Konoha, December 21, Year 54.
Unknowingly, the second semester had ended again.
This semester, the first-year students had undergone very obvious transformations.
In the first semester, there were only cultural and physical education classes, and they had no practical experience, which was no different from those who had not yet entered school.
The new physical skills duels in the second semester allowed them to grow in pain and lose some of their immaturity.
However, there was also a side effect — it taught some students to use violence to solve problems.
Fighting, bullying, or attacking classmates often happened over minor disagreements.
More importantly, teachers and the school wouldn't stop these incidents.
Clearly, in their eyes, cowardly students were not worthy of becoming ninjas.
Instead of being killed on a mission after graduation, it was better to be bullied by their peers and choose to drop out of school, returning to the life of an ordinary person.
Therefore, in all grades and classes, there were often cases of poor-performing students trying to bully outstanding ones.
Like Uchiha Itachi, Hyuga Neji, Uchiha Sasuke...
They all had one thing in common — they were handsome, talented, and had cold personalities, which made them very popular among girls.
Yet, despite being so popular, they didn't like to join or form cliques. They seemed to ignore both boys and girls alike.
This aloofness irritated many boys, who felt the urge to teach them a lesson.
Unfortunately, all such bullying attempts ended in failure. Some even ended in humiliation.
Being beaten was one thing — but being defeated by someone in front of others, especially girls, was too much.
Afterwards, they were mocked by the fan clubs of those they had tried to bully, rejected by female classmates and seniors, and ostracized even more.
This only increased their resentment, which sometimes extended to others of the same clan.
For example, on this snowy day…
When the snowfall finally stopped, Hinata didn't need to wait for Sanket disguised as Yamanaka Ino to invite her.
Now that she had the freedom to go out, she immediately trotted out of the clan estate, heading to their usual meeting place.
Hinata wore a white snowman suit and a red scarf. She looked soft and chubby — adorably cute.
Following Sanket's suggestion, Hinata had been growing her hair longer over the past six months. It now reached her shoulders.
She tied it into two ponytails and planned to change her hairstyle again once it reached her waist.
Her round face was slightly flushed from the cold, making her look even more pinch-worthy.
To avoid suspicion, Hinata didn't go to Sanket's house. Instead, she waited for him at the open space near the ninja academy — a silent agreement between them.
---
"Is that girl from Neji's clan?"
"White eyes. No doubt."
"Let's teach her a lesson!"
---
While waiting, Hinata suddenly heard some boys talking.
She turned to see three boys, older than her by a year or two, jogging her way with nasty smiles on their faces.
"Um… are you okay?" Hinata asked softly.
Her voice was gentle, but her gaze didn't lower — just pure confusion in her white eyes.
"Those eyes are so annoying. Just like Neji's!"
One boy yelled loudly, "What are you looking at, you white-eyed freak? Do you know you just offended me? Kneel down and apologize!"
Hinata tilted her head, puzzled.
But hearing her cousin's name, she asked curiously, "Are you friends with Brother Neji?"
"Friends with that guy?!" another boy snapped. "We're his enemies!"
"Hurry and kneel! Say sorry! Apologize for Neji, or we'll beat you up!"
The third boy stepped forward and reached for Hinata's shoulder, clearly intending to humiliate her.
But just as his hand reached out, Hinata's gaze changed sharply.
Wearing white gloves, she extended two fingers from her right hand and struck the boy's chest with a speed and precision that felt like a needle.
"Ahh—!"
Despite the gloves and winter coat, her fingers pierced through and made him cry out in pain, collapsing to the ground.
Then, without hesitation, Hinata struck the other two boys just as swiftly.
They too screamed and fell down, clutching their chests.
"It hurts! It hurts so much! Waaah—!"
No matter how they rubbed their chest, the deep pain wouldn't go away.
Looking at Hinata in front of them was like seeing Neji's shadow — powerful and overwhelming.
They broke down crying on the spot and fled in terror.
Hinata tilted her head again, confused.
She hadn't even used chakra — why were they crying?
With that level of strength, were they really Neji's enemies?
---
Clap clap clap…
The sound of applause reached her ears.
Hinata looked over and instantly smiled in joy.
"Sanket-kun, you're here."
"Sanket, you looked really cool just now."
Sanket, also wearing a white snowman suit, approached with a thumbs-up and said:
"To deal with people with bad intentions, you should act decisively. If you don't stop them early, they'll just get worse."
"Yeah, yeah…" Hinata nodded obediently.
Looking at her like this, Sanket felt full of pride.
In the original story, Hinata was bullied repeatedly.
It was ridiculous — a noble clan heiress bullied by random civilian boys.
Even more ridiculous was that she had already begun soft fist training at that time!
Being reduced to tears like that was clearly a problem of character.
But now, Hinata had fought back and made the bullies cry.
That alone proved Sanket's transformation efforts were working.
Through persistent training and encouragement, Hinata had become resolute and unyielding.
She was still kind, but not weak. She no longer sacrificed herself to care for others.
Instead, her instinct was to defend herself and fight back decisively.
She was not like the corrupted version in the Infinite Tsukuyomi dream —
This Hinata was soft on the outside, strong on the inside.
In just half a year, Sanket had changed her. Of course he felt proud.
Thankfully, he started early. If Hyuga Hiashi and Neji had broken Hinata's spirit completely, reshaping her wouldn't have been easy.
Hiashi should be very grateful to Sanket.
Hinata gaining the privilege to go out freely was already a big reward.
---
"Let's go train."
"Okay!"
The two snowman-suited children made their way toward the abandoned training ground.
(End of Chapter)