"Sasuke, you're obviously trying to undermine me!" Suddenly, Naruto shouted, "Look! There seems to be someone over there!"
Sasuke, Sakura, and Hinata all looked in the direction Naruto was pointing, but there was no sign of anyone.
"I seem to have seen... Neji, Gaara, and Lee. Those three just ran in that direction," Naruto fabricated.
"What!" As soon as Sasuke heard that three powerful opponents appeared, his fighting spirit was ignited and he vanished instantly.
Seeing Sasuke leave, Sakura quickly followed suit.
"Phew..." Now that both of them were gone, Naruto let out a sigh of relief. Finally, he could face Hinata alone.
"Let's start," Naruto said as his figure disappeared on the spot.
Thanks to her Byakugan, Hinata had a 360 - degree, all - around view of her surroundings and successfully tracked Naruto's movements.
Byakugan is a Kekkei Genkai ability of the Hyuga clan. Once activated, it offers a comprehensive, all - around perspective.
Naruto's movement skills were very impressive, but nothing could escape the detection of the Byakugan.
Hinata channeled her Chakra into her palm. With the power of the Byakugan, she could see all of Naruto's meridians clearly.
"Naruto - kun!" At that moment, Hinata's heart softened. She didn't want to harm Naruto, so she deliberately avoided his vital parts and also weakened the power of her Gentle Fist.
Naruto noticed and thought to himself: "Hinata is so gentle and kind to me... If only Sasuke could be half as nice as Hinata..."
Naruto thought resentfully: "In the future, I'll surely fight Sasuke. That guy never holds back in a fight. He's going all out to kill me! It's so annoying that I've secretly helped him... Maybe this is just the arrangement of fate..."
Hinata placed her palm on Naruto's chest. This was the Hyuga clan's Taijutsu, Gentle Fist, which injects one's own Chakra into the opponent's body to damage their meridians, acupuncture points, and internal organs.
As Hinata injected her Chakra into Naruto, he suddenly turned into a puff of white smoke. It was just a Shadow Clone.
Hinata was shocked and thought, "Impossible!" She had already activated her Byakugan, and with its 360 - degree all - around view, she didn't notice Naruto creating a Shadow Clone.
"When on earth did Naruto - kun create that Shadow Clone?" As soon as this question popped into Hinata's mind, Naruto gave an answer.
Naruto appeared about thirty steps behind Hinata. Hinata quickly deactivated her Byakugan and then saw Naruto. Now she finally got it.
Naruto said, "The Byakugan has three main abilities: long - range vision, all - around detection, and through - sight ability..." At this point, Naruto thought to himself: "I really want that through - sight ability..."
Long - range vision: The Byakugan can see very far, even the flapping wings of a fly several kilometers away.
All - around detection: It provides a 360 - degree, all - around view, but the visible range is shortened.
Naruto continued, "This is an open meadow where you can see to the end at a glance. You thought the long - range vision ability was useless, so you used the all - around detection ability of the Byakugan from the beginning. Although you had an all - around view, the farthest you could see was only thirty meters."
"Don't be deceived by the terrain. In such an open area, danger can still lurk even without the Byakugan's long - range vision."
Hinata was shocked. How does Naruto know so much about the Byakugan of the Hyuga clan?
"Let me teach you how to use the Byakugan," Naruto said as he rushed straight towards Hinata.
Hinata came to her senses and re - activated the Byakugan. This time, she utilized its through - sight ability to see the meridians on Naruto's body.
Hinata wondered to herself, 'Is this Naruto's real body or a Shadow Clone?'
A Shadow Clone is created by evenly distributing Chakra to form a physical duplicate. Therefore, when using the Byakugan's through - sight ability, it's actually impossible to distinguish the real body from the clone.
Naruto was about to reach her. Hinata had no time to think and could only launch an attack. With a single strike, she made Naruto's entire body puff out white smoke.
"It's a Shadow Clone!" This was as Hinata expected, but what happened next was beyond her wildest imagination.
After the Shadow Clone was dispelled, another Naruto emerged right behind it.
Hinata kept attacking, striking continuously with both palms. After hitting one Shadow Clone, another would appear right behind it.
This was the lined - up clone technique. It seemed as if there was only one Naruto, but in fact, there were an unknown number of Shadow Clones trailing behind him.
As long as each Shadow Clone stood in a single straight line and their movements were identical, in Hinata's view, there would naturally seem to be only one Naruto.
Hinata knew she had been deceived and quickly switched the Byakugan to its insight state. As soon as she switched the Byakugan's ability, she was immediately shocked.
In the 360 - degree, blind - spot - free field of vision, over twenty Narutos were standing in a row. They all ran in perfect synchronization, looking as if there was only one Naruto dashing towards her. This was an incredibly difficult coordination feat.
"Naruto - kun's clones can even achieve such coordination. Naruto - kun is truly that strong..." Hinata was ready to admit defeat.
This time, Naruto took advantage of the weakness of the Byakugan's through - sight ability. The through - sight ability enables the user to select the level of penetration. One can penetrate only the clothing, penetrate to the meridians, or even penetrate deeper.
However, Byakugan users always have a bad habit when using the through - sight ability. They always only penetrate to a person's meridians first and never bother to check if there is anything behind that person.
Over twenty Shadow Clones lined up and charged at Hinata, finally breaking through Hinata's Gentle Fist defense perimeter.
Naruto's real body reached Hinata. He gently flicked Hinata's forehead and said, 'Next time you use the through - sight ability, remember to check if there's anything hidden behind me.'
Hinata felt her brain go blank. Her entire little face flushed bright red. At that moment, she didn't know which way to turn. Should she turn her back on Naruto or face him?
What should I do? What should I do? Should I do something? What should I do? Hinata's heart was in a complete tangle.
Hinata didn't know what to say. Suddenly, she blurted out, 'Naruto - kun is so strong. Why did you come last in the class when you graduated from the academy?'
"Because I didn't want to see you come last!" Naruto then said, "So I had to be the one to come last!"
Hinata was greatly shocked. She really didn't expect that Naruto had been secretly protecting her during these years at the Ninja Academy.
Naruto thought to himself: I'm so handsome...
"The last and the second last, no matter what, you can't change your fate." A voice that spoils the mood came from the side. It was Neji Hyuga's voice: "Come at me together."
"..." Naruto was stunned. What was Neji up to? He was deliberately looking for Hinata, right? Did Neji come to avenge his dead father by taking revenge on Hinata?
"Neji, you're going too far." Naruto said, "What do you mean by 'can't change the fate'? My fate is to become the Hokage." And he thought to himself: Then marry Hinata and reach the happiest time of life...
<><><><><><><><>
~ 80+ Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!
p-atreon.com/Tansnovel
(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)
~ Every 50 Powerstones = 4 Bonus Chapters on the weekend!