The early morning sunlight filtered through the cherry blossom trees of the Hyuga estate, casting dappled shadows upon the paper sliding doors of Hinata's room.
Inside the room, Hinata sat cross-legged on her mat, the Golden Core within her Dantian rotating slowly, nourishing the spiritual energy in her Meridians.
Seven other Hinatas were also in the room, each attending to their own tasks, working with great fervor.
One Hinata Clone, with her hair tied in a high ponytail and wearing practical martial arts attire, was practicing Taijutsu—her fists and feet whipped up a wind, and with spiritual energy attached to her fists, every strike was powerful and firm.
Getting into the swing of things, she casually picked up the brick · Fake Heaven-Turning Seal resting nearby and practiced a smooth little combo.
Another Clone sat on the floor with a stack of scrolls spread out before her; these were Taijutsu manuals borrowed from the Konoha Library.
She flipped through them while using spiritual energy to outline Move diagrams in the Void Realm, stopping occasionally to frown in thought.
"The 'Tenketsu' of Gentle Fist relies too much on Chakra. If I use spiritual energy instead, I should be able to penetrate defenses directly... Hmm, modifying it like this could double its power!"
Two more Clones were researching the Flying Thunder God. Pale silver spiritual energy marks were beneath their feet as their figures flickered through the air in rapid succession, sometimes overlapping and sometimes separating.
"The original Flying Thunder God requires pre-marking; it's too troublesome!" one Clone complained.
"If we use spiritual energy to lock onto coordinates, could we achieve markless teleportation?" The other Clone immediately agreed: "Let's try! Hey? I went off course!"
The two figures suddenly collided, falling into a heap as the spiritual energy marks instantly dissipated.
Of the remaining two Clones, one held the big dipper seven stars sword, practicing the art of sword control in the air—the blade was enveloped in spiritual energy, circling and dancing before her, sometimes turning into a streak of light and sometimes condensing into a sword formation. Though not yet proficient, she already had a bit of the air of an Immortal controlling a sword.
The last Clone stood by the heaven and earth primordial qi pot. Something was boiling inside, and the aroma filled the entire room. She stirred it occasionally with spiritual energy, muttering to herself.
"The meatballs I cooked in this pot last time were too sweet; I'll put less honey this time... Eh? It seems I put too much again!"
Sensing the movements of her Clones, Hinata's lips couldn't help but twitch.
She felt like every single one of her Clones was a little troublemaker.
Hinata shook her head and ended her cultivation. Just as she was about to have a sip of tea, she heard a crisp knocking at the door and Tenten's voice.
"Hinata! Are you home? I've come to hang out!"
Hinata stood up, tidied her clothes, and shooed the Clones away, telling them to go Cultivate in other hidden places.
"Geez~ Could the main body be a lesbian?" a Clone teased.
"I'm getting faint from the yuri energy..."
"Scram, scram, scram. Go do what you're supposed to do."
Hinata drove the Clones away. She wasn't some lesbian; it was just that staying cooped up in her room researching cells and Forbidden Jutsu was a bit dull... Then, she walked to the door and pulled it open.
Standing outside the door was indeed Tenten.
Tenten was wearing her green training clothes and carrying a large Ninja tool bag, with a paper bag in her hand, looking full of energy.
"Hinata, it seems a new dessert shop opened today. I heard their Strawberry Daifuku is super delicious, and they have limited edition Cherry Blossom Tea!"
Hinata smiled and stepped aside to let her in.
"Come in first, I'll brew a cup of tea for you."
Walking into the room, Tenten was immediately attracted by the heaven and earth primordial qi pot on the table.
"Eh, this pot is so special."
"I got it by chance. It makes food taste particularly good."
Hinata explained with a smile, picking up the pot.
"I happened to make some Chestnut Cakes with it yesterday, want a taste?"
As she spoke, she opened the lid, and a rich aroma instantly filled the air—these Chestnut Cakes were made by the Clone.
The golden Chestnut Cakes were steaming, emitting a sweet fragrance that made Tenten's eyes light up.
"Wow! It smells so good! Then I won't be polite!" Tenten picked up a piece and stuffed it into her mouth, instantly won over by the sweet and chewy texture.
"So delicious! Hinata, you're too good at cooking! This is even better than what my family's kitchen makes!"
"Hmm... it feels like after eating this, my body has become a lot lighter? Maybe it's just an illusion because it's so tasty..."
