Hinata, Don't Be So Extreme

"Yeah, I was looking for Hinata, but I stopped by to see you." Naruto smiled, not trying to hide his feelings.

Neji was used to this; having spent many years together, he knew the other's character. From the moment he convinced himself to break free of the Caged Bird, his goal was Hinata.

It might seem strange to others—why would someone manipulate an entire noble ninja clan just for a woman? But when it comes to Naruto, it makes perfect sense.

Neji knew very well that Naruto wasn't interested in the Hyuga Hinata, or even in Konohagakure. Naruto had already grown into a ninja of the legendary Legendary Sannin level, and given his conflicts with the village, it was even less likely he would risk his life for it.

In other words, Naruto is incredibly powerful, but his ideals clash with those of the village. The departure of the Legendary Sannin from the village twenty years ago mirrors the current situation.

If there has to be a difference, aside from their bonds, Jiraiya and Tsunade at least had deep feelings for their village. But for Naruto, he had little affection for the village, only the bond with his group of friends.

These thoughts flashed through Neji's mind and vanished in an instant. He looked at Naruto and said...

"I'm getting married the day after tomorrow."

"So fast?"

Naruto remembered what Neji had said earlier, but he hadn't paid attention to it at the time. His friends were getting married one after another, and he was always away and might not have time.

"Um."

"Okay, I will definitely go." Naruto agreed immediately.

The two chatted for a while longer, Neji found a polite excuse to smoothly end the conversation. Then, he naturally invited Hinata over, while he himself withdrew, leaving the two lovers alone.

Neji was a reliable teammate and, naturally, a responsible clan leader. He didn't care about the relationship between Naruto and Hinata; he only knew which side he, as the clan leader, should lean towards.

The Hinata operates under a patriarchal system, where the clan head and other elders act as the clan's leaders, meaning they can manage matters large and small. Neji had no intention of getting involved in his cousin's private affairs, preferring to act as a middleman for their meetings.

Whether from the perspective of the Hyuga Clan or from the standpoint of a friend, Neji hoped that Naruto and Hinata could have a happy ending.

"Would you like some of this tea? I brought it from home." Hinata knelt on the tatami mat, looking at Naruto with gentle eyes. "You said you liked the taste last time."

"Okay." Naruto couldn't really remember; perhaps it was just a casual compliment at the time.

Hinata, however, remembered and took a tea box from her small bag, placing it on the table. Naruto glanced at the bag and couldn't help but gasp.

If you ignore the exorbitant price, the appearance is indeed quite simple and unpretentious; probably only Hinata would use such a simple little tea box.

"Hinata, I remember this tea is quite rare, isn't it?" Naruto seemed to remember something, and suddenly froze, his expression turning strange as he looked at her.

"You brought all this tea out, does Lord Hiashi have any objections?"

If he remembered correctly, he had tasted this tea by chance last time and praised it a few times. Hinata stammered, saying that she got the tea from her father, and there wasn't enough to give it to him.

Naruto didn't actually want it; he was just saying it casually. He had to explain for a long time before Hinata finally believed that he didn't really want it.

But now.

"Um... Father doesn't know," Hinata said softly, blushing.

Upon hearing this, Naruto felt a lump in his throat. He thought to Hinata, you're truly your father's heartless little darling. Do you Hyuga Hiashi?

"Just take a little out to taste, there's no need to bring the whole can." Naruto's heart was pounding. This girl was too dense; he wondered if his father-in-law had noticed the tea canister was missing yet.

"It's alright, Father has another jar. The head of the Egawa family gave my father a jar." Hinata looked up and explained, "I said I wanted a jar, and Father gave it to me."

The Egawa family is one of the Four Great Noble Families in the Capital City of the Land of Fire, but was recently reduced to the third great noble family by Naruto. Among them, the Egawa family has a deep connection Hinata the Hyuga family and their attitude is the best.

Naruto blinked. What kind of rare tea could a super-noble family give away only one can? He couldn't believe that Hinata wanted it, Hyuga Hiashi would just give it away so easily.

"Could it have been stolen?" He glanced at Hinata cautiously and asked nervously.

He thought to himself that he had already acted extremely, and Hinata wouldn't be even more extreme than him.

"No." Hinata shook her head, blushing as she said, "No, it really was given to me by my father. He told me to keep it safe."

"I thought you'd like it, Naruto, so... so I brought it along."

