Chapter 26 (Patreon)

After the mission in the Land of Waves, Team 8’s life settled down again.

For the next month, Kurenai did not call the three genin together. They were given time off every day and were not even assigned D-rank missions.

Other than Mihawk, however, the rest of Team 8 needed time to think about what had happened in the Land of Waves.

Kurenai most of all.

She was Team 8’s jōnin instructor, yet when they encountered Momochi Zabuza, his Hiding in Mist Technique had made it nearly impossible for her to use her genjutsu effectively.

Had Mihawk not been there, she might not have been able to protect her students.

She could not allow that to happen again.

Mihawk could not be expected to stand in front of everyone whenever they faced a powerful enemy. If she continued relying on one of her own students to protect the team, then she had no right to call herself their teacher.

Kurenai needed to become stronger.

Shino Aburame felt the pressure as well.

During the battle against Zabuza, Mihawk had displayed overwhelming strength.

Knowing someone that powerful was on their side was reassuring, but it also made Shino aware of how far behind he was.

After returning to the village, he often remembered Mihawk’s earlier fight against Kurenai, as well as the battle with Zabuza in the Land of Waves.

Instead of letting the difference in strength discourage him, Shino turned that pressure into motivation.

Team 8 was supposed to fight together.

Even if he could not support Mihawk yet, he refused to become someone who would slow the team down.

Mihawk knew nothing about what Kurenai and Shino were thinking.

Since Team 8 was not gathering, he was happy to have the extra time.

His life returned to how it had been before graduation.

Every day, he exercised, completed his daily system task, studied Hawkeye’s swordsmanship, and entered sword meditation to improve his ability to sense the Breath of All Things.

Whenever he had free time, he trained with Hinata.

Hinata had spent six years beside Mihawk, and she was far stronger than she had been in the original future.

She had mastered tree climbing and water walking several years earlier. The chakra control she had developed through that training greatly improved her Gentle Fist.

More than a year ago, she had already become skilled with the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms.

Before graduating from the Academy, Hinata had already reached a level where she could have held the advantage over Sasuke Uchiha, whose strongest technique at the time was the Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu.

However, Hinata’s gentle nature and dislike of unnecessary conflict made it easy for others to overlook her strength.

Unlike Kurenai and Shino, she did not feel pressured by what had happened in the Land of Waves.

Hinata’s dream had always been simple.

She wanted to remain beside Mihawk and, one day, build a quiet home with him.

Her daily routine remained mostly unchanged. She trained in embroidery, studied the tea ceremony, practiced cooking, and then quietly slipped away from the Hyūga compound to visit Mihawk.

Mihawk often became so focused on training that he forgot to eat, so Hinata made sure he took care of himself.

She prepared his meals, helped with his clothes, and handled many of the small things he tended to ignore.

Mihawk had grown so accustomed to having her around that the house felt strange whenever she was absent.

Neither of them had directly confessed their feelings yet, but their relationship had clearly changed after returning from the Land of Waves.

Mihawk no longer tried to hide his affection.

Almost every day, he found an opportunity to kiss her.

At first, they were only quick touches that left Hinata frozen in place.

Later, the kisses lasted longer, and Hinata gradually stopped fainting from embarrassment. She even began to respond in her own shy way.

Even without saying it aloud, the two of them already behaved like a young couple.

It was easy to imagine that their future together would not look very different from their life now.

That day, after finishing their training, Mihawk and Hinata took turns using the bath.

Once they had changed and returned to the room, Hinata opened the backpack she had brought with her.

She removed a white scarf and held it out toward Mihawk.

“Mihawk-kun, this is for you.”

“This is…”

Mihawk accepted the scarf and looked at her in surprise.

“Your clothes always stay clean, even after they’re washed,” Hinata explained with a small smile. “But your old scarf doesn’t. I noticed that the color had started to fade the last time I was here, so I bought you a new one.”

Mihawk looked down at the scarf.

Hinata always noticed things like this.

He wrapped the scarf around his neck and adjusted it before turning back toward her.

Holding one end of the white fabric between his fingers, he smiled.

“Hinata, doesn’t this look like the color of your eyes?”

“…Mm.”

Hinata lowered her head and answered quietly.

Mihawk placed both hands against the sides of her face.

Unlike before, Hinata no longer immediately looked away. Her pale lavender eyes remained fixed on his as his red eyes slowly moved closer.

Realizing what was about to happen, Hinata closed her eyes.

Mihawk leaned down and kissed her.

When her breathing became uneven, he finally pulled away.

Hinata kept her eyes closed, her face completely red.

“Hinata,” Mihawk said, “then I want you to wear my color too.”

Hinata slowly opened her eyes.

Still dazed from the kiss, she looked at him in confusion.

Mihawk stood and adjusted the zipper of Hinata’s jacket before holding out his right hand.

“Come on. Give me your hand.”

His voice brought her back to her senses.

Still curious about what he meant, Hinata placed her hand in his.

Mihawk pulled her to her feet, and the two left the house together.

They walked through the village streets holding hands, looking no different from any other young couple.

Mihawk eventually led Hinata into a clothing shop.

He went directly to the section displaying scarves and picked up a light red one.

Holding it up in front of her, he smiled.

“Do you like this color?”

Hinata looked at the scarf and then at Mihawk’s red eyes.

She finally understood what he had meant earlier.

The blush that had only just begun to fade returned at once.

Even so, she could not hide how happy she was.

“Mm,” she answered softly.

Mihawk immediately paid for the scarf.

Once they stepped outside the shop, he personally wrapped it around Hinata’s neck and adjusted it for her.

Mihawk wore white, matching the color of Hinata’s eyes.

Hinata wore red, matching the color of his.

They were each wearing the other’s color.