Chapter 5: Sixteen Night's Invitation, Summer Vacation
Before they knew it, the first semester was almost over.
This semester, the first grade only had cultural lessons and physical education.
Every day was either about studying, physical exercise, or extracting chakra.
Aside from Class 1 of the first grade, other classes had students who were advised to withdraw.
Ninjas were that rare.
Not only was the entrance exam difficult, but even the graduation assessments were extremely challenging.
Because graduation wasn't truly graduation, if one couldn't gain approval from a jonin, they would still be sent back to re-study, and the dropout rate was absurdly high.
And this was just for the trainee ninjas advancing to the rank of a genin.
Above genin, there were also the chuunin, special jonin, and all-round jonin.
However, these had nothing to do with Sixteen Night or the Nine Strongest.
Except for the first two weeks, Sixteen Night didn't use his real body to attend school.
Until there was a taijutsu duel, he wouldn't come.
After all, the reason Sixteen Night entered the ninja school was for Hinata and Naruto and Sasuke.
To be precise, he had his eyes on their red attribute.
Before graduation from the ninja school, Sixteen Night had to activate their red attributes, at least one or two of them.
Otherwise, after graduating, it would become much harder to trigger their red attributes.
It wasn't about the power gap, but rather, the opportunity to meet and battle would drastically shrink.
After the original story's graduation, the Nine Strongest would meet again during the Chuunin Exams.
Graduation was in late March, and the Chuunin Exams were on July 1st, both being important dates every year.
There was a whole season between them.
Ding-ling-ling...
With the school bell ringing, another day came to an end.
The students who had spent the afternoon in physical education were still full of energy.
"Sixteen Night-kun, would you like to play ninja games with us?"
"Sixteen Night, want to go home together?"
Some students left the school to go home, while others stayed and invited classmates to form small groups.
Sixteen Night received many invitations, as he was a very popular figure in the class.
Even though only his shadow clone attended school and his goal was only Hinata and Naruto and Sasuke, Sixteen Night wasn't cold to others; instead, he treated everyone with a smile.
Even when rejecting, he did so very politely.
It was the same today.
When facing the invitations from classmates of both genders, Sixteen Night's shadow clone pressed his hands together and smiled apologetically, "Sorry, I already made plans with someone else, but next time, for sure!"
"Eh, did you get invited again? Sixteen Night-kun is really popular."
"Then next time, let's all play ninja games together."
The classmates looked disappointed but didn't insist.
After leaving the school, Sixteen Night's shadow clone entered a small alley and automatically dispelled.
The memories and fatigue all returned to his real body.
After processing today's memories, and having finished his training, Sixteen Night rested at home and murmured, "In a few days, it'll be vacation. It's time to start moving."
On July 20th.
After morning classes ended, it was lunchtime.
Some students lived close to school and chose to go home for lunch.
Others brought their lunches to school.
Some ate in the classroom, while others went outside to eat.
Since Sixteen Night usually came to school as a shadow clone, he would always go home for lunch.
But today, Sixteen Night surprisingly came as his real body and brought his lunch.
He ate lunch with Hinata in the classroom.
After three months, Sixteen Night and Hinata had already become friends.
Though they weren't the type to share everything, they knew each other's hobbies and a few small secrets.
For example, Hinata's hobby was flower pressing.
And Hinata also knew that her desk partner was actually a shadow clone.
When she first learned about it, Hinata's mouth slightly opened, her beautiful eyes widened, and she was completely shocked.
Then, her gaze toward Sixteen Night became even more admiring.
In a school where even the basic Three Body Technique wasn't taught, Sixteen Night had mastered the Shadow Clone Technique, which was simply an unbelievable feat.
As Sixteen Night was eating lunch with Hinata, he suddenly spoke, "Hinata, tomorrow is the start of vacation. What do you plan to do?"
[Translator: sauron05]
"Should I still train at home?" Hinata answered softly.
"Would you like to train with me?" Sixteen Night invited.
"Can... can I?" Hinata looked at Sixteen Night with surprise.
Before Sixteen Night could answer, she shook her head in disappointment: "I can't, my father doesn't allow me to go out freely."
Since the kidnapping incident, Hinata had to have a bodyguard accompany her whenever she went out alone.
And she couldn't go out frequently, because she had already enrolled in the ninja school, and there was a Uchiha in her class.
For the honor of her family, she had to train hard and not let the Uchiha clan suppress her.
"Hey... don't worry about that."
Sixteen Night grinned and said, "I'm just asking, do you want to go out and have fun during the vacation, and train with me?"
"…Mm."
Hinata lowered her head and ate, her voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz in response.
"Alright, I'll help you tomorrow, and then…"
Sixteen Night leaned closer to Hinata's ear and whispered his plan.
The warmth brushed against her ear, causing Hinata's face and ears to turn red instantly, and her hand holding the chopsticks trembled slightly.
For the first time being this close to Sixteen Night, the immune value she built up over the last three months dropped to zero in an instant.
Fortunately, Hinata's personality wasn't as extreme as in the original story, and she didn't faint from embarrassment.
However, her mind went blank, and she forgot what Sixteen Night had just said.
"...Remember, tomorrow, you need to be more proactive, otherwise, my plan will definitely be exposed," Sixteen Night reminded.
"Uh-uh..."
Hinata nodded blankly, looking silly and cute.
Then, she looked up at Sixteen Night: "Sixteen Night-kun, what... what did you just say?"
Sixteen Night: "…"
Then with a 'pop,' he mercilessly flicked Hinata's forehead. Under her pitiful expression, he repeated the plan from earlier.
Hinata, holding her forehead, had her beautiful eyes slightly gleaming.
...
The next day, the ninja school entered its 40-day summer vacation.
Sixteen Night left his house and entered a small alley.
With a loud 'bang,' a sound like popping a balloon echoed in the alley.
Then, a blonde girl wearing a hat, but still with visible hair color, came running out, heading straight for the Hyuga clan.
If there were any classmates from Class 1 here, they would definitely recognize this girl as Yamanaka Ino.
"Hello, my name is Yamanaka Ino. I'm here to find Hinata to go out and play; we already made plans yesterday."
Arriving at the Hyuga clan gate, Sixteen Night, disguised as Yamanaka Ino with a transformation jutsu, sweetly smiled at the gatekeeper.
The two gatekeepers exchanged glances.
"Please wait a moment."
One of the gatekeepers carefully examined Sixteen Night, politely bowed, and then entered the clan grounds.
Soon, he came out from inside.
Behind him was a little girl wearing a white coat, and it was Hinata.
Hinata, who had come running, exchanged a smile with Sixteen Night, disguised as Yamanaka Ino.
The plan was going smoothly; the young lady had gone out.
(End of chapter)