December 21, Year 54 of the Leaf Village.
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 cultural and physical education classes, and without any practical combat experience, they were no different from those who hadn't yet enrolled.
The addition of Taijutsu Duels in the second semester forced them to grow through pain, shedding some of their immaturity.
However, there was also a side effect: it taught some students to resort to violence to solve problems.
Fights, brawls, or bullying incidents often occurred at the slightest provocation.
More importantly, the teachers and the school did nothing to stop these incidents.
Clearly, in their eyes, weaklings were unworthy of becoming ninjas.
Rather than being killed on missions after graduation, it was better for them to be bullied by their peers and choose to drop out to become ordinary civilians.
Thus, incidents of underachievers attempting to bully top students occurred in various grades and classes.
Like Uchiha Itachi back in the day, like Hyuga Neji, like Uchiha Sasuke…
They all had one thing in common: they were handsome, geniuses, aloof in personality, and very popular among the girls.
Yet, despite their popularity, they disliked joining or forming cliques, seemingly indifferent to both boys and girls.
This lone wolf demeanor made many boys resentful, wanting to teach them a harsh lesson.
Unfortunately, all these bullying attempts were thwarted without exception, and the bullies even ended up getting beaten up.
Getting beaten up wasn't a big deal, but the fact that so many people couldn't defeat a single person was deeply embarrassing.
Afterward, they would also be bullied by the target's Support Group, ostracized by the girls in their class and grade, and even face anti-bullying from upperclassmen.
As a result, their resentment toward these prominent figures grew even stronger, and they even began to harbor hatred toward their clansmen.
For example, on this day, heavy snow was falling.
Finally, after the snow stopped, Hinata, who no longer needed Izayoi to transform into Yamanaka Ino to invite her out, immediately ran out of her clan's territory with her newfound freedom to go outside, heading to their usual meeting spot to wait for Izayoi.
Hinata was wearing a white Snowman Suit, with a red scarf wrapped around her neck. Her chubby appearance was utterly adorable.
Over the past half year, Hinata's hair, at Izayoi's suggestion, had been intentionally grown out and now reached her shoulders.
She tied it into twin tails with hair ties, planning to change her hairstyle once it grew long enough to reach her waist.
Her cute face, still full of baby fat, was slightly flushed from the cold, making people want to pinch her cheeks.
To avoid being discovered, Hinata didn't knock on Izayoi's door but instead went to the open area outside the ninja school to wait for him, as this had become their unspoken agreement.
"Is that girl from Neji's clan?"
"Those white eyes, definitely."
"Let's go teach her a lesson!"
Just as Hinata was waiting for Izayoi, she suddenly heard the voices of a few boys.
When she turned to look, three boys who appeared to be a year or two older than her had surrounded her.
Their faces were all adorned with malicious smiles.
"Um… can I help you?" Hinata asked.
The voice was very gentle, but upon closer inspection, it was clear that she wasn't looking down. Instead, she was gazing at the three boys with a puzzled expression.
"What annoying eyes, just like that Neji guy!"
One of the boys, upon seeing Hinata's eyes, seemed to recall some unpleasant memory and shouted, "What are you looking at, you Byakugan freak? Do you know you've offended me? Kneel down and apologize to me right now!"
Hinata tilted her head, clearly confused.
However, upon hearing her cousin's name, she asked curiously, "Are you friends with Neji-nii?"
"Who's friends with that Neji guy?"
Another boy immediately retorted loudly, "We're his enemies. Kneel down right now, shout 'I'm sorry,' and apologize on behalf of that Neji guy, or we'll beat you up!"
The last boy reached out, trying to grab Hinata's shoulder to force a member of the Hyuga clan to kneel and humiliate her.
Seeing the boy's hand reaching toward her, Hinata's expression suddenly changed. Her small hand, clad in white gloves, extended her index and middle fingers, and with lightning speed, she jabbed the boy's chest.
"Ah…"
Even through the gloves, Hinata's fingers were like silver needles, piercing through the thick winter clothing. The boy let out a scream and collapsed to the ground.
Hinata then swiftly jabbed the other two boys in quick succession.
They too let out cries of pain and fell to the ground.
"It hurts, it hurts, wah…"
They kept rubbing their chests, but the pain, which seemed to penetrate from the outside in, didn't ease at all.
Looking at Hinata before them, it was as if they were seeing a reflection of Hyuga Neji—equally powerful, equally commanding.
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Immediately, they were so frightened that they burst into tears and scrambled away, rolling and crawling.
Hinata, who had instinctively counterattacked, tilted her head again.
She hadn't even infused Chakra into her strikes, so why were they crying? With such weak strength, were they really Neji-nii's enemies?
Clap, clap, clap…
Just then, the sound of applause reached her ears.
Following the direction of the sound, Hinata's face lit up with joy.
"Izayoi-kun, you're here."
"Hinata, you looked really cool just now."
Izayoi, also dressed in a white Snowman Suit, walked over and gave Hinata a thumbs-up. "When dealing with people with ill intentions, you should act decisively like that. Otherwise, they'll only become more aggressive and even develop a habit of bullying others."
"Mhm, mhm…"
Hinata nodded repeatedly, looking very obedient.
Seeing her like this, Izayoi felt a deep sense of accomplishment.
In the original story, Hinata had been bullied by her peers more than once.
It was absurd that a young lady from a prestigious clan could be bullied by a few common boys.
What was even more absurd was that Hinata had already started learning the Gentle Fist at that time.
Yet she had still been bullied to the point of tears, which was undoubtedly a matter of personality.
But now, Hinata had turned the tables and made the bullies cry, proving that Izayoi's efforts to change her had been very successful.
Through constant training, her personality had shifted from being introverted and timid to becoming resolute and unyielding.
Her kindness remained, but she no longer sacrificed herself to accommodate others. Her actions were not only decisive, but her counterattacks had become instinctive.
Unlike the delinquent big sister from the Limited Tsukuyomi, the current Hinata is gentle on the outside but strong on the inside.
Izayoi naturally felt a great sense of accomplishment, having transformed Hinata in just half a year.
Fortunately, the transformation happened early. If they had waited until Hiashi Hyuga and Hyuga Neji had crushed Hinata's spirit, changing this girl would have been no easy task.
Hiashi Hyuga must be extremely grateful to Izayoi.
The privilege of being able to go out freely was the best reward for Hinata.
"Let's go, we'll train."
"Okay!"
The two children, dressed in Snowman Suits, headed to the abandoned training ground.
(End of Chapter)