Naruto: I, who fooled the ninja world, was hailed as a savior.

Chapter 319 Hinata Hyuga [Sasuke's Version]

"...The winner is Akimichi Choji!"

After announcing the results, Iruka looked at the two who had sealed their bond with the Seal of Reconciliation, nodded, then flipped through the register and announced loudly:
"Second pair, Nara Shikamaru versus Aburame Shino! Please come to the stage!"

As the voice faded, Nara Shikamaru lazily yawned in the crowd, looking like he was thinking, "Why does this kind of trouble always have to happen to me?"

"Shikamaru, do your best! Cheer up!"

Yamanaka Ino, who was behind him, patted him hard on the back and shouted energetically, "We must defeat that Shino guy!"

However, no sooner had she finished speaking than a deep voice sounded silently behind her.

"Yamano-kun, could you please not say such things in front of me?"

"Wow!"

Startled by the sudden sound, Yamanaka Ino screamed and turned around abruptly.

Suddenly, Shino Aburame appeared silently behind her, his eyes obscured by sunglasses, making his expression unreadable.

"When did you get here?" Ino blurted out, somewhat embarrassed.

"..."

Shino Aburame didn't answer. She just silently pushed up her sunglasses, then walked past her without a word and went straight to the center of the field.

He stood in the spot designated by Iruka, as quiet as ever, but Nara Shikamaru, who was standing lazily in front of him, could feel the oppressive atmosphere.

Despite Shikamaru's tendency to be lazy and secretly sleep in during class, he actually knows the personality of every classmate inside and out.

Although Shino is aloof and taciturn, he actually has his own set of rules and doesn't like being ignored. If he is ignored, he will get upset and hold a grudge.

Being held a grudge by him might mean being "accidentally" bothered by insects, finding a few "lost" bugs in your clothes, or having bugs "happen" to land on your head while you're walking...

"Just thinking about it makes me feel incredibly troubled," Nara Shikamaru muttered to himself.

It's not like we're taking an exam, why are we taking it so seriously?

So, just before Iruka was about to announce "start," Shikamaru decisively raised his hand.

"Hi~" he drawled, speaking in a tone tinged with weariness, "Iruka-sensei, I give up."

Upon hearing this, Iruka was taken aback, and the surrounding classmates were also surprised, yet felt it was only natural.

"Anyway, I can't beat Shino, so let's just leave it at that. It'll save time and effort," Shikamaru said with a big yawn.

Iruka looked at Shikamaru's expression and sighed somewhat habitually, then said, "Second group, Shino Aburame wins!"

The entire arena erupted in boos, and Yamanaka Ino stomped her foot in anger: "Shikamaru! You lazybones!"

Shikamaru didn't care about any of that. He put his hands in his pockets and strolled off the field.

Meanwhile, among the onlookers, Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki stood side by side.

If you observe closely, you will find that a subtle aura forms around them.

Apart from Chiba Ryosuke and Karin standing in front of Naruto, the other classmates around him, whether intentionally or unintentionally, maintained a subtle distance from Naruto.

It was as if an invisible barrier separated him from most of his peers.

Many students' gazes, whether directly or subtly, always drifted towards Naruto, their eyes filled with complex emotions.

Curiosity, confusion, timidity, pity...

But more than anything, there was an awkwardness and hesitation about how to interact with him normally.

Should I greet them? I'm afraid of saying the wrong thing.

Getting closer? I felt a little uneasy.

Pretending not to see it? That would seem too deliberate.

This sense of disorientation led them to choose the safest approach: maintaining distance.

Naruto naturally sensed this atmosphere. His azure eyes calmly watched the battle on the field, his face revealing no particular emotion, but his heart was unexpectedly calm.

To be honest, this level of estrangement is already much better than he had imagined.

Naruto knew very well that someone like Sasuke, who could stand shoulder to shoulder with him without any reservations, without being timid or cowardly, was an extremely precious exception.

People like Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Choji, and Inuzuka Kiba, who come from ninja clans, are still willing to communicate and interact with him as usual.

Perhaps it was their family background that gave them a deeper understanding and knowledge of "Jinchūriki," or perhaps it stemmed from their own better upbringing.

His classmates from ordinary backgrounds, who had witnessed his terrifying rampage, were still able to simply keep their distance without showing any obvious disgust or rejection.

Actually, it's because of his pleasing appearance now.

Therefore, the fact that Chiba Ryosuke and Karin were still standing in front of him as usual touched Naruto.

One of them was a commoner student with no background, and the other was a transfer student who had just arrived in Konoha and was also somewhat aloof.

They chose to approach him, to stand before him, and what they needed was not just goodwill, but also the courage to still believe in him "himself" amidst the rumors and gossip.

