Naruto: Reborn with the Template System Chapter 144 143: The Breath That Does Not Belong to This Wor

Author Note:

Here's the BONUS CHAPTER as promised—thanks for the support, and let's keep this energy going!

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She quickly stepped out, arms folded, face puffed up in a mixture of guilt and defiance.

"Wha...What!? I-I wasn't peeping! I was just passing by, that's all!"

But Guts, lounging with a sly grin, casually leaned against the wall and said,

"You're probably thinking, 'How the hell does this guy always know I'm there?' Right?"

Hanabi's Byakugan eyes widened in shock.

Before she could even speak, Guts added with perfect timing,

"Your next line is… 'Do you have mind-reading Ninjutsu or sothing?'"

"Do you have mind-reading ninju—!?"

Hanabi froze mid-sentence, staring at him in disbelief.

He chuckled darkly. "You're easy to read, little Hyuga. That tiny brain of yours isn't very good at hiding things."

Of course, that was a lie. Guts had used Advanced Observation Haki to sense her exact presence and emotional state, but teasing her was far more fun than explaining the truth.

He reached out and ruffled her silky black hair with practiced ease.

"Wha—! Don't touch my head!" Hanabi growled, cheeks puffed up like a rice bun.

But she didn't resist. She never really did anymore.

After years of being ambushed, teased, and "disciplined" by Guts, Hanabi had simply given up fighting back.

Guts ruffled her hair a few more tis, but when she didn't react, he let go.

It wasn't as fun when she didn't push back.

That night, Tsunade and Anko returned from a local casino, clearly in high spirits.

Anko had grown considerably over the years, now one of Konoha's strongest Jōnin, standing proudly alongside nas like Kakashi and Might Guy.

As the room settled down, Kurenai casually brought up a conversation that changed the atmosphere.

"By the way, I heard sothing strange today, Hanabi… is graduating early? Is that true?"

Hinata turned to her sister in disbelief. "Hanabi… you are?"

It had been fifteen years since the Third Shinobi World War. Many parents were still hesitant about letting their children graduate too soon.

They wanted them to enjoy their childhoods, and more importantly, they feared sending them to war too early.

The last notable early graduate had been Uchiha Itachi, and that had co with a heavy burden.

Hanabi scratched her head and laughed awkwardly.

"Hehe… I just wanted to surprise you, Onee-san. Maybe we'll even end up on the sa team."

Despite all her past grumbling, Hanabi had changed a lot over the past year.

Once fiercely resistant to Guts's teasing, she had co to respect, albeit grudgingly, just how powerful he was.

After so convincing from the others, she'd even swallowed her pride and formally asked Guts to teach her.

She brought him tea and snacks for an entire month.

Only then did Guts finally start training her.

And unsurprisingly… she was incredibly talented.

In so areas...especially perception, Hanabi might even surpass her older sister.

At just seven years old, she already had the strength of a Genin.

If she successfully graduated early, she'd join the ranks of legendary prodigies–Guts, the Sannin, Uchiha Shisui, and Itachi, who had also graduated well before the standard age.

Just as Hinata was trying to wrap her head around it, Guts spoke up with an odd look in his eyes.

"Hinata... have you noticed anything strange lately? Any unusual people near you?"

Hinata blinked in confusion. "No, Sensei. Why?"

Guts narrowed his gaze slightly, his tone more serious now.

"There's a chakra on you that doesn't belong to this world."

Everyone in the room paused.

"It's not just foreign, it's alien. It feels Hyuga... but at the sa ti, completely different."

Confusion filled the room, but no one doubted Guts.

They all knew about his top-tier Observation Haki, a skill so refined it bordered on divine.

He could hear the "Voice of All Things."

Which ant: He could sense the true nature of people, animals, even objects and places.

If you gave him a kunai that had seen battle, he could tell you which enemy it pierced, who held it, and what that person felt in their final mont.

He could even read the history of a stone or tree.

Tsunade and the others had been utterly shocked when they first learned the extent of this ability.

Now, Guts had sensed sothing off in Hinata's chakra.

Not corruption. Not malice.

Just… foreign.

"It's faint," he continued, "but I can tell it's from soone, sothing, you brushed up against. Maybe an encounter you don't even rember. I'll look into it after your exam tomorrow. My body's been stiff anyway… might as well stretch it."

Hinata bowed deeply.

"Thank you, Sensei."

Guts smiled and pinched her cheek gently.

"See? Hinata's such a good girl. Not like so savage, violent little gremlins I know."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!?" Hanabi exploded like a firecracker, hair flying wildly.

She leapt at Guts, hands swinging like tiny claws.

As Guts predicted, the graduation exam results ca in the next day.

All nine of Konoha's rising stars passed the first round with flying colors.

This year was unlike any other—it was packed with heirs of the great clans:

Ino-Shika-Chō trio

Uchiha Sasuke

Abura Shino

Hyuuga Hinata

Namikaze Naruto

The only civilian-born: Haruno Sakura

And the only oddity among them...

Hyuga Hanabi, applying for early graduation at age seven.

This made things… tricky for the Hokage.

Minato scratched his head, sighing as he looked over the reports.

Low-age graduates like Hanabi usually had to be paired with older Genin, since their peers were still in the Academy. Itachi and Shisui had gone through similar arrangents.

If it were soone like the Third Hokage, he might've quietly brushed aside a civilian like Sakura and inserted Hanabi into the main team for politics or bloodline prestige.

But Minato wasn't that kind of leader.

Even after becoming Hokage again, he still tried to keep things fair and transparent.

This year's teams were going to be complicated.

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