Naruto had no real choice. The first option was clearly unacceptable. No matter what he truly thought, Hinata's presence was a stroke of luck for him.
No one disliked gentle girls, and Naruto was no exception.
He was not that dense Naruto, but a normal person.
A princess liked him. If he did not cherish that properly, he would probably be struck by lightning.
Even though he could vaguely sense that Hinata being allowed to get close to him was tacitly approved by the village and the Hyuga Clan, he accepted it. Whether it was to continue the Uzumaki Clan bloodline or ensure the Jinchuriki had descendants, so be it.
In the end, he was not the real Naruto, but a soul from another dimension.
To him, the outcome was not the most important thing. The process was.
Riverbank.
Hinata nervously gripped the Fishing Rod. Suddenly, her hand trembled, and a jolt of electric tension flashed through her heart as she stammered.
"Naruto! The fish! The fish took the hook!"
The Max-level Fishing Skill had taken effect. The rule-defying power of catching fish with an empty hook was truly terrifying.
Naruto had expected this result. Calmly, he held Hinata's hand and slowly played the fish. Everything felt incredibly novel to Hinata, and being wrapped in Naruto's arms made her unbearably nervous.
"Once it runs out of strength, we'll pull it up together," Naruto suggested.
"Okay!" Hinata replied, her breathing slightly hurried and her face flushed red.
The Hyuga ninja in the distance had gone pale. Seeing that there really seemed to be a fish underwater, ten thousand wild alpacas galloped through his mind.
"Impossible! How could a fish bite without bait?" The Hyuga ninja looked as though he had seen a ghost. Unlike Hinata, whose heart was fluttering, he could not overlook every detail.
He only wanted to know how that brat had caught a fish with an empty hook. He did not even care that his young lady was loosely held in someone else's arms as he stared blankly at the waters in the distance.
A fish had really taken the hook, biting down on it tightly.
"Lift it slowly like this." Naruto held Hinata's hand and earnestly taught her. "Then pull!"
With a smack, the huge black fish was yanked out of the water by the line, tracing a semicircular trail of spray through the air. The river shimmered, its sparkling light reflected in Hinata's eyes.
"I caught it?" After freezing for a moment, Hinata asked with a flushed face, her voice excited yet nervous.
Naruto knew that Hinata had always lacked confidence and had an exceptionally gentle temperament. Yet deep down, she desperately wanted her abilities to be acknowledged rather than being seen merely as the Hyuga princess.
"Yeah!" Taking advantage of their height difference, Naruto casually patted Hinata's head. "Hinata is already amazing. You'll definitely become a gentle wife someday."
Reward issued successfully. Please create a virtual puppet persona? ---(Any identity. Once created, it will automatically be rationalized, and you may speak using this identity.)
Hinata's face instantly turned crimson. Naruto's sudden words made her stammer again.
"Wife?!!!"
"N-No, I haven't... That sort of thing is just too...!"
At that moment, Naruto's mind was entirely focused on the puppet persona.
Awesome!
Any identity? In that case, he could do that too.
--God of Shinobi-- Creation successful. Deity created successfully. The host may speak once per day.
Naruto could not help but cough inwardly. So it really meant any identity.
Although this thing did not seem particularly useful, it could make people within a certain range receive the puppet's words. Well, was that not basically the Yamanaka Clan's technique?
Whatever.
From now on, he could speak as the God of Shinobi? Woohoo! Time to take off!
Blushing, Hinata gathered her courage and looked at Naruto. Seeing the delighted expression on his face as he gazed at her affectionately, her face turned even redder.
"Naruto..." Hinata's mind went blank, her legs gave out, and she fell backward.
"Hinata!" Naruto was startled. Quick-eyed, he hurriedly caught her, but no matter how he called, Hinata did not respond.
"How did she suddenly faint?" Naruto muttered. He touched Hinata's forehead, then checked her breathing before finally setting her down on the soft grass with relief.
Seeing that Hinata would not wake up anytime soon, he had no choice but to deal with the huge black fish first. Then he gathered some nearby wood and built a grill before sitting down and opening the panel.
--God of Shinobi-- (May speak today)
What should he say?
Naruto fell into thought. Since it was such a powerful broadcasting tool and even carried the title of God of Shinobi, while only allowing him to speak once per day...
Why not make a God of Shinobi Diary?
Ahem. He did it as soon as he thought of it.
Naruto entered the following words into the message box.
"August 15th, sunny. God of Shinobi Diary: Ninjas nowadays are all idiots. If there aren't any long-legged shrine maidens in short skirts dancing the ritual sacrifice dance, then let's just destroy this world! Also, Shimura Danzō has way too many Sharingan on him. It makes me sick."
Ding! God of Shinobi created successfully. Speech range: 500,000 square meters.
At that moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had been working with a brush in hand, suddenly trembled and scribbled all over the official document. The words of the God of Shinobi had inexplicably appeared in her mind, and their content nearly made her cough up blood.
When she turned to look at her guards and saw that both Yamashiro Aoba and Namiashi Raidō looked wrong, she knew things had gone bad.
"Lord Hokage!" Namiashi Raidō walked up to Hiruzen Sarutobi's desk, looking at her with a tense expression.
The situation had already surpassed his imagination. The moment words appeared out of nowhere in his mind, Namiashi Raidō, as a guard, had realized the severity of the matter.
As for the contents of that diary-like text, Namiashi Raidō did not dare think about them.
"Emergency situation! Summon the Konoha High Command for a meeting. Wait, bring Inoichi Yamanaka here first." The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, gave the order with a stern face.
"Yes!" As the Hokage's guards, Yamashiro Aoba and Namiashi Raidō accepted the order and immediately vanished in a Body Flicker.
The Yamanaka Clan was one of Konohagakure's few clans specializing in spiritual ninjutsu. Their clan head, Inoichi Yamanaka, was especially skilled in a series of interrogation techniques such as the Mind Body Switch Technique. Even if an enemy refused to speak, he could still obtain intelligence.
Elsewhere, Danzo, who had been resting with his eyes closed, was frightened pale by the sudden text, but quickly calmed down.
He understood that someone had to be behind this. He had to drag that person out!
"Someone!" Danzo called out.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Four or five masked Root Ninja suddenly appeared and knelt on one knee before Danzo.
"Go investigate what's going on!"
"Yes, Lord Danzo!"
Elsewhere, the God of Shinobi himself was teaching Hinata how to grill fish hand in hand, utterly free of guilt as he enjoyed this sweet, bubbling moment.
"Hinata, look. Turning the fish like this will make the meat more tender."
"Delicious."
Before you continue