After speaking, she paused, then quietly looked up at Naruto. As if afraid he wouldn't accept it, she quickly reached out and pushed the tea box over.

"How do you like it?"

Naruto stared at the box of precious tea that had been pushed in front of him on the table. The wind whistled past his ears as it swept through the courtyard. He seemed to snap out of his reverie, looking up and exchanging a glance with Hinata.

"I love so much."

She suddenly breathed a small sigh of relief, and a smile appeared on her face.

"I'm glad you like it."

Everyone expresses love in different ways, Hinata lives in a relatively closed environment. The Main Family does not easily undertake dangerous missions, nor does it easily leave the Hyuga compound.

Her sky was a small, narrow well opening; she sat in a dry well called Hinata, gazing at the sky. Tradition only confines the body, not the soul.

Perhaps this is Hinata's way of expressing affection: what others consider priceless treasures are, in her eyes, just little trinkets to make someone smile.

"Are you leaving the village again soon?" she asked cautiously.

"Hmm? No, I might stay for a while." Naruto sipped his rare tea, feeling refreshed. "I don't know how long, but I'll definitely be at Neji's wedding the day after tomorrow."

"Naruto, is it because you have a mission that you can't stay in the village?" Hinata asked, biting her lower lip, looking somewhat hesitant. "Because you always seem to be very busy."

"I wouldn't say I'm very busy, I just don't really want to go back to the village." He rested one hand on the table, leaned his head back, and looked at Hinata with a smile.

"Why?" Hinata was a little flustered.

Nikko streamed in through the window, making her skin appear exceptionally fair and delicate. Her collarbone was hidden beneath the plain neckline of her short-sleeved shirt, and her chest was full and rounded, like a deer hidden in the wild.

"This village and I are not compatible," he said dismissively.

Hinata didn't understand what the Eight Characters were, but she could hear the dissatisfaction with Konohagakure in Naruto's tone. Sure enough, he had a problem with the village.

After Naruto finished speaking, the little girl stared at him stubbornly, without saying a word. He couldn't help but find it a little funny, so he leaned closer to meet her gaze.

"Okay, I'll tell you the truth. Are you sure you want to hear it?"

She hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said.

"Want!"

"Naruto, do you hate the village?"

"I wouldn't say I hate them, I just don't like them." Naruto paused and organized his thoughts before saying, "This village doesn't respect heroes, and they want me to risk my life without giving anything in return."

"Huh?" Hinata was a little confused, obviously not understanding what he said. "The current Kage of the village is Kakashi-sensei, and you are his student, so it's definitely not possible."

"Kakashi won't, but others might not be," he interrupted. "Kakashi told me privately that he will only be in office for a few years before leaving."

"Although I'm no longer Jinchuriki, I'm still considered quite strong within the village. If anything happens, I'll probably be the one to step in."

"I don't have to worry about anyone tripping me up while Kakashi is in office, but what about after that? Unless Shikamaru is the next Hokage, I don't want to gamble with the future, after all, this village has a bad reputation."

"Kakashi's father died by suicide, Legendary Sannin disbanded because they didn't want to return to the village. Hinata, to be honest, I'm safer and freer outside."

Hinata fell silent upon hearing this.

She roughly understood that Naruto had his own difficulties and didn't completely trust the village. Instead, he wanted to maintain an equal relationship with the village, just like Lord Jiraiya and Lord Tsunade.

Naruto is incredibly powerful, and with Legendary Sannin as his backers and the Hokage's backing, he is fully capable of standing on equal footing with the village.

"Okay, I understand." She nodded, forcing a smile.

"I don't want to come back, you can leave the village," Naruto added. "Won't you get bored staying in this village all the time?"

"Leave the village?" Hinata murmured, looking down. "But... where can I go? Father said it's not safe outside, the Hyuga Clan members are all..."

"With me here, there won't be any danger. Besides, the world is vast, and there's much more interesting outside." Naruto tapped his fingers on the table.

Seeing Hinata's conflicted expression, he stopped talking and changed the subject.

The two spent the entire afternoon together, as the place wasn't entirely private. They simply drank tea, chatted, and played a few rounds of billiards, and that was about it.

Except for the last ball, all the others were scored.

As night fell, something the size of a garlic bulb emerged from Hokage Rock. The night wind howled, and the flickering lamplight could not reach that dim corner.

