Hyuga Hinata wandered aimlessly down the street, lost in thought.
When Kitazawa was by her side, skipping class felt easy—she simply followed his lead. But now, alone, she didn’t quite know what to do with herself.
After a few minutes of hesitant steps, an idea sparked in her mind, and she turned back toward a small grove she knew well.
This ti, fear didn’t grip her heart.
Hinata drew a deep breath, her pale eyes steady, and began practicing her tree-climbing technique.
Perhaps it was her shifting mindset, but today everything felt smoother than ever.
By noon, she’d reached the top of a tree for the first ti.
Hinata clenched her tiny fists, waved them triumphantly, and a radiant smile blood across her face.
She glanced up at the sun, realized how late it was, and leapt down, sprinting back toward the Ninja Academy.
"Kitazawa-sensei!"
Hinata burst into the office, breathless but glowing with excitent.
"So punctual, huh?"
Kitazawa set aside his bento box with a chuckle. "Looks like my alti ninjutsu has reached perfection."
"I... I..."
Hinata stamred, her cheeks turning scarlet. She didn’t want him thinking she’d rushed back just for lunch.
"Co on. Sit and eat."
Kitazawa grinned at her embarrassnt, amused by how easily she flustered.
Despite her blushing protests, Hinata’s body obeyed before her brain could object. She sat across from him, eyes shyly lowered.
"Where did you run off to this morning?"
Kitazawa passed her a pair of chopsticks, his curiosity genuine.
"I finished my tree-climbing training."
At his question, Hinata’s eyes lifted instantly, her voice trembling with pride.
Kitazawa blinked in surprise—then his face broke into a warm, approving smile.
"Well done. You’re the first in the class to master tree climbing. Even Sasuke can’t boast that yet."
He t her gaze, sensing the swirl of emotions behind those pale eyes.
Hinata’s lips twitched upward, forming a bright, shy smile. Her small feet swung back and forth under the table as she tried to contain her joy.
She’d been praised before—but never by soone she admired so much.
In Hinata’s mind, Kitazawa was now second only to Hyuga Hiashi.
"Improving your chakra control will help trendously with mastering the Gentle Fist," Kitazawa added thoughtfully. "Of course, climbing trees is just the beginning."
"I’ll work hard!"
Hinata’s eyes shone with determination.
If she could master Gentle Fist quickly, maybe... just maybe, Father would finally be proud of her.
Kitazawa could practically read her thoughts.
In so ways, Hinata was no different from Uchiha Sasuke—both were desperately seeking a father’s approval.
But their paths were riddled with the sa obstacles.
There’s an old saying: "Comparing yourself to others only brings misery."
Uchiha Sasuke constantly asured himself against Itachi, while Hinata was forced to compete with Hyuga Neji.
And Neji was undeniably a prodigy.
In the original tiline, Neji had managed to master techniques like Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms and Rotation—arts supposedly reserved only for the Hyuga main family—purely through self-study.
"Have you awakened your Byakugan yet?" Kitazawa asked, taking a bite of fried shrimp.
Unlike the Sharingan, which required certain emotional triggers or innate talent, activating the Byakugan in the Hyuga clan was relatively straightforward—just a matter of training.
In theory, every Hyuga ninja could awaken it.
The problem was that once they activated it, there were few ways to advance it further, unlike the Uchiha Clan’s progression through various tomoe stages to the Mangekyo Sharingan.
That was one reason why Hyuga Neji’s potential, though brilliant, ultimately plateaued compared to Sasuke’s later growth.
Not that Neji ever even got a "later" in the original tiline.
"No... not yet," Hinata murmured, shaking her head.
Kitazawa wasn’t surprised.
In the original series, Hinata didn’t publicly use her Byakugan until the Chunin Exams. The exact mont she’d first awakened it remained unknown—but it certainly wasn’t early in her training.
Kitazawa scooped up another bite of rice, chewing thoughtfully.
He knew next to nothing about the technical details of the Byakugan or the Gentle Fist. Teaching Hinata those arts himself simply wasn’t possible.
Fortunately, he still had a card to play.
As long as he completed Hinata’s mission, the system would reward him with the Byakugan.
"There’s a monthly exam coming up in April," Kitazawa said after a mont. "Do you want to try for first place?"
"?"
Hinata blinked, stunned. Confusion clouded her delicate features.
"I can help you with special training."
Kitazawa’s newest idea for building her courage involved a public speech.
Standing in front of the entire school and speaking required enormous bravery—especially for soone as shy as Hinata.
And after the monthly exams, there was always a segnt where top students gave speeches.
"Thank you, Kitazawa-sensei."
Though she was bewildered, Hinata couldn’t bring herself to refuse him. She nodded obediently.
"It’s nothing," Kitazawa replied with a reassuring smile. He decided not to ntion the speech just yet.
By the ti afternoon rolled around, it was ti for practical combat class.
