Creak—
The heavy door of the study was pushed open, and a small, delicate figure slowly stepped into the dim room. The moonlight spilled in from the hallway, casting a long, slender shadow that stretched across the floorboards.
"What a pain. I really thought you wouldn't follow me here," Menma said, stepping out from the shadows. He rubbed the back of his head, looking genuinely perplexed.
If the "Limited Tsukuyomi" world was a mere illusion, why had the Dark Nine-Tails followed him? And more importantly, why was his girlfriend here too?
Inside the Patriarch's study, two figures—one tall, one small—stood facing each other less than two meters apart. Uzumaki Menma removed his white three-eyed fox mask, gazing down at the tiny silhouette standing in the doorway under the silver moonlight.
It was Hinata Hyuga.
However, unlike the timid, stuttering Hinata of the original world, the girl standing before Menma had her Byakugan fully active. The veins around her temples bulged with intensity as she stared fixedly at Menma's uncovered face. Within those pure white eyes, a storm of resentment and unutterable, complex emotions surged.
Hinata lunged. Her palm was wreathed in concentrated Gentle Fist chakra as she charged straight at him.
"You...!" she cried out. Her tears hit the floor even before her fist could reach its mark.
"You total scumbag!"
The strike landed squarely on Menma's chest. The impact was enough to shatter his Transformation Jutsu.
Poof!
As the smoke cleared, Menma reverted to his true form—a young child.
"I'm sorry, Hinata."
That single, soft whisper broke her. The wall of anger crumbled, and she collapsed against him, wailing at the top of her lungs.
"You knew! You knew all along! No matter what you did, I'd always forgive you!"
She sobbed against his chest, then suddenly opened her mouth and bit down hard on his shoulder, venting years of suppressed grievance and heartache.
"Hiss—! You're actually biting me!" Menma winced, drawing in a sharp breath of cold air, yet he made no move to push her away, indulging her outburst.
The Hinata from the manga and anime would never dream of such a thing. But for the "Big Sister" Hinata of the Limited Tsukuyomi—the girl with the fiery temper and the straight-talking attitude—this made perfect sense.
Moments later, having cried herself out, Hinata sat perched on Hiashi's desk. Her eyes were still red-rimmed, her chin resting on her hands as she watched Menma use a Transformation to return to his adult form. He was busy looting her father's collection of ancient scrolls.
After waking up earlier that evening, she had been escorted back to the main house. From the guards' frantic chatter, she learned of the mysterious masked intruder who had attacked the estate. Having lived with him for years, Hinata knew Menma's obsession with Hyuga history. She knew he would be back tonight.
And so, she had waited in the study to catch him red-handed.
"If our world was fake... then why am I here?" she asked suddenly.
"I've been wondering that myself," Menma replied, flipping through a scroll. Anything with historical value was unceremoniously shoved into a storage scroll. "It's not just you. The Dark Nine-Tails has been reborn inside me as well."
He paused, a look of frustration crossing his face.
"I felt the rejection of that world. It felt hollow, lacking the legends of the Sage of Six Paths. But the feelings you all gave me... those felt real. Sometimes, I truly can't tell the difference."
He felt a throbbing ache in his temples just thinking about it.
"Hmm... how should I put this..."
Little Hinata, dressed in a white kimono, swung her bare feet back and forth in the air.
"Actually, there's another personality inside this body. Or maybe a soul. Her personality is the exact opposite of mine." She pointed to her heart.
"What?" Menma turned, surprised.
He had assumed that once the "Big Sister" personality emerged, the original Hinata would have faded. Were there two souls sharing one body?
"Little Hinata, let me introduce you," the girl said, her voice shifting slightly as she spoke to the air. "This is that scumbag boyfriend I'm always telling you about. Menma."
She tilted her head up, then her chin dropped.
When she looked up again, her face was a mask of panic and crimson shyness.
"S-Sister... please don't say that..."
The girl before him was now blushing so hard steam practically drifted from her ears. This was the "Standard Version" Hinata from the original timeline.
Uzumaki Menma watched her with genuine interest. He reached out and placed a large hand on her head, gently ruffling her short hair.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Menma."
"H-Hello... I am also called Hinata..." her voice was as faint as a mosquito's buzz.
Feeling the warmth of his hand, her face darkened several shades of red. She looked down, her small hands twisting together in front of her chest, her toes curling in embarrassment.
"So, how should I address you two?" Menma leaned in close.
"Well... usually... I am the one out here... Sister spends most of her time sleeping..." she whispered, her heart racing at his proximity.
It seemed the "Big Sister" soul required significant chakra to maintain control. Menma mused on the delicate relationship between chakra and the soul in this world.
"I see. Then I'll call you Little Hinata," he said, smiling.
"You can call me Menma. Or... you can just call me 'Brother-in-Law'." He gave her a confident thumbs-up.
Little Hinata's eyes sparkled. Since her earliest memories, she had known of the fiery older sister living inside her. As the heir to the Hyuga Main House, she had been subjected to brutal training, but her gentle nature had always disappointed her father and the elders.
In those dark moments, the "Big Sister" would take over. She not only displayed terrifying learning speed but would also verbally shred the elders. She referred to Hiashi and the council members as "Old Geezer," "Old Fossil," or "Old Man." There wasn't a single Hyuga—from the high elders to the branch guards—who hadn't been on the receiving end of her sharp tongue.
Hiashi lived in a state of conflicted pride and despair regarding this second personality. He loved her genius and decisiveness, seeing her as the perfect heir, but he despaired at her total lack of noble breeding and her constant "Old Geezer" insults.
Little Hinata had heard endless stories about the "Scumbag Boyfriend," and she had been intensely curious about the man her sister could never forget.
Slap!
Suddenly, Hinata's small hand swatted Menma's arm away.
"You scumbag! Don't you dare go hitting on my little sister!"
The Big Sister had reclaimed control, immediately launching into a list of his crimes.
"Back then, you were so sweet! Saying all those cheesy lines! You even said you wanted us to have a son and a daughter together!"
Thinking about how this man had tricked her into falling for him in the other world, she gritted her teeth, her small fists trembling.
'I... I shouldn't be hearing this!'
Deep in the mental landscape, the original Hinata was blushing like a steam engine, covering her face with her hands.
"Ah, well, you know how things were back then," Menma laughed nervously, retracting his hand.
"Die! You rotten scumbag!"
What followed was a flurry of Gentle Fist strikes aimed right at his face!