Hinata, the Nine-Tails, and Father

After confirming he had received the reward, the mechanical prompt voice also emphasized that he no longer had time for a challenge.

Naruto's mind stirred, and he withdrew from the Mirrored World. Immediately, a tidal wave of exhaustion crashed over him, and he collapsed straight onto the bed.

That night, Naruto slept deeply. He didn't even notice when, at five in the morning, an Anbu stood on the second floor and forcefully pulled open the window.

The man had been arranged by the Third Hokage to keep a fixed watch and observe him up close, three times a day, like clockwork.

Naruto had long known this, but he always pretended not to.

Before, he felt he had no secrets, so he simply left the window half-open every day. The watchers would come, clock in like punching a timecard, glance around, and leave.

But last night was a special case. He'd shut the window tight and hadn't had the energy to restore the usual setup before falling asleep.

What woke Naruto was the inertia of a biological clock honed over two lifetimes. When the clock on the wall ticked to six-thirty, his brows twitched naturally, and he forced his eyes open.

He stretched his arms. Though his body's instincts screamed for more rest, Naruto pushed himself up by the edge of the bed.

The moment his eyes regained clarity, he spotted the open window.

His brow furrowed.

He knew the watcher had already come. The frown wasn't because he was annoyed at being watched.

The watcher was an Anbu ninja. And a ninja shouldn't forget to erase their own tracks. It seemed these people couldn't even be bothered to keep up appearances anymore.

Do you really think you can control everything?

How laughable. How pathetic.

At that thought, Naruto's gaze turned deep and dark.

Soon, just like always, he washed up, changed clothes, and ate breakfast. Then, unhurriedly, he walked out of the small building and locked the front door.

A vast expanse of white. Though no snow was falling, the snow-covered ground was still wrapped in a silvery coat, looking no different from yesterday.

But from now on, he was no longer the same as before.

His eyes swept the surroundings, and his hands completed a perfect set of Hand Seals.

Now that he had successfully refined Chakra, it was time to start a different kind of life.

Transformation Jutsu!

Poof!

Naruto turned into a young boy with brown hair and a childish face—the appearance of a kid he'd memorized while being watched yesterday.

Crunching through the snow, Naruto walked toward today's destination.

"Ninja Tool Full Point Hall."

He murmured the words, his gaze landing on a shop with a sign advertising various ninja tools and weapons for sale.

After passing through a few streets, Naruto found the place. He'd come to buy Chakra Test Paper. After thinking for a moment, he followed the flow of people entering and exiting the shop and stepped through the door.

Once inside, Naruto saw shelves packed with all kinds of ninja tools, scrolls, and what looked like books and materials from different fields.

Just as he stood in an aisle, staring intently at a few dagger-like ninja tools, a gentle voice sounded from beside him.

"Little one, those aren't toys, you know. The toy store is on Yakiniku Q's street. Want big sis to take you there?"

He turned slightly and saw a woman who looked like a sales clerk, bent over and smiling at him.

Naruto's expression didn't change. He said flatly, "Thanks, but I'd like to buy a few sheets of Chakra Test Paper."

"Oh, a customer! Right this way."

The woman's smile stayed fixed, but a flicker of oddness passed through her eyes. She extended her hand in a gesture, straightened up, stepped aside, and led Naruto to a counter.

"Here you are, sir. How many sheets would you like?"

"Five, please."

"That'll be 1,000 yen!"

~~~~~~

After leaving Ninja Tool Full Point Hall, Naruto didn't go straight home. It was still early before his midday return, so he walked down a relatively secluded, dim, and sparsely populated street in the village.

He was thinking about the data collection request from the Mirrored World last night.

According to the instructions, the required data would randomly appear on certain people, buildings, or objects.

And that was basically like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Thinking that the Mirrored World's data completeness was only at 1%, Naruto felt a little down.

But being down was useless. He walked silently through the alley, pondering his next direction.

Without realizing it, the already empty street had only him left. After glancing around, Naruto turned a corner.

Poof!

He canceled the Transformation Jutsu, ready to go home.

"Hm?"

Rustle, rustle, rustle.

Just as he dispelled the Transformation Jutsu, he heard an odd sound from the snowy ground. His gaze landed on a small figure stumbling and wobbling through the snow toward him.

Naruto stopped. He watched the figure fall every three steps, trip every five, and as it drew closer, he caught the sound of sobbing.

"Pfft~"

Right in front of him, the petite figure face-planted into the snow. The crying reached his ears—it was a girl. A coffee-colored cotton coat, a beige scarf wrapped around her neck.

"Why are you crying? Can you tell me?"

"I... I..."

The little girl looked up at the sound of his voice. A pair of blue eyes met his gaze—clear and bright. Her golden hair shone like sunlight.

Their eyes locked, and Naruto froze for a moment.

Short bangs, white eyes.

It was Hinata!

Seeing Hinata on the verge of tears, unable to speak, Naruto reached out and pulled her to her feet.

He felt like he'd seen this episode before.

Hinata had probably been mocked by some village kids because of her Byakugan. In the original story, Uzumaki Naruto showed up on the scene, and that was how they met.

Now he wasn't that Uzumaki Naruto. He'd missed the plot, but he'd still run into Hinata.

"Are you lost?"

Naruto asked, gently brushing the snow off her scarf.

Hinata didn't answer. She shook her head first, then nodded, tears threatening to spill again.

"Don't be scared! I'll take you home."

Naruto smiled, took Hinata's hand, and started walking in the opposite direction of home. As he led her out of that street, a figure in ninja gear appeared out of thin air in the middle of the road.

The man had a pale face and deep dark circles under his eyes.

"Cough! Cough! Time to report the target's status to Lord Hokage!"

With that, the figure vanished just as suddenly as he'd appeared.

"Here we are. This is your house, right?"

"Mhm~"

Naruto had brought Hinata to the Hyuga Clan's compound. A plaque on the gate wall clearly read "Hyuga."

"Well then, goodbye!"

Naruto waved, turned, and started walking away. He hadn't introduced himself.

Hinata stood there stunned. She still didn't know who he was.

~~~~~~~~

Naruto got home quickly. After a simple lunch, he didn't rush to test the Chakra Test Paper. Instead, he sat cross-legged on his bed, closed his eyes, and began refining chakra to train.

After a while, he suddenly found himself standing in a dim, murky space. A towering iron door loomed before him, with a seal bearing the character "Seal" pasted high in the center.

He took a step forward. A massive fox face filled the entire iron door, glaring at him with crimson vertical pupils.

Even knowing the Nine-Tails exists, seeing it for the first time is still oppressive. But more than that, I'm a bit surprised. I was wondering when I'd get to come here.

As he mused to himself, the fox face behind the iron door split open into a grin full of steel-like fangs.

"Heh, brat. Didn't expect you to make it here this soon."

Naruto stepped forward again, gave it a once-over, and said, "You're beautiful!"

The Nine-Tails' fox eyes went visibly stunned. Then its face twisted into a snarl. "ROAR!! What did you say, brat?!"

"Shh!"

Naruto pressed a finger to his lips, backed up a few steps, took a running start, leaped high near the iron door, grabbed the seal on it, and yanked hard.

Rip!

The seal sticker was gone!

"NANI!!!"

Without any warning, happiness came too fast!

The Nine-Tails' eyes bulged nearly out of their sockets, its fox heart racing with excitement. Just as it was about to make a move, it suddenly noticed another figure appear in front of the iron door.

Its crimson pupils shrank sharply!

"ROAR!! It's you! The Fourth Hokage!"