Chapter 66: After Returning to the Village
It didn't take long for Hiashi Hyuga to arrive. As usual, he had a stiff face and his Byakugan active.
"Do you have business with me?"
Naruto nodded and said, "Let's find a quiet place to chat for a bit."
Hiashi's brow furrowed, but he still nodded and followed Naruto away.
After reaching an open area, Hiashi said, "Say whatever you have to say here! There's no one within a hundred meters."
Naruto nodded and said, "Actually, what I want to talk about is your Hyuga Clan's Byakugan."
Hiashi frowned as he looked at Naruto. Their clan's affairs were not for Naruto to interfere with, but Hiashi still waited for Naruto to finish speaking.
Naruto sighed, looked at Hiashi, and said, "I wonder if the Hyuga Clan Head has noticed that your daughter, Hinata Hyuga, has never had enough to eat in the Hyuga Clan."
Hiashi's face darkened, his Byakugan flared, and the veins near his temples bulged. He glared at Naruto and said, "Are you accusing me of mistreating Hinata?"
Naruto shook his head and said, "I'm not saying you're mistreating Hinata. I just want to tell you some facts and hope that Clan Head Hiashi can pay some attention to them."
"The thing you want me to pay attention to is whether my daughter is full or not, is that it?"
Naruto sighed and said, "Clan Head Hiashi, don't be in such a hurry. Listen to me. Hinata's eyes are much purer than those of your other Hyuga clansmen, so they require more energy. Where does that energy come from? It can only be absorbed from her daily food. But given Hinata's personality, which you know very well, Clan Head Hiashi, she simply doesn't dare to say that she hasn't eaten enough."
Hiashi frowned upon hearing this. After thinking for a while, he said, "Then why didn't you say so before?"
"I didn't say it before because Hinata used to train with us often, and I would give her extra meals. Now I've started going on missions and can't look after Hinata. Plus, Hinata's eyes are evolving, so they're consuming even more energy. That's why I had to seek out the Hyuga Clan Head."
Hiashi frowned and said, "Evolving? Can the Byakugan evolve like the Sharingan?"
Naruto's mouth twitched slightly as he looked at Hiashi and said, "Clan Head Hiashi surely can't be unaware, right? How could a dōjutsu as famous as the Uchiha Clan's not be able to evolve! The ultimate state of the Byakugan is the Tenseigan. Its power after evolution is not inferior to the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan."
"Do you have any basis for what you're saying?"
Naruto really wanted to tell Hiashi about Hamura Ōtsutsuki and Otsutsuki Hagoromo, but he couldn't produce any physical evidence. Even if he said it, Hiashi might not believe him.
Furthermore, these things weren't meant to be told to Hiashi right now.
Naruto sighed and said, "I don't have any basis. Just treat it as if I'm making it up! But I still hope you'll pay attention to Hinata's diet."
Hiashi could clearly feel from Naruto's tone and attitude that Naruto had something he couldn't say. Moreover, what Naruto told him was harmless.
As for Naruto's request, it was even less of a problem. It was just letting Hinata eat her fill; it wasn't a big deal.
"Understood! Is there anything else you want to say?"
"Nothing else!"
Hearing that Naruto had nothing more to say, Hiashi didn't even say goodbye and simply turned and left.
Hiashi actually took Naruto's words to heart and prepared to carefully check the Hyuga Clan's ancient records after returning.
Thus, Naruto wandered around the Village for three days. There were no missions during these three days, which counted as a vacation for Narutoand the others.
However, on the fourth day, Kakashi started taking d-rank missions for them again.
Sasuke was completely uninterested in d-rank missions but didn't know how to refuse Kakashi. He still remembered some advice Naruto had given him and wanted to find a suitable time to consult Kakashi.
Naruto was also uninterested in these d-rank missions and suggested to Kakashi that they stop taking them.
But Kakashi looked at Naruto and said, "Some missions must be done. It's not that you can just skip them if I don't take them."
Naruto heard the subtext in Kakashi's words. He guessed that Hiruzen Sarutobi had also seen the issues between Naruto and Sasuke and was having Kakashi take d-rank missions to increase the bonds between them.
Sakura's thoughts weren't as complicated. As long as she could be with Sasuke, doing some d-rank missions was fine.
Perhaps this mission outside the Village had allowed Sakura to truly understand the cruelty of being a Ninja.
So, doing these d-rank missions was actually quite enjoyable.
Given Sakura's family background and education, having this kind of thought was quite normal. After all, her parents were healthy, she had the person she liked by her side, and she could get paid for doing d-rank missions. What more could she be dissatisfied with!
For half a month straight, Kakashi kept taking them on d-rank missions.
Just today, after finishing a mission, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were about to head home.
Perhaps it was fate that caused the three of them to run into Konohamaru Sarutobi bumping into Kankuro of the Hidden Sand Village.
Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura happened to see Kankuro grabbing Konohamaru by the collar and lifting him into the air.
Sasuke and Sakura naturally couldn't stand seeing Kankuro bullying a child.
Sasuke kicked a pebble by his foot, hitting the hand Kankuro was using to hold Konohamaru.
In pain, Kankuro let go of Konohamaru.
"Who? Who dared to ruin this Great One's fun?"
Kankuro looked up and saw Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura.
"I think you're looking for death, daring to ruin this Great One's fun."
Just as Sasuke was about to speak, Naruto gave a dry cough and said, "The Third's grandson definitely has Anbu guarding him. Is there any need for you to meddle?"
After saying that, Naruto simply turned and left.
Sasuke was stunned for a moment by Naruto's words, but he also understood that Naruto was scolding him for meddling.
Sasuke gave a 'tch' and was about to leave with his hands in his pockets.
But Kankuro was relentless and wanted to cause trouble for Sasuke and Naruto.
"Brat, you're quite arrogant. Do you think too little of this Great One?"
After saying that, Kankuro was about to provoke them again, but Naruto had no intention of getting entangled with him.
Naruto directly raised his right hand and quickly gathered an Oodama Rasengan.
"If you want to fight, I don't mind having a life-and-death struggle with you."
After saying that, Naruto stared intently at Kankuro. As long as Kankuro said the word 'yes', Naruto would definitely not be polite.
Kankuro could naturally tell from the Oodama Rasengan that Naruto had instantly gathered that Naruto was definitely not someone to be trifled with.
Even Temari placed her fan in front of her, ready to act at any moment.
And Kankuro could also tell from the Oodama Rasengan in Naruto's hand that he was definitely not Naruto's opponent.