Chapter 593: Neji: I’ll Climb Step by Step Until I Reach the Top

"You all have to help me prove to Lady Hokage that I'm not a bond-type shinobi! I just like small animals too!"

Neji looked enormously relieved as he put the little dog back down and turned toward everyone.

"Then how exactly are you planning to explain what happened between you and Naruto earlier, Neji?"

Seeing that Neji was still completely obsessed with power and apparently had no intention of reflecting on anything, Tenten sighed helplessly.

"You're too naive, Tenten."

Neji grinned smugly.

"Didn't you see what Naruto looked like when he left just now? I can simply say that was the form of Naruto I was interested in, and Naruto himself misunderstood my intentions."

He was naturally referring to Naruto's fox-eared, tailed appearance whenever he entered Nine-Tails Chakra Mode.

Neji was confident that as another Nine-Tails jinchūriki, Lady Hokage would know about that transformation and therefore understand his explanation.

Tenten fell silent.

Unfortunately, Neji was right.

If he used that excuse, there really was a chance he could pull off a last-second reversal.

Just as Tenten was sinking into despair—

A hero stepped forward.

"Neji."

Guy approached him with a grave expression.

"You're feeling pretty pleased with yourself, aren't you?"

Kakashi and Lee moved with him, taking positions on Guy's left and right.

All three stared silently at Neji.

For reasons Neji couldn't explain, a chill crept down his spine.

"It's true."

Kakashi spoke first.

"Using the explanation you just came up with, you probably could prove your innocence."

"But you overlooked one thing."

"W-What?"

Neji swallowed.

A terrible feeling began spreading through him, but he didn't dare run.

Kushina had ordered him to remain here.

If he left now, no matter what excuse he gave later, he would lose his final chance to recover his position.

"Lady Hokage went to deal with the Hyūga situation."

Guy slowly approached as he continued Kakashi's sentence.

"It'll take her quite some time to return."

"You really shouldn't have gotten so excited that you revealed your entire plan to us in advance."

"I was wrong!"

Neji immediately panicked.

"I'm sorry, Guy-sensei! I was wrong!"

"I shouldn't have used you or threatened you into helping me deal with Naruto!"

Neji had no idea what the three of them intended to do.

But if he wanted to survive until Kushina returned—and more importantly, if he wanted these three to testify for him—he had no choice but to apologize and beg for mercy.

Unfortunately for Neji—

He was apologizing for the wrong thing.

Kakashi, Guy, and Lee weren't angry because he had used them.

Quite the opposite.

They had actually found the whole experience of having the door kicked in during that ridiculous setup strangely exciting.

No.

Neji's true mistake—

Was touching the dog!

After seeing Naruto's transformed appearance, all three of them had abruptly abandoned their former bond-type worldview and discovered a new appreciation for small animals.

They had only just begun fighting over who would get the dog.

To them, this little dog was practically their first glimpse of a new world.

Their unforgettable first love.

And then what had Neji done?

While Kakashi and Guy were still arguing over who deserved her, Neji had casually swooped in first and taken her away.

That was practically stealing someone away right in front of them!

Worse still—

Neji didn't even sincerely care about the dog.

He was merely using her as a tool to reclaim his place near the top of Konoha's power structure.

That was an unforgivable insult to the pure feelings Kakashi, Guy, and Lee had only just discovered.

Absolutely intolerable.

"Neji."

Guy spoke with the solemn gravity of someone delivering a profound philosophical lesson.

"The harder people chase something, the more likely they are to lose it."

"You trampled on your feelings for that little dog for the sake of power."

"So now we're going to completely destroy your path to advancement and force you to wake up!"

With effortless confidence, Guy tore off his green jumpsuit.

"Neji, please stop!"

Tenten desperately tried to persuade him.

"There's still time to turn back! Guy-sensei will forgive you!"

"NO!"

Neji suddenly screamed.

"Guy-sensei! Tenten! You don't understand me at all!"

