Chapter 64: Kazematsuri Moegi
Sakura and Ino were completely baffled. What kind of test was this?
But they soon understood that feeding Hinata was no easy task.
Akiyama Makoto had prepared a full ten large fish, all of which he had just caught from the resource-rich forests of Konoha. Besides the fish, there were many other ingredients brought over from the barbecue restaurant. And nearly ninety percent of all this food went into Hinata's stomach.
"I... I really can't eat anymore!" Hinata's face was flushed, and she kept stroking her belly. To an outsider, it might have looked like Makoto was torturing her.
At this moment, he took her hand and channeled his chakra to check her condition. Then, to the utter shock of Ino and Sakura, he said, "She's about eighty percent full. Preparing an extra half portion tomorrow should be enough."
Sakura and Hinata couldn't sit still any longer. They sandwiched Hinata between them and began to clumsily inspect her stomach. Hinata wanted to resist, but in the end, all that came out was a shy squeal.
Makoto turned his back to them and began to record the experimental data.
While Hinata was eating, he had been checking her chakra condition every ten minutes. Yang Release chakra is not static within the human body; it constantly changes with one's physical state. For example, eating is a process of replenishing the body's Yang chakra. Most of this Yang chakra slowly dissipates, with only a very small portion being absorbed. This was the fundamental logic behind Chiyo's forbidden jutsu, One's Own Life Reincarnation. It was just a pity she had never been able to overcome the efficiency hurdle.
Makoto hadn't overcome it either, but in his previous simulation, he had used the power of a cursed seal to increase the supply of life force, which was how he created the Restorative Life Reincarnation Jutsu. This was also why all Yang Release techniques were inherently life-draining; life force could be easily converted into Yang chakra, but the reverse process was incredibly difficult.
However, something very strange was happening in Hinata's case.
The vast majority of the Yang chakra she digested and absorbed was being drawn away by her eyes. This caused even the portion that should have been absorbed by her body to be snatched away by them. Her eyes were like a bottomless pit; even when he temporarily infused his own Yang chakra into her, it had no effect.
This made him realize that this was the reason for both the high aptitude of her eyes and why she was never full. She possessed a pair of eyes that an ordinary person should not have. To this day, and even into her thirties and forties in the future, they would remain in a state of incomplete awakening. In other words, only the constitution of an Ōtsutsuki could allow these eyes to fully mature.
Of course, he couldn't say any of this out loud. He could only give a simpler answer.
Facing the three girls who had quieted down and were now looking at him with curiosity, he showed them the data in his notebook.
"Your eyes are very strange. They are absorbing the vast majority of your body's nutrients, which is what's causing your body to be so weak."
"But according to you, your Byakugan is no stronger than that of your clansmen. Therefore, we can only conclude that there is something wrong with your eyes."
Hinata's face turned deathly pale. She had never imagined this could be the reason. Although she didn't completely believe his words, when she connected them with everything she had experienced in her past, she felt that what he said was very likely the truth.
"So you mean... it's a special kind of bloodline sickness?" Ino, who knew more about the secrets of the ninja world, offered her own speculation.
Makoto nodded. That was indeed a suitable explanation.
"Then what should Hinata do? You must have a solution, right, Makoto-kun?" Sakura, who had also become friendly with Hinata by now, took the initiative to ask on her behalf, though her gaze suddenly shot resentfully towards Hinata's chest.
"Wait a minute, if this is her physique when her body is weak, then once she recovers..." Waaah!
Hinata covered Sakura's mouth, her cheeks flushing red from the teasing, which made her pale face look less worrisome.
"A solution? I have two ideas."
Makoto took out a piece of paper and began to write and draw. "One is that, starting from today, you eat until you're full every day, to replenish your body's deficit as much as possible."
"And you can come find me every day, and I'll input some Yang chakra into you."
"As for the second method, we find a way to seal your eyes. You might lose your Byakugan ability, but your overall strength might actually become greater than it is now."
"As for which method is more suitable for you, only you can choose."
He handed the note to Hinata. She took it in a daze, at a complete loss for what to do. Give up the Byakugan? As the young lady of the Hyūga main family, if she gave up her Byakugan, wouldn't that be tantamount to denying the pride of her clan? At that point, she would truly have no place in the Hyūga compound.
As for the first method, eating her fill every day and getting a "massage" from him every day... that wasn't an easy thing for her to do right now either. She didn't have that much allowance, and to trouble him every day, how could she possibly do that?
"You can take your time to think about it. There's no rush."
"It's getting late. I'll walk you girls home."
The three girls nodded and followed him towards Konoha.
Just after entering the village, Hinata said her goodbyes, wanting to leave on her own. He didn't stop her. He was confident she would be back.
After she had gone, Ino suddenly came up to his side and took his wrist.
He looked at her, puzzled.
"All the things you did today, will it bring you trouble?" she asked in a low voice.
"Sasuke is one thing, he's an orphan. But with Hinata... if you really do something to her eyes, how could the Hyūga clan not find out?"
Sakura, on his other side, naturally heard this as well. "Makoto-kun," she said, "we know you have amazing talent, but other people don't know that yet. What if you scare them?"
Makoto smiled faintly. He was well aware of the risks involved in what he was doing. But doing so would also hedge against another kind of risk. When he was alone, he trained by himself. When he was with others, he would go outside the village to train. Under these circumstances, would anyone still dare to ambush him?
Of course, he wasn't doing all this just for self-preservation, but also as an investment in the future.
As for whether his actions would be discovered by Danzō and Root, or by the Third Hokage's Crystal Ball Technique, or if they would anger the Hyūga clan, he wasn't nervous about it. With six simulation attempts in his hand, he would start a new simulation with Tenten tonight. No matter what happened next, with so many attempts and his current strength, he would most likely be able to handle it. Besides, even if the Hokage had Inoichi scan his memories, they wouldn't find anything wrong.
"Don't worry. I have no ill intentions. Even if you have the Torture and Interrogation Unit confront me, I have a clear conscience."
"Besides, I have you guys, don't I? You'll definitely vouch for me, right?"
His smile temporarily put the two girls at ease.
After walking them both home, he returned to his own house, which had already begun construction.
Looking at the mess, he felt it was best to find another place to live for the time being. He just didn't know where would be best... That's it! When he was walking Sakura home, he seemed to have seen a bathhouse called the "Kazematsuri Bathhouse"... Kazematsuri, that surname sounded so familiar.
Kazematsuri Moegi?!
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