Looking at Hikari, then at Hinata, Naruto subconsciously touched his stomach.
He felt like something inside him had changed.
Strangely, he suddenly felt much lighter.
What was the reason?
Before Naruto could figure it out, Hikari spoke.
"Naruto, use your clones to practice the Rasengan over there. No teaming up, got it?"
Naruto nodded and quickly formed hand seals.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
In an instant, dozens of Narutos appeared behind him.
"Clones, practice the Rasengan. Your real body will train taijutsu," Hikari said. Then he pointed at Naruto, turned to Hinata, and said, "Use Gentle Fist and defeat Naruto, okay?"
Hinata hesitated.
She didn't want to hit Naruto—Naruto was the white moonlight of her heart.
Naruto also looked at her, and seeing her timid expression, he became annoyed.
"You... are you looking down on me?"
"N-no, I..." Frightened by Naruto's tone, Hinata didn't know what to say.
"Then why won't you fight?" Naruto frowned, confused.
Recently, he had sparred with Kiba from the Inuzuka clan, interacted with Shino from the Aburame clan, and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio went without saying. Fighting the three members of Team Gai was even more commonplace, happening frequently.
The only one he'd never fought was Hinata.
"I..." Hinata still couldn't muster the courage to explain her feelings.
Seeing this, Hikari sighed helplessly, grabbed Hinata by the arm, and said, "Hinata, come with me. Naruto, train on your own for now."
Being pulled along by Hikari, Hinata panicked. Before she could react, he had already taken her some distance away.
"Hikari-senpai?" Hinata looked up at him with frightened eyes like a startled little animal.
"Hinata, do you know why I brought you here?" Hikari let go of her, deciding to guide her properly.
As the Hyuga clan's Byakugan princess—born with the purest Byakugan—Hinata's potential was naturally enormous.
The current Hinata was only the result of her personality hiding her true ability. Her real self had yet to be unearthed.
Hinata shook her head. She didn't understand why Hikari singled her out.
In her mind, Hikari was strong, Naruto and Sasuke were amazing, and she would only drag them down.
"Hinata, your talent is excellent—better than Neji's. Compared to Sasuke and Naruto, you're not inferior at all. I saw your potential and want to help you grow."
While Naruto and Sasuke were indeed the Chosen Ones, Hinata was, after all, a descendant of Otsutsuki Hamura. If she awakened the Tenseigan one day, Hikari could slack off comfortably for years.
"R-really?" Hinata clearly didn't believe him.
If she had real potential, why did her father never look at her properly? If she had potential, why couldn't she defeat Neji?
"Of course it's true. Why would I lie to you?"
"You're similar to Sasuke. He has to understand his own heart to awaken the true power of his bloodline. And you—you also need to understand your own heart. You must figure out your shinobi path."
A shinobi path was the belief a shinobi followed.
Naruto lived by his words: "I'm gonna say what I want to! And I'm gonna do what I want to!" By embracing this creed, his spirit and confidence grew unshakable.
He was willing to give everything for his shinobi path.
But Hinata—right now she was like a lost little animal. She didn't know why she needed to get stronger or why she was even training.
She was lost.
Hinata shook her head again. She didn't understand what Hikari meant.
Seeing this, Hikari decided to stop being vague.
"Hinata, you like Naruto, don't you?"
"Eh... eh?!"
Hinata's face instantly flushed red. She stared at Hikari, completely panicked.
"It's just the two of us here. If you can't even say your true feelings now, then when will you ever say them?"
"You know the Hyuga clan rules—marriage stays within the clan to preserve the bloodline. If you keep lying to your own heart, you'll end up marrying someone you don't even like."
These words made Hinata fall silent.
She had never seriously thought about marriage before.
She liked Naruto, but she was too young and too shy to know how to express her feelings.
Her personality doomed her to stand timidly in a corner.
Seeing her silent, Hikari continued, "Naruto likes Sakura. You know that, right?"
Though she hated admitting it, faced with that undeniable fact, Hinata could only nod.
"You're actually very pretty—prettier than Sakura... Hey, hey, why are you backing away? I don't have any interest in kids like you!"
Halfway through, Hikari noticed Hinata step back. Several dark lines slid down his face.
If it were Ino doing this, he would definitely give her a good scolding.
But Hinata? Forget it.
"I'm saying, compared to Sakura, you're prettier. But Naruto still likes Sakura. Do you know why?"
Hinata stood there quietly. She wanted to know too.
Women in love were blind—possessive to the extreme.
"It's your personality. You can't handle people looking at you. When Naruto looks at you, you always want to retreat. To him, that looks like you're scared of him."
"Since he was little, everyone treated Naruto like the Nine-Tails monster. His heart is sensitive. Your actions, whether you realize it or not, have hurt him. He's kind and never held it against you, but he subconsciously removed you from the list of people he could like."
Hinata's face went pale.
"I didn't—I didn't mean it like that!"
"You didn't mean it that way, but that's what your actions told him."
Seeing Hinata on the verge of tears, Hikari didn't soften his tone.
"Some things must be expressed. Naruto is also a person. He gets tired, he gets hurt, he needs someone to care about him. If you always hide in the corner silently liking him, how is he supposed to notice you? Love isn't something you *think*—it's something you *do*."
"You need to show it through your actions. Let Naruto see your feelings."
"Forget Naruto's carefree personality—just look at your whole class. How many people even know you like Naruto?"
Hinata fell into deeper silence.
Hikari knew that Shikamaru had a vague guess, but since it was troublesome, he never looked deeper.
"Sakura doesn't like Naruto now, but one day she might be moved by his persistence. When that happens, you'll be watching Naruto and Sakura get together, marry, and have children... while you end up with someone you don't even like. You'll only be able to watch them living happily every day. Naruto's kids will call you 'Auntie'..."
"Stop saying that!" Hinata suddenly shouted, thrusting both palms forward.
Completely unprepared, Hikari staggered back from the push.