Naruto: Lost to Hinata on Purpose, and Now Everything's a Mess Chapter 24 24 : Learning B-Level Water Style Ninjutsu

Just now, Ino had wanted to show Riku how good she was—but seeing so many people laughing at him now made her suddenly unhappy.

"What are you laughing at? You want to beat you all into pig heads?"

She raised her fist in warning.

Her voice startled everyone.

The students who were about to laugh quickly shut their mouths, afraid to make a sound.

Ino wasn't soone to ss with, and most of them knew they couldn't beat her in a fight.

Seeing this, Riku shook his head. "It's fine. If they want to laugh, let them. No need to scare them."

They were just a bunch of kids—they probably didn't even know what they were laughing at.

Riku had no reason to care.

And with the way he'd perford, wasn't it perfectly normal to be laughed at?

If no one laughed, he'd honestly be more worried sothing was off.

Ino muttered, annoyed, "But they're laughing at you."

Riku patted her shoulder. "Alright, drop it. Let them laugh all they want—it's not like I'm losing anything."

Then he turned to Hinata and smiled. "You're up next. Good luck."

Hinata blushed and gave a soft "Yeah."

Her voice was gentle.

But for soone with Hinata's skill level, this kind of assessnt wasn't difficult at all.

Still, Riku's tone toward Hinata made Ino a little uncomfortable. "You didn't cheer on like that just now, Riku. You're playing favorites!"

She was still just a little girl—and little girls got jealous easily.

Over what, even she didn't fully know.

Riku let out a sigh. "Didn't you say you wanted to prove how good you are? I figured you had it under control, so I didn't need to cheer you on."

"But Hinata… if I didn't say sothing to encourage her, she might not perform as well."

Ino's expression softened slightly. "Hmph. Fine. I forgive you."

Seeing her act all high and mighty like that, Riku was truly speechless—and slightly regretted ever letting her sit beside him.

Hinata, anwhile, earned a perfect score with ease.

Her Byakugan gave her a huge advantage when it ca to ninja throwing techniques.

So Riku wasn't at all surprised to see that result.

As she walked back, Riku smiled and said, "Not bad. That was a solid performance."

Hinata's cheeks turned pink, and for the first ti, she had the courage to look up at him.

"I only did well because you cheered on, Riku-kun."

She had barely finished speaking when Ino cut in, "Hinata, didn't you get a perfect score in this subject last ti too? You got a perfect again. What does that have to do with him?"

That was enough to make Hinata blush even deeper.

Riku patted her shoulder with a smile. "Ignore her. You did great today."

Hinata felt like her legs were about to give out. If there hadn't been so many people around, she might've collapsed straight into Riku's arms.

Ever since he held her hand that day, she hadn't been able to stop thinking about it.

Now, just from a pat on the shoulder, she was nearly fainting.

And Ino, watching how Riku treated Hinata, felt a strange discomfort she couldn't explain.

Off to the side, Shikamaru and Chōji exchanged a look. They were now certain—Ino was definitely into Riku.

And to them, it was kind of impressive. Riku even had Ino wrapped around his finger.

In the kunai throwing test, Riku's results were still only average.

When the teacher announced the scores, Riku stayed calm.

But Hinata and Ino looked at him with such sympathetic expressions that he couldn't help but feel a little exasperated.

"Could you two stop looking at like that? This result is actually pretty decent."

Ino tugged on his sleeve. "But you could've done better! You were clearly—"

Before she could finish, Riku cut her off. "Alright, enough. Let's drop the subject."

Hinata leaned in and whispered, "Riku-kun, I believe in you. You're always the best."

Ino pouted and muttered under her breath, "You're all stern with but super nice to Hinata… hmph."

Riku let out another weary sigh. "Why did I get myself into this ss with this girl in the first place…"

Even though she was exhausting, Riku didn't dislike Ino—just felt a little overwheld.

After the ninja throwing assessnt, Riku stayed in school for the rest of the day. The mont class ended, he bolted out of the room.

Ino and Hinata blinked in surprise.

Ino was the first to recover. She grabbed Hinata's arm and pulled her along. "Co on! Riku's definitely up to sothing!"

She was convinced that the last ti Riku had rushed off like this, he had done sothing sneaky.

But by the ti they made it to the school gate, there was no sign of him.

Ino huffed. "Damn. Got away again."

Hinata was also curious what Riku was doing in such a hurry—but she could tell he didn't want anyone to know.

So she quietly said, "Riku-kun doesn't want to talk about it. He probably doesn't want us to know either. Ino, maybe we should give him so space."

Ino blinked. "Hinata, are you sick or sothing? What if he's done sothing so bad that he can't stay at the Academy anymore? You'll be crying then."

Hinata flushed red again.

But she murmured back, "Like you wouldn't cry too…"

She wasn't stupid. She knew full well what Ino had been feeling about Riku lately.

Even if they were only six years old, in this world—boy or girl—it wasn't wise to judge maturity by age alone.

anwhile, Riku had used the Body Flicker Technique to lose Hinata and Ino's tail.

Now, he was already standing in the mountains behind the village.

Near a clear pool, Kakashi was waiting for him on the grass.

Riku approached with a grin. "Kakashi-sensei, that mission must've been a tough one—you were gone for over a month."

Kakashi put away his little book and smiled. "Yeah, it wasn't easy. How's your training been while I was away?"

Riku smiled faintly. "Not bad."

Kakashi didn't probe further. He was straightforward, never one to nitpick or micromanage.

"I picked up a new Water Style jutsu on this mission. Good for defense."

"It's called Water Style: Water Barrier."

Riku blinked. "Water Style: Water Barrier?"

He rembered Kakashi using that jutsu once—specifically when he fought Kakuzu, to counter the combined Fire and Wind Style attack.

It looked powerful.

Kakashi chuckled. "Copied it from a Jonin from the Hidden Mist. It's a B-rank jutsu. Still pretty solid—very useful defensively."

Riku nodded with a grin. "Not bad. I've been wanting a good defensive Water Style technique."

He had a genuine interest in Water Style ninjutsu.

Kakashi smiled. "Alright then. Let walk you through the chakra control and circulation pattern for this technique."

Riku nodded. "I'm ready."