A few days later—
"Next match, Haruno Sakura versus Yamanaka Ino!"
Iruka read off the names in order and then stepped back out of the training hall.
"Sakura, you're definitely going to lose this time. You might as well hand my seat back over—Sasuke-kun belongs to me!"
"Oh please, you ugly hag. Did you already forget that I won the seat next to Sasuke fair and square?"
"That was just dumb luck, you big-foreheaded freak!"
"You ugly witch! What did you just call me?!"
"You know exactly what I said! Sasuke-kun would never fall for a girl with a huge forehead like yours!"
"And he's not going to fall for an ugly pig like you either!"
"..."
Shikamaru, who had been dozing off in the bleachers, was roused by the noise. He shook his head with an expression of pure resignation.
There's no way I'm marrying a girl like that in the future. Too troublesome.
He glanced toward the fighting stage, and the match between the two girls made him lose all interest in commenting.
So boring… no motivation at all.
"Huh? Is Naruto actually on a date with Hinata during class?"
As he turned his head, Shikamaru spotted Naruto and Hinata sitting in a quiet corner at the edge of the training hall. Hinata had her head down the entire time, while Naruto gave him a small wave.
"Yeah, he went over to Hinata while you were still asleep."
Choji, eyes half-lidded, spoke up and then went back to munching on his chips.
"Where'd you get those chips?" Shikamaru asked curiously.
Choji pointed in Naruto's direction. "He brought them while you were napping."
Shikamaru clicked his tongue. "Tch… That guy really only bought snacks for you?"
Burp~
After swallowing his last chip, Choji let out a satisfied belch and casually crumpled the empty bag. "Nah~ Naruto got snacks for both you and Hinata too."
Shikamaru paused, a strange look creeping across his face as a thought occurred to him. "Wait… Choji… don't tell me you ate Hinata's share too…"
Choji's head shook like a rattle drum. "No way! I only ate yours! But seriously, you should've seen it—Hinata eats faster than I do."
Shikamaru's eye twitched. Well, at least Choji was honest.
"Na-Naruto-kun… can I… ask you something?"
Hinata, as always, fiddled with her fingers. Ever since sitting down with Naruto, the blush on her face hadn't faded for a second.
Naruto chuckled gently. "What do you want to ask, Hinata?"
"T-this morning, in class… when the teacher asked, 'If tomorrow were the end of the world, who would you want to spend it with?'..."
Hinata slowly looked up—but immediately lowered her head again when she saw Naruto already looking at her.
With a soft smile, Naruto asked, "Then can you tell me your answer first, Hinata? We were supposed to write it on a piece of paper. Who did you choose?"
Hinata's mind went blank, her heart pounding wildly. Her face grew hotter by the second. After a long silence, she finally summoned her courage and met Naruto's gaze.
"T-that's not fair… I asked you first…"
Seeing her looking him straight in the eyes, Naruto was a little surprised.
Hinata's personality seems a bit different from the original timeline…
"If the world really were ending… of course I'd want to spend it—"
Ding-ding-ding!
The bell rang.
Hinata's eyes widened, locking onto Naruto with bated breath.
Naruto stood up, gently pulling her hand as he smiled. "You know, blushing really suits you."
"Eh?" Hinata blinked in confusion.
After class, Naruto walked Hinata—who looked like she was about to faint—back to the classroom. But just as he stepped into the hallway, he spotted Sasuke on the opposite end, talking with a silver-haired man.
"That guy… could it be Mizuki? No, based on what I remember from Iruka in the mirror world, the build and hairstyle don't match."
The conversation on Sasuke's end wrapped up. Naruto watched as the silver-haired man handed Sasuke an envelope, then turned and began walking in Naruto's direction.
Definitely not Mizuki.
His appearance was plain—one of those forgettable faces you'd pass on the street and never remember. But the round glasses he wore gave off a faint, unsettling vibe.
