[Heavy snow continued to fall, and Konoha's strange atmosphere thickened.]
[Early in the morning, little Naruto went out.]
[He looked aimless, but in truth he was drifting toward the Hyūga district.]
[Before he even reached it, he sensed the oppressive mood.]
[From afar, he saw the Hyūga compound.]
[It seemed to be holding a funeral.]
[Uniform black-clad clan members.]
[Little Naruto frowned slightly.]
[He didn't approach, instead turning toward the back mountain to check his traps.]
[In the blink of an eye, night fell.]
[Sarutobi Hiruzen sat in the Hokage Office, silent for a long time, pipe after pipe.]
[Looking out at Konoha under the snow, now eerily quiet—]
[he finally let out a sigh.]
[As if persuading himself.]
[He looked at Kumogakure's reply.]
[Only a few words were written:]
['I am very satisfied.']
[Sarutobi Hiruzen frowned.]
["The Eight-Tails' jinchūriki?"]
["Konoha also has a war weapon of that level."]
[His thoughts spiraled.]
["Naruto has already deeply comprehended the Will of Fire."]
["It's time to put chakra refinement on the agenda."]
[Thinking of Kumogakure's Eight-Tails jinchūriki,]
[Hiruzen couldn't help imagining what it would be like if Konoha produced such a weapon as well.]
[Subconsciously, he took out the crystal ball.]
"What is that dead monkey trying to do now?!"
On Konoha's side, the moment Sarutobi Hiruzen took out the crystal ball—
they couldn't hold back anymore.
A woman pointed at him from the stands and cursed.
One person ignited it; the others followed instantly.
Sarutobi Hiruzen turned his head away, pretending not to see or hear.
Yet he couldn't help wondering—
I don't think I did that sort of thing back then… did I?
[—A low hum—]
[The crystal ball's image froze above the Hyūga compound.]
[Then it shifted rapidly.]
[Midway, Sarutobi Hiruzen suddenly stiffened.]
[The image shifted to a street near the Hyūga grounds.]
[A girl in traditional black mourning clothes was running through the snow.]
[—Slip!—]
[Wiping tears from her face, the girl lost her footing and fell hard.]
Seeing this—
Ino nudged the dejected Hinata.
"Hinata, it's coming~"
Though Ino tried hard to lift Hinata's heavy mood,
Hinata didn't react with her usual shyness.
She was still mired in the Hyūga's unjust calamity.
"Neji… so that's why Brother Neji is so obsessed…"
As she spoke, tears streamed down her face.
Ino's heart tightened.
She hugged Hinata gently, whispering comfort.
Hanabi's mood was also low.
Ino quickly signaled Sakura.
Sakura understood and hurried to pull Hanabi over.
["Hyūga Hinata?"]
[Sarutobi Hiruzen stared at Hinata in the crystal ball for a long while.]
[At length, he spoke slowly:]
["Send Naruto to see me. Tell him I have a surprise for him."]
["Yes."]
[The image shifted again.]
[The crystal ball now showed little Naruto's home.]
[Hm?!]
[Little Naruto, cooking, froze for a moment.]
[That sense of being watched was back.]
[He behaved perfectly naturally, even muttering examples of the Will of Fire.]
[Unfortunately, he didn't know this was crystal-ball surveillance—no sound was transmitted.]
[But Sarutobi Hiruzen could read lips.]
[At a glance, he knew exactly what Naruto was saying.]
[Watching for a long while, satisfaction filled his aged face.]
[—Whoosh—]
[—Knock knock knock—]
[At that moment, Naruto's door was knocked.]
[He paused, put down what he was doing, and went to open it.]
['Ino and the others?']
['But… wasn't it supposed to be a few days later?']
[Too short to reach the peephole, Naruto opened a crack instead.]
[When he saw an ANBU standing outside, he froze.]
['I've been found out?!']
[Thoughts raced as he searched for a way out.]
["Uzumaki Naruto. The Third-sama requests your presence. He has a gift for you."]
[With that, the ANBU vanished.]
[As if unwilling to linger near Naruto at all.]
"So… Naruto and Hinata's meeting—was that also planned?"
"After what the Hyūga just went through, if they came to their senses later, they'd surely develop dissent."
"If the Hyūga main family grows attached to the jinchūriki, and the jinchūriki grows loyal to Konoha and the Third…"
Smack—
Tenten clapped her hands and shared her theory with the chatroom.
Rock Lee: "That makes so much sense, Tenten!"
Might Guy: "As expected of my subordinate!"
Rock Lee: "Guy-sensei!"
Might Guy: "Lee!"
Ino covered Hinata's ears.
Their eyes met.
Ino's lips curved slightly.
Up close, Hinata was really cute.
But—
how did this kid grow up like this?!
Usually she didn't look it, but hugging her directly made Ino jealous.
Sensing something, Hinata's shyness surged, her face flushing red.
"Ino… don't touch…"
[Watching Naruto leave, his brows knit slightly.]
[He returned to the kitchen to tidy up, then put on warmer clothes.]
[Little Naruto stepped outside.]
[When the sense of surveillance vanished, he let out a breath.]
['Lucky.']
['But what kind of gift does that old bastard want to give me?']
['It won't be some illusion package, will it?']
[At this point, Naruto already understood quite a bit.]
[He was glad he'd gone to the park before—and grateful to Ino and the others.]
['Soon. I'll soon be able to access historical books.']
['Sakura said she can't buy them because of her age.']
['Shikamaru said they can't bring them out of the clan.']
[—Hah—]
[Naruto took a deep breath.]
[This sense of history being sealed away made him suspect something deeper.]
[It wasn't just his identity being hidden—]
[there were many things that old bastard didn't want anyone to know.]
['To stabilize his position?' Naruto sneered.]
[Though shinobi history couldn't be read,]
[Ino could still get him legends and storybooks.]
[Soon, Naruto crossed the sparsely open snack street.]
[Beyond it, the streets were completely empty.]
[Step by step, he walked through the snowy night.]
[Before long, beneath a streetlamp, he saw a child crouched there, hands covering her face.]
[Soft sobbing reached his ears.]
[Naruto frowned and moved to detour.]
[Then he noticed her clothes.]
[Black mourning robes… that hairstyle…]
[Hands in his pockets, Naruto walked over.]
[As he drew closer, he recognized her.]
['The girl the Kumogakure envoy tried to kidnap?']
['A Hyūga… why is she here?']
['Wait.']
['Why is this so coincidental?']
['This is the only route to the Hokage Tower…']
[As he was thinking—]
[the sobbing stopped.]
[They looked at each other.]
['Such pale eyes… is that the Hyūga Byakugan?']
[Hinata recognized Naruto.]
[Her large eyes blinked. She shook her head, flinging away tears.]
["Done crying?" Naruto asked.]
At that—
Hinata's nose twitched, and tears welled up again in her pale lavender eyes.
Seeing this, Naruto smiled gently.
She'd clearly hesitated earlier—
meaning she'd seen or heard of him before, yet showed no fear or disgust.
In her eyes, Naruto saw curiosity.
"No rush."
"Cry as much as you want first."
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