Outside Yakiniku Q, the summer cicadas shrieked relentlessly.
Hinata held a snow-white handkerchief, elegantly wiping away the residual grease from the corners of her mouth.
Her lower abdomen, still as flat as ever, looked absurdly defy logic under the bright sunlight.
“Burp—”
Naruto, Sakura, and Ino followed behind Hinata, each sporting a round, bulging stomach, waddling like a trio of stuffed penguins.
However, trailing at the very back of this small group were two highly out-of-place “tails.”
Hinata paused, turning around as her sparkling azure eyes narrowed slightly.
She looked at Akimichi Choji and Nara Shikamaru, who had been tailing them the entire time.
“So, Choji…
why have you been following me?”
Hinata put her hands on her hips, assuming the posture of a neighborhood boss as she asked in a mildly exasperated tone.
Choji had been staring intently at Hinata’s flat stomach.
Upon hearing her voice, his chubby body shuddered, and a fanatical light—resembling a holy pilgrimage—instantly burst from his swirl-patterned eyes.
“Boss Lady!”
Choji clasped his hands together, his voice trembling with intensity.
“Please teach me the jutsu that lets you eat whatever you want without gaining weight!
I beg of you!
For the Akimichi clan, this is a supreme secret technique capable of changing our entire destiny!”
Beside him, dragging his heavy feet with a thoroughly soul-crushing expression, Shikamaru couldn’t help but cover his face in agony.
This idiot…
How could there possibly be a jutsu in the ninja world that defies the law of conservation of energy?
Shikamaru complained bitterly in his mind.
Hinata froze for a moment before bursting into wildly arrogant inner laughter.
Hahaha!
A jutsu to eat without getting fat?
You little fatty, this is the terrifying brain consumption brought by Six Eyes and Limitless—do you honestly think you can learn that?!
On the surface, however, Hinata merely flipped her dark blue hair with supreme arrogance.
She raised her chin slightly and spoke with breezy nonchalance:
“What jutsu?
This lady is simply uniquely gifted!
Eating without gaining weight is a blessing bestowed by the heavens upon a perfect maiden.
You can’t learn it~”
Choji’s eyes overflowed with idolizing stars, staring at Hinata as if she were a living God of Food.
As they chatted, the group strolled into the central park of the Third Block.
This had been Hinata’s “secret base” for tutoring Naruto and the others over the past two years.
The moment their feet touched the park lawn, Naruto, Sakura, and Ino—who were still burping just moments ago—seemed to trigger a deep muscle memory.
Their eyes instantly sharpened.
“Billboard Brow!
Today, I definitely won’t get sent flying by you again!” Naruto roared, his small body darting forward like an arrow released from a bowstring.
“Cut the talk!
Goldie idiot, take this!” Sakura refused to yield, leaping straight toward Naruto to meet his charge.
Immediately after, a sparring match erupted on the grass that left Shikamaru and Choji completely slack-jawed!
Bam!
Bam!
Bam!
There were no flashy ninjutsu exchanges—only the purest, most lethal physical combat!
Though Naruto’s taijutsu looked unpolished, his speed was astonishing, every punch whistling sharp through the air.
What was even more terrifying was that whenever Sakura’s fist was about to strike a vital point, his hand seal speed blurred into a mere ghost of a motion!
Poof!
A cloud of white smoke flared, and Sakura’s heavy punch slammed hard into a wooden log that appeared out of nowhere!
Substitution Jutsu!
Under the sheer weight of Sakura’s punch—which already bore the faint prototype of monstrous strength—the wooden log let out an agonizing crack! You are reading on novelping(.)com, the official source.
On the other side, Ino wasn’t idling either.
Her hands flew in rapid motions, and with two quick pops, three identical copies of Ino appeared from different angles, flanking the newly surfaced Naruto!
The seamless blend of real and fake from the Clone Jutsu, paired with a cunning low sweep, drove Naruto into a tight corner within seconds!
Dead silence.
At the edge of the park, Nara Shikamaru’s perpetually sleepy expression froze entirely.
His usually half-lidded eyes widened bigger than copper bells!
Are you kidding me…
Shikamaru’s 200-IQ brain practically crashed right then and there.
Are these really kids who haven’t even entered the Ninja Academy yet?!
Substitution, Clone, Transformation…
They are clearly using the basic Three Academy Jutsus, but their execution speed and timing are cleaner than a typical Genin’s!
And that polished, brutal taijutsu technique!
No wasted movements—every strike aims for real combat!
This isn’t something you learn by playing around!
Cold sweat beaded on Shikamaru’s forehead.
As he and Choji watched the three little monsters tearing up the grass, their hearts were thoroughly shaken.
Gulp.
Shikamaru swallowed hard, turning his head stiffly to look at Hinata, who stood nearby with her arms crossed, looking thoroughly relaxed.
“Hinata…
did you teach them this ridiculous way of fighting?” Shikamaru’s voice carried a slight tremor he hadn’t even noticed himself.
