"Teacher, and everyone else, you've all gone too far."
Naruto quickly finished his ramen, put down his chopsticks, and addressed the group.
Shikamaru and the others touched their noses, looking embarrassed. After all, they had intended to give Naruto a surprise, but instead, they made him cry.
"Naruto-kun..." Hinata looked conflicted.
"However, I really like it! Thank you everyone!"
Seeing everyone's awkward expressions, Naruto immediately put on a smile and said...
"Alright, Naruto, everyone has prepared a gift for you."
Hagoromo then pointed to the pile of gift boxes on Naruto's bed and said...
Let's go take a look.
"Really!" Naruto's eyes lit up, and he quickly got up and ran to the bedside.
Wow, these are... new goggles?
The first thing Naruto opened was the pink box, from which he took out a brand new pair of black sapphire goggles.
"Naruto-kun, this is a gift from me. I hope you like it."
Hinata followed behind, fidgeting nervously with her fingers, afraid that Naruto wouldn't like it.
"Thank you Hinata, I love it!" Naruto said, then took off his original goggles and put on the ones Hinata had given him.
He proudly showed it off to everyone.
"The teacher gave you a ready-made garment; haven't you always liked orange?"
Hagoromo then pointed to the box that the Shadow Clone had brought back.
Upon hearing this, Naruto quickly picked up the box. After opening it, he found two sets of clothes and pants, mainly orange with black shoulder pads, collar, and sleeves.
The arms and back bear the insignia of the Uzumaki Clan, the same outfit Naruto wore during Naruto: Shippuden.
"So cool!" Naruto shouted. It was the first time he had ever thought that clothes could look so cool.
"I'm glad you like it," Hagoromo said gently.
With his help, Naruto is no longer a short bean; at least he won't be the shortest in Team 7 by graduation.
So this outfit is now considered to suit Naruto's physique.
"Naruto, Choji and I are giving you shoes, since the teacher has already provided everything else for you."
Shikamaru then put his arm around Choji's shoulder and said...
Choji nodded and said, "I hope you like it, Naruto."
"Thanks!"
"I'm giving you some ointment. Try to avoid getting injured during your cultivation, even though you recover very quickly."
Ino tossed her long hair, then added discreetly, "By the way, some of these were also prepared by Hinata."
"Yes, I hope Naruto-kun takes good care of himself and is careful when training." Hinata nodded, her face flushed.
"Thank you everyone!" Naruto thanked everyone again.
"This is for you," Sasuke said, pointing to the only box he kept under the bed.
Naruto was taken aback, then looked on curiously and reached out to pick it up.
But he found the box unusually heavy and asked incredulously, "Sasuke, what's inside?"
After all, given his current arm strength, it would be difficult for him to lift something.
"The compression belt, I asked Nii-san to prepare it for me," Sasuke said, turning his head away somewhat embarrassedly.
Hagoromo looked quite surprised when she heard this, because compression belts are very hard to come by.
Because compressible metals are even rarer than Chakra Metal, this is something that money alone cannot buy.
However, it occurred to me that the Uchiha Clan seemed to have a deep relationship with the weapons manufacturer, Cat Granny.
It's not surprising that they were able to get their hands on such a large compression load belt.
"Thank you Sasuke!" Naruto said with a happy expression.
Almost everyone gave him gifts based on his preferences or things he could use in his daily practice.
Most importantly, everyone came to celebrate his birthday, which made Naruto feel much of his fatigue disappear.
"If you like it, that's fine with me," Sasuke muttered in response.
Seeing this, Hagoromo clapped her hands and said, "Alright, Naruto, it's time to eat your cake. It's getting late."
"Yes, teacher!" Naruto nodded quickly.
--
Thank you so much everyone for today!
At the doorway, Naruto spoke again.
Hagoromo shook her head and said, "Alright, we're leaving now. Naruto, you should get some rest."
Shikamaru yawned, waved, and said, "See you tomorrow, Naruto!"
"See you tomorrow, Naruto-kun -kun." Hinata whispered to Naruto before following Hagoromo.
I was only able to stay up this late today because my teacher and my own father had spoken to me about it.
Therefore, Hagoromo needs to send Hinata back first.
At the Hyuga Clan's compound, Hyuga Hiashi was waiting with his hands tucked in.
Upon seeing Hagoromo, he first nodded in greeting, then said to Hinata, "Hinata, you may go in first."
"Yes, Father." Hinata nodded obediently in response, though she was puzzled as to what her father wanted to say to her teacher.
"Hagoromo- sensei, thank you for taking care of Hinata these past few days."
Hyuga Hiashi then looked at Hagoromo and said calmly.
"There's no need for that, Hiashi- senpai," Hagoromo said, shaking his head.
"I heard from Shikaku that their descendants have all become your disciples?" Hyuga Hiashi asked.
Hearing this, Hagoromo was taken aback, then Hiashi with a puzzled look.
"Yes, that's right. After all, they are all very good kids."
"Hinata is rather shy, so I hope that Teacher Hagoromo can guide her well in the future."
At this point, Hyuga Hiashi seemed a little embarrassed. He nodded to Hagoromo and then turned to go inside.
"... What's going on?"
Hagoromo thought with a bit of helplessness, after all, the behavior of the dignified clan leader was not like Hiashi behavior.
Shaking his head, Hagoromo turned and left, no longer wanting to think about it; he had some things to do.
[A critical hit reward was generated because disciple Naruto Uzumaki was extremely grateful for celebrating his birthday.]
[Rewards: Apprentice slot +1, Chakra +2000.]
Seeing the reward of the Hagoromo, he had a strange expression and looked towards the Hyuga Clan Compound behind him.
She murmured, "So, you were thinking of having me take Hinata as your apprentice, but you felt a little embarrassed for not asking before?"
If it weren't for this apprenticeship position, Hagoromo really wouldn't have thought about it in this way.
Oh well, I didn't take Hinata as my apprentice before because I didn't have a place for one anyway.
Now that there's a place for me, I should naturally accept it.
I wonder if the reward for teaching Hinata the Inch Power Eight Gates will be returned.
--
"Kurama! It's my birthday today! Sensei and Shikamaru came to celebrate with me!"
Inside the Sealing Space, Naruto glanced around as soon as he arrived and saw that his father was still nowhere to be seen.
Then he looked up and shouted at Nine-Tails.
Inside the cage, the Nine-Tails lay sprawled out, its massive body swaying back and forth.
Seeing Naruto's happy face, he really didn't expect Naruto to come and share this with him.