Naruto’s poor acting couldn’t fool Hinata, who had the Byakugan.
“Naruto-kun, you let me win, didn’t you?” Hinata asked.
“Of course not. You’re just too strong. You took me down before I could even react,” Naruto replied with an extremely serious expression.
“Is that really true?”
Hinata was clearly suspicious, but there was no way to force Naruto to admit otherwise.
Iruka was equally puzzled.
Although he believed Hinata should be stronger than Naruto, Naruto had previously defeated several students whose grades were around the middle of the class.
There was no reason he should have been instantly defeated by Hinata.
Could Naruto have grown lazy lately?
Iruka thought about how Naruto had spent the past few months doing almost nothing but sleeping in class.
It really was possible.
“Naruto, are you all right?” Iruka came over and asked.
“I’m fine, Iruka-sensei.”
Naruto stood up while clutching his abdomen.
Iruka gave him a quick examination.
After confirming that Naruto wasn’t injured, he said, “You’ve been far too lazy lately. Based on what I expected from you, you should at least have been able to exchange a few moves with Hinata.”
“If you keep this up, I won’t let you graduate from the Ninja Academy!”
Looking at Iruka, who was deliberately putting on an angry expression, Naruto smiled and nodded.
“I understand, Iruka-sensei.”
Recently, Naruto had also started feeling that sleeping through class was a waste of time.
Couldn’t he be doing something else instead?
The more he thought about it, the more reasonable the idea seemed.
The academy’s lessons could no longer stimulate any further improvement in his jutsu.
Even his System had started becoming less capable.
After leaving the training field, Naruto stood alone in a corner away from the other students.
All he wanted was to continue living his carefree, lazy life.
Nor did he feel lonely.
He knew Hinata liked him.
It was simply because of their respective identities that Naruto didn’t want to get too close to her just yet.
He had no desire to be “invited” to the Hyūga clan for a little talk.
Once he became powerful enough that he no longer needed to care what anyone else thought, he could naturally start spending time with Hinata.
Speaking of relationships, Naruto glanced toward Sakura, who was fussing over Sasuke nearby.
Truthfully, he really couldn’t understand what was supposed to be so attractive about Forehead Sakura.
Her figure was nothing special, her personality was terrible, and while her face was decent enough, that wasn’t nearly enough to make up for everything else.
“Sigh. Another day of lying low and growing stronger.”
…
After afternoon classes ended, Naruto was about to use the Flying Thunder God Technique to leave as usual when Hinata unexpectedly approached him.
Naruto asked, “Is something wrong, Hinata?”
Blushing deeply, Hinata fidgeted before pulling a small container of ointment from behind her back.
“This is an ointment our Hyūga clan specially uses to treat external injuries~”
Her voice was barely louder than a mosquito’s buzz, but Naruto still heard her clearly.
Naruto glanced toward a certain corner.
There was a ninja hiding there whose strength was at least at the level of a Special Jōnin.
Did she have her bodyguard go back specifically to get this for her?
That was Naruto’s guess.
“Thank you, Hinata.”
Naruto accepted the ointment.
He didn’t actually need it, but this was a good first step toward developing his relationship with Hinata.
There was no reason to refuse.
“I-It’s… nothing~”
Naruto reached out and patted her head with a smile.
“Don’t always be so shy. If you can become a little braver, you’ll grow even stronger.”
Hinata’s eyes drifted down and to the left as she blushed.
“Mm~”
Naruto smiled gently but didn’t try to persuade her any further.
A flaw in someone’s personality wasn’t something that could be changed so easily.
It required experience.
And determination.
What Naruto didn’t know was that Hinata had already secretly resolved to become braver.
Her Byakugan had shown her that Naruto wasn’t nearly as weak as he pretended to be.
If she didn’t work hard, sooner or later Naruto would leave her so far behind that she wouldn’t even be able to see his back anymore.
After saying goodbye to Hinata, Naruto found somewhere deserted and used the Flying Thunder God Technique to return home.
He threw together a simple dinner, and another day quietly passed.
Time slipped by, and before long, the weekend arrived.
Naruto finally had two days when he didn’t need to send a Shadow Clone to class.
Ever since the practical combat assessment, Naruto had realized that attending lessons at the academy could no longer make his System become more capable.
So he had stopped sending his real body to school.
For the entire past week, a Shadow Clone had attended the academy in his place.
When Naruto woke up, the memories from the dispelled Shadow Clone flowed into his mind.
“Hmm? Hinata asked me to practice ninjutsu with her this weekend?”
Naruto sighed.
“Looks like I still can’t avoid attracting the Hyūga clan’s attention.”
“Whatever. Since that girl was the one who asked me herself, there’s no way I can refuse.”