Today’s focus was ninja tool throwing—but instead of kunai, they were practicing with shuriken.
Every type of ninja tool had its own weight, balance, and technique, aning even talented students had to retrain for each one.
Still, for prodigies from the ninja clans, it wasn’t exactly rocket science.
On a secluded training field behind the Ninja Academy, Kitazawa stood with his small group.
Originally, this training ground had been reserved exclusively for private lessons with Uchiha Sasuke. Now, however, it had grown to include Hinata, Ino, Naruto, and Yakumo.
"Alright—Naruto, Yakumo, go for a run."
Kitazawa’s voice was firm as he issued instructions. "Ino, Sasuke, practice your tree-climbing."
"Yes, Kitazawa-sensei!"
Naruto, brimming with energy, imdiately spun around and took off, his smile practically glowing in the sun.
Yakumo watched him wistfully, envy flickering in her eyes before she started jogging around the training field at a cautious pace, just as Kitazawa had taught her.
"Kitazawa-sensei," Ino piped up, curiosity written all over her face. "Isn’t Hinata practicing tree-climbing too?"
"She’s already finished that training," Kitazawa replied with a proud smile.
"No way!" Ino gasped.
She’d been through tree-climbing training herself and knew how grueling it was. The idea that gentle, soft-spoken Hinata had beaten her to the punch was mind-blowing.
Sasuke’s shoulders stiffened. His fingers curled unconsciously into fists.
Hyuga Hinata had surpassed him?
He, the Uchiha genius, who was supposed to be ahead of everyone else?
A flash of determination crossed his eyes, and without another word, he whirled around and dashed toward the nearest tree.
"Sasuke-kun, wait for !" Ino squealed, scrambling after him.
"Hinata, let’s work on sothing a little different," Kitazawa said. "Sa tree-climbing training—but this ti, you’ll have to dodge ninja tools while climbing."
He pulled two wooden kunai from his pouch, giving her a gentle smile.
"I understand!" Hinata nodded vigorously, pale eyes shining with resolve.
Climbing a tree while evading attacks would be twice as hard—but Hinata’s gentle deanor masked a hidden steel. She wouldn’t back down.
Channeling chakra into her feet, Hinata began ascending the tree.
"Careful, Hinata."
Kitazawa warned her as he threw the first kunai, deliberately slow. For now, he wanted to give her a chance to react—but eventually, there’d be no warnings at all.
Hinata twisted her body gracefully, dodging the projectile without breaking her montum.
Half an hour later, Sasuke finally reached the top of his tree, sweat glistening on his brow.
He exhaled a shaky breath and allowed himself a triumphant grin.
But then a new idea seized him, and he leapt down in one fluid motion.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Sasuke rushed to an open clearing, forming hand seals at lightning speed. Chakra surged through his system, gathering heat and power.
A swirling fireball erupted from his lips.
Sasuke blinked in shock.
The first ti he’d attempted this jutsu, his fireball had been barely bigger than his fist. Now, it was nearly two and a half tis the size of a basketball.
A blow like that would easily cause serious injuries in a real fight.
Even more significant—his fireball was already a quarter the size of the one Itachi had shown him all those years ago.
If just one week of training brought him this far...
Wouldn’t a month be enough for Father to finally look him in the eye and say, "As expected of my son"?
The re thought of Fugaku’s praise made Sasuke press his fingers against his forehead, trembling with emotion.
A second later, he couldn’t hold back.
He burst into wild, triumphant laughter, eyes gleaming.
Kitazawa, watching from the sidelines, sighed, his lips twitching in exasperation. He tilted his head to the sky, silently lanting how clear and sunny the day was—perfect for dramatic teenage outbursts.
Then, out of nowhere, four glowing lines of text materialized before his eyes:
[Your eternal rival Uchiha Sasuke is smug and has challenged you.]
[Current Mission: Once Uchiha Sasuke’s Great Fireball Jutsu surpasses Uchiha Itachi’s, you must then develop your own Fire Style jutsu to outdo his.]
[Mission Reward: Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation.]
[Do you accept?]
Kitazawa nearly choked.
’What the hell is this system doing?!’
Seriously... was it trying to start a rivalry arc out of thin air?
But then again... he couldn’t deny he liked the sound of it.
Besides, for a reward like that, he’d be crazy not to try.
Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation wasn’t just any ninjutsu—it had a B-rank difficulty level and a fearso combat record in the original tiline.
During the Fourth Ninja World War, more than twenty Water Release users—most of them Jonin—had been forced to combine their techniques just to block Madara Uchiha’s Great Fire Annihilation.
In short, the jutsu might not be the hardest to learn, but it was terrifying in terms of scale and power when mastered.
Kitazawa clenched his fist, eyes narrowing with newfound determination.
’Fine, Sasuke. Let’s see who burns brighter.’
--------------------------------
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