Hinata smiled and didn't explain—this was the wonderful effect of the heaven and earth primordial qi pot; the food produced wasn't just delicious, but also had a nourishing effect on the body.
The two sat by the low table, chatting while eating Chestnut Cakes, with Tenten chattering away about the latest gossip in Konoha.
After chatting for a while, Tenten looked at the time.
"Oh no, if we don't head out now, the dessert shop's limited Cherry Blossom Tea will be sold out! Hinata, let's go quickly!"
Hinata led Tenten out of the room. The moment the door closed, several Clones appeared inside.
"Eh, the main body is gone. Let's play something!" one Clone suggested.
Another Clone's eyes lit up.
"Let's practice with the bricks! Let's see who can throw a brick the furthest!"
And so, after Hinata left, a scene of "Clone brick War" unfolded in her room.
The two walked out of the Hyuga estate and headed toward the streets of Konoha.
Along the way, they encountered many Konoha villagers and Ninjas. Everyone who saw Hinata greeted her warmly.
"Yo, Hinata, good morning!"
"Hinata, thank you for saving our Village last time!"
She responded to each one with a smile, while Tenten teased from the side.
"Hinata, you're quite the big celebrity in Konoha now! People greet you everywhere you go."
Hinata just smiled.
When they reached their destination, the newly opened dessert shop was indeed packed with people.
The two lined up for a long time, bumping into Ino halfway through and deciding to join up. In the end, they managed to snag three servings of Strawberry Daifuku and a pot of Cherry Blossom Tea.
Sitting by the window and looking at the bustling crowd outside, Ino sighed.
"Days like this are so nice. No war, everyone is happy."
Tenten took a sip of Cherry Blossom Tea.
"It's all thanks to Hinata. If she hadn't stopped what happened last time, we might not be seeing a scene like this now."
Just then, a sudden commotion broke out on the street. Naruto was seen running frantically, followed by several angry villagers.
"Naruto! You brat!"
"Haha, sorry!" Naruto laughed loudly as he ran, looking back. As a result, he didn't pay attention to what was ahead and slammed headfirst into a utility pole.
Seeing this, all three of them couldn't help but laugh. Ino shook her head helplessly.
"Naruto is still the same, always so reckless."
Tenten said with a smile.
"Because of the Sasuke situation, he wasn't that lively before, but it looks like he's already recovered. As expected of him."
Hinata thought of Naruto's never-give-up spirit from the original story and had to admit that such a spirit was indeed very admirable.
Suddenly, Naruto spotted Hinata's group by the window, his eyes lighting up as he ran over.
"Hinata! Ino! Tenten! You guys are here too!"
"Naruto, what trouble have you caused again?" Ino raised an eyebrow at him.
Naruto scratched his head and smiled sheepishly.
"I didn't do it on purpose. By the way, Hinata, I seem to have completely mastered the thing you taught me! Pervy Sage calls it the Rasengan. Speaking of which, how did you know about this technique?"
"Hmm... I'll tell you a secret. Actually, I am an Immortal, and I know everything in this world," Hinata said with a smile.
Naruto:...Did he look that stupid? He wasn't a child anymore; how could he be fooled by such words?
Just as he was about to speak, the villagers caught up. Naruto made a face at them and continued running away with a loud laugh.
The three of them burst into laughter, and Ino joined them for the rest of the trip.
After shopping for the whole afternoon, the three bought quite a few things. Ino bought new hair accessories and perfume, Tenten found some rare metals and planned to go back and make new Ninja tools, and Hinata bought some ingredients, preparing to go back and make more delicious food.
Returning to the Hyuga estate and seeing off Ino and Tenten, before Hinata could even breathe a sigh of relief, she saw a scene that made her blood boil.
As soon as she walked into her room, she saw it was a complete mess, a scene of total wreckage.
At some point, the Clones had gone from seeing who could throw further to playing dodgeball, throwing bricks at each other.
"Hahaha! Don't run! Eat my big flying brick!"
"Can you even hit me? Watch me swap positions with Flying Thunder God. Heh, missed me~"
"Ouch, damn, you totally blind-sided me."
"Watch my prediction! Little flying brick coming through~"
Watching them fool around, a '#' mark instantly popped up on Hinata's forehead.
With a flicker of Flying Thunder God, she appeared before them and caught a brick mid-air.
A 'kindly' smile appeared on her face.
"Big slaps coming through~"
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