Relax and See What Happens Next

"You bastard!"

Watching Akamaru, who had fainted, being thrown into the sky by Naruto, Kiba Inuzuka cursed. He stomped his foot and leaped up, carefully catching Akamaru in his arms. Then, he squatted down and began to examine him closely.

"Whimper..."

After a while, Akamaru finally woke up, but he was trembling and curled into a ball, trying to burrow into Kiba Inuzuka's arms, letting out whimpers of distress.

"Uzumaki Naruto! I'll fight you— Huh? Where did that bastard go!"

Kiba Inuzuka stood up, filled with rage, wanting to settle the score with Naruto. However, only Shikamaru and Shino remained at the scene.

Shino stepped forward, adjusted his sunglasses with his hand, and said calmly, "When you caught Akamaru, Naruto had already left. He should be on his way home now. If you want to find trouble with him, you can..."

"Enough!"

Kiba Inuzuka's eyes turned red with anger upon hearing this.

"Hey! Shikamaru! You know where that damn bastard lives, right!"

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed. "Kiba, why did you let Akamaru attack Naruto?"

Naruto had already warned him, yet Kiba still wanted to find trouble with Naruto. He clearly remembered Naruto's words of caution back then.

He's a dangerous person himself!

"Hmph!" Kiba Inuzuka glanced at Akamaru in his arms. "Who told him to act cool when he's not capable? And that bastard almost choked Akamaru to death, it's unforgivable!"

Shino adjusted his sunglasses again and interjected, "If anyone's responsible, it's you. If you hadn't provoked him first, Naruto wouldn't have..."

"Shut up! I just couldn't stand him and wanted to scare him a little!"

To provoke Naruto for such a ridiculous reason.

Shikamaru shook his head slightly and turned to go home. He had no right to interfere with others' opinions of Naruto, nor was he obligated to tell them how to interact with him.

Father specifically reminded me that Naruto is always being monitored.

Meanwhile, Naruto was leading a few Anbu members in circles through the alleys outside the school. He unexpectedly encountered Hinata. Hinata seemed to have been crying, and as soon as she saw Naruto approaching, she immediately moved to the side of the alley and lowered her head.

Naruto stopped in front of Hinata. "Going home?"

Hearing Naruto's voice, Hinata didn't speak, just nodded slightly.

"Were you bullied?"

"N-no one bullied me..."

Seeing Hinata's unconvincing denial, Naruto shook his head. In the story he was familiar with, he knew Hinata must have been bullied by some brats in Konoha again.

"Didn't an uncle used to come pick you up? Did he not come today?"

Naruto remembered the person who used to pick Hinata up was called Hyuga Takashi.

Hinata silently shook her head, her mood growing even lower.

"Let's go, I'll take you home."

Naruto smiled slightly, gently taking Hinata's hand as they walked towards the Hyuga compound they had visited years ago.

Whoosh!

After Naruto and Hinata disappeared, two Anbu members appeared in the alley.

"Captain, should we continue to track and monitor?"

"Not for now. The target is taking Hyuga Hinata home, and it's inconvenient for us to appear in the Hyuga compound. You know their clan's bloodline abilities..."

"Then what are our next actions?"

"One group will wait on the target's route home. The rest will follow me to the target's house!"

"Heh~ They really didn't follow,"

Naruto said, sensing that the Anbu members monitoring him had all retreated in different directions after he and Hinata had walked away.

"Konoha's higher-ups are clearly preparing for a decisive battle with Uchiha, yet they don't want the other clans in the village to know. This kind of obvious cover-up is probably out of fear that other clans will take the opportunity..."

"Yo! Isn't this the Byakugan freak!"

A voice interrupted Naruto's thoughts. At the same time, he felt Hinata grip his hand tighter as she hid behind him.

"Hey, the dead last is here too."

"Shh~ Firebee, I heard that guy is the Demon Fox."

Naruto's gaze swept towards the direction of the voices. He didn't recognize any of the three rough-looking young men.

"Naruto-kun..."

