Chapter 549 Tenten's Love Life Suffered A Waterloo

When they arrived at the Hyuga Clan's compound, Naruto took a small gift he'd prepared long ago from his seal space, a special Chakra-infused anklet.

Naruto had a habit of gifting chains, not because of any peculiar fetish, but because it was convenient. After all, while most people bought gifts for specific occasions, Naruto bought gifts ahead of time, waiting for the right moment to give them.

Others carefully selected their gifts, but Naruto bought the expensive ones in bulk and stored them in his sealed space, picking the appropriate one when needed.

It wasn't that he was being thoughtless, as he also put a lot of care into adding sentimental value to the extravagant gifts. In this way, Naruto was undoubtedly the most considerate in all of Konoha.

In fact, he had indeed put a lot of thought into both Hinata and Ino. The current situation was the best solution he could come up with for now.

It was almost funny, the Shuraba never seemed to explode.

This time, Naruto was leaving the village to teach the Shinobi World a lesson, to make them experience the harshness of reality. Once the shinobi world was in chaos, Konoha would naturally be too preoccupied to focus on anything else.

Maybe it would even lure out Obito, or Black Zetsu.

This time, Naruto wanted it all. He was ready to start collecting on the debts owed by this world. Whether it was the Kumogakure, Iwagakure, Kirigakure, or even the Otsutsuki Clan, they all had dues to pay.

…

The next day.

Naruto woke up in his bed, still feeling a little dazed.

As usual, he stayed in bed for a while, thinking about everything that had happened the previous day. Thinking about Hinata made it all feel a bit surreal.

But things had reached this point, and there was no going back. With both Ino and Hinata now in his life, Naruto realized he had to be even more careful moving forward. He just hoped everything would hold together until that day came.

With his thoughts in a tizzy, Naruto decided to head out and find Sakura to check on the progress of their project's experiment. He figured it was about time to leave tomorrow.

The longer he stayed, the more complicated things might become. It was better to leave sooner and take care of everything one step at a time. Once he was sure there wouldn't be any unexpected complications, he'd feel more at ease when it was finally time to go.

Naruto also wanted to stay in the village and take it easy, and it would be great if he could be worry-free. But with so many people still watching him from the shadows, how could he truly relax?

If he didn't take care of these problems, they would eventually come knocking at his door.

However, as he finished getting ready and was about to head out, he noticed someone sitting on his couch. Judging from the silhouette, Naruto instantly recognized who it was, and he felt a wave of surprise.

"How did you find the time to come here? Did you come all the way to visit this former Jinchuriki?"

"I have something to ask you." Yugao replied. She wasn't wearing her usual Anbu gear but rather casual clothing, "Do you think I like to look for you when I have nothing to do?"

Halfway through her sentence, she suddenly stopped, sniffed the air and asked, "Why does this couch smell weird?"

"Cough." Naruto coughed awkwardly, thinking to himself, 'Does this widow have a dog's nose? She can smell everything…'

"There's no smell, you must be imagining things."

"There's no way I'd imagine it. I just can't place what it is." Yugao rolled her eyes at him and said, "It smells like some kind of flower, but whatever, forget it."

Seeming to recall the reason for her visit, she shook her head and looked directly at Naruto, "Is Danzo really dead?"

"You should know that already. Anbu would have been the first to confirm Danzo's death." Naruto said, a bit exasperated, "Why are you asking me? I didn't kill him."

"Uchiha Sasuke?" Yugao shook her head, "I just wanted to confirm with you that Danzo is really dead. I've been terrified this whole time."

"You're afraid of Danzo's revenge?" Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"… Yes." Yugao said hesitantly, then suddenly clutched her head, "You never joined Anbu, so you have no idea how insane the people from Root are."

"Alright, alright, Danzo is definitely dead, deader than dead." Naruto reassured her.

"Thank you." Yugao said, taking a moment to calm down before abruptly straightening up and leaving without another word, leaving Naruto standing there in a daze.

'F*ck, what am I, a therapist? And you didn't even pay me for it!! That's too much!' Naruto cursed inwardly, 'I'll make sure you pay me back with interest someday.'

After leaving home, Naruto headed straight to the research lab at Konoha Hospital.

Dark Sakura had always been reliable, only willing to talk once she was properly fed. After a somewhat fragmented update on the research progress, Naruto had a rough idea of where things stood.

However, there was a minor unexpected event, and Naruto suspected that it was Dark Sakura playing a prank on him. Pink Sakura briefly appeared at a very inconvenient moment, then her eyes wide with terror before she went offline again.

Naruto was startled, Pink Sakura nearly fainted from fear, while Dark Sakura just stood there grinning, as if nothing had happened. She didn't seem to mind at all, casually regaining control of her body and continuing to talk about other matters.

"When are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow."

As soon as he said that, Dark Sakura stopped talking, but her eyes became more focused. Naruto spent the entire morning there, only managing to leave around noon.

He didn't feel particularly drained or tired, as fighting one-on-one had never been an issue for him. Even if he had to fight all day, he'd still be energetic the next day.

In the afternoon, Naruto was planning to look for Neji, but he saw Tenten outside the Hyuga Clan's compound.

"Tenten, are you looking for Neji?" Naruto greeted her casually.

As he got closer, he noticed that Tenten looked unusually downcast, standing in the shade by the roadside. She glanced at him with red, puffy eyes before lowering her head again.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Neji doesn't seem to want to see me. I've looked for him a few times now." Tenten said, crouching down and curling up, her small figure looking pitiful as she stared at the sunlight filtering through the tree branches.

"I couldn't get in touch with him through the communicator, and no one can tell me where he is. Every time I ask, they say he's not around. I could only go and ask Lee, but he was out on a mission."

Hearing this, Naruto immediately understood most of the situation.

The Hyuga Clan has always been quite insular, and Neji used to be part of the branch family. Even though he was known as a genius, he was still just a member of the branch family, albeit one with a higher status than others.

But now, after significant changes within the Hyuga Clan, the division between the main and branch families had been abolished. Neji, who is known as a genius, has absolute prestige in the branch family, and has the support of Hiashi in the main family.

It can be said that it is a foregone conclusion that Neji will become the Clan Head of the Hyuga Clan. And he can finally change the Hyuga Clan with his own strength.

Naruto had also benefited from these changes, as it allowed him to shorten the gap between him and Hinata. What once seemed like an insurmountable wall between them had now been reduced to nothing.

But where there are winners, there are also losers. Neji was just one step away from becoming the Clan Head, and that last step would be marriage… to marry the daughter of the main family.

This union would ensure that both the main and branch families would reach a compromise. This move can also promote the relationship between the main family and the branch family, which is also a strategic move to solidify Neji's position as Clan Head.

No matter how Neji personally felt, he couldn't marry someone from outside the clan. It would be considered absurd and would never happen.

As the future Clan Head, he would have to marry someone from either the main or branch family. Marrying someone from the main family seemed more likely, especially given the main family's intense resistance and insecurity.

After all, without the Caged Bird to control the branch family anymore, they feared potential retaliation.

If Neji married a daughter from the main family, it would at least ease the tension and make the main family less resistant to his leadership.

And so, Tenten had unknowingly lost a good friend and potential partner.

Despite having finally developed feelings for someone, her romantic hopes had been dashed.