"Shikamaru, there's nothing I can do. Lord Hokage believes only you can complete this mission. You've seen Naruto's file too. Although he's a Jinchuriki, he hasn't harmed anyone these past few years, so there shouldn't be any danger. Therefore..."
"Sigh... Father, that's not what I'm worried about. I'm telling you, this is a mission destined to fail."
It was already night. After the Third Hokage repeatedly discussed a plan for approaching Naruto with them in the office, Shikaku had only just brought his son Shikamaru home from the Hokage's Office.
The two sat on the tatami with troubled expressions. Although Shikaku was trying to comfort his son, his face looked far worse than Shikamaru's.
"Hm?" Hearing his son say that, Shikaku asked in confusion, "Why are you so certain the mission will fail?"
Shikamaru shook his head, then closed his eyes. He stretched his arms first, then pressed his hands together in a strange pose.
"It will fail one hundred percent!"
"You've never even met Naruto. Why are you so sure?"
Seeing his son close his eyes and calmly state his conclusion, Shikaku's worry gradually turned into solemnity.
He knew this was an answer his son had reached after careful thought, but he wanted to know the reason.
Otherwise, it would be difficult to explain things to the Third Hokage later. The Nara Clan's role in Konoha was to be the Hokage's shadow, trusted confidants, and military advisers.
Besides, ever since the Third Hokage took office, the Nara Clan had received considerable promotion and favor. Only then had their family's standing in the village steadily risen.
"Take a careful look." Shikamaru opened his eyes and pulled two photographs from his clothes. "These were taken when Naruto first went outside at the age of three, and when Lord Hokage recently had someone photograph him."
"They both show his real face."
"The one from when he was three was taken while people surrounded him in the street, cursing and gossiping about him. The recent one was taken when he walked Lady Hinata home. Look at his expression, especially his eyes."
Shikaku took the photos his son handed over and examined them repeatedly for a long while. Frowning, he said, "Is there something not right? His eyes don't seem any different."
"Exactly! There's no difference at all!" Shikamaru responded decisively. Then he pointed at the photographs in his father's hands and continued, "Father, from the first photo, we can tell Naruto was standing alone against everyone else. Yet I can't see any fear, hatred, or desire to flee in his eyes."
"If someone stood against everyone else, even an adult would find it terrifying, right? But Naruto's expression in that photo is far too calm. If it had been another child, they might have been frightened into tears already."
"There is nothing in Naruto's eyes but indifference. Instead, it feels more like Naruto himself had isolated everyone else."
Shikaku said nothing upon hearing this. He stared gravely at the first photograph and studied it again. After a while, he slowly asked, "Then what did you see in the second photograph?"
Shikamaru pushed himself up from the tatami and said, "Normally, the eyes are the windows to the soul, and a person's expression can reveal their truest mental state at a particular moment."
"But look carefully, Father. Naruto is smiling in the photo, yet his eyes have never changed. You noticed it immediately too, didn't you? His eyes in both photos are equally lifeless and indifferent, without the slightest emotion."
"Have you ever seen eyes like that?"
"Besides, Lady Hinata in the second photo was arguably the person most likely to become Naruto's friend. But you read the file too. After escorting Lady Hinata home, he didn't even give his name."
As he listened to his son's analysis, Shikaku stared fixedly at the smiling Naruto in the photograph. Looking at those azure eyes and that familiar hair color, a trace of nostalgia appeared on his face. After a long time, he let out a deep sigh.
"Sigh, Shikamaru, this really is going to be troublesome."
Half a month passed quickly.
That morning, Naruto was walking alone along a road beside a small river. Before long, a dense forest appeared before him, silent and still like a natural green barrier.
Ever since meeting Shisui Uchiha that day, he had not returned to the Uchiha Clan Compound. The Uchiha Clan and Konoha's upper ranks led by the Third Hokage were already like fire and water. That place was too conspicuous and no longer suitable.
This forest was a place his father, Minato Namikaze, had pointed out to him. He had come specifically to set up a training ground for himself.
"This is the Nara Clan's crest?"
Naruto had just crossed a main road when he spotted a Stone Tablet standing on a slope. The Nara Clan's family crest was clearly carved into it.
"Yes, Naruto. There won't be any fierce beasts in this forest. There are only tame deer raised by the Nara Clan for harvesting antlers to make medicine, and no one from their clan comes here during this season."
Minato Namikaze explained from within the Sealed Space.
"I heard the Nara Clan are all very smart, with extremely high intelligence?"
"There is such a saying, but my time as Hokage was too short, and I had little interaction with their clan."
Naruto thought for a while before entering the forest. After finding an open clearing, he sat down, and his consciousness immediately descended into the Sealed Space. Then Minato Namikaze's fist touched Naruto's.
Through Kurama's Chakra, Minato Namikaze was passing on the introductory techniques for learning the Flying Thunder God to Naruto.
He had finally agreed to teach Naruto the Flying Thunder God Technique!
Hokage's Office.
"Hehe! What a coincidence. Naruto actually appeared in this forest belonging to your Nara Clan."
The Third Hokage looked at the Crystal Ball and chuckled.
Shikamaru, standing before the desk, was also greatly surprised. Recently, he had nearly collapsed trying to find a suitable opportunity to approach Naruto.
