Clap clap clap...
In a snowy forest clearing, the sounds of rapid, continuous strikes echoed through the air.
Two small figures in snowman outfits were sparring. Amazingly, their feet didn't sink into the thick snow — they stood steadily atop it, constantly launching attacks at one another.
The black-haired, white-eyed girl had blue chakra flames swirling around her gloved fingers as she thrust them forward with a piercing sound, aiming straight at the boy in front of her.
But the black-haired, blue-eyed boy seemed to anticipate each of her strikes, always reacting just before her fingers could pierce through his outfit and inject chakra. He would knock her wrists away with the back of his hand, deflecting the blow, and then counterattack — palm strikes, straight punches, or swift kicks — each sending the girl flying into the snow.
Each time she was hit, she let out a muffled groan, her little face twisted in pain.
But no matter how many times she was knocked down into the snow, she always climbed back up and launched herself at the boy again.
Even with her entire body wracked with pain, even when the internal injuries were bad enough to cause blood to trickle from the corner of her mouth, she didn't stop.
These two children were none other than Izayoi and Hinata.
"Alright, that's enough."
After who knew how long, Izayoi finally called an end to the match.
Hearing this, Hinata sat down in the snow, gasping for breath. Her face was drenched in sweat, and blood had stained the torn snowman outfit, revealing the regular clothes underneath.
Opposite her, Izayoi's snowman outfit was also in tatters, revealing the same — ordinary clothes beneath.
These snowman suits were, of course, not for decoration. They were part of Hinata's training — a way to practice "striking through barriers" and improve both the penetration power of her chakra and its internal control.
Once Hinata could inject chakra into Izayoi's body through the snowman suit and cause serious damage, it would mean her finger strength and chakra control had reached an astonishing level.
So, every few rounds, Izayoi would deliberately leave an opening, allowing Hinata to land a blow.
If it were just one-sided beating, sure, he'd come across as unbeatable — but it might also crush Hinata's confidence.
To help her become confident, she needed to experience success.
After removing his tattered snowman suit, Izayoi crouched in front of Hinata and used the most basic medical ninjutsu to treat her.
He didn't know if basic healing could cure hidden internal injuries, and he wasn't yet able to detect if Hinata had any.
But he believed that Hiashi Hyuga already knew full well how harshly he was training Hinata.
Since Hiashi still allowed her to continue sparring with him, Izayoi believed the clan leader would find some excuse to have Hinata medically examined.
The Hyuga clan surely had excellent medical ninjas — any hidden issues in Hinata's body would be discovered and treated.
And even if Hiashi didn't bother to get her checked?
Well — a young body could withstand a lot. Hidden injuries or not, it wasn't a big concern.
Once Izayoi awakened the Tenseigan, just like the Rinnegan, it would grant him Yin-Yang Release.
At that point, he'd be able to use Yin-Yang Release himself to heal and regulate Hinata's body.
That's exactly why Izayoi trained so mercilessly — he had no reservations.
Once he finished treating her, Izayoi grinned and said, "Let's go ice fishing later. We'll have grilled fish for dinner."
Hinata's eyes instantly lit up. She nodded enthusiastically,
"Okay!"
Izayoi's knowledge of the Naruto world came entirely from the TV anime.
He hadn't read the manga or played any games. What little extra information he had came from short clips and videos.
So he wasn't sure whether the manga version ever mentioned Hinata having a huge appetite.
But in the TV anime, there was definitely a scene where Hinata wiped the floor in a ramen-eating contest.
That scene alone was enough for fans on internet forums to label Hinata a "gluttonous queen", and many lamented that such a trait was a waste of her noble background and potential.
After all, in a two-dimensional world, being a big eater is actually a powerful talent.
But this kind of talent, like those related to life skills, didn't appear in any of the system's trait listings.
Izayoi had no idea whether Hinata actually possessed such a talent.
So one day, he deliberately took Hinata fishing, planning to grill the catch — all the while secretly observing her appetite.
And what he discovered greatly pleased him: Hinata could indeed eat a lot — two to three times his own intake.
This discovery thrilled Izayoi.
A large appetite meant strong digestion, which meant more efficient absorption of nutrients — which in turn meant a stronger body and stronger spiritual energy.
And that translated to one thing:
Hinata's future chakra reserves would far surpass those of her peers.
The stronger Hinata became, the more likely she was to unlock a red-tier trait.
Now that Izayoi knew she had the "big eater" attribute, there was no way he was going to let her waste that gift.
So after every training session, Izayoi would always take her fishing or hunting to make sure she could eat to her heart's content.
Today was no different.
At first, Hinata was still reserved in front of Izayoi, trying to maintain her image as a proper young lady.
But gradually, she realized that Izayoi always prepared a huge amount of food, clearly already aware of her "secret," and even worried that she wouldn't eat enough — so she stopped holding back.
At the same time, Hinata began to look forward to training with Izayoi even more.
Because her secret — that she had a huge appetite — was something even her family didn't know.
What Hinata hadn't realized was that back at home, meals were no longer individually portioned.
Every day, the amount of food served had noticeably increased.
She simply assumed it was because of her new baby sister.
Izayoi, of course, didn't know about this.
If he did, he'd definitely smile in satisfaction.
In this life, Hinata's fate had undeniably changed.
With his help, and the quiet care of Hiashi Hyuga, her strength and personality were sure to take a completely different path than in the original timeline.
Once her foundations were solid and combined with Izayoi's chakra, she might even awaken the Tenseigan in the future.
And by then, Hinata would become the true Princess of the Byakugan!
…
Time passes slowly when you're in school.
But during holidays, time flies — that's something all students agree on.
Winter break came to an end, and the story moved into the 55th year of the Hidden Leaf Village.
First-year students began their third semester, and sixth-year students entered their graduation season.
After two semesters of training, all the new students had undergone transformations.
Those who stayed at the academy had already awakened their chakra and had adapted to both academic and combat classes.
So in the third semester, the ninja academy formally began teaching them the Three Basic Jutsu — Clone, Transformation, and Substitution Techniques, as well as the Leaf's Body Flicker and Invisibility Techniques.
Practical courses also added survival training.
The survival training was mainly designed to hone the students' ability to gather intel, and practice the real-world application of their basic ninjutsu.
Aside from the Three Basic Jutsu, the rest were quite simple.
In the original story, when Naruto Uzumaki first appeared, he couldn't even use the Clone Technique properly, yet was able to use the Body Flicker and Invisibility Techniques to mess with several chunin in green flak jackets.
But none of this posed any challenge for Izayoi.
Seeing that the combat classes still only involved taijutsu sparring, with no kunai combat, no barehanded blade fighting, and no rule-free brawls...
Izayoi decided to not send his real body to school, except on the days when there were actual taijutsu matches.