Hinata stood under a big tree. She formed a hand seal with both hands and moved the chakra inside her body, gathering it at the soles of her feet, just like Izayoi had told her.
Then, she raised her right foot and stepped onto the tree trunk.
Right away, Hinata felt like the bottom of her foot was glued to the bark, sticking tightly.
Feeling this, Hinata felt a bit at ease, then raised her left foot and stepped up as well.
Just like Izayoi did earlier, Hinata's body was now lying sideways in the air.
Holding her breath, Hinata took her third step.
"Ah…"
The next second, Hinata's face changed. She cried out in surprise.
Her feet, which were stuck to the bark just moments ago, suddenly slipped, and her whole body began to fall toward the ground.
At that moment, two arms caught Hinata and steadied her body.
Izayoi smiled and said, "Don't be scared. I already told you, I'll catch you."
"Izayoi-kun, I'm sorry…"
Hinata looked down as she spoke, looking like she had disappointed him.
"Why are you apologizing to me?"
Izayoi reached out again and patted Hinata's shoulder, encouraging her: "It's normal to fail. You could stick both feet on your first try—that's already really amazing. When I practiced, I failed over ten times before I got it right."
That was a lie!
Izayoi succeeded on the first try and even walked many steps up.
Neither Uzumaki Naruto nor Uchiha Sasuke had "chakra control" in their talent slots.
But both Izayoi and Hinata had chakra control at the blue level.
With that level of talent, things like tree-walking or water-walking, even medical ninjutsu, sensory techniques, sealing arts, and barrier techniques—were all much easier to train compared to people without chakra control talent.
The Gentle Fist technique, which sends chakra into the opponent's body, was also a form of chakra control.
As long as Hinata had enough chakra and someone guiding her, she should be able to learn tree-walking very quickly.
"Keep going. I believe you can reach the top of the tree very soon."
"Mm!"
Encouraged, Hinata immediately gained a lot of confidence.
She once again formed the hand seal, gathered chakra at the soles of her feet, and stepped onto the tree trunk. Her body once again tilted sideways in the air.
Maybe because of the sense of safety Izayoi gave her, Hinata didn't hold her breath this time and naturally took her third step.
The problem she had earlier—where her chakra became unstable at the third step and made both feet lose grip—didn't happen this time.
Hinata was able to control her chakra well, and the soles of her shoes stuck tightly to the tree trunk.
Step four, step five, step six…
She reached the eighth step, and when she took the ninth, her rhythm was thrown off again. Her chakra lost balance, and her body fell.
Strangely, Hinata didn't feel scared at all this time. She didn't even cry out.
In fact, there was a little bit of expectation in her heart.
As expected…
She didn't crash into the hard ground, but instead fell into a warm embrace.
Izayoi caught her again, holding her in a princess carry, looking down at her as he praised her without holding back: "Amazing, Hinata. It's only your second time and you already reached that height. You're a genius."
"Hehe…"
Hinata didn't feel shy. She smiled happily.
Today, she got more praise than she had in the past few years combined.
So this is what being recognized feels like?
Hinata, whose personality hadn't yet become the insecure and easily discouraged girl from the original story, now felt more motivated and confident.
Her beautiful eyes sparkled as she said, for once taking the initiative, "Izayoi-kun, put me down. I want to try again."
"Okay."
Izayoi saw all of Hinata's changes.
Seeing this girl become more confident, he truly felt happy for her.
A noble young lady from a famous clan, yet in the original story she grew up so timid and self-doubting. It showed just how much pressure she lived under.
Since he had come to this world and chose to take Naruto and Toneri's place, Izayoi was going to change this girl.
Even if she didn't become the delinquent leader from the Infinite Tsukuyomi dream, she shouldn't end up like in the original story, wasting the great genetics of the Ōtsutsuki clan.
Start by changing her personality—Izayoi was going to raise her into the kind of girl he wanted!
Hinata's talent was excellent. Among the four girls of the Konoha 12, she was the only one from a noble clan and had one of the three great dōjutsu—the Byakugan.
What she lacked was just self-confidence.
Once she found that confidence, she would shine brilliantly.
(Tree-walking and water-walking didn't require much chakra—what they needed was control.)
This control ability could be developed either through hard work or pure talent.
In the original story, Naruto and Sasuke belonged to the first group, while Sakura belonged to the second.
Izayoi and Hinata also belonged to the second group.
Hinata, who had already taken seven or eight steps on her second try, didn't fall back the third time. In fact, she improved again, reaching over ten steps before falling once more.
As usual, Izayoi caught her steadily.
Then came the fourth try—Hinata didn't fall anymore. She successfully climbed to the top of the tree.
"Izayoi-kun, I did it!"
Standing at the top, Hinata didn't take in the scenery from high up. Her first instinct was to share her joy with Izayoi below.
"Amazing! You reached the top on just your fourth try. Hinata, you're better than I was!"
Izayoi gave her a thumbs up and praised her generously.
"Hehe…"
Getting praised again, Hinata smiled happily once more.
Though she had received training before, the feeling she got from Izayoi was completely different from her father.
At home, when her father taught her the Gentle Fist, Hinata only felt nervous. Even if she completed the tasks set by Hiashi, she wouldn't receive a word of praise.
Sometimes she'd even get scolded—for not doing it as perfectly as her cousin.
But with Izayoi, she finally got the praise she had always wanted.
This kind of ease, different from nervousness, and joy, different from uneasiness, seemed to cleanse her heart and made her enjoy training.
She walked down from the tree top like walking on flat ground. Hinata looked at Izayoi with hopeful eyes and asked, "Izayoi-kun, is walking on water the same as walking on trees?"
"Mm, but it's harder."
Izayoi nodded and smiled. "Tree-walking just means sticking to the trunk. Water flows, so to stick to it, your control needs to be many times better."
"I won't teach you that just yet. But you can try at home, in a bathtub or water tank. When you have more chakra, I'll teach you real water-walking and the shadow clone technique."
"Mm-mm…" Hinata nodded repeatedly.
Seeing how obedient Hinata was, Izayoi finally revealed his true colors and said with a smile, "Next, let me teach you taijutsu combat! I also want to experience the Hyūga clan's point-striking technique."
"Okay."
Naive Hinata didn't realize Izayoi's real goal.
She had already sparred many times with her cousin at home, so she obediently nodded, not feeling anything was strange about practicing combat techniques that weren't taught at school yet.