Chapter 17: Guiding Team 7, The Third Pays a Visit
The third round preliminaries of the Chūnin Exams came to a close after the brutal, all-out battle between Lee and Gaara.
Twenty-six participants had entered.
After the matches, only twelve remained.
The twelve drew lots, determining their upcoming opponents in advance.
The Third Hokage gave a brief explanation of the situation,
then granted everyone a one-month break for rest and preparation before dismissing them.
But after the dismissal…
Many people didn't head home.
Instead, they rushed straight toward Byakuya's bookstore.
...
"Back then, Byakuya-kun was always hanging around with that Byakugan girl.
And now she's even learned Byakuya-kun's ninjutsu first!
So enviable!"
"Exactly!"
"I wonder if Byakuya-kun actually likes her?"
"No way!
There's no way Byakuya-kun would like that kind of cute-but-clueless girl!
If he likes anyone, it's definitely going to be a beautiful girl like me!"
"Pfft!
Big Forehead!"
"You ugly freak!"
"Big Forehead!"
"Ugly freak!"
Sakura and Ino both stopped dead in their tracks.
They glared at each other, eyes locked in a fierce stare-down.
Sparks practically crackled in the space between their gazes.
"Women are so troublesome…"
Shikamaru glanced at the two girls and let out a long sigh.
"Ino, Asuma-sensei is treating us to barbecue. Are you coming or not?"
"I'm coming!"
Ino shot one last vicious glare at Sakura.
"Big Forehead, I'll settle this with you another day!"
"Tongue out~"
Sakura tugged down her lower eyelid and stuck her tongue out in a childish taunt.
With the departure of the Ino–Shika–Chō trio,
the only ones left searching for Byakuya were Naruto's team of three… and Hinata, who had come to express her gratitude.
"Byakuya! Byakuya!
Where are you?
Whereeee?!"
The moment Naruto burst into the bookstore, he immediately started shouting at the top of his lungs.
"Let me tell you, we had so many crazy things happen during the Chūnin Exams!
We even ran into this guy in black clo—"
DUANG!
Before Naruto could finish saying "black-cloaked organization," Sakura's fist slammed straight into the back of his head.
"Sakura-chan!"
"Naruto!
Did you already forget what the ANBU told us?!"
"Uh…"
Seeing Sakura's angry expression, Naruto instantly shrank back.
"Go!
Clean the place!"
"F-Fine…"
Watching Naruto shuffle off dejectedly to start cleaning,
Sakura finally turned toward Byakuya.
She clasped her hands in front of her chest, eyes sparkling with little hearts.
"Byakuya-kun, you're seriously amazing!
Just a little bit of advice for Hinata, and she managed to beat Neji!"
"H-Huh?"
Hinata blinked in confusion.
"I… I never said Byakuya-kun was the one who taught me…"
"With that terrible lying face of yours, who would possibly believe you?"
Sasuke, hands in his pockets, gave Hinata an exasperated look.
"Eh?!"
Hinata's Byakugan instantly rolled into pure white shock.
She stood frozen in place, completely flustered.
She had been planning to keep it a secret…
and yet here they were.
"Um…"
Sakura ignored the bewildered Hinata completely.
She sidled up close to Byakuya, suddenly shy and fidgety.
"Byakuya-kun…
I… I also want to get stronger…
So, um…
Would it be possible…
for you to give me some private lessons?"
Byakuya glanced at Sakura,
then gave a small nod.
"Come by tomorrow.
I'll teach you a pretty useful taijutsu style."
"Yay!"
Sakura practically exploded with excitement.
"Byakuya-kun~
I'll start cleaning for you right now~!"
Humming a cheerful little tune, she happily went off to clean.
[Ding! Plot changed. Gained 20,000 plot points!]
Sasuke stood off to the side, mouth opening and closing, unable to speak.
He wanted to get stronger too.
But…
He just couldn't bring himself to ask.
He felt like asking Byakuya how to get stronger was somehow incredibly embarrassing.
Of course, Byakuya had already seen right through him.
After a moment's thought,
he spoke first.
"Sasuke.
If you want to get stronger,
you could talk to Kakashi about entering the ANBU for training.
There's a lot more combat there—you'll grow fast.
Of course, how fast you grow ultimately depends on your own effort.
If you can train as hard as Lee does,
you'll improve very quickly.
Do your best."
The moment Byakuya mentioned Lee,
Sasuke unconsciously clenched his fist.
He remembered the terrifying power Lee had displayed after opening the Gates not long ago.
"If even he can do it, then of course I can too!"
Sasuke silently resolved himself to train harder than ever.
Then he gave a small, grateful nod.
"Thanks."
[Ding! Plot changed. Gained 20,000 plot points!]
"Not bad, not bad~"
Watching Sasuke's back as he went to clean, Byakuya couldn't help but smile.
"Even a mosquito is still meat when it comes to plot points~"
"U-Um…"
Hinata's face was bright red. She kept poking her two index fingers together in front of her, looking extremely guilty.
"Byakuya-kun…
I…"
"I know, you didn't mean to~"
Byakuya stood up with a gentle smile,
lightly patted Hinata on the head,
and spoke softly.
"It's not exactly some big secret anyway.
It's fine.
Besides… the way you can't lie at all is actually really cute."
"Eh?"
Hinata froze.
Then the temperature in her face skyrocketed.
Finally—
Bam!
She passed out on the spot.
Byakuya: "…"
"When are you going to fix that fainting habit of yours?!"
Byakuya was momentarily speechless.
...
Not long after, someone from the Hyūga family came to pick Hinata up.
After Naruto's team finished cleaning,
Byakuya generously treated all three of them to a meal at Ichiraku Ramen.
During dinner, Byakuya casually told Naruto to come find him tomorrow.
He would teach Naruto some things too.
Naruto's eyes immediately lit up.
He nodded over and over again, thrilled.
Byakuya smiled inwardly.
With his presence and guidance,
the bond between Naruto's team and the Sannin might just get severed.
And when that happened…
he'd get to harvest another big wave of plot points.
That felt pretty good.
After the meal, everyone parted ways.
Byakuya walked back toward the bookstore alone.
But before he even reached the door,
he sensed someone quietly waiting for him there.
It was the Third Hokage—Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Seeing this, a smile slowly spread across Byakuya's face.
"Sarutobi Hiruzen, huh~
Now this is a proper ATM machine~"
Orochimaru hadn't left Konoha.
He was still secretly preparing to cause trouble.
Under the pull of fate, the Third would probably "die" over and over again in the future.
If he could seize the chance to "save" Hiruzen a few times…
it would be like repeatedly withdrawing cash from a broken ATM.
One had to admit—
sometimes saving people earns way more plot points than killing them