Hinata strolled down the wooden corridor of the Hyuga estate, holding a plate of snacks and popping them into her mouth one by one.
She couldn’t care less about Naruto being the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.
As long as that blonde brat stayed far away from her from now on, she would be plenty grateful.
Let Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura have their little love triangle.
Even if she ended up completely alone, she would much rather chase girls than look for a man.
So what if people ended up viewing her as a freak?
None of it mattered anyway.
She was already Hinata now; how much worse could it get?
In this traditional family that seemed trapped in monochrome, Hinata had zero interest in the rigid rules of the Hyuga Clan.
She had been in this world for six years now, free of any existential crisis or overwhelming duties.
After all, if the sky were to fall, the taller folks would be there to hold it up.
As for the future…
Huh?
Mid-stride, her body went rigid.
Wait a minute.
Wasn’t my dear future son, Boruto, supposed to be the tallest guy standing at the end?
If she wanted nothing to do with Naruto, then when the sky collapsed in the future, who was going to hold it up?
Doing the math, she would only be in her early thirties by then, not even halfway through her life!
Masaka!
Only now did the sheer horror of the situation dawn on her!
In the future, Naruto and Sasuke were going to get drastically nerfed, leaving the burden of saving the world almost entirely on her dear son’s shoulders.
Now that her beloved son was never going to be born, what was she supposed to do?
Was she really going to have to get “plowed” just to save the world?
Hinata shook her head violently, instinctively trying to erase those cursed, horrifying images from her mind.
No!
How could she ever let something like that happen!
Damned Otsutsuki, damned Divine Trees!
If her dear son could fight them in the original timeline, why couldn’t she do it herself?
She had no grand ambition to dominate the world, nor any romantic desire to swallow the sun and moon.
Yet on the surface, the shinobi world twenty years from now would be no different than it was over the past millennium: the Five Great Nations coexisting, minor countries scattered everywhere, endless conflict, and perpetual war.
Behind that seemingly chaotic and cruel reality lay an even harsher truth.
So much so that the grand “Five Kage” ruling over the world right now would be nothing more than a giant joke in two decades.
Against the Divine Trees, against the Otsutsuki Clan…
facing such terrifying enemies, the power of the Five Kage was as feeble as an ordinary civilian standing before a ninja.
These were enemies that could not be avoided no matter what.
In the original story, all of them were meant to be dealt with by her son in Boruto.
But…
Her slender hand clenched tightly into a fist.
Hinata didn’t want to marry Naruto, but she wasn’t about to sit around and wait for death to claim her either.
That left her with only one choice.
Since the future had already proven that Naruto and Sasuke were reliable only up to a point, she would just have to face it all on her own.
After all, setting everything else aside, her son’s Jougan had awakened precisely because of the Hyuga bloodline.
If her hypothetical son could stand as the tallest pillar, why couldn’t she?
Hinata suddenly felt as though the fate of the entire shinobi world was resting on her shoulders.
She needed to become stronger.
Strong enough that everyone would be left staring at her back in awe, strong enough that no one would dare look her directly in the eye, strong enough to crush the Otsutsuki Clan into dust.
Standing in the Hyuga corridor, Hinata swallowed the very last snack from the plate, chewing with fierce intensity as if gritting her teeth against the weight of the universe.
Farewell to my lazy, peaceful life.
“Hinata!”
Having just learned that his daughter had thrashed the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Hiashi stormed over in a fit of rage, his heavy footsteps echoing down the hallway.
“Look at what you’ve done!”
“The boy you beat up has an extremely complicated identity.
Come with me right now to his doorstep and apologize!”
Hiashi felt utterly powerless against his daughter’s lawless behavior.
She was already like this at six; what would she turn into when she grew up?
“Alright.”
Hinata turned around to face her father, raising a finger to lick off a few pastry crumbs stuck to the corner of her lips.
Deep within those pure white eyes, a sharp light flickered, something Hiashi had almost never seen in her before.
“Hinata, you…”
Looking at his daughter, Hiashi’s voice trembled slightly.
He suddenly felt that something was off about her.
If this had been any other day, she would have dismissed him with complete indifference and walked off.
Hinata’s quick agreement was purely pragmatic.
She had rapidly evaluated her current situation.
Since she had already beaten up the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, going to apologize to the Hokage was actually a prime opportunity.
Power didn’t always have to come from painfully slow grinding.
If there was a shortcut to acquire strength easily, Hinata didn’t mind taking it.
And meeting Hiruzen Sarutobi right now was one such shortcut.
She didn’t expect to exude some magical “kingly aura” that would make Hiruzen bow his head and hand over a mountain of forbidden jutsu like the Flying Raijin on a silver platter.
But at the very least, she needed to become a familiar face to him.
She wanted him to look at her and think: Ah, this Hyuga kid is immensely talented and worth nurturing.
Though the Otsutsuki Clan and the Divine Trees would arrive eventually, that was still more than twenty years away.
Time was on her side for now.
Besides, if she could actually get her hands on the Flying Raijin Technique…
The Flying Raijin paired with the Byakugan’s unrivaled sensory capability was a match made in heaven.
For instance, how would an enemy handle getting slammed with her Beyond Visual Range Spacetime Infinite Flying Raijin Spiral Rotation Tiger Style?
The Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven was originally meant for defense, but in her hands, it could instantly become an absolute offensive lethal strike.
The very second Flying Raijin teleported her in, a spinning wall of destructive chakra would smash right into the enemy’s face.
Therefore, establishing a connection with the Third Hokage was an absolute necessity.
“Dad, let’s go.
What are you standing around for?”
While Hiashi was still frozen in shock, Hinata had already turned and started walking toward the front gate, leaving him even more bewildered.
When had Hinata ever been this reasonable and understanding?
In Hiashi’s memory, the word “apologize” simply did not exist in his daughter’s dictionary.
Still, since she was willing, Hiashi wasn’t about to overthink it.
“Hinata, what are you thinking?” Hiashi asked as he walked side-by-side with her down the street toward the Hokage Residence.
Even though he was certain she was going to apologize, knowing her personality kept him on edge.
“Does it matter what I’m thinking?”
“I’m just doing what you asked me to do, Dad.” Hinata rolled her Byakugan, momentarily rendered speechless.
When I don’t listen, you walk around with a scowl all day.
Now that I’m being obedient and going to apologize, why do you look even more worried?
“You really have grown up…” Looking at his daughter, Hiashi couldn’t help but feel a flicker of relief in his heart.
“If I beat him up a few more times after this, can I come back to apologize more often?”
“…”
Three massive question marks instantly materialized over Hiashi’s head.
The warmth he had felt a second ago evaporated into thin air.
Do you think that child is someone you can just pick on whenever you feel like it?!
If the Nine-Tails goes berserk, you’ll be the very first person it tries to tear apart!
“That child is the incarnation of misfortune.
Do not go near him unless it is absolutely necessary,” Hiashi warned sternly, using the Leaf villagers’ common perception of Naruto to scare her into keeping her distance.
“Then why are we going to apologize to the Hokage?”
“If he really were the incarnation of misfortune, the villagers wouldn’t tolerate his existence for a single day.”
“Rather than calling him an incarnation of misfortune, it sounds more like a problem with you adults.”
“He’s clearly just a kid.
Exactly like me.”