Naruto glanced at Hinata's bento box out of the corner of his eye and couldn't help but be surprised.
He remembered that Hyuga Hinata had a considerable appetite.
In the Ichiraku Ramen Eating Contest, Hinata defeated Akimichi Choji with 46 bowls of ramen, easily winning the championship.
It was also, so far, Ichiraku Ramen's highest record.
Akimichi Choji ranked second, with a record of 42 bowls.
Therefore, no one expected that the seemingly delicate Hyuga Hinata had such an astonishing appetite.
The key was that she didn't get fat from eating; her digestion was good, and the weight only went to the right places.
So she always wore long-sleeved shirts and long pants; the most exposed part of her body was her toes in Ninja sandals.
Being conservative was one aspect; another was her development, which far surpassed others her age.
Logically, with Hinata's appetite, it would be natural for her to surpass Tsunade when she grew up.
Hinata's heart pounded, and she picked up rice with her chopsticks, slowly bringing it to her mouth.
She was too nervous.
Her mind was blank; she was just mechanically repeating the action of eating.
At this moment, a large, golden-brown, crispy fried chicken cutlet suddenly appeared in her bowl.
Hyuga Hinata froze, then came back to her senses.
She looked at Naruto with confusion.
"Eating so little, how can you be full?"
"Look at my bento!"
Naruto showed off his lunch box, which was a super luxurious bento, bigger than a textbook, and four layers: one layer of rice, one layer of vegetables, one layer of meat, and one layer of fruit.
And Naruto also brought milk.
It was freshly squeezed milk from the Cattle Herding Girl's uncle's ranch.
It completely beat expired fake milk!
Hinata was stunned.
According to her observations, Naruto mostly ate instant noodles.
Being a picky eater was one thing, but more importantly, no one prepared bentos for Naruto!
Hyuga Hinata's stomach rumbled a few times.
She quickly averted her gaze, afraid of tempting the little gluttons in her stomach, her pretty face flushed crimson, her pale lavender eyes flickering left and right, and she softly explained, "I... I'm not hungry..."
"Just now my stomach was... not... not feeling well..."
"If you're not hungry, what's this?!"
Naruto pulled out a pineapple bun, which she had taken a few bites of and hidden behind her.
"Ah!"
"I—"
Hyuga Hinata instinctively reached for it, but Naruto raised his arm, and she couldn't reach, so she could only lower her head dejectedly, poking her two index fingers together, her big eyes welling up with tears, about to cry.
Naruto saw the situation was bad and quickly returned the pineapple bun to Hyuga Hinata.
Hyuga Hinata's eyebrows furrowed into an inverted V, and her big eyes still teared up.
Seeing her delicate, wronged, and pitiful appearance, Naruto suddenly became flustered.
"Don't... don't cry..."
"Why are you crying?"
Naruto frantically wiped Hyuga Hinata's tears.
He hadn't intended to bully Hinata.
"Don't cry, don't cry, it's nothing big."
Naruto squatted in front of Hyuga Hinata and cupped her face, which was buried in her chest.
A pair of azure eyes met a pair of white, slightly lavender eyes.
Hyuga Hinata stopped crying, visibly 'overheating,' a puff of white smoke appeared above her head, and her entire body leaned backward.
Fortunately... she didn't faint...
Naruto pulled Hinata up and explained, "What's this little bit of food for you?"
"Look at mine!!"
Naruto dumped all the bread stored in his item bar, piling it up into a small mountain in front of Hinata.
Like an adult coaxing a child, he put his hands on his hips and proudly said, "Look, this is just one meal for me."
"One... one meal...?!"
Hinata's small mouth gradually rounded, both surprised and delighted.
She was surprised because she didn't expect Naruto to have such a big appetite too.
She was delighted because finally, someone shared her large appetite, and that person was her crush.
She had secretly observed that, besides Akimichi Choji, no one else in the Ninja Academy seemed to have a particularly large appetite, let alone girls.
Seeing initial success, Naruto continued, "Iruka Sensei told me that adolescence is a golden period of development, so having a large appetite is very normal; not only is it normal, but it's encouraged to eat more."
"Also, you remember what Sensei taught, right? Chakra is a product of the fusion of physical energy and spiritual energy. A large appetite means more physical energy accumulated in the body, which can also increase Chakra volume."
"Look at me, I used to be a picky eater and didn't eat, so I couldn't even perform the Shadow Clone Jutsu well. The clones I summoned were limp, as if they hadn't eaten. But now..."
To be more convincing, Naruto formed hand signs and performed Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu.
With a 'poof,'
the entire rooftop was filled with white mist formed by Chakra.
As the white mist gradually dissipated, one Naruto after another appeared, some standing on the rooftop, some squatting on the water tower, some clinging to the protective wire mesh at the edge of the rooftop—they filled every corner of the rooftop!
What kind of Shadow Clone Jutsu was this?
It was simply child's play!
Little Hinata was greatly shocked.
She looked at the dozens of Narutos in front of her, momentarily speechless.
"These... these... are all cultivated by eating?"
How could that be!
Naruto denied it in his heart, then cleared his throat and pinched his index finger and thumb, replying, "It's partly related, plus a tiny bit of talent."
"So... so amazing!"
Hinata looked at Naruto with an expression of adoration.
A man remains a boy until death.
The adoration from his future wife instantly satisfied all of Naruto's vanity.
Naruto scratched the back of his head and laughed heartily, "It's nothing, nothing, just average."
He glanced at Hinata out of the corner of his eye.
That kind of adoration wasn't a fangirl's infatuation, but a genuine feeling from the heart, truly believing Naruto was amazing.
"Oh no, being with Hinata makes me feel much younger, as if I've really gone back to my student days."
Naruto returned to the stone stool and sat down.
"So, there's nothing wrong with having a big appetite. You have to fill your stomach whether you eat a lot or a little, right? You're not eating someone else's rice or drinking someone else's water, so why care what others think?"
"To starve yourself because of other people's opinions, isn't that foolish?"
"Look at me, I'm always ignored and ostracized by my classmates, and seen as a failure by the teachers, but don't I still stay happy every day and be myself?"
"Naruto, you're not a failure!"
Hinata refuted seriously.
"I'm not a failure? Haha, what was my previous performance if not a failure..."
"No!"
"Anyway, you're not a failure!!"
"Naruto-kun has always, always, always been incredibly amazing in my heart!"
At this moment, Hyuga Hinata showed no signs of timidity.
"You're confident, sunny, never give up, and have incredibly firm beliefs... Wuwuwu..."
She was listing Naruto's good qualities when she was suddenly silenced by Naruto, who picked up a beef meatball with his chopsticks and put it into her mouth.
"Eat! Why talk so much?"
Naruto said grumpily.
His hand holding the chopsticks trembled slightly.
What's going on?
It feels like a confession.
He suddenly feared waking up to face his computer screen, the cold reality, the suffocating workplace, the deceit, the loneliness and solitude.
Everything was just a beautiful fantasy.