The Not-So-Smart Protagonist

Several months had passed since Naruto declared that he wanted to grow stronger. His path to strength proceeded in an orderly fashion under Minato's personal guidance, but the results were far from satisfactory.

"No, not like that! I told you, Spatial Marking must become as natural as moving your own arm. It has to become part of your body!"

"There's no time to form Hand Seals in actual combat!"

"The instant your hand touches the opponent, you have to place the mark!"

The Nine-Tails pricked up its ears and impatiently raised its eyelids to watch the father and son training before it. Minato's scolding had not stopped since earlier, and Naruto did not resist. He merely practiced the ninjutsu called Flying Thunder God according to Minato's instructions.

Hand Seals were a method of guiding Chakra flow and could also accelerate it. It was not that ninjutsu could not be performed without Hand Seals; once one became sufficiently proficient, Hand Seals were no longer necessary. However, very few people could achieve that. Performing the super S-rank ninjutsu Flying Thunder God without Hand Seals and with no cooldown was simply not something a human could do. A talent like Minato's could only be described as monstrous genius.

Naruto, however, had not inherited Minato's outstanding talent. Though he did not want to admit it, Minato had more or less realized that Naruto was an idiot. Naruto had spent ages just learning Hand Seals. Was he simply slow-witted...? Just as Minato thought that, Naruto formed the wrong seals again. At this rate, forget Flying Thunder God—he probably could not even perform the Clone Technique properly. He was only suited for the Rasengan.

"Naruto, focus!"

Minato lost his composure and shouted harshly. Naruto seemed startled. He turned to look at the angry Minato, nodded, and continued practicing.

"Nine-Tails, what are you...?"

Before Minato could react, the tail connected to his body flung him against the wall. Then it changed shape, wrapping around him like a spiderweb.

"Nine-Tails, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. Your dad is a little tired. Stop practicing. Let's talk."

The Nine-Tails did not know why it had done that, so it came up with a plausible excuse. It was too noisy and affecting its sleep quality.

"Talk? About what?"

"Whatever."

"Listen, Aunt Hina gave birth to a healthy baby. Her name is Hanabi, and she's a girl! She's tiny and adorable!"

Naruto thought for a moment before telling the Nine-Tails about some of the little things that had happened recently. The Nine-Tails closed its eyes and listened as Naruto clumsily tried to express himself.

"Oh, right, Nine-Tails. There's something I've always wanted to ask you."

"Hmm?"

"This room is sealed, so there's no toilet, right? Um... this water isn't... I won't laugh at you."

"...Tailed beasts don't need to use the toilet!"

It took the Nine-Tails a long time to understand what Naruto meant. With an angry roar, it threw him out of the space. This was also the first time Naruto had gotten the better of the Nine-Tails verbally.

"Alright, the brat's gone."

After Naruto left, the Nine-Tails yawned and lazily sprawled on the ground, releasing Minato. Its tail curled around him and placed him atop its body.

"Nine-Tails, why did you interrupt me?"

"Don't you think you were being too harsh on that brat?"

"How could that be? I was only training him according to the system's methods!"

"You still haven't realized it? Lower your head and take a look."

"This is..."

Minato lowered his head and looked at his reflection in the water beneath his feet. One of his originally azure-blue eyes, the same color as Naruto's, had turned into the Nine-Tails' slit pupil, emitting an eerie red glow.

"You wanted the brat to become stronger too badly, and it changed your state of mind."

"No, that's not right. I'm doing this for Naruto's own good. This is your Chakra..."

Minato covered his reddened right eye with his palm and shook his head painfully, unwilling to admit it.

"Humans always like to shirk responsibility. It seems you're no exception. What, did you expect that brat to learn any ninjutsu after seeing it once? To be using your Flying Thunder God to zip around everywhere at age five, defeating every opponent? To become Konoha's second Yellow Flash?"

"I never said that!"

"No matter what you think, that brat is only five. Do you really think he can learn such a difficult ninjutsu? How laughable."

"I... we have too many enemies."

Minato sat down weakly on the ground. He knew he had been wrong, terribly wrong. Even as the Fourth Hokage, he was only an ordinary father. He had placed excessive expectations on his child and feared that the masked man might come knocking at any moment. That was why he had trained Naruto so harshly, yet he had inadvertently hurt him.

"Thank you, Nine-Tails. Without you, that child might have come to hate me."

Minato truly deserved to be the man who inherited the Hokage title. When he closed his eyes and opened them again, the ominous red eye had vanished, replaced by a gentle blue.

"With me here, that brat won't die so easily."

"You're willing to help him?"

"Don't misunderstand. It's just that I absolutely have to kill the enemy you mentioned."

The Nine-Tails bared its sharp fangs. It would never forget that night. That ominous Sharingan had controlled its body, and it would repay that humiliation many times over!

"Hinata, where are you going?"

Naruto woke up after the Nine-Tails kicked him out of his body. After leaving his room, he ran into Hinata, who was on her way somewhere, and followed her. Ever since that kidnapping incident, he had been granted the right to stay at the Hyuga Clan residence. Naruto could stay there whenever he wished. As far as his dream of marrying into the family and living off Hinata went, he had already accomplished more than half of it.

"I'm going to see Mother and Hanabi."

"Oh, then let's go together."

"Mm. Naruto-kun, is that a toy in your hand?"

Hinata curiously looked at the little balloon in Naruto's hand. At some point, Naruto had started carrying a balloon around, holding it every day without ever parting from it.

"Probably. It's also a kind of training."