The main problem was that after Naruto returned home injured that day, he only went out once a day, and the time and place were never fixed.
This had ruined every chance-encounter plan Shikamaru had painstakingly devised.
He had just been playing Shogi with his father at home when an Anbu suddenly appeared and summoned him without a word.
"Lord Hokage, you mean I should go now?"
Shikamaru looked at the smiling Third Hokage and asked.
"Shikamaru, you must understand that this is a rare opportunity. Naruto may not return to this part of your clan's land tomorrow." The Third Hokage's face immediately regained its sternness, his sharp gaze somewhat oppressive.
"I'll leave at once."
Shikamaru's heart tightened. He could tell the Third Hokage was somewhat dissatisfied.
"Naruto, those are the key points for getting started with the Flying Thunder God. Actually, the introductory stage isn't difficult for you. Back then, my three guards were able to get started just by receiving a little of my training insight."
"Hm? The three of them also mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique?"
Naruto found that strange. In the anime, those three had clearly only been able to barely use the Flying Thunder God Technique by working together.
"Uh, no. They only understood the basics and did not master it independently, because their individual sensory precision was insufficient. The three of them could only barely use the Flying Thunder God Technique I developed by cooperating together. After the Third Shinobi World War ended, I began learning to handle the village's administrative affairs under the Third Hokage's arrangements. I had no time to guide them in that area."
After saying this, Minato Namikaze first looked at Kurama, who was lying nearby, before continuing, "Later, your mother became pregnant, and after becoming Hokage, I was constantly overwhelmed with work. Then what happened five years ago occurred."
Kurama opened its eyes upon hearing this, and a fierce glint flashed through its crimson pupils.
The Fourth Hokage mentioning five years ago immediately reminded it of the mysterious man with the Mangekyō Sharingan. It was a very unpleasant memory.
Naruto saw the displeasure in Kurama's eyes and hurriedly waved his hand. "All right, Father. I was only confirming whether they had mastered the complete Flying Thunder God Technique. You don't need to explain so much."
Minato Namikaze smiled somewhat awkwardly. "Oh, I thought you had some other plan."
Naruto in the Sealed Space did not notice his father's embarrassment. He was silently considering how to avoid surveillance, especially the surveillance of the Third Hokage's Scrying Jutsu.
Otherwise, he would not be able to practice the Flying Thunder God Technique in peace.
Although no one was following him now, as long as that Crystal Ball existed, the Third Hokage could peer into his secrets at any time.
After a moment, Naruto casually asked, "Father, are you sure there is only one Crystal Ball like the one in the Third Hokage's Office?"
"There's only one." Minato Namikaze answered instinctively, but immediately realized something. "Naruto, are you thinking of destroying that Crystal Ball?"
Naruto spoke calmly. "I'm planning and considering the likelihood of succeeding. Or do you agree with them watching my life like this forever?"
Minato Namikaze's eyes widened, and he immediately shook his head like a rattle drum.
"I need to plan this carefully, otherwise... Hm? This person is coming toward me?"
While Naruto was deep in thought, he suddenly sensed a Chakra presence leaving the village center and heading directly onto the road leading to this forest.
The road along the small river led straight to this green barrier. Naruto sensed that this person had started from the direction of the Third Hokage's Office, and had already been walking this road for some time.
"Naruto, is someone coming?"
"Maybe. Maybe not. But one thing is certain: this person came from the direction of the Hokage's Office."
Minato Namikaze was stunned speechless within the Sealed Space.
They had just mentioned surveillance, and the Third Hokage immediately responded.
The one currently hurrying toward Naruto was Shikamaru.
As he drew closer and closer to his destination, Shikamaru's heart grew heavier and heavier.
Before he left, the Third Hokage had emphasized once again that he was not assigning Shikamaru a mission, nor was he asking Shikamaru to be a spy.
He was asking Shikamaru to become Naruto's friend, to understand Naruto's thoughts after gaining Naruto's trust.
Then report to him regularly!
At this thought, a trace of self-mockery flashed through Shikamaru's eyes.
This didn't count as spying?
Then what did count as spying!
Did the Third Hokage truly not understand what friendship meant, or did he not know what trust felt like?
If he truly followed the Third Hokage's demands, would he still be able to make friends for the rest of his life?
Would he still have the sincerity needed to make friends?
At this thought, a plump figure flashed through Shikamaru's mind.
How important friends were, that guy Choji had told him long ago.
Since Lord Hokage had asked him to become Naruto's friend, then Naruto would become his true friend!
Having made his true resolve, Shikamaru felt his steps become exceptionally light. He soon entered the forest, followed the location he had previously seen in the Crystal Ball, and after circling through the woods a few times, he saw Naruto for the first time.
Naruto had been waiting on a rock. The moment Shikamaru entered his line of sight, Naruto recognized him.
Clearly, Shikamaru had come for him.
Because Naruto saw that the moment Shikamaru spotted him, he strode directly toward him.
When Naruto saw Shikamaru approach with a lazy air, before he could speak, Shikamaru's entire expression suddenly became exceptionally serious.
"Hello. My name is Shikamaru Nara. Lord Hokage asked me to come and be your friend!"
Before you continue