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You can now get early access to Chapter 75 of Re: Naruto Uzumaki on my . You can also read up to Chapter 20 of Naruto: Satoru Senju.
[Hashirama Senju: Mito, you could have come back to life. Why did you choose to stay in the group chat?]
[Mito Uzumaki: I could ask you the same, husband!]
[Tobirama Senju: You don't understand, sister-in-law. Naruto is already incredibly powerful. If my brother is revived, he'll have to give him all his strength, and then Naruto will be completely free to do as he pleases. Before making such a decision, we must make sure he truly wants to protect the ninja world… and not the opposite.]
[Hashirama Senju: Eh? I just wanted to chat with the new members that are about to show up. I was curious. Don't make it so complicated, Tobirama.]
[Mito Uzumaki: I figured it was something like that.]
[Hashirama Senju: Then you understand my motives, wife! But you still haven't told me yours!]
[Mito Uzumaki: Do you think I'd leave you alone with Madara?! Over my dead body! Who knows what he might do to you without me there?]
[Madara Uchiha: What do you mean by that?! I'm not going to do anything to Hashirama!]
[Mito Uzumaki: Yeah, sure you won't.]
[Hashirama Senju: That's very sweet of you to worry about me, Mito. But don't worry. Madara would never be able to harm me.]
[Madara Uchiha: Want me to prove it, you brainless idiot?!]
[Mito Uzumaki: Who's talking about hurting you?! I'm afraid you'll fall into their clutches!]
[Yahiko: I would have liked to come back to life too. But I guess it's still not the right time. I still need to find out what happened with Nagato and Konan, and what became of Akatsuki.]
[Madara Uchiha: Huh? I forgot you existed. Shut up and stay out of this, the adults are talking.]
"Excuse me... Sasuke hasn't arrived yet. What will happen with his match...?" asked Sakura, turning to Hayate with a furrowed brow.
She couldn't hide her concern. Sasuke's sudden disappearance had her deeply worried.
She had searched for him relentlessly during the past month. She tracked the places he used to go, questioned everyone who might have seen him. But it was all in vain. Sasuke had vanished without a trace. As if he had never been in Konoha. As if the earth had swallowed him whole.
"What if something happened to him? What if… he's hurt? Or worse?"
The thought made her stomach churn. She turned toward Naruto, hoping he'd share her concern, that he'd at least seem worried.
But no. Naruto was standing there, arms crossed, looking straight ahead with absolute calm, as if none of this affected him.
Sakura frowned in disbelief. Does he seriously not care? He's their teammate!
She couldn't believe it. Or maybe...
Did he know from the beginning? Did he know where Sasuke was this whole time and said nothing?
The thought hit her hard, and she immediately knew she couldn't live with the doubt. She was going to ask him. She would confront him the first chance she got.
Though deep down, she already knew the answer. Naruto wouldn't say a word. Not to her.
"If he doesn't arrive before the start of his match, he'll be disqualified," Hayate replied bluntly.
Sakura tensed up. She had feared that, but didn't want to hear it out loud.
She looked at Gaara. He remained still, like a statue, arms crossed. A chill ran down her spine. For a moment, an embarrassing thought crossed her mind:
"Maybe… maybe it'd be better if Sasuke didn't make it in time."
"Pay attention." Hayate addressed them all. "The terrain is different from a month ago, but unlike the preliminaries, there are no rules."
Hayate looked at the participants with a slightly furrowed brow.
"The match ends when one of you dies or surrenders. But if I deem it over, I'll stop the match and announce a winner based on my judgment. I won't accept complaints either."
"Is that clear to everyone?"
He looked at each one of them. They all nodded in agreement.
"Good. The first match is between Naruto Uzumaki and Neji Hyūga. You two stay. The rest, go to the waiting room."
The others began leaving in silence, leaving Naruto and Neji face to face in the middle of the arena.
Neji snorted with amusement, arms crossed, not even bothering to look directly at Naruto.