"You have no idea what I suffered when I was a child in the Hyūga clan!"

"Those main-family people weren't human!"

"They took away my QQ, forced me to dress like a girl, and kept calling me Nejiko!"

"They even dug up my father's ashes and tricked me into thinking they were protein powder!"

Neji's emotions completely exploded.

"Konoha—what kind of rotten village is this?!"

"This place is garbage! Garbage! GARBAGE!"

"I never want anyone bullying me again!"

"That's why I'm going to climb!"

"Step by step!"

"Higher and higher!"

"Until I reach the very top!"

"I'll stand beneath only one person and above everyone else!"

Neji screamed until his voice cracked.

At this moment, the damage inflicted by the Will of Bullying was laid bare for everyone to see.

Naruto's real body had already left, but one of the shadow clones he had originally placed inside the room was still standing quietly in the corner.

Watching.

Although the story had taken more than a few bizarre turns getting here, the viewers outside—including Kushina and Kakashi—finally relaxed.

At last.

The scenario had returned to its intended path.

Naruto was finally being shown the genuine consequences of the Will of Bullying.

The only question that left everyone slightly uneasy was whether the real Neji had actually suffered bullying too.

And whether anyone had really "taken away his QQ."

Honestly…

It wasn't impossible.

Nobody had ever checked.

Hyūga clan members weren't exactly going around activating their Byakugan just to investigate Neji's private situation.

"Neji, who said we don't understand?"

Guy's expression suddenly became painfully serious.

"My father, Might Duy, was a perpetual genin."

"From the time I was little, the two of us only ever received the dirtiest, worst-paying missions."

"We were constantly sent to wealthy households to repair blocked drains, replace lightbulbs, clean kitchens, and deal with all kinds of bizarre requests."

"Some of those jobs lasted for hours."

"And the things involved left scars that never really went away."

Guy's eyes grew distant.

"Do you know why I never let Tenten control her shuriken with steel wire?"

"Because even seeing wire brings back terrible memories."

"Do you know why I turned out the way I did?"

"Because I was hurt when I was young."

"And do you know why I stopped wanting to train taijutsu in this world?"

"Because back then, strengthening my body only meant being pushed harder during those missions."

"I never wanted to train like that again."

Guy clenched his fists.

"And my father…"

"He died during one of those assignments."

Neji's eyes widened.

"That time, seven wealthy women from Kirigakure came to Konoha."

"People called them the Seven Swordswomen of the Ninja Way."

"Every one of them possessed terrifying specialties, and their determination and stamina were legendary."

"My father gave everything he had."

"He even used the Five Heavens Breathing Method he had trained for years."

"But in the end…"

"He only managed to overcome four of them."

"And then he collapsed."

Guy's voice broke as tears streamed down his face.

Neji stared at him in shock.

He had never imagined that Guy-sensei, who always seemed so absurd and questionable, had endured such a miserable past.

Neji had often thought that if only he hadn't been born into a great clan like the Hyūga—if he had instead been an ordinary civilian—his life might have been better.

Apparently he had been wrong.

Commoners couldn't escape either.

"And do you think Kakashi had it any better?"

Guy slowly turned toward him.

"Maybe all of you assumed Kakashi must have lived comfortably."

"After all, he became a famous shinobi, and his father was the legendary White Fang of Konoha."

Guy shook his head.

"You couldn't be more wrong."

"When Kakashi was still young and couldn't properly distinguish right from wrong, certain people manipulated him into appearing under the alias Doll Boy at private performances."

"The first time Kakashi and I ever met…"

"Was at one of those chaotic gatherings."

Kakashi's eye twitched violently.

Guy continued without mercy.

"Why do you think Kakashi always wears a mask?"

"Because too many powerful people across the shinobi world memorized his face."

"He wanted to cut himself off from that past."

"So he covered his face."

"That way, no one would realize Hatake Kakashi was once the so-called Doll Boy."

Guy mercilessly exposed Kakashi's buried past.