Chapter 194: Hinata's Unique Talent, Ocular Activation
Kurenai Yūhi's whole body trembled. She turned and looked at the girl beside her in disbelief. Is this something I can just casually observe?
"That's... not very appropriate, is it? It should be a very private matter."
Kurenai refused verbally, but deep in her heart, an uncontrollable anticipation was rising. Her complexion had begun to worsen again these past few days. Although she still maintained a healthy blush, it was a far cry from the radiant state she had been in before. She couldn't bear to ask him to infuse her with life force again just for the sake of looking beautiful. For now, she could only look at the glowing Ino and Sakura with envy.
And now, she seemed to have a chance to change all that.
However, as someone who was familiar with his character and knew his intentions, she knew that this was clearly a trap. Once she stepped in, she might never be able to get out.
She needed to refuse. She had to refuse!
"It is indeed a very private matter. But I wouldn't mind if it was you, Kurenai-sensei."
Hinata lowered her head shyly. "You're the second person, after Makoto-kun, who has taken such good care of me. I see you as a real older sister."
"Besides, Makoto-kun said that if you become interested in the True Spirit Seal during the process, he can give one to you, too."
Kurenai looked at her strangely. She was confounded by the girl's shy appearance. "It seems you still don't understand what it means... It's better if I don't participate."
Hinata suddenly looked up. "I do know, Kurenai-sensei. I know that Makoto-kun likes you."
Now it was Kurenai's turn to be shy.
Although this was just a whisper between them, Ino and Tenten were still over there, arguing about who was developing better, and Anko was having a drink. To have her and Makoto's relationship discussed by Hinata in front of so many people... how could she bear it?
"Then why are you also—"
She no longer knew how to speak. Why were all the girls around him so different from ordinary people in their thinking?
"Because Makoto-kun wants to build a big family. And right now, we can't accompany him. If we have to choose someone, I obviously prefer you, Kurenai-sensei."
"As for me, you don't need to worry. Makoto-kun said he will marry me when I grow up. I will also be a good wife to him."
Looking at Hinata's serious, pure, and expectant expression, Kurenai didn't know how to advise her. After all, she was deeply involved in this herself, wasn't she?
In the end, she couldn't suppress the curiosity in her heart and nodded.
"When do we start?"
"Tomorrow. Makoto-kun needs to prepare today. Except for Sakura, who was 'suddenly attacked' by him, the rest of us were all given the True Spirit Seal on the day after he notified us."
Kurenai nodded in agreement.
Afterward, she felt a great weight lift from her heart and began to look forward to the next day's developments.
On Akiyama Makoto's end, he was thinking about the details of simulating with Hinata.
First of all, should he get her talent to strengthen himself first, or should he strengthen her first after getting her talent? He had never simulated with her before, which meant he didn't have her talents yet, such as the Byakugan.
He didn't care that much about the Byakugan right now, but her Lightning attribute was something he needed to get his hands on.
However, considering her currently low panel, he decided to strengthen her first, and then go back to get her attributes. After all, when he received bloodline feedback, he didn't need to specify a certain female character. The feedback from any of them could be cherry-picked and combined within him.
After deciding to strengthen her first, he had to consider which of her attributes to enhance.
First, let's look at her talent data.
Hyūga Hinata: Ninjutsu: 6, Taijutsu: 7, Genjutsu: 5, Intelligence: 7, Strength: 3, Speed: 5, Stamina: 4, Hand Seals: 6. Total: 43 points. Chakra Natures: Fire and Lightning. High-Purity Byakugan.
This talent might be decent for an ordinary ninja, but for the main family's eldest daughter of the Hyūga clan, it was clearly a bit too shabby. Of course, this was also related to her retiring too early and not continuing as a ninja. Some of the eight ninja stats could be broken through with continuous hard work, and she had never eaten her fill, so in theory, her talent should be able to exceed fifty.
But a 50-point attribute was only relatively not shabby, barely enough to aim for Jōnin.
Therefore, to make up for her current combat power and development bottleneck, both Strength and Stamina had to be arranged first!
A Genjutsu of 10 was also a must. Then, for the last one, he had to choose between Speed and Yin Release.
Theoretically, speed was very important for a taijutsu ninja. But as a Hyūga, she could learn Rotation. And her personality determined that her desire to attack was not strong. Improving her speed might not necessarily lead to great growth.
On the other hand, a Genjutsu talent would allow her to learn some genjutsu to interfere with the enemy, which might have a good effect when combined with her Gentle Fist. And he also wanted to know if the Byakugan—or, more accurately, her High-Purity Byakugan—could unleash a different kind of power with a Yin Release talent.
With that, his decision was obvious: Strength, Stamina, Genjutsu, and Yin Release.
Just as he made his decision and was about to start the simulation, a knock, knock, knock sounded at the door.
He thought it was Anko. "Come in."
But to his surprise, it was Kurenai.
She was wearing a bathrobe, her hair, though already dry, was draped over her shoulders, giving her the feeling of a lazy, mature woman. His eyes immediately lit up.
Kurenai immediately felt a little guilty, but forced herself to remain calm. "Are you really going to let me watch you and Hinata... do that tomorrow? Have you reconsidered?"
"I mean, won't you two be shy and... affect the setting of the True Spirit Seal?"
He smiled faintly. "Don't worry, Big Sister Kurenai. As long as you don't make any strange noises, I won't be distracted."
"I would never make any strange noises! It's just... Forget it. Since you've made your decision, I shouldn't interfere."
"I came to ask if you need me to prepare anything. For example, should I prepare the venue for you or set up a protective barrier?"
In truth, she had come to refuse him, but when she arrived and saw his youthful face, she suddenly changed her mind.
"About that... Big Sister Kurenai, come closer. I do have something I need you to prepare."
She, not suspecting a thing, came and sat down beside him, leaning in to listen.
What awaited her was his lips on her earlobe. "After you've watched," he said, "it'll be your turn, Big Sister Kurenai."
She froze as if struck by lightning, her face flushing red as she pushed him away and quickly retreated. She glared at him, looking as if she were about to strike, but in the end, she just huffed, slammed the door, and left, leaving him with only her back.
He lay back calmly for a while, confirming that she hadn't been so angry as to leave completely, but had returned to the room he had prepared for her. Only then did he smile.
Now, what he had to do tomorrow was completely set in stone.
As for what he would have done if she had really left in anger... then tomorrow, he would have just gone to her house to implant the seal on Hinata, and let her, as the teacher, stand guard for her student.
He didn't believe she could have refused then.
He waited for an hour. After the lights in her room went out and Anko had also fallen asleep, he created a shadow clone to stand guard and prepared to begin his simulation.
But when he opened the simulator, he was surprised to see a new talent displayed on Hinata's panel.
[Intermediate Ocular Activation]
What's this?
He was baffled. The eyes could be activated too?
Then, he became excited. If his body's cells could be activated, why couldn't his eyes?
Of course, the two were definitely different. Cells were living entities to begin with. Their activation meant they had stronger life force and effects, and were evolving towards a higher level of life. The eyes, on the other hand, were just a part of the body. Their activation should theoretically be included in the body's activation... No, wait. Since the system marked it separately, it means Ocular Activation should be calculated separately.
Otherwise, wouldn't all of one's limbs have to be activated individually?
Could this be a special rule of the ninja world?
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