Hinata's Gift

Hinata's Gift

A few days later, at the small forest training ground.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

With Naruto's sharp shout, two Shadow Clones immediately appeared beside him and lunged at Shikamaru and Choji, grappling with them.

When there was no obvious gap in strength, a numerical advantage became extremely important.

Shikamaru and Choji did not hold out for long before they were defeated, choosing to surrender.

Seeing Shikamaru and Choji admit defeat, Naruto dismissed his Shadow Clone Jutsu and smilingly took out the lunchboxes he had prepared beforehand.

With Shikamaru and Choji's help, and with the Nine-Tails not interfering, he had mastered the Shadow Clone Jutsu in just a few days. This also proved his talent for ninjutsu.

If the Naruto from the original story had been like him earlier, he would never have ended up at the bottom of the class.

After the sparring match ended, Shikamaru and Choji looked at Naruto as though they were seeing a monster. They even began wondering whether the rumors about the Demon Fox might be true.

Otherwise, despite being roughly the same age, they had only just begun learning their clans' secret techniques and the Three Basic Ninjutsu Techniques.

Yet Naruto had already practiced the Three Basic Ninjutsu Techniques to perfection and had even mastered the more advanced Shadow Clone Jutsu. That was a B-rank ninjutsu, extremely difficult to learn.

What frightened them even more was that Naruto had mastered the Shadow Clone Jutsu in so little time. His rate of improvement was simply too fast.

While eating the lunch Naruto had brought, Choji said to Shikamaru, "Shikamaru, will we no longer be qualified to be Naruto's opponents in the future?"

Shikamaru fell silent. He and Choji truly were no match for Naruto. Perhaps only by joining forces with the Yamanaka Clan's heir would they stand a chance of winning in the future.

But this also proved that his judgment had been correct. Naruto was only suited to being a friend, not an enemy.

As he reflected, Shikamaru grew curious about Naruto's true identity. Could he be the descendant of some important figure in the village? A phoenix could not fly out of a chicken coop.

But judging by how deeply his father avoided the subject, it was better not to ask too much.

While he was lost in thought, Naruto came over to Shikamaru and Choji. The three chatted and laughed, talking about all sorts of interesting things in the village before quickly shifting the topic to the foreign ninja.

Hearing this, Naruto said, "So, from what you're saying, a lot of foreign ninja have come to the village recently?"

Shikamaru glanced at Naruto and explained, "They're members of the Cloud Village Envoy. The war at the front lines has ended, and they came to sign a peace agreement with us."

Choji nodded in agreement. "I heard that both Konoha and Cloud suffered heavy losses in this conflict. To keep the other ninja villages from taking advantage, both sides made this decision."

At that moment, Shikamaru added, "But it's good news for us too. During the last ninja war, even ninja academy students had to fight. We've avoided that kind of tragedy, since we'll all become ninja in the future."

"You received your academy admission notice too, right?"

"That's right. Grandpa Hokage brought me the admission notice last time."

Naruto nodded slightly, but the furrow in his brow did not ease. It was not because Konoha and Cloud were signing a peace agreement, but because the Cloud Village Envoy had awakened a memory.

As he remembered it, the Cloud Village Envoy had come this time not only to sign a peace agreement, but also with the mission of taking the Byakugan.

This indirectly led to Neji Hyuga's father dying tragically, and the conflict between the Hyuga Main Family and the Branch Family becoming increasingly severe.

At that moment, Choji stopped eating and walked over. "Oh, right. Shikamaru and I have something to tell you."

Naruto looked puzzled. "What is it?"

Scratching his head, Choji said, "After today, Shikamaru and I probably won't have time to play with you anymore. Our clans want Shikamaru, me, and the Yamanaka Clan kids our age to train together. The training has to take place within the clan grounds."

The new generation of Ino-Shika-Cho?

Naruto looked at Shikamaru and Choji, then nodded. "All right, go do what you need to do. I happen to have other ninjutsu to practice too. We'll meet again at the ninja academy."

Hearing this, Shikamaru seemed to want to say something but stopped himself. When Naruto noticed, he gave him a faint smile.

After confirming that they would be parting for the time being, Naruto, Shikamaru, and Choji played happily for the entire afternoon and said a proper farewell. They might have approached him with motives, but the happiness had not been fake.

That had also been the Third Hokage old man's intention—to artificially create bonds for him.

After watching Shikamaru and Choji leave, Naruto walked alone through the streets. Ever since learning that the Cloud Village Envoy had arrived, he felt that the village had become much livelier than before.

There were many more Cloud ninja with bronze-colored skin along the streets, haggling with shopkeepers.

When passing pedestrians saw Naruto, they all revealed looks of disgust. Yet the next moment, when they looked at the Cloud ninja, their faces became fawning, as though they had seen saviors.

Naruto gave a cold laugh and ignored their stares as he continued on his way.

To these villagers, the Demon Fox brought misfortune, while the Cloud Village Envoy had come bearing peace, so they put on an appearance of welcoming peace.

But they seemed to have forgotten that Cloud had been the side to start the war.

After wandering around for a while, Naruto arrived at a relatively secluded park, intending to enjoy some peace and quiet by himself.

After entering the park, he discovered a small figure sitting on a bench. It was Hinata.

She held a gift box in her arms and cautiously looked around, as though waiting for someone to appear. Upon seeing Naruto, she hurriedly stood and said:

"Naruto... please accept my gift."

Naturally, Naruto would not reject Hinata's feelings, but he quickly noticed something odd. "Hinata, how did you find me? Have you been waiting here for several days?"

Hinata gave a small sound of surprise and stammered, "The first day... I didn't expect to run into Naruto by chance."

After asking carefully, Naruto was somewhat surprised. Hinata had secretly slipped out to give him a gift. Because she did not know where he lived, she had waited for him in this park.

Yet as if guided by fate, Hinata had actually waited for him and placed the gift in his hands.

Naruto felt somewhat moved. He looked at Hinata and said, "I'll accept your gift, but don't secretly come out to find me again, especially when it's already so late. What if you get lost again?"

Hearing this, Hinata lowered her head and explained, "I've been working very hard to practice the Gentle Fist. I-I won't be bullied... I just... wanted to see Naruto."

Naruto felt an indescribable happiness upon hearing those words.

Then Naruto suddenly looked around. Only after sensing a Chakra similar to Hinata's did he relax.

The Hyuga Clan had finally learned their lesson. After several incidents where she had been bullied, they had finally been willing to assign a guard to Lady Hinata. Otherwise, one might think Hinata was an adopted child.

Thinking of Hinata's experience of being kidnapped, Naruto leaned closer and whispered, "Hinata, go to bed early. Be careful when walking at night, and make sure an adult is with you. I'm worried something might happen to you again."

"Ah..."

Feeling Naruto's breath, Hinata blushed like a boiling kettle and nearly buried her head into her shoulders. After a few seconds, she finally nodded. "I'll listen to Naruto."