Chapter 10: Gentle on the Outside, Firm on the Inside, and Filled with a Sense of Accomplishment - Izayoi
December 21st, Konoha 54th Year.
Unknowingly, the second semester had come to an end.
This semester, the first-year students had undergone a noticeable transformation.
In the first semester, they only had academic and physical education classes and no real combat experience, which made them seem no different from when they had first entered.
The introduction of hand-to-hand combat in the second semester, however, allowed them to grow through pain and shed some of their immaturity.
But there was also a side effect: it taught some students to solve problems with violence.
Fighting over trivial matters, brawls, or bullying incidents became frequent.
What's worse is that the teachers and the school wouldn't stop these actions.
Clearly, in their eyes, weak individuals weren't fit to be ninjas.
It was better to be bullied by their peers and quit to live as ordinary people than to be sent out on missions after graduation and get killed.
Thus, incidents of troublemakers trying to bully high-achieving students happened in every grade and class.
Like Uchiha Itachi, Hyuga Neji, and Uchiha Sasuke from back in the day…
They had a common trait: they were handsome, talented, had a cold personality, and were very popular with the girls.
Despite their popularity, they didn't like to join or form groups. They acted as if they were above both boys and girls.
This solitary attitude made many boys uncomfortable, wanting to teach them a lesson.
Unfortunately for these bullies, all their attempts ended in failure, and they were even beaten up.
Getting beaten up wasn't the problem, but the fact that so many of them couldn't defeat just one person was embarrassing.
Afterward, they would be bullied by the other's supporters, rejected by the girls in the class and year, and even face anti-bullying from the upper grades.
This only deepened their resentment towards these rising figures, and even their family members were targeted.
For example, on this snowy day…
Once the snow finally stopped, Hinata, who now had the privilege of going out freely without needing to be invited by Izayoi or turned into Yamanaka Ino, immediately ran out of the clan grounds, preparing to wait for Izayoi at their usual spot.
Hinata was dressed in a white snowman suit, with a red scarf around her neck. She looked very cute with her chubby appearance.
Over the past half year, Hinata had intentionally grown out her hair at Izayoi's suggestion, and it was now shoulder-length.
She tied it in twin tails with hair ties and planned to change her hairstyle once it reached waist-length.
Her adorable little face was full of baby fat, and in the snow, it had a slight flush, making one want to pinch it.
To avoid being noticed, Hinata didn't knock on Izayoi's door but instead went to wait for him outside the ninja school grounds, which had become their unspoken routine.
"Is that person a relative of Neji?""Those white eyes... there's no doubt.""Let's go teach her a lesson!"
While Hinata was waiting for Izayoi, she suddenly heard the voices of a few boys nearby.
When she turned to look, three boys, seemingly one or two years older than her, had jogged over, each wearing an ill-intentioned smile.
"Um... do you need something?" Hinata asked gently.
Her voice was very soft, but if one looked closely, they would notice she wasn't lowering her head. Instead, she was looking at them curiously.
"Those eyes are really annoying, just like that Neji guy!" One of the boys seemed to recall some unpleasant memory as he shouted loudly, "You white-eyed freak! What are you staring at? Do you know you've offended me? Hurry up and kneel down to apologize!"
Hinata tilted her head, a bit confused.
But upon hearing her cousin's name, she still asked in confusion, "Are you friends of Neji-nii?"
"Who's friends with that Neji guy?" another boy immediately retorted loudly, "We're his enemies."
"Hurry up and kneel down, apologize loudly, and apologize on behalf of that Neji guy, or we'll beat you up!"
The last boy reached out, intending to grab Hinata's shoulder and force her to kneel, planning to humiliate her severely.
Looking at the boy's hand coming toward her, Hinata's expression suddenly changed. She extended her right hand, wearing white gloves, and quickly jabbed her fingers—using her index and middle fingers—into the boy's chest with faster speed.
"Ah…"
Although Hinata's hand was covered by gloves, her fingers pierced through the thick winter clothes like silver needles, causing the boy to let out a scream and fall to the ground.
Hinata then quickly struck the other two boys in the same way.
They also screamed and collapsed to the ground.
"It hurts so much, ow..."
They kept rubbing their chests, but the pain from the outside to the inside didn't ease at all.
Looking at Hinata in front of them, it was as if they saw a reflection of Hyuga Neji—equally strong and equally imposing.
Soon, they were so frightened that they started crying, crawling and running away in panic.
Hinata, who had instinctively fought back, tilted her head again.
She hadn't even used chakra; how did they end up crying?
Were they really enemies of Neji-nii with that kind of strength?
Clap clap clap...
At that moment, the sound of clapping reached her ears.
Hinata turned toward the source of the sound, and her face immediately lit up with a smile.
"Izayoi-kun, you're here!"
"Izayoi-kun, you were so cool just now," Hinata said happily.
Izayoi, also dressed in a white snowman suit, walked over and gave Hinata a thumbs up. He said, "When dealing with people with bad intentions, you need to act decisively, or they will only get worse and even develop the habit of bullying others."
"Mm-hmm..."
Hinata nodded repeatedly, looking very obedient.
Seeing her like this, Izayoi felt a sense of accomplishment in his heart.
In the original story, Hinata had been bullied by her peers more than once.
For a young lady from a prestigious family to be bullied by a few common boys was an absurd situation.
What made it even more absurd was that, by that time, Hinata had already started learning Gentle Fist techniques.
To be bullied to the point of tears, despite having such skills, was undoubtedly a matter of her personality.
But now, Hinata had turned the tables and made the bullies cry, proving that Izayoi's guidance had been very successful.
Through constant struggles, her personality had transformed—she was no longer introverted and weak. Instead, she had become resilient and would not give up easily.
Her kindness remained, but she no longer sacrificed herself to accommodate others. Her actions were decisive, and her counterattacks had become instinctual.
Unlike the misguided leader from the Limitless Tsukuyomi, the current Hinata was gentle on the outside but strong on the inside.
In just half a year, Izayoi had managed to transform Hinata like this, which filled him with a great sense of accomplishment.
It was also fortunate that this transformation had started so early. If he had waited until Hiashi or Neji had broken Hinata's spirit, changing her would not have been an easy task.
Hinata's father, Hiashi, would surely be grateful to Izayoi.
Hinata's freedom to go out was the best reward.
"Let's go, we'll practice."
"Mm!"
The two children, both dressed in snowman suits, headed toward the abandoned training ground.
(End of Chapter)