Naruto worked hard to mobilize his Chakra, and the balloon immediately began shaking violently. However, it was still far from bursting. After Minato taught Naruto the Rasengan's training method, he stopped paying attention to it and focused wholeheartedly on teaching him Flying Thunder God.

"It looks fun."

Hinata's eyes curved as she giggled. In her eyes, Naruto's desperate efforts looked very nice too.

"Right? I think so too."

The two chatted and laughed as they walked through the grandest and most spacious corridor in the Hyuga Clan residence, arriving outside an opulently decorated room. When the maid saw Hinata, she lowered her head in greeting and let her and Naruto inside.

"Hinata, Naruto, you're here."

Hina Hyuga lay in bed, pale-faced. Her body was exceptionally weak after giving birth. When she saw Hinata, she forced out a smile.

"I came to see Hanabi~"

"No matter how many times I look at her, she's still so adorable."

Hinata and Naruto leaned over the cradle, looking at the tiny child wrapped in swaddling clothes. Her snow-white skin looked so delicate it could break with a touch, and even the blood vessels beneath her slightly translucent lips were clearly visible. The little one seemed unaware that she was being watched and slept soundly.

"What would Naruto do if she grew up even cuter than Hinata?"

"Huh?"

"Wouldn't you want to switch marriage targets?"

Hina Hyuga smiled at Naruto, intending to tease her daughter through him.

"Mother!"

Hinata cried out shyly, but she also cared deeply about Naruto's answer. What if Hanabi really became prettier than her? Would Naruto choose Hanabi?

"I wouldn't. Having Hinata is enough for me."

Clearly, Hinata had worried too much. Naruto had never considered something like that and answered casually.

"Where did Mr. Hiashi go? Shouldn't he be keeping Aunt Hina company at a time like this?"

Naruto looked around. The spacious room was missing the child's father. Shouldn't the father be here with them right now?

"Well, he's probably busy..."

Hina Hyuga's smile abruptly faded. She looked somewhat forlornly at the baby in the cradle and let out a soft sigh.

"Dad is a little sexist. He locked himself in his room and drank alone."

Hinata tugged at Naruto's sleeve and whispered into his ear.

"He likes boys more than girls? What does that mean? Aren't they both his children?"

"Naruto, you're still young, so you don't understand. As the head of the Main Family, he'll be criticized if he has no male heir. Having boys inherit the family estate has always been the accepted custom."

Hina Hyuga shook her head. She knew Hyuga Hiashi was angry, but he did not know whom to be angry at. He could only vent through drinking.

"That's his reason for not coming to see Aunt Hina? I can't accept that!"

"Naruto, where are you going?"

Ignoring Hinata's calls, Naruto ran out of the room, crossed numerous obstacles, and rushed into the Hyuga Clan study.

Hyuga Hiashi usually worked in the Hyuga Clan study, but the room was different from usual that day. The scent of books had been overwhelmed by the strong smell of alcohol, and Hyuga Hiashi was drinking hard liquor cup after cup.

"Who allowed you in?"

Hyuga Hiashi glared at Naruto in displeasure, his words reeking of alcohol.

"Who told you not to go see Aunt Hina and Hanabi? (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻"

What Hyuga Hiashi had not expected was that Naruto had an even worse temper than him. Naruto flipped over the low table in front of him and angrily demanded an answer.

"I don't have time."

"You don't have time because you're drinking here? Are you even a real man?"

"What do you know, brat?! Hina's body is no longer suited for childbirth. I'm the head of the Hyuga Clan, and I have no son. How am I supposed to hold my head up among the great clans?"

The more Hyuga Hiashi drank, the more depressed he became. He poured another mouthful of liquor down his throat.

"Cough, cough. How would I know what you want? I only know that Aunt Hina is lonely. When she needs you most, you're here drinking. And Hanabi too—she can't even see her father because of such a stupid reason. Don't you think that's pitiful?"

Naruto snatched the wine jug from Hyuga Hiashi's hand. Enduring the burning sensation, he gulped all of it down and argued with him in an even louder voice.

"If you like boys so much, then when Hinata and I have children, I'll give them to you! You scumbag, you bastard, you regressing amoeba!"

"...Brat, you're drunk."

Hyuga Hiashi actually sobered up a little and stared speechlessly at the brat spouting nonsense.

"I'm not drunk. Hinata and I will have ten, twenty children! If you like boys, I'll let you raise all of them! Are you satisfied now? Urgh!"

Under the effects of the alcohol, Naruto no longer knew what he was saying. After saying that, he collapsed to the floor and promptly fell asleep.

"To think I was scolded so thoroughly by a brat. I've truly been a head of the family for nothing."

Looking at Naruto lying helplessly on the floor, Hyuga Hiashi no longer looked drunk at all. He casually used Chakra to eliminate the aftereffects of the alcohol. As the clan head, no one dared criticize him directly. Even Hizashi Hyuga could only make subtle hints. Being cursed out while someone pointed a finger at his nose was a first.

"What a good child."

Getting so angry over someone else's affairs made him an idiot, but he was an idiot whom no one could bring themselves to dislike.

Afterward, it took Hina Hyuga a long time to find out why her husband's attitude had suddenly improved. When Hyuga Hiashi reluctantly explained the reason, she liked Naruto, her future son-in-law, even more.

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PS: Nine-Tails: I'll raise the kid. You can go play with your balls.

PS: There were generally only two kinds of novel protagonists: those loaded with cheats who could kill everything in one strike, and those who slowly grew. But Naruto was better suited to learning slowly. Perhaps some people preferred a genius protagonist sweeping across the world, but if Naruto were like that, would he still be the Naruto in our hearts? No. The Dead Last who climbed step by step to the peak was the Naruto we loved most.