Chapter 28 – Izaya's Regret
Morning, Izaya's home.
After tidying up the various ninja tools scattered around his home, Izaya found a spot to sit down casually. Gazing at the dazzling sunlight outside, a lazy expression appeared on his face.
It had been three days since Izaya experimented with the different flame powers within his body late at night. Since then, he had stayed home to train. And Uchiha Itachi seemed to be on a mission these past few days and hadn't visited Izaya. So now, Izaya had stopped training and entered a brief period of slacking off.
Under normal circumstances, with the Uchiha massacre only days away, Izaya should seize every free moment to grow stronger, not laze around like this… But Izaya didn't want to be like this either!!!
"If only I hadn't chosen that option!" Izaya, looking like a beached fish, wore a sorrowful expression. In truth, all of this was the system's fault!
The night before last, after returning home, Izaya had planned to rest and then visit Uchiha Itachi the next day to learn more advanced Fire Release ninjutsu. But unexpectedly, the next morning, when Izaya went to the Uchiha compound to find Uchiha Itachi, he accidentally learned that Itachi had left the village on a mission. This disrupted Izaya's plans…
Left with no choice, Izaya could only train at home. While practicing his basic taijutsu, he also worked on increasing his Chakra reserves. Although it wasn't the most ideal training plan, Izaya had still gained a lot over these three days.
But all of this changed with the appearance of the girl, Tenten…
"Ding! Congratulations to the Host for activating the selection system: Tenten's Good Brother/Bad Brother…"
{Option 1: Reject Tenten's request to play. Reward: Tenten Favorability -99. Obtain Tenten's Resentment. Taijutsu Training Speed +1%. Ninjutsu Training Speed -100%…}*
{Option 2: Take Tenten on a spring outing. Reward: Basic Ninjutsu Proficiency…}*
Faced with such extreme options, Izaya didn't even need to think—he definitely chose the second one. But it was only after making his choice that Izaya discovered Tenten's spring outing was planned for three days! Upon hearing this news, Izaya felt utterly unwell.
Three days! Accompany Tenten on a spring outing for three days! And the reward was something as bland as Basic Ninjutsu Proficiency… Izaya felt like he was suffering a huge loss!
In the original Naruto story, the Uchiha massacre was supposed to happen within these few days. Although the timeline might be delayed a bit due to his own intervention, spending three whole days accompanying Tenten… Thinking it over carefully, Izaya still felt it was a loss… A massive loss.
"No, I must find an excuse not to go on this spring outing with Tenten!" Knowing that the system's selection couldn't be modified once made, and that强行 modifying or failing to complete it would cost him a random ability reduction, Izaya could only find another way… Hence, the current situation…
Right now, Izaya was waiting for Tenten to finish preparing, so he could take her on the spring outing… "Dammit!" Even now, thinking about it made Izaya feel a bit pained.
Although Izaya's persuasion (coercion and kidnapping) didn't change Tenten's desire for a spring outing, his efforts still yielded some results. Namely, the location of the spring outing was changed to the small yard of Izaya's house. This way, Izaya could still train in his spare time. The excuse he used was, "My little yard is more fun!"
...
"Sigh, I knew I shouldn't have been greedy for small gains…" After packing a kunai into his ninja tool pouch, Izaya straightened up and began preparing food for himself and Tenten for the day. After all, the fault didn't lie with Tenten, but with the system. Faced with such an adorable little Tenten, Izaya couldn't bring himself to feed her instant noodles every day…
"Big Brother Izaya, I'm here!" Just then, Tenten's excited voice sounded from a distance. Hearing it, Izaya opened the door directly and said with a smile, "Come on in."
"Okay!" Clearly, Tenten was fully prepared for the spring outing today. Dressed in a pure white Chinese-style cheongsam, she carried a bulging backpack. Izaya glanced at it and saw it contained some prepared onigiri and other food.
"Looks like I don't need to prepare food after all," Izaya thought to himself upon seeing this.
He then found a small stool, gestured for Tenten to sit down, and wiped the sweat from her forehead with a handkerchief. "Why are you here so early today?" he asked.
"Well, I was so happy today! I really didn't expect Big Brother Izaya to agree to my spring outing request, so I came over early with the food my mom prepared."
"I regret it…" Hearing these words, a wave of instant regret washed over Izaya. If only he had refused outright, none of this would be happening…
But since it was already done, Izaya stopped dwelling on it. After getting Tenten settled, he led her directly to the backyard, preparing to speak… But at that moment, a strange expression flashed across little Tenten's face, and she said to Izaya in a surprised tone, "Oh! I forgot something!"
"What is it?" Izaya quickly asked, seeing Tenten's shock.
"I brought a little friend with me!" After saying that, little Tenten ran off. A few minutes later, she returned with a little boy about the same age as Sasuke.
Dressed in a white training suit, his youthful face held a kind of aloofness that didn't match his age. Of course, that wasn't the important part. What shocked Izaya the most were the boy's eyes…
White pupils.
And the Caged Bird Seal on his forehead!
"Why is he here?" After confirming the little boy before him was Hyūga Neji, Izaya was astonished.
According to the original timeline, as a peerless genius of the Hyūga clan, after being branded with the Caged Bird Seal, Neji spent most of his time training for his duty of protecting the clan head, Hyūga Hiashi. It was absolutely impossible for him to waste time on a spring outing with Tenten!
"Big Brother Izaya?" Seeing the strange expression on Izaya's face, Tenten leaned forward and tentatively called his name.
"Yeah…" Though surprised, Izaya didn't show any hostility. Looking at Hyūga Neji before him, he felt this might be an opportunity to make contact with the Hyūga clan…
After all, the Hyūga clan, like the Uchiha clan, was one of the most powerful clan forces in Konoha. They possessed a unique Kekkei Genkai—the Byakugān. The only difference from the Uchiha clan was…