Hinata tilted her head slightly, her azure eyes filled with playful arrogance.
Puffing out her chest without a drop of modesty, she hummed:
“Yeah, I’ve just been training them in my spare time over the past two years.
So, pretty impressive, right~”
Thud!
The moment Hinata finished speaking, Choji could no longer hold back the surging excitement in his heart.
His knees buckled, and he dropped into a crisp, dramatic bow right in front of her.
“Boss Lady!
Not only can you eat without gaining weight, but you can also cultivate such incredible monsters!
Please, take me in as your sidekick!” Choji yelled, his face flushed with excitement.
Hinata looked at Choji bowing before her, then turned her gaze to Shikamaru—who, despite having “what a pain” written all over his face, held a deep glint of wariness and respect in his eyes.
A sudden stroke of genius hit the soul inside her.
Two future heads of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio!
These are future core combat assets of the Leaf!
If I can trick them into joining my camp right now, won’t I rule the Ninja Academy with ease?!
The corners of Hinata’s lips twisted into a mischievous, scheming grin.
She slapped her thigh hard, pointed at Choji, and loudly proposed:
“Since you’re so sincere, how about this?
Let’s make an Oath of the Peach Garden!”
“Huh?!”
Shikamaru was utterly bewildered by the unfamiliar phrase, his brows knotting tightly together.
“Peach garden?
Oath?
Boss, aren’t there only two of you?” Shikamaru pointed at Hinata, then at Choji on the ground, looking entirely lost.
Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, Hinata’s sparkling eyes snapped toward him like physical chains locking him in place.
With a devilish smile that said you’re not getting away, she stated as if it were the most natural thing in the world:
“Add you, and that makes three!”
A shiver ran down Shikamaru’s spine, his scalp going numb.
!!!
Oh boy… This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
She was waiting for me right here!!!
Shikamaru let out a desperate roar in his mind.
I was just a spectator who tagged along for food!
I hate troublesome games like playing house the most!
This girl definitely did this on purpose to drag me down with them!
“I’m not getting involved in something so troublesome…”
Shikamaru instinctively took a step back, trying to make a final struggle.
He glanced around, curling his lips as he complained, “Besides, even if we wanted to swear an oath, this shabby park doesn’t even have a single peach tree.
Where’s the peach garden?”
“Peach garden?”
Hinata let out a light laugh.
Reaching out a small hand from her fur cape, she snapped her fingers with absolute authority.
“Natsu-nee!”
Whoosh!
Hyuga Natsu appeared behind Hinata like a phantom, respectfully handing over a thick property deed stamped with the official Konoha seal.
Hinata snatched the deed, snapping it dramatically in front of Shikamaru and Choji as she announced at the top of her lungs:
“This park was bought by this lady on the way here!
Starting today, it’s no longer Third Block Park—it’s renamed the Peach Garden!”
A gentle breeze blew past, stirring up a few leaves on the lawn.
Naruto, Sakura, and Ino stopped their sparring.
Together with Shikamaru and Choji, they stared blankly at the deed, completely petrified.
B-Bought it?!
Just to swear an oath, she went ahead and bought a park right in the middle of the village’s central district?!
Shikamaru’s high-IQ brain completely shut down.
“…”
Shikamaru opened his mouth, but couldn’t squeeze out a single word for a long moment.
“…Must be nice to be rich…”
Choji, Naruto, Sakura, and Ino swallowed hard in unison, releasing a synchronized sigh of poverty into the wind.
“Enough talk, let the ceremony begin!”
Following the classic oath scene from her memories, Hinata set up a low-budget ceremony.
She had Naruto run to a nearby shop to buy a few bottles of orange soda, pouring them into three paper cups, and stuck three twigs into the dirt to serve as incense.
Afterward, Hinata raised her paper cup with solemnity, her youthful yet heroic voice echoing across the park:
“Heaven above and Earth below, I, Hinata…”
Choji hurriedly raised his cup, mimicking Hinata with a dead-serious expression:
“I, Choji…”
Once the two finished, they turned simultaneously to stare at Shikamaru.
Shikamaru held his paper cup, the corner of his mouth twitching wildly.
He was about to say something to brush it off, only to see a pulse of intimidating chakra flicker through Hinata’s blue eyes as she glared viciously at him.
That look clearly communicated: If you dare ruin the mood, I will bury you in the dirt right now!
“…”
Shikamaru yielded.
Dropping his head, he let out a soul-weary sigh, reluctantly muttering out a few words:
“…I…
Shi…
Shikamaru…”
Satisfied, Hinata retracted her gaze and raised her paper cup high.
The three cups clinked together with a soft clang.
Under the warm afternoon sun of midsummer, Hinata, Choji, and Shikamaru—with a face full of “what a drag”—recited in unison:
“On this day in the Peach Garden, we swear the oath of brotherhood!”