Friends

Friends

"The Demon Fox has shown his true colors! He's going to eat us!"

After their leader was knocked to the ground, the remaining two boys lost all their earlier courage. Trembling, they said, "It was his idea to deal with you. Just get revenge on him—don't come bully us!"

"Bully you?"

Naruto snorted and stepped forward, pulling the two apart before leaving several bright red handprints on their faces.

The boys, feeling the pain, wore aggrieved expressions as tears welled up in their eyes.

At that moment, the first boy Naruto had knocked down climbed back to his feet. Covering his bleeding nose, he declared stubbornly, "Demon Fox, we'll admit defeat this time. But you won't be so lucky next time. We'll bring more people to drive you away."

"Looks like you still haven't realized your mistake."

Naruto had no patience for bratty kids. He beat them until they begged for mercy. Who wasn't a kid, anyway?

Before long, the boys were bruised and swollen, sitting in the snow as they wiped away snot and tears. They regretted their earlier threats, and their attitude toward Naruto became far more respectful.

"Boss Naruto, we were wrong. We shouldn't have provoked you. We'll never dare do it again."

"Yeah! We'll listen to you from now on. You're our new boss!"

Hearing that, Naruto sighed helplessly and waved them off. "Forget it. Go. Just behave yourselves next time, and don't provoke me again."

The boys acted as though they had received a pardon. As they left, they exchanged looks, discussing how they should get revenge on the Demon Fox.

Then Naruto suddenly appeared behind them and placed a hand on each of their shoulders. "Say, you wouldn't happen to be begging for mercy on the surface while thinking about how to get revenge on this Demon Fox later, would you?"

The boys jolted and trembled all over. "Naruto, how could we dare call you the Demon Fox...?"

Naruto shook his head, revealing a sinister smile. "You don't need to hide and call me the Demon Fox behind my back. I don't hate that name. I am the Demon Fox, that's true, but I'm also Uzumaki Naruto. Just remember to think about the consequences before you provoke me again."

The boys looked at one another, cold sweat appearing on their foreheads. They no longer dared discuss any revenge plans and hurriedly fled the park.

After successfully scaring the boys away, Naruto turned to look at Hinata, the hardest one to deal with. She was gazing at him with admiration, so stunned that she had even forgotten to stand up from the snow.

With mixed feelings, Naruto helped Hinata up from the snow and stared into her eyes. "Why didn't you fight back just now?"

To be honest, he had not wanted to interfere with this bullying. Hinata was bullied purely because of her personality.

In terms of strength, those boys could never have been Hinata's match. In terms of family background, she was leagues above them. Yet her timid nature, along with her unusual Byakugan, had made Hinata a target for bullying.

But Hinata was the only one who had come to him for help, and her experience reminded him of himself.

Under Naruto's gaze, Hinata stammered, "Father taught me not to attack ordinary people casually. I've trained in the clan's Gentle Fist, and I might accidentally hurt them..."

"So you'd rather be covered in injuries yourself than hurt anyone else?"

"That's right. Once they get bored, they'll leave soon enough. They won't waste too much time on me."

Hinata's answer made Naruto want to laugh. "Don't you know that it's exactly this kind of behavior that makes them bully you even more? If you fought back, at least they wouldn't dare lay a hand on you."

"But..." Hinata tried to explain, only for Naruto to cut her off. "Have you thought about it? If I had chosen to endure it just now, wouldn't they have humiliated me too? But now, they've already run away with their tails between their legs."

"It's not like that. If it were you, I would defy Father's teachings..."

By the time she reached those last few words, Hinata's voice was so soft it was nearly inaudible, and her little face had grown hot.

Not far away.

One fat and one thin, two onlookers stood across the road, having witnessed the entire scene of Naruto driving away the brats.

After pouring the last of his chips into his mouth, the fat boy said to the thin boy beside him, "Shikamaru, looks like we don't need to step in. He handled this crisis himself and saved the Hyuga Clan's eldest daughter."

The person Choji meant was naturally Naruto, while the two of them were Choji Akimichi and Shikamaru Nara.

They had received instructions from their fathers to build a good relationship with the village's Demon Fox—preferably becoming friends.

Yet the moment they found Naruto, they saw the Hyuga Clan's eldest daughter being bullied and Naruto coming to her rescue, so they chose to watch from the sidelines.

Shikamaru wore a lazy expression. After yawning, he said languidly, "It really is unexpected. But... right now, I just want to find somewhere to sleep. I'm way too tired."

"You sleep every day. Haven't you slept enough already?"

Choji sounded somewhat dissatisfied before asking, "Shikamaru, are we still going over there? From what the Demon Fox did just now, he seems different from the image people in the village spread around. He fights back against bullying and protects the weak."

Shikamaru opened his eyes. "Let's find another chance next time... Going over now would be too deliberate. This is a task our dads gave us, after all."

Choji took out another bag of chips and opened it. "You're smarter, so I'll listen to you... We'll come back next time."

Neither Choji's nor Shikamaru's movements escaped the Nine-Tails' senses. It had already memorized their scents.

However, the Nine-Tails was more interested in watching the show right now. Seeing the flustered Naruto and the shy Hinata, it bared its teeth in a wicked grin.

The Nine-Tails planned to remember Hinata's expressions and movements so it could use them to mock Naruto later. This was one of its few pleasures.

After Naruto escorted Hinata back to the Hyuga Compound once more, the Hyuga Clan guards seemed unsurprised by the eldest daughter wandering off. Before he left, they even thanked Naruto.

"If it were you, I would choose to defy Father..."

Walking down the street, Naruto soon heard the Nine-Tails' voice and could not help frowning.

For some reason, the Nine-Tails' ability to make sarcastic remarks had greatly improved. It was practically becoming a full-fledged sarcastic fox. Considering that the one inside him was only the Yang Nine-Tails, calling it a sarcastic fox was not exactly wrong.

So Naruto gave the Nine-Tails a bright, cheerful smile.

"What are you thinking, brat? I feel like something's off about you." Although the Nine-Tails did not know what Naruto was thinking, it sensed a wave of malice from him.

"Nothing. I just think Mr. Nine-Tails' tails are kind of cute. I want to use them as a blanket."

"Brat, I will absolutely not allow such a thing. Never." The Nine-Tails crossed its arms in a gesture of refusal, its fur standing on end like a beast's.

"I was kidding."

Naruto casually replied to the Nine-Tails, but another pleasant voice rang out beside his ear:

Hinata Hyuga's favorability toward you has reached Trust. You have obtained 'Gentle Fist Training Notes.' These are the insights into the Gentle Fist that the girl gained through diligent training.