At this moment, Naruto, ever the careless fool, suddenly blurted out,
"Hey, you both have white eyes! Are you two brother and sister?"
The people present couldn't help but mentally roll their eyes.
Come on, both of them clearly have the iconic Byakugan of the Hyūga clan. Was it really that hard to tell their relation?
It was beyond foolish to even ask such a thing!
Moreover, Neji and Hinata had a complicated relationship when it came to their Hyūga lineage.
Neji, a member of the branch family, harbored deep resentment toward the main family,
and he certainly didn't appreciate the reminder of their connection.
Naruto, your timing and awareness are seriously terrible!
"Hmph!" Hyūga Neji scoffed coldly, choosing to ignore the loud blond boy in the bright orange jumpsuit.
On the other hand, Hinata was much gentler by nature. Since she and Naruto were in the same class,
she at least considered him an acquaintance. However, unlike in the original timeline,
where she admired him from afar, things had changed due to the presence of Kazuki.
This meant that, at this point, Hinata did not harbor a crush on Naruto.
To her, he was just a classmate.
So when she responded, there was no shyness—just her usual soft and polite tone.
"Yes, Naruto-kun. Brother Neji is my cousin. We are both from the Hyūga clan."
"Neji?"
Hearing the name, Naruto felt a sense of familiarity.
He rubbed his chin, thinking hard, trying to recall where he had heard it before.
Suddenly, a lightbulb went off in his head.
He clapped his hands together, smacked his thigh, and shouted,
"Oh, I remember now! He's the genius guy who got defeated by Brother Kazuki in one move!"
The air instantly fell silent.
"Pfft—"
Neji nearly coughed up blood. His face darkened as if he could drown the surroundings in ink.
It felt like a wound he had tried to heal was suddenly ripped open again.
The others around them had various reactions:
Hinata:Naruto-kun, why did you have to bring that up…? Neji-san must be feeling awful…
Kazuki:Naruto, you're practically dancing on Neji's grave…
Tenten:Brother, this new friend of yours seems a bit… dense.
Rock Lee:I didn't think I'd meet someone even more oblivious than me! Kazuki, let's recruit him into our group so I'm not the dumbest one anymore!
At that moment, Kazuki, covered in metaphorical black lines, decided to step in and break the awkward atmosphere.
He walked up to Naruto and introduced him to the others.
"His name is Naruto. He's Hinata's classmate. From now on, we're all friends."
Everyone nodded and introduced themselves:
"My name is Tenten, Kazuki's younger sister. Nice to meet you, Naruto~"
"I'm Rock Lee! A classmate of Kazuki's! We will be youthful friends from now on!"
"I'm Hinata. We're classmates, but we've never really talked much before. I look forward to learning from you, Naruto-kun."
"…Neji. Hmph."
"…Alright, alright," Kazuki clapped his hands to shift the focus, "Now that we all know each other, let's start the picnic! There's still a lot to prepare. Let's get to work!"
The group got to action—lighting the fire, skewering the food, chopping vegetables.
Just as Kazuki was about to join in, Hyūga Neji stepped forward and said coldly,
"Kazuki, I challenge you. Let's fight again. This time, I will defeat you!"
Kazuki raised an eyebrow. "Now?"
If he refused, he knew Neji wouldn't let it go, and things would only get more troublesome.
After a brief pause, Kazuki smirked and said,
"Fine, I'll accept your challenge—but let's make a bet."
Neji narrowed his eyes. "What kind of bet?"
"If you win, I'll give you the title of top student and acknowledge you as the Hyūga clan's genius.
But if you lose… you'll do all my work for the picnic."
Neji hesitated for a moment before nodding firmly.
"Deal."
He couldn't let his past failure haunt him forever. If he didn't overcome this obstacle now,
Kazuki would become an insurmountable wall in his future.
He refused to let that happen.
This time, I will defeat him!
"Let's go, then." Kazuki started walking toward a more open area.
Fighting required space, and he didn't want to ruin their barbecue.
BOOM! BOOM!
The sounds of battle echoed from deep within the forest.
Tenten grinned mischievously and turned to the others.
"So… who do you think will win? My brother or Neji?"
Naruto was the first to shout loudly, "Big Brother Kazuki! Big Brother Kazuki must win!"
Hinata nodded slightly. "Neji-nii-san is very talented, but…I still believe Kazuki-kun will win."
Lee clenched his fists with a confident grin. Crossing his arms, he analyzed, "Ten minutes! I believe Kazuki will end this battle within ten minutes!"
"Th-That fast?!"
Naruto and Hinata exchanged surprised glances.
But Tenten shook her head, smirking as she held up three fingers. "Three minutes. That's all my brother needs to finish this."
Even Lee widened his eyes in shock.
Meanwhile, at the training grounds, Hyuga Neji stood tall, his stance composed. His skills were already extraordinary, and he had gathered plenty of intel on Kazuki's techniques. He wouldn't be caught off guard this time.
There was no way this fight would end in just three minutes—right?
Unless…Kazuki had grown even stronger than they could possibly imagine.
Before their doubts could settle, two figures emerged from the distant training area.
Kazuki walked forward, completely unscathed—not a speck of dust on him. Behind him, Hyuga Neji followed, his face bruised and swollen.
The outcome was obvious.
Everyone had expected Kazuki to win, but…
"It really was just three minutes?!"
Shocked, they turned to Tenten.
A mysterious smile appeared on her lips. "Because…" She paused dramatically before grinning, "My brother's hungry. He wanted to finish quickly so he could eat."
Boom—!
Everyone face-faulted in disbelief.
That was the reason?!
If this fight hadn't happened right before dinner, Kazuki might have taken his time and given Neji a better chance. But because he was in a hurry, he had ended it instantly.
Thinking about it like that…
Neji was truly unfortunate.
They turned to him with sympathetic eyes.
As per their bet, the loser had to handle all the barbecue preparations.
And so, with his bruised face, Hyuga Neji was now grilling meat for everyone.
Fire, slicing, grilling, seasoning… The delicious aroma spread through the air.
Tenten, Lee, Hinata, and Naruto all watched in anticipation.
Even Neji, who usually remained composed, couldn't help but feel his stomach growl.
"…This doesn't seem like enough meat," Tenten murmured, realizing they hadn't prepared for this many people.
"Leave it to me," Kazuki said casually before turning toward the forest.
"Wait, Big Brother Kazuki! That area is dangerous!" Naruto warned, eyes wide. Even he wouldn't dare venture too deep—there were rumors of massive wild beasts in that part of the woods.
But Kazuki was gone.
Moments later, he returned.
In one hand, he dragged a massive wild boar—easily over 200 pounds!
Tenten, Lee, Hinata, Naruto, and even Neji froze.
Their jaws dropped.
"B-Brother… you took down that wild boar?!" Tenten gulped.
"My God! Big Brother Kazuki, you're incredible!" Naruto shouted in awe.
"Amazing…" Hinata whispered, eyes sparkling.
"Hahaha! So that's the secret to Kazuki's training!" Lee clenched his fists with admiration. "Fighting wild boars to improve real battle experience?! Perhaps this is a new kind of intense training method!"
Neji's eyes darkened slightly.
He was still recovering from their fight, his chakra drained.
But Kazuki…
Not only had he beaten him effortlessly, but he'd also had enough strength left to hunt a massive wild boar.
Just how strong was he now?!
A shadow passed over Neji's expression as realization sank in.
Kazuki's power was far beyond what he had imagined.
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