Chapter 8
Chapter 8
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: ?
Chapter Title: Hinata's Confrontation
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A creak sounded.
The door to the study slid open, and a somewhat petite figure slowly entered the dimly lit room.
Moonlight streamed in from outside, stretching the little one's shadow long across the floor.
"What a hassle. I thought you wouldn't follow me here."
Menma stepped out from the shadows on his own, scratching his head in deep puzzlement.
Clearly, the Limited Tsukuyomi World was fake, so why had Dark Nine-Tails followed him? And why had his girlfriend come along too?
In the Hyuga Clan Head's study, two figures—one large, one small—faced each other across a distance of less than two meters.
Uzumaki Menma removed his white three-eyed fox mask and lowered his gaze to the tiny figure standing at the door, bathed in the pure moonlight.
Hyuga Hinata.
Compared to that gentle, timid Hinata, the one now before Menma had her Byakugan activated. Veins bulged around her temples as she glared fiercely at the unmasked Menma.
Those pure white eyes churned with resentment and indescribably complex emotions.
Hinata raised one palm, channeling Gentle Fist chakra, and charged straight at Menma.
"You...!"
As she leaped, shouting, her tears fell before her fist wind.
"Deadbeat scumbag!"
This Gentle Fist strike landed solidly on Menma's chest. His Transformation Technique shattered on impact.
Bang!
As a puff of smoke dispersed, Menma reverted to his true childlike form.
"Sorry, Hinata."
That soft call shattered Hinata's emotional control.
She threw herself onto Menma and burst into loud sobs.
"You knew! You knew! No matter what you do, I'd forgive you!"
Tears streamed down as Hinata opened her small mouth and bit hard into Menma's shoulder, venting years of pent-up grievances.
"Hiss—you really bit down!"
Menma drew in a sharp breath of cold air but indulged her outburst.
The gentle Hinata from the Naruto manga and anime would never do something like this.
But the willful, hot-tempered Boss Lady Hinata from the theatrical Limited Tsukuyomi World? It all made perfect sense.
Moments later, the exhausted, cried-out Hinata sat on Hiashi's desk. Tear stains lingered in her eyes as she propped up her round little cheeks with both hands, watching Menma use the Transformation Technique to shift back into his adult form and rummage through her father's collection of ancient tomes.
Since waking up earlier, Hinata had been escorted back to the main house. But she'd heard from the guards about the night's assault—the mysterious attacker in the white three-eyed fox mask who had struck the Hyuga compound.
So she'd kept her Byakugan active upon returning. She vaguely remembered Menma's keen interest in Hyuga history, so she knew he'd come back tonight.
And sure enough, she'd caught him red-handed in the study.
"If that world of ours was fake, then why do I exist?"
Hinata voiced her question.
"I find it strange too. It's not just you—Dark Nine-Tails has revived inside me as well."
Menma flipped through the tomes, stashing any that seemed useful or historically valuable straight into his storage scroll.
After all, there were far too many to read in one sitting.
"But I could clearly feel that world's rejection, all those unreal sensations. There were no legends of the Sage of Six Paths either. Yet the emotions you gave me felt so real... Sometimes I really can't tell the difference."
Menma sank into deep thought, only to feel a headache building. His temples twitched involuntarily.
"Um... how should I put it..."
Little Hinata, dressed in a white kimono with her bare little feet dangling and swinging in the air.
"Actually, there's another personality—or soul, rather—inside this body of mine. One with a character completely opposite to mine."
Little Hinata pointed to her chest.