Sometimes Others Smiling at You Isn't Politeness

After carefully observing the character whose intelligence was rumored to exceed 200 in the anime, Naruto, sitting on the stone, looked down at him and said with a half-smile, "That's it?"

"Do you know who I am?"

Shikamaru nodded slightly and said, "Lord Hokage said you are a bit dangerous."

Naruto stared at Shikamaru and said calmly, "No, you're wrong."

"Let me give you a hint."

"I'm not dangerous."

"I am a dangerous person myself."

Shikamaru didn't answer immediately upon hearing this. Feeling Naruto's gaze on him, he subconsciously recalled the photos of Naruto he had seen before. He looked up, and his eyes involuntarily met those azure blue eyes.

He only saw two deep, profound gazes, chilling to the bone.

After thinking calmly for a few seconds, Shikamaru said seriously, "No! There are other arrangements. Besides asking me to come and befriend you, Lord Hokage also asked me to understand everything about you and report it to him. This mission started several months ago!"

"You're very smart!" Naruto praised expressionlessly, then continued in a tone devoid of any emotion, "But it's really been hard on Lord Hokage to specially arrange a friend for me while he's so busy."

"You told me the content of your mission, so how can you befriend me, and how will you report to Lord Hokage? Your mission has failed."

A complex expression flashed across Shikamaru's face as he said, "I don't know. Before I came, I remembered someone saying something to me: friends should be the most trusted partners for each other."

"Putting aside the success or failure of the mission, if I were to befriend you according to the mission's requirements, then fundamentally, I wouldn't be a trustworthy person to my friends, nor would I be able to trust others."

"Moreover, I knew from the beginning that I couldn't complete this mission, and I didn't promise Lord Hokage that I would definitely complete it."

After saying these words, Shikamaru felt as if he had thrown off a heavy burden. He couldn't help but think of the shogi game he hadn't finished with his father that morning, with various killing moves constantly appearing in his mind.

Naruto sat on the stone and fell silent. He had been observing Shikamaru's expression, but he didn't care whether what Shikamaru said was true or false.

Because he understood Shikamaru, but Shikamaru didn't understand him.

The current problem was how he should handle this situation.

Naruto was certain that the Third Hokage was definitely watching the situation here with a crystal ball using the Scrying Jutsu. He sensed that ever since Shikamaru left the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage hadn't moved from his spot.

Shikamaru's seemingly honest words had a fatal flaw.

Since he said he took on this mission several months ago, he would definitely know that the Third Hokage could monitor him with a crystal ball.

But he didn't mention this at all!

Thinking of this, Naruto's gaze suddenly became extremely sharp. This was a test!

Shikamaru was testing whether he knew about the Third Hokage's surveillance of him.

Or he was testing how much he knew about the Third Hokage's surveillance.

He said he started this mission several months ago, which meant he must have learned all his information in detail from the Third Hokage.

But Shikamaru didn't play by the rules; he exposed the entire mission from the start, laying everything bare.

While betraying the Third Hokage, he wanted to perfectly conceal himself, like a...

Naruto's heart stirred as he thought of this. This act of selling out a teammate felt familiar. In the original anime, it seemed Shikamaru had used a similar trick when he led a team tasked with retrieving Sasuke under Tsunade's orders.

At that time, when he and his teammates were trapped by Orochimaru's subordinate Jirobo using an Earth Style Ninjutsu, he had played this kind of game.

He must have sensed something from the intelligence about him being monitored over the years, and thus wanted to confirm some of his guesses through this method.

His demeanor in the village had always been that of a eccentric, aloof, and unsociable loner. Even if he ignored Shikamaru, the Hokage wouldn't blame him for the mission's failure.

And by revealing that everything was arranged by the Third Hokage right from the start, he was indicating his own helplessness.

If he cooperated willingly, it would allow Shikamaru to confirm his guesses, fulfill the task assigned by the Third Hokage, and not go against his original intention of making friends.

If he didn't cooperate, Shikamaru could use the same method to go back to the Third Hokage and sell him out again. Of course, how he would phrase it would be entirely up to him.

For example, he would definitely start by saying he tried to communicate sincerely and make friends with Naruto, but Naruto didn't agree. Then, with high emotional intelligence, he would explain that he accidentally revealed the Third Hokage's arrangements out of eagerness to complete the mission, and then blame himself and admit his mistake.

In any case, the responsibility for non-cooperation would be pushed onto him, the eccentric Jinchuriki.

Would the Third Hokage make things difficult for a five-year-old child? He wasn't a Jinchuriki like himself.

Therefore, for someone with Shikamaru's intelligence, whether or not to befriend him was not the point at all.

After figuring it out, Naruto jumped down from the stone and stood in front of Shikamaru. Just as he was about to speak, he heard a familiar prompt sound in his mind.

His expression changed slightly, and Naruto looked at Shikamaru with bright eyes and said, "It seems what people in the village say is true. The Nara Clan really has very high intelligence."

Seeing Naruto walk up to him and say this, Shikamaru appropriately showed a look of embarrassment.

"You're very smart!" Naruto's eyes shone as he extended a hand to Shikamaru and said, "I like making friends with smart people! You seem like a trustworthy person! Uzumaki Naruto is my name, you know."

Shikamaru's face lit up, and he naturally clasped Naruto's outstretched hand with his own: "Yes, I am Nara Shikamaru. From now on, we are friends who can trust each other."

'Collecting data.'

'Update complete. Current data integrity 7%, please complete the data as soon as possible!'

"Mmm~" After the voice in Naruto's mind ended, he calmly released his hand and suddenly said, "By the way, Shikamaru, actually, when you first mentioned the word trust, I wanted to ask if you've heard a saying."

Shikamaru's expression remained unchanged, and he immediately cooperated by listening attentively and asking, "What saying?"

A hint of playfulness flashed in Naruto's eyes, then he smiled at Shikamaru and said, "Trust is a very funny kind of liking. I seek it, but cannot obtain it."

In the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage, smiling, was staring at a crystal ball with Shikaku Nara.

"Heh heh, Shikaku, I knew that boy Shikamaru could do it. See? It was that simple. It seems Naruto doesn't actually mind making friends with others."

"Yes, Lord Hokage. Although we couldn't hear what they were saying, their expressions showed they were getting along well."

The Third Hokage gave a barely perceptible nod, then removed the image from the crystal ball. He continued, "As for what comes next, have Shikamaru focus on it. That child is exceptionally talented and will surely become an outstanding ninja in the future."

Shikaku Nara nodded solemnly, a flicker of pride crossing his face.

Night fell. As Shikaku Nara returned home and walked into the living room, he saw his son, Shikamaru, already back. Shikamaru was frowning, staring intently at the unfinished game of Go from that morning.

Shikaku sat down opposite Shikamaru, fiddling with the game pieces, and asked, "What are you thinking about? You look so serious."

Shikamaru replied with a heavy tone, "My mission failed."

"What?" Shikaku's expression froze upon hearing this, then he said with a strange look, "Didn't you shake hands and become friends?"

Shikamaru lowered his head and said, "Before meeting Naruto, I had already made another decision. According to that decision, we might have truly become friends. But influenced by those two photos from before, I got too clever for my own good."

"Furthermore, I had studied the surveillance data on Naruto for a long time. So when I met Naruto, I developed a bit of unwarranted curiosity."

Shikaku, still confused, asked, "But Shikaku and I both saw Naruto smile at you before he left, didn't we?"

Shikamaru's gaze swept over the chessboard as he stood up with a somber expression.

"Father, you know, a lot of the time, when people smile at you, it's not necessarily a sign of politeness or goodwill."

"Naruto's smile was more like a warning."