As the man drew closer, Naruto started walking toward him naturally. When the distance between them shrank to around ten meters, the man abruptly pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
That gesture…
Naruto's eyes narrowed, though his face remained calm. As they closed the gap further, he suddenly stepped sideways and accelerated into a collision course.
The silver-haired man reacted instantly, pressing a hand to Naruto's shoulder.
"Careful, young man. Running in the hallway like that—you might bump into someone else."
Data collection complete!
Current sync level: 28%. Please continue gathering more data to unlock additional insights.
Feeling the pressure on his shoulder, Naruto smiled brightly. "Got it."
The man smiled warmly, letting go and adjusting his glasses again. "Good. Obedient children are the best kind."
Ding-ding-ding!
The bell rang again.
Naruto turned back and re-entered the classroom.
But the silver-haired man's expression darkened—because the target he had just made contact with… walked into the exact same classroom.
Inside the classroom, Naruto accessed the mirror space. A familiar face appeared on the pop-up screen.
"I knew that glasses-pushing gesture felt familiar… it's Yakushi Kabuto. The number-one tool in the Naruto world."
In the original story, he served as the Chūnin Exams NPC, the first to introduce "stats" in the manga.
Orochimaru later evaluated his strength as only comparable to Kakashi.
He was also the first person Naruto ever hit with the Rasengan.
A tool of Danzo. A tool of Sasori. A tool of Orochimaru.
For Yakushi Kabuto, a name was just a label. Glasses were just a prop. From the very beginning, he wasn't anyone. He had nothing.
Later in Shippuden, he not only willingly handed over information to the protagonist group but even used Reanimation Jutsu to stall the plot. He ended up becoming a live target dummy for the Uchiha brothers' new jutsu.
And in the end, Itachi lectured him like a misbehaving student, made him stand in the corner, and then he even ran across the battlefield to save Sasuke.
His ending? Second only to Madara in terms of being pathetic.
Naruto skimmed through Kabuto's data feed. First came memories of his foster mother, Nono Yakushi, and the orphanage. Then, clips of his missions as a spy infiltrating various nations.
"Oh? After Orochimaru's last 'friendly exchange' with the Third Hokage, he couldn't bear the idea of not perfecting Reanimation Jutsu. He actually upgraded it—now he can directly control the revived, stripping them of their will."
The playback ended shortly after. Naruto now fully understood Kabuto's objective in returning to the Hidden Leaf.
Orochimaru had finally given up on curing Kimimaro's kekkei genkai disease. He had set his sights on Sasuke as his next vessel. After obtaining a new body, he sent Kabuto back to gather intel.
Honestly, Sasuke's luck was off the charts.
Kabuto had returned to the Leaf a few days ago. To get close to Sasuke, he used Face-Stealing Jutsu to assume the identity of a Leaf Village orphanage ninja.
Today was Sasuke's scheduled day to collect his living stipend, and the envelope Kabuto handed him in the hallway… had a hidden seal on it.
After confirming all this, Naruto exited the mirror world. As soon as he came back to reality, he heard the Nine-Tails' voice.
"Naruto, the Four-Tails already had Roshi bring Han back to Iwagakure."
Naruto's consciousness shifted to the seal space, where he approached Son Goku's vessel, the Monkey King: Muō.
"You're saying Roshi just listened to Four-Tails like that?" he asked.
Muō lowered his head. "That monkey's bond with his jinchūriki is… complicated. Besides, Son Goku is a lot like Kurama."
Kurama, lying nearby, suddenly sat upright.
"Hmph! Don't compare me to him, Muō!"
Naruto's eyes glinted. "Muō… does Four-Tails know about me?"
Muō raised one of his hooves.
"Of course not. I only told him about the Ten-Tails breaking free and the Akatsuki's movements. He kept asking how I knew all that."
"But I promised to keep your secret, and Kurama can vouch for me."
Naruto glanced over. Kurama, still sitting upright, gave a silent, deadpan nod.
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