eyes. "Besides, my mission is to stay close and protect our future head of the Hyuga Clan."
Those words swept away all of Hinata's worries.
She covered the spot on her forehead he had flicked, where the warmth of his fingertip seemed to linger. Looking up at his gently smiling face, she felt a hundred emotions stir within her.
The man on the battlefield who had seemed like a god descended from heaven, summoning meteors with a flick of his finger and destroying everything.
The boy before her who comforted her so gently, with a touch of playfulness.
Those two utterly different images overlapped perfectly in Hinata's mind.
Shock, awe, reassurance, joy... those emotions intertwined until, in the end, they all became a light called love and admiration, almost overflowing from her pure white eyes.
So this was the person she loved.
He was incredible.
The repercussions of that earth-shaking clash spread and intensified faster than those