From where he stood, Neji felt comfortable.
Beside him, Naruto stood with arms crossed, completely confident that he would win the fight.
Ridiculous, Neji thought. Only an ignorant child like him would think he could face a Hyūga on equal footing. Neji finished his thought.
Neji had watched Naruto's fight against Kiba. Clones, brute strength, impulsiveness. Nothing he couldn't easily read with his Byakugan. In a real fight, that wasn't enough—at least not against him.
"A Hyūga sees chakra flow, detects vital points. He can disable a body without harming it. What can he do in comparison?"
Neji tilted his head in disdain. It was outrageous that someone like Naruto had come this far. But what he found even more intolerable was his closeness with Hinata.
A talentless idiot with no parents, despised by the whole village, and the Princess of the Hyūga Clan... absurdly incompatible.
Hinata would be the head of the Hyūga Clan in the future, the clan's leader. Naruto was... a boy with no lineage or education.
He clenched his fists in anger.
Neji looked up at Hinata in the stands, seated next to her uncle Hiashi and her younger cousin Hanabi.
He would show Hinata that Naruto wasn't the right man for her.
He would prove to her that her choice was wrong.
Naruto observed Neji silently for a few seconds. And as if he could read his thoughts, he smiled.
A smile that wasn't defiant or ironic. It was something worse: indifferent.
"What's wrong, Hyūga? Jealous?" he suddenly asked, mockingly, looking in the direction Neji's gaze was fixed. "Didn't know the Hyūga Clan came from the North. Are you in love with your own cousin?"
Neji blinked. His expression stayed serious, but rage tightened his jaw.
"Don't say such nonsense. I just want her to stay away from someone who will drag her down into mediocrity."
Naruto laughed under his breath, not even bothering to reply seriously.
"Says the one who looked down on her like she was less than garbage not too long ago," Naruto spat angrily.
"Hinata-sama made me understand that everyone can change. That effort can surpass talent. That fate can be rewritten. That's why I'll protect her from bad influences and anyone who puts her in danger. I'll protect her from you."
Naruto looked at Neji in surprise.
Getting his ass kicked by Hinata really changed him that fast? That's a surprise.
"My uncle, Hiashi, will make sure Hinata-sama stays away from someone as unworthy as you. He's already heard about your… relationship… He won't allow it, under any circumstances. That's good for you, too. The sooner you get away from her, the fewer problems you'll have."
Naruto snorted with amusement.
"Hiashi thinks he can keep Hinata away from me?" Naruto asked, amused, looking straight at the stands, locking eyes with Hiashi himself.
Hinata met his gaze and shook her head slightly, discreetly signaling him not to make the situation worse.
But Naruto didn't care, smiling smugly.
Naruto pointed directly at Hiashi with his finger.
"You think you're the only one your daughter calls daddy?"
Hiashi's face from the stands twisted, reflecting his fury. The veins around his eyes bulged, activating his Byakugan instinctively.
Hiashi stood up abruptly, fists clenched.
Hanabi, beside her sister, burst into laughter, looking at Hinata, who was covering her face with both hands, completely red with embarrassment.
Hiashi sat back down after a few seconds, deciding not to interrupt the match.
Instead, he looked at Neji, and they both nodded to each other, as if reaching an agreement.
Then, Neji stared intently at Naruto.
"I warned you to stay away from her. Now you'll pay for the sin of corrupting the Princess of the Hyūga Clan."
Naruto rolled his eyes.
"Dude, I haven't even touched her yet… calm down a little…"
That comment was enough to awaken something in Neji. Not explosive rage, but something colder and more focused. He was going to punish him. Not for Hinata, not for the clan. For his audacity, for his tone, for everything he represented and didn't deserve.
Neji activated his Byakugan. The veins around his eyes bulged.
"Let's see if you can even entertain me, incestuous blind man…" Naruto snorted with amusement.