Hinata: I'm in charge of Konoha.

As get out of class ended, just as Hinata was contemplating whether she should run away from the ninja academy, a shadow loomed over her.

Hinata Hyuga.

The visitor spoke in a curt tone.

The noise in the classroom that had started because of the end of get out of class stopped abruptly with the appearance of the person in front of them.

Everyone looked at Hinata.

What are you doing?

Hinata looked up at the person who had come and asked slowly.

"Last time you let me beat up Naruto and then you fought me."

"I hit you, and you ran away."

The boy named Uchiha Sasuke had a lifeless expression on his face.

"Sasuke..."

Naruto, watching this scene, wanted to stop Sasuke, but remembering the recent rumors circulating in the village, he fell silent.

Sasuke Uchiha looked at Hinata in front of him and waited silently for her answer.

Before his father passed away, he had hoped to fight Hinata.

He never imagined that even though his father had died at the hands of that beast, he still hadn't managed to fight Hinata.

This saddened Sasuke.

He wanted to prove to his father that he was not a coward, that he could fight Hinata and defeat her.

"Hinata..."

Ino looked at Hinata with some concern.

She wasn't afraid Hinata would lose, but rather she didn't want Hinata to fight Sasuke.

After all that happened to Sasuke, Ino was worried that if Hinata defeated Sasuke again, Sasuke would give up on himself.

"Sasuke..."

Sakura, who was sitting in front of Hinata, had similar thoughts to Ino.

After all, Hinata was incredibly amazing in Ino and Sakura's eyes.

On the very first day of school, he boldly declared war on everyone, and Naruto, Kiba, and the three of them all lost their battles.

The others are one thing, but Kiba is the heir of the Inuzuka clan, arguably one of the strongest in the class.

Even if someone in the class is better than Ya, it's impossible for him to be defeated in one or two moves.

Therefore, in Ino and Sakura's minds, no one in this class is Hinata's match.

And that is indeed the case.

"it is good."

Hinata thought for a moment and nodded in agreement with Sasuke's suggestion.

After all, he had been dragging things out for a while, and now that Itachi Uchiha, whom he had been wary of, was finally gone, he had no reason to refuse Sasuke's challenge.

In the open space outside the classroom, Hinata and Sasuke stood facing each other, each forming opposing hand seals.

This match is quite different from the ones against Kiba, Naruto, and those three guys whose names are full of flaws.

The Seal of Opposition is a custom among Konoha ninja.

This means that this competition will only determine victory or defeat, not life or death.

After the duel ends, both sides will form a seal of reconciliation to signify the end of the duel and that neither side will pursue the matter further. The two sides will remain comrades who can entrust their backs to each other.

The students in the classroom crowded around the window, watching the duel between the Uchiha and Hyuga intently.

"The duel begins..."

With Toneri acting as the referee, he glanced at Hinata and Sasuke, lowered his raised arm, and stepped back to announce the start of the duel.

As Toneri announced the start, Sasuke took the initiative and charged straight at Hinata.

As the last surviving member of the Uchiha clan, Sasuke doesn't want to lose to anyone.

For Sasuke, the duel with Hinata was his father's dying wish.

Therefore, Sasuke must win no matter what.

If Sasuke previously wanted to duel Hinata to uphold the honor of the Uchiha clan, now Sasuke is challenging Hinata with the aim of fulfilling his father's last wish.

And he will keep challenging Hinata until he wins.

In Hinata's eyes, Sasuke, who was charging straight at her, was full of flaws.

She could send Sasuke flying with just a casual strike.

But she didn't do that; instead, she nimbly dodged Sasuke's attacks.

Perhaps because of Itachi Uchiha's outstanding achievements and the increasingly tense relationship between the Uchiha and Konoha, Fugaku Uchiha did not devote much energy to his youngest son during his lifetime.

As a result, Hinata now sees Sasuke's taijutsu skills as nothing more than wild, unorthodox punches.

He's not even as good as his cousin Hyuga Neji, who gets beaten up all the time.

"Why didn't you fight back!"

Are you looking down on me?!

Seeing that Hinata was only avoiding him, Sasuke felt his suppressed sorrow and anger almost burst forth, and he shouted at Hinata, questioning her.

boom!

No sooner had Sasuke finished speaking than Hinata punched him right in the eye socket!

"you!"

Sasuke was caught off guard and only felt dizzy from Hinata's punch.

boom!

Hinata delivered another punch to Sasuke's other eye socket, turning Sasuke into a panda eye.

"Why don't you use your Byakugan?!"

Even after being punched twice, Sasuke gritted his teeth and refused to admit defeat.

"Eye roll!"

Hinata activated her Byakugan without hesitation upon hearing this.

Seeing this, Sasuke swung his fist and charged forward once again.

One palm!

With the Byakugan's enhancement, Sasuke, who was already full of openings, was directly pressed to the chest by a Gentle Fist, his chakra was instantly blocked, and his body suddenly froze.

Two palms, three palms, four palms!

With three more Gentle Fists, Hinata blocked the flow of chakra in Sasuke's body, sending him flying backward and crashing heavily to the ground, unable to get up again.

"You told me to roll my eyes, huh?"

"It wasn't me who wanted to drive it."

Hinata walked up to Sasuke and spoke with an innocent expression.

"..."

Sasuke stared blankly at the sky.

He had considered the possibility of losing, but he hadn't imagined the gap between him and Hinata would be so vast.

Hinata stepped forward and reached out to release Sasuke's sealed meridians. Then, following Konoha tradition, she extended her index and middle fingers together in front of Sasuke.

"Get up or not? If you don't get up, I'm leaving. You can lie here all by yourself."

Hinata urged Sasuke, who was still not getting up.

Sasuke silently looked at the reconciliation seal before him, and finally slowly extended the reconciliation seal as well.

Hinata pulled Sasuke up and clapped her hands, saying:

"Now that the fight's over, if you have nothing else to do, I'll be going."

Hinata had no interest in staying at the Ninja Academy.

Sasuke remained silent and walked alone towards the classroom.

"Oh, by the way, could you ask Iruka-sensei for leave for me?"

Hinata glanced at Toneri, who had been standing to the side, and leaned close to him to speak softly.

"Uh, okay."

"Hinata, are you going back?"

The servant paused for a moment, then nodded.

"I'm not going back. If I go back, won't my dear old father catch me red-handed?"

Hinata already carried the Flying Thunder God Manual with her, and she needed to find a safe but not remote place to study.

"Okay, then leave it to me."

Toneri could roughly guess why Hinata was leaving, and gave Hinata a smile to reassure her.

"Hmph, then I'll leave it to you!"

Hinata smiled upon hearing this, patted Toneri on the shoulder, and then turned and left without hesitation.

Watching Hinata's departing figure, a complex emotion flickered in a pair of emerald eyes in the classroom...