Hyūga Clan.
Hinata slowly regained consciousness, opening her eyes to find herself in her bedroom.
"Sister, you're awake!"
Hanabi, her younger sister, who had been guarding her bedside, immediately noticed Hinata waking up and cried out happily.
"Ah? Hanabi. Wasn't I...on the battlefield just now?
"I remember being in Natsuki's...arms. How did I get back here?
"Was I dreaming? It felt so real though."
Hinata rubbed her eyes, still a little disoriented.
"Sis, you weren't dreaming. Brother-in-law brought you back."
Hanabi quickly reminded her sister, seeing her spacing out again.
"Brother-in-law?"
Hinata hadn't processed the information yet.
"Yeah, Natsuki! When he was almost in danger, you flew straight towards him and clung to him! If that's not my future brother in law, then who is?"
Hanabi animatedly acted out the scene, waving her hands about.
"Ah? No way." Hinata recalled the scene and covered her face with her hands in embarrassment.
"Then... Then so many people saw me..."
"Yeah, the whole village saw you clinging onto Brother-in-law like an octopus.
"Humph humph, Sister, you were so brave, but you fainted in the end. That was so lame. If it were me, I would've taken the opportunity to declare my sovereignty to the entire village.
"Then there would be no competition."
Hanabi put her left hand on her hip and wagged her right index finger, acting like a little adult:
"You have no idea, I saw so many pretty girls glaring daggers, wishing they could fly over there too.
"Brother-in-law is super popular in the village right now."
"Ahhhh, shut up, stop it!"
The more Hinata thought about it, the more flustered she became, little puffs of smoke practically rising from her head.
Clutching her pillow, she rolled around, wishing for a hole to swallow her whole.
Always reserved, she realized how bold her actions had been, and how all of it was witnessed by so many people.
But at that moment, worried about Natsuki's safety, she hadn't thought that far ahead.
Seeing her sister like this, a glint entered Hanabi's eyes. "And, you know, I think Brother-in-law cares a lot about you too.
"Except you weren't any help at all and needed him to carry you back.
"Father even said that you embarrassed the Hyūga Clan. He told Natsuki to visit more often to help train your courage."
"Ah, no way? With Father's personality, shouldn't he be stopping us from seeing each other?"
Hinata's eyes widened, sensing something was amiss.
Her strict father hadn't exploded in anger or restricted her movements.
Hanabi: "I don't know about that. I vaguely heard him talking to Brother-in-law. Something about teaching you… like, the 'Hidden Lotus Palm' or something. I guess it's that really powerful palm technique, right? It's way stronger than our Eight Trigrams Palms."
Hinata: "It probably is. Wait, you said Natsuki… c-carried me back?"
Hanabi: "Duh, you were in midair. None of us can fly. Of course Brother-in-law had to carry you back."
"... …" Hinata started rolling around again.
"Oh, and he said you're too light and you need to eat more to gain weight."
Hanabi tilted her head, trying to remember, tapping her chin with her finger. "And when he put you down here, he muttered something about 'so different from the original,' and "it's too small, it fits in one hand.' I just happened to hear it. Sister, what does that mean?"
"Sh... Shut up! Don't talk anymore!"
Hanabi's words made Hinata's cheeks flush crimson.
She jumped out of bed, pounced on her sister, and covered her mouth.
"Mmm...mph...haven't...finished…"
"No more talking!"
…
"Damn it, the Konoha ninja seem to have settled the civilians.
"More and more people are blocking our way.
"Everyone, run faster!"
Ikawa Kazeno, leading the remnants of his squad through the back alleys, urged them on.
No area here was safe.
Konoha's interception units would were popping up here and there.
His original squad of dozens had dwindled down to a little over ten, as they had to leave some behind to cover their retreat.
"Woof!"
Just as they were about to reach the end of the alley, a dog barked from the side.
"Where's that dog barking coming from?"
"Be careful, it's probably another Inazuka ninja."
Kazeno waved his hand, signaling everyone to be on guard.
But what appeared before them was a boy of twelve or thirteen years old, and a small dog.
"Hehe, Akamaru. We've found ourselves a feast.
"Natsuki's still rampaging, we can't just sit back, right
"Do you have the confidence to take down these ten or so enemies?"
The newcomer was Kiba.
Relying on Akamaru's sense of smell and his familiarity with the terrain, he easily caught up to the enemy.
"Woof woof!"
Akamaru barked twice, brimming with fighting spirit.
"Even brats parradin with their dogs think they can fight us?
"Two of you, go kill that brat."
Kazeno's face was full of disdain and fury.
He casually assigned two ordinary Chunin to the task.
He and his unit had a different mission during the third Chunin Exam and weren't present during the matches, otherwise he would have immediately recognized that Kiba's ninken was no ordinary dog.
And so it was.
Just as the two Chunin approached...
Kiba pressed down on Akamaru's head and shouted:
"Akamaru, Evolve!"
In the next instant…
A dazzling light shone.
The gigantic, ferocious form of Garurumon appeared.
"Garuru, charge!"
A flash of lightning streaked past.
Before the two careless Chunin could react, they were torn in half by razor-sharp claws.
"What?!"
"Why are there so many strange brats in Konoha?"
"Don't engage, retreat!"
This astonishing scene shocked the Sand ninja.
They remembered the scene where they had just been taught a lesson by a freakish brat.
Without needing Kazeno's reminder, they scattered like birds and beasts.
After paying the price of three more bodies—or rather, as Kazeno put it, leaving three comrades to cover their retreat—the group finally ran out of the alley.
On the wide street, they saw a chubby boy standing in front of a barbecue stall.
The surroundings were in disarray, grilled meat scattered everywhere, a Sound ninja lying silently in the distance.
The chubby boy muttered to himself:
"Wasting food is a crime deserving death."
At that moment, the chubby boy noticed Kazeno's group.
Immediately, he sped up his actions, grabbing the grilled meat and stuffing it into his mouth.
He had just used the Multi-Size Technique to deal with a Genin and was starving.
The dozen or so Sand ninja all looked at Kazeno, waiting for their commander's instructions.
"Another lone brat." Kazeno was alarmed, but looking at choji's actions, he refused to believe this could be another freak.
"Looks like Konoha isn't as well-off as it seems. In such dangerous times, he's still sneaking out to scavenge for food."
Kazeno sneered.
He had no good impression of the Konoha brats now.
He waved his right hand and shouted:
"Kill him!"
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