"Shigeo, are you okay? Where did you go? It's so late, and with the attack happening outside, how could you run around like that? You didn't see the Kyūbi, right? It was terrifying!"
Inuzuka Hana spoke worriedly. Inside this shelter were only civilians with no combat ability, along with a few newly enrolled genin. Everyone huddled together, their nerves stretched tight.
Even so, children were quick to get distracted. They didn't truly understand how to measure the damage and casualties of such a disaster.
"What are you all staring at him for? Don't you see he's blind? What could he have seen? He's already a burden. Without the Byakugan, not even cursed with the Caged Bird Seal—what a useless waste! He only drags everyone down…"
From the side, Hyūga Hikaru snapped coldly at the girls surrounding Hyūga Shigeo.
"You really don't know? Shigeo can see at night."
The one who spoke was Uchiha Itachi, holding the swaddled baby Uchiha Sasuke in his arms. His voice was cold, matter-of-fact.
At that, several pairs of eyes turned toward Hyūga Shigeo.
"Shigeo, is that true? You can see at night?" Even Uzuki Yugao, who often looked after him, hadn't known this—mostly because she rarely ever saw him at night.
During the day, he always played with them. But when night came, he would return home alone. Naturally, few people had discovered this truth.
"Yes, Yugao-neechan, I can see at night. I can see you right now. You're really beautiful!" Shigeo's lips curved into a sweet, innocent smile as he looked up at her.
Her long purple hair framed her fair, lovely face. She widened her misty eyes at him, raising a hand and waving it before his gaze, testing his vision.
Hearing his words, Uzuki Yugao flushed, her ears tinting pink. "Little Shigeo, you're so cute!"
And then, without warning, she leaned down and planted a kiss on his cheek with a quick "chu."
That single sound sent the boys around them into a frenzy.
After all, in their eyes, Uzuki Yugao was a goddess. Her beauty, kindness, and quiet resilience had earned their admiration and secret affections.
But now—their goddess had kissed the blind boy?
"Oi! Hyūga Shigeo! What do you think you're doing? Who gave you the right to let Yugao-neechan kiss you!"
The first to erupt was Hyūga Hikaru. Right after, Kageno Kishu, Gekkō Hayate, Aburame Muta, and several other boys of their age all shouted in outrage.
Among them, Gekkō Hayate's anger boiled hottest. Sickly-looking though he was, at just ten years old he was already a trained genin. He clenched his fist and charged forward, throwing a punch at Shigeo's chest.
But Shigeo wasn't the helpless, blind, abandoned child everyone believed him to be.
What they didn't know was that he had been diligently training his taijutsu. And now, with the mirror system's kyōzō shūren (Mirror Training) activated, the techniques and stances of Gekkō Hayate's taijutsu had already been copied into his mind.
How could he simply stand still and take the hit?
Seeing Hayate's fist swing toward him, Hyūga Shigeo tilted his body, sidestepping the blow, and snapped his leg upward—his foot slamming into Hayate's side beneath the arm.
"Ugh—!"
Hayate doubled over, clutching his arm. Agony shot through him, the joint screaming as though it had been wrenched from its socket. His eyes welled with tears from the sharp, throbbing pain.
(End of Chapter)
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