Hinata, hiding behind Naruto, spoke with a slight tremor in her voice. It seemed she was often bullied by these three.

"Don't be afraid, we'll just keep walking, we'll be at your house soon."

Naruto calmly held Hinata's hand and continued to walk forward, acting as if he didn't see anyone else.

"A dead last dares to be so arrogant!"

The leader, a kid named Firebee, immediately wanted to make a move when Naruto pulled Hinata past the three of them. But for some reason, he gave up. Then, he suddenly noticed his two followers looking at him strangely and got embarrassed and angry.

I'm not even afraid of the Hyuga Clan's young lady, so why would I be afraid of him?

Looking at Naruto and Hinata, who had walked a short distance ahead, he quietly squatted down, picked up a stone, and threw it towards Naruto's head.

Whoosh!

He missed. Naruto, as if he hadn't noticed, continued to pull Hinata forward.

How is this possible? I missed at such close range!

A hint of ruthlessness flashed in Firebee's eyes. He called out to his two followers, and the three of them immediately picked up stones and threw them at Naruto and Hinata.

Hearing the sound of projectiles flying from behind, Naruto instantly turned around, shielding Hinata with his body, and easily dodged the volley of attacks.

Seeing the three still throwing stones at him, a sharp glint flashed in Naruto's eyes. He casually caught a thrown stone and flung it back with force.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Naruto's stone collided with the other stones in mid-air, not only intercepting all the attacks but also, to the disbelief of Firebee and his two followers, knocking the stones out of their hands before they could throw them.

Seeing that the three dared not make another move, Naruto turned back, took Hinata's hand, and continued on their way.

"Naruto-kun, am I very cowardly~"

After walking through a few more alleys, Hinata, who had been silent, suddenly looked up and spoke.

"No, you're just too kind."

Naruto stopped and smiled, "I know you're very strong, right?"

Hinata looked at Naruto, her face flushing as he stared at her, and she lowered her head again.

"Hinata, you have a younger sister, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Do you want your sister to be bullied?"

Hearing this, Hinata resolutely raised her head and looked directly into Naruto's eyes, "No! I want to protect my sister."

A bright light shone in Naruto's eyes. "Then you need to become strong enough. If you keep getting bullied, you won't be able to protect your sister."

Hinata's expression became a little nervous. "But I don't want to hurt others."

"Don't be nervous," Naruto said, pulling Hinata along as he walked and smiled. "You just need to ensure that you and your sister aren't harmed by others. Is that difficult?"

Hinata's expression brightened. She suddenly remembered a defensive technique in her clan's Gentle Fist secret arts that was very powerful. She could cultivate it as long as she activated her Byakugan.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun! I understand!"

"Yes, Hinata, you must remember, kindness is not weakness! Kindness has a bottom line. We don't hurt others, but we absolutely will not allow others to hurt us. Here, you're home."

"Naruto, what is your goal? Do you genuinely like this young lady, or are you interested in the Byakugan?"

After saying goodbye to Hinata, Naruto was walking home when Minato Namikaze suddenly asked him this question.

Naruto's gaze flickered, and his consciousness descended into the Sealed Space. "Father, what do you think?"

Minato Namikaze was silent for a moment before speaking with a solemn expression, "Although I feel you have an inexplicable fondness for that young lady, you seem more interested in the Byakugan."

"The Hyuga Clan's Byakugan requires a certain level of cultivation to activate, but this young lady hasn't activated her Byakugan yet. You've been subtly guiding her to strengthen her cultivation step by step. Are you trying to lead her to activate the Byakugan as soon as possible?"

Naruto looked somewhat surprised. "In your opinion, are my thoughts so deep? Can't I find a girl I like at school like you did back then?"

Minato Namikaze's face turned a little awkward upon hearing this. "Uh~ I just... I just..."

"Don't be nervous, Father," Naruto waved his hand. "I have no ill intentions towards Hinata, but I do want to see if Hinata can activate the Byakugan earlier under my guidance."

"By the way, do the other clans in the village know that the Uchihas are planning a coup?"

Minato Namikaze's expression turned serious. "They should have guessed!"