Brilliant orange-red flames danced in Hinata's palm. The intensity of the light and the heat it radiated made it clear—this wasn't some harmless flicker, but a fire that could burn through anything.
Hinata's pale eyes widened slightly with delight and pride. She could feel the heat in her palm—intense, but no longer painful. Her hand had fully adapted to this temperature.
Undoubtedly, this was the result of fire-nature chakra refined through the transformation of the ninja tool. Compared to ordinary flames, this one was purer, more lethal. Chakra was its fuel, yet it barely drained her reserves.
"Mm… perfect. We can sign the receipt now."
Her fingers curled inward, extinguishing the flame into a spray of embers. Hinata flashed a rare, brilliant smile.
"Sorry to have kept you waiting."
"N-No, not at all. It's… it's an honor…"
Tenten stammered, thoroughly shaken. Even though Hinata had shown no hostility, her overwhelming presence was suffocating.
Just then, a cold voice rang from the shop entrance.
"So it's true. The rumors weren't exaggerating."
The voice, crisp and laced with disgust and a trace of hatred, made Tenten look up in shock.
"Neji? What are you—?"
Tch. Trouble. How annoying.
Hinata paused only briefly before finishing her signature, then slowly turned around to face the intruder.
The boy at the door had the same pale eyes, long hair, and an almost too-pretty face. But the sharpness in his gaze, the way his arms crossed, exuded arrogance and coldness.
And directed at her—a clear, targeted loathing.
Hyuga Neji. Her cousin. Son of Hyuga Hizashi, brother of her father Hiashi.
Or rather…
Hinata's lips curled into a rare smirk. She could feel the twisted pleasure surging inside her—delighted by the hostility from this white-eyed boy.
"Well, look who it is. The Hyuga prodigy? No..."
"The pitiable little branch house dog."
---
The tension in the ninja tools shop turned suffocating.
The sound of Neji grinding his teeth was loud in the silence. His eyes burned with fury, his once elegant expression now twisted.
"What did you just say?"
His voice trembled with barely restrained rage, laced with a murderous intent that poisoned the very air.
"Not only are your eyes broken—your ears, too?"
Hinata smiled coolly, fully enjoying her cousin's rage. At the same time, her right hand dropped subtly, fingers flexing. The surface of her glove shimmered red from gathered chakra—she was ready to strike.
"Neji!! What are you doing?!"
Tenten leapt forward, throwing herself between them. Her right hand reached behind her back, fingers gripping a kunai in her pouch. Though still a genin, she could feel Neji's killing intent clearly.
This was her store. Hinata was her customer. Protecting guests was a rule across all ninja cultures. Not to mention, Hinata was a fellow girl, and still just a student—it was natural for Tenten to step in.
"Get out of my way!"
Neji's voice trembled with fury. Tenten's presence was the only thing stopping him from exploding.
Hinata, meanwhile, looked at him with pure disdain.
She understood his hatred—born from the death of his father, sacrificed for the clan. But what she couldn't respect was how Neji directed that hatred.
If he truly wanted revenge, he should've rebelled against the clan, no matter the cost. Or, if he chose to endure, then he should've accepted his place obediently.
But instead, he lashed out at those weaker than him. Like the original Hinata.
This contradiction—the arrogance paired with cowardice—disgusted her.
"Neji!! Calm down! You're really going to attack a student? A girl?!"
Tenten's shout finally made Neji falter. He clenched his fists hard, but stayed put.
"Hmph... whatever. Trash like her isn't even worth hitting. Especially a failure who abandoned the clan's tradition."
He glared at Hinata one last time before turning to leave.
Only after he left did Tenten relax, releasing the tension in her body. She exhaled deeply and gave Hinata a helpless look.
"Jeez… that was terrifying. What's the deal between you two? Aren't you cousins? Why does he hate you so much?"
Hinata just smiled.
"Nothing worth knowing. Thank you for your protection, shopkeeper. Until next time."
She picked up the two remaining glove cases, ignoring the conflicted expression on Tenten's face.
She didn't care about the drama these characters obsessed over.
Still, Neji's final words lingered—"a failure who abandoned the clan's tradition."
(TL: Now she is not Heir.)
Clearly, the Hyuga clan wasn't blind to her current path. Not surprising, considering she spent time with both Naruto and Sasuke—two high-profile figures.
Perhaps they'd judged that she posed no real threat, and decided to ignore her. After all, she had already been forsaken as the heir.
For Hinata, that was excellent news.
"At least I don't have to deal with some crusty old elders yelling about duty and honor. And besides, I believe in staying low-key… until the power is in my hands."
Looking down at her new gloves, Hinata felt satisfied. The clan had served its purpose.
She had her team. Her influence in the troupe was absolute. And her Holy Fist training was progressing just as she'd envisioned—like something straight out of Kusanagi Ancient Martial Arts.
Honestly, if not for her noble background, she wouldn't have had the connections to sell all those steamy Naruto doujinshi at the start.
With a light heart, she returned to the Uchiha compound's training grounds—where, as expected, Naruto and Sasuke were already impatiently waiting.
"You're late! Hinata! Why wake us up so early?! Filming's not till tomorrow!"
Naruto yawned groggily. But his fatigue wasn't from partying—he'd been training late into the night. After being thoroughly beaten by both Hinata and Sasuke, the dead-last had finally found motivation.
"This isn't some pointless thing, right? New technique? Training method?"
Sasuke was casually tossing a river stone into the air. At the end of his sentence, his fingers clenched—crushing the stone into fragments with a loud crack.
He, too, had been pushing his limits. His strength had skyrocketed lately, and the power to shatter rocks barehanded had been a recent discovery.
"Of course it's something new, boys. I told you two weeks ago—today's a test."
Hinata hoisted the two ninja tool boxes in her arms and tossed them toward Naruto and Sasuke.
"Put these on. Let's see if you've truly grasped the essence of the Holy Fist."
Their eyes met—both tense and excited.
Only Hinata had the full scroll. They had no idea what "qualified" meant. All they could do was push each other, trying to improve.
Now, Hinata had brought them a benchmark.
They opened their boxes in unison. Inside were two pairs of gloves—Naruto's a fiery orange-red, Sasuke's a cool sky blue.
Unlike Hinata's black pair, the craftsmen had clearly tailored the colors to each user.
"Gloves? These are ninja tools? Never seen these before..."
Naruto stared blankly at his pair. It clearly wasn't what he'd been expecting.
"These things... are they connected to the Holy Fist?"