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The news that Iruka Sensei had inexplicably fainted again caught the attention of the Third Hokage. After all, he was the honorary principal of the Ninja Academy and placed immense importance on cultivating future talent within it. Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned as he reviewed the intelligence report from the Anbu ninja, muttering to himself, "He was engaging in a combat exercise with a student, got blasted by a gust of air, and then lost consciousness? Is that right?!" This inexplicably brought to mind the "Konoha Fainting Incident" from over a month ago. Although, at present, there seemed to be no connection between the two, he couldn't shake the premonition that there was, indeed, a subtle link. Otherwise, how could Iruka have fainted so inexplicably? Was he knocked out by a student? Pfft... Don't be ridiculous! Even if the report mentioned that the little girl, Hinata Hyuga, seemed to be hiding a bit of her strength, it was absolutely insufficient to overwhelm and incapacitate Iruka, an experienced Chunin, with such crushing force.
"Another mystery. Konoha has been experiencing more and more strange occurrences lately."
"I just have a feeling some sort of conspiracy is brewing..." Hiruzen Sarutobi rubbed his temples. He felt that his brain had been working overtime for the past month, giving him symptoms of a migraine. The biggest problem was that Konoha couldn't find anything at all. Even with the Anbu and Root working together on the investigation, they found nothing.
However, compared to the previous incident, Iruka's fainting was a trivial matter. But what Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't know was that Iruka's unconsciousness was actually related to Liu Chen. At the moment Iruka used "Leaf Great Whirlwind," seeing that Hinata, the little girl, was about to be kicked in the face, Liu Chen casually intervened to save her. While Iruka, as a teacher, wouldn't have let Hinata suffer serious injury, a broken nose or facial damage would have been unavoidable. Furthermore, since Iruka was already using Chakra, Liu Chen merely made a slight move. The surprising thing for Liu Chen was that it turned out the ninja of the Naruto world, almost without exception, seemed to be glass cannons. They were either glass cannon assassins or glass cannon mages. Iruka, a respectable Chunin teacher, couldn't even withstand the oncoming wind pressure head-on. Their so-called Leaf Taijutsu seemed... not even as good as a Marine Colonel. From that day on, Liu Chen had confirmed that 99.99% of people in Naruto were glass cannons. The only tanks, he estimated, were those who mastered the Eight Gates Formation. Oh, right, he almost forgot, the Raikage also seemed to be particularly tough.
In any case, Hinata successfully passed the Ninja Academy's makeup exam this time, even achieving first place with outstanding results, astonishing countless people. In the eyes of most, the strongest among their peers was currently Sasuke Uchiha. After all, this survivor of the Uchiha clan possessed talent, disposition, strength, and diligence that could all be described as top-tier. Yet, the current top student in their class was the previously inconspicuous Hinata Hyuga. This truly stunned many, especially those who were in the same class as Hinata; their shock was the greatest. Hinata, who had always been so low-key, barely speaking to anyone, had displayed such astonishing talent and strength. She had become an object of admiration for many... even garnering a fan girl squad. That's right! A fan girl squad. Hinata's gentle personality was very likable, even among other girls. Boys might not be able to put aside their pride, but girls were different; many girls regarded Hinata as someone to emulate. Therefore, during this period, Hinata's popularity was soaring. Of course, this so-called popularity was limited to the Ninja Academy. Outside, no one would probably recognize who she was.
Days passed, one after another, and an unknown amount of time elapsed... By now, it was already the season of early spring, meaning at least a month had gone by. The Ninja Academy also had holidays, though they didn't have weekends off. However, they did have winter and summer breaks. And whether it was winter or summer break, they rested for at least two months. After all, it wasn't wartime; they couldn't push the children too hard.
In a forest behind Konoha Village, Hinata, throughout this holiday, had been waking up at 5:00 AM almost every day. She would then hike to the back mountain, carrying dozens of kilograms of weight. The Hyuga clan compound was about ten kilometers away from this forest. It was truly hard to imagine that a seemingly delicate and frail young girl could possess such terrifying stamina. Even an ordinary adult would struggle to run over ten kilometers continuously while carrying dozens of kilograms, and without resting mid-way, otherwise they would have to run back and start over. Hinata had long since grown accustomed to it. Although every day was incredibly exhausting, she could clearly feel her strength growing stronger at every moment, and she found a unique sense of satisfaction in it.
The Hinata of today was completely different from the Hinata at the time of the makeup exam. Her strength had undergone a qualitative transformation. Although her Chakra reserves were pitifully low, as she hadn't specifically trained in Chakra extraction, her current physical capabilities... in the Naruto world, among her peers, describing her as a "monster" would be no exaggeration. Simply with her physical prowess, combined with the Hyuga clan's Gentle Fist, she already possessed the strength of a Genin. If she were to battle Iruka now, even if Iruka used all his Ninjutsu at full power, Hinata could last for 15 minutes. This was her progress. Of course, Liu Chen's contribution was absolutely indispensable. To train this little girl, he had specially created a "Women's Edition Taijutsu Training Manual." If this manual were to ever leak, it would undoubtedly shake the entire Ninja World.