A half-black, half-white humanoid creature, with half its body exposed, observed its surroundings, while the white half murmured to itself.

"Isn't this the place? All this land is mine, so entering Konohagakure isn't difficult. It's just that I don't want to waste time figuring out whether Nine-Tails is actually in Konohagakure."

"I see. I smelled the Nine-Tails' chakra. It was all a lie; the Nine-Tails has always been hiding in Konohagakure. Naruto Uzumaki?"

After saying that, Black Zetsu's body disappeared into the ground.

In the Konoha Forest, Obito Uchiha was resting on the trunk of a giant tree when he suddenly opened his eyes, seemingly startled by a noise. Black Zetsu appeared halfway up the trunk, silently watching him.

"Did you find it?" he asked.

"The Nine-Tails is in Konohagakure, Naruto Uzumaki is there too," said Black Zetsu, a war correspondent. "All we need to do is capture the person he cares about, threaten him, and force the Nine-Tails to show itself."

This is their consistent approach, just like what they did to Yahiko and Nagato on the battlefield in the Land of Rain many years ago—all they have to do is set up a trap.

The trick may be old, but it never fails.

"Yes, find out as much as possible, preferably without us showing ourselves." Obito, already used to being in the dark, said, looking at the brightly lit Konohagakure.

Over the years, he has done this countless times.

In the Land of Rain, Obito, who called himself Uchiha Madara, used a scheme to incite Nagato's hatred for the world. He then led Nagato to establish the Akatsuki Organization and manipulated it from behind the scenes.

During the Third Shinobi World War, he controlled the Fourth Mizukage and launched the Bloody Mist Kirigakure into Genin strife among the genin and nearly caused the extinction of the Mist Ninja.

Then, taking advantage of Kushina's weakness during childbirth, he orchestrated the Nine-Tails Night, forcing Minato and his wife to their deaths.

On the night of the Uchiha Clan Massacre, he participated in the entire process and made a deal with Itachi Uchiha, helping Itachi Uchiha slaughter the entire clan on the condition that he would not harm Sasuke and Konohagakure.

Over the years, he had become accustomed to using intrigue and trickery to defeat his opponents, and had never failed once. He numbly watched those people being manipulated by him, watching them struggle in pain, and die with resentment in their hearts.

"We've found the people, but it seems there are two," Black Zetsu said. "One is the young lady of the Hyuga Clan, and the other is the young lady of the Yamanaka Clan."

Upon hearing this, Obito pondered for a moment, then looked up and spoke.

"Then let's arrest them both."

"Hehe." The White Zetsu on the Black Zetsu side suddenly laughed and said to Obito, "Then let's each grab one. I'll go find the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki."

It was late at night.

Naruto was having an outdoor meal with Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba Inuzuka, and a few others, sitting at a small table on either side. Moths were flying aimlessly around the overhead chandelier, looking rather silly.

The height of summer has passed, and the last trace of sweltering heat has dissipated in the night breeze with the arrival of early autumn.

The place where the group ate wasn't a fancy shop, but just a simple food stall. The owner, a middle-aged man, clattered in a few bottles of liquor.

The stalls were surrounded by the seemingly endless Konohagakure Street, with lights of varying brightness stretching into the distance, twinkling like stars connecting to the sky.

"Cheers!!!"

The four figures cast long shadows under the lamplight, swaying as they clinked glasses. The occasional clinking of glasses filled the air as they talked and gulped down their drinks.

Naruto pinched the bottle neck with two fingers, squinting as he watched Shikamaru and the others chatter on and on. They'd had too much to drink, so they started talking non-stop.

Shikamaru complained about the tedium of life, how his married life was mundane and full of trivialities. He rummaged through the mundane chatter, picking out sweets to eat, his complaints sounding more like boasts.

Choji made a sarcastic remark, only to be playfully shoved by Shikamaru. Amidst the commotion, they drank cup after cup of sake, and all four of them became somewhat drunk.

Naruto felt increasingly uneasy as he drank, and eventually, feeling a bit drunk, he simply stopped drinking. Choji glanced at Naruto, looking puzzled, and asked...

"Naruto, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

"Don't drink if you're not feeling well." Shikamaru mumbled drowsily as he lay on the table. He was the most drunk of the four.

"What happened?" Kiba Inuzuka looked at him and asked with a smile.