This unexpected closeness was just as precious to Naruto as Sasuke's trust.

"The eldest daughter of the Hyuga main family seems... different from before." Sasuke Uchiha's deep voice came from beside him, pulling Naruto back to reality. He subconsciously turned his head to look.

Sasuke's eyes were unusually serious.

Naruto followed Sasuke's gaze and looked at Hinata Hyuga, who was standing alone in the distance.

The Hinata of today is indeed completely different from the timid image I remember, who always kept her head down, spoke softly, and blushed easily.

Her slightly long blue hair was tied back, and her small face, which should have been timid and docile, was expressionless.

His brows and eyes were etched with visible fatigue, as if he hadn't had a good night's sleep in a long time.

Both sleeves and trouser legs were neatly tied with leg wraps, giving her a tense look from the inside out.

Looking at Hinata like this, Naruto seemed to see himself from a long, long time ago, before he met his teacher and the big fox, when he could only bear everything alone.

No.

There are still differences.

Naruto used to passively endure all the malice from the outside world, like a wounded cub, yearning for warmth but only able to lick his own wounds.

Hinata, standing before us, seemed to be actively rejecting everything around her, as if she had built an invisible wall around herself, pushing everyone away.

"It's truly unbelievable."

Sasuke spoke to Naruto in a voice only the two of them could hear.

His gaze was fixed on Hinata, a complex emotion flashing in his dark eyes—sympathy, but more so, a chill.

"I never expected that Hyuga Neji would do the same thing as that man." Sasuke's voice was suppressed.

Naruto had naturally heard about the horrific tragedy that had occurred in the Hyuga clan.

The leaders of the main branch were almost all slaughtered, including Hinata's father, Hiashi Hyuga.

The one who did all this was Hyuga Neji, a man of exceptional talent whom Hinata always regarded as an older brother.

Without a doubt, Sasuke is one of the very few people who can truly understand the pain of "having everything taken away by the person closest to you and the person you admire most".

The trauma inflicted on Itachi Uchiha on the night he slaughtered the Uchiha clan still lingers deep within his soul.

Looking at Hinata at this moment, he seemed to see himself back then, standing in the rain, staring blankly at his parents' corpses, feeling lost and helpless, as if his whole world had collapsed in an instant.

He was all too familiar with the aura of rejection emanating from Hinata at that moment.

That was an attempt to wrap up the last bit of vulnerability in oneself with coldness and hatred.

"Without Shisui's guidance, and without Yakumi and the forgiveness and help of the other clansmen, I probably would have become like her now," Sasuke thought to himself.

Just then, Iruka's voice rang out again, pulling him back to reality.

"Group Six: Hinata Hyuga vs. Sasuke Uchiha!"

As Iruka finished speaking, Naruto turned to Sasuke beside him and joked, "Looks like the one I need to be careful of isn't me."

He was responding to Sasuke's warning to him not to get hurt at the shooting range earlier.

Although his tone sounded like he was joking, Naruto's eyes were serious.

Hinata Hyuga's mental state is currently unstable, like a taut string that could be overstretched at the slightest provocation.

Sasuke understood the warning in Naruto's words and felt a little troubled, but he didn't say anything and just stepped into the center of the arena.

Uchiha Sasuke and Hyuga Hinata stood facing each other.

Hinata Hyuga raised her hands expressionlessly, her index and middle fingers joined together and straightened, crossed in front of her chest, forming the "Seal of Opposition".

Sasuke also formed the hand seals, calmly gazing at the other person.

Such close observation reveals even more clues.

Her hands were wrapped in white bandages, with dark red bloodstains visibly seeping from her knuckles and palms, staining the bandages.

These injuries are not the result of ordinary training, but rather the marks left by long-term, high-intensity physical training.

In the days following Itachi's defection, Sasuke also attempted to gain power through this almost self-destructive and insane training, but was promptly and sternly stopped by Uchiha Shisui.

Hinata, on the other hand, clearly has no one who can control her like that.

The Hyuga clan suffered such a devastating blow that only a handful of the main branch survived. Hyuga Aoi needs to comfort the terrified women and children of the main branch.

Hinata's mother was not a ninja; she fell ill due to the grief of losing her husband, and her younger sister Hanabi was still young.

All the pressure fell on the shoulders of this originally delicate eldest daughter of the main family.

She had to force herself to be strong, numbing the pain with almost cruel training, keeping her mind taut, and forcibly supporting the family that was almost completely collapsing.

Even so, every night, those bloody scenes would appear in her dreams, waking her up in terror.

The scene where Hyuga Neji gouged out his father's eyes, and the line, "If Uchiha Itachi could do it, why can't I, Hyuga Neji, do it?"...

"Begin!" Iruka commanded.

(End of this chapter)