Troublesome

Red chakra flowed from Naruto's hand into Hinata's forehead.

The space was small, and it was fully charged in ten seconds, which left Naruto somewhat dissatisfied; it still needed further improvement.

A small red dot appeared on Hinata's forehead, though it was usually hidden by her bangs. It was only then that Naruto noticed her hair; in the original story, Hinata seemed to have short hair, as ninjas rarely kept their hair too long.

Madara Uchiha was an exception, but in the ninja world, one could use chakra to control their hairstyle so it wouldn't interfere with combat. Of course, what Naruto didn't know was that Hinata had specifically grown it out after learning during a conversation that Naruto liked long hair. It had to be said that her long, jet-black hair made Hinata look very cute.

Hinata felt it with her heart, and hearing Naruto's explanation moved her deeply. Because of Naruto, Hinata had specifically learned about the Uzumaki Clan and knew that their most formidable skill was sealing jutsu.

Tsunade had developed the Strength of a Hundred Technique to complement the Yin Seal, which could even allow for the regeneration of severed limbs. Of course, even if he had it, Naruto didn't want Hinata to learn such a forbidden technique.

Warm and powerful—that was how Hinata perceived Naruto's chakra.

The chakra would slowly flow out to nourish Hinata's body. He just didn't know if Hinata's Byakugan could evolve. Her Byakugan already possessed the highest concentration within the Hyuga Clan, and now, being nourished by Naruto's chakra, he hoped it could take another step forward.

Naruto now possessed the chakra of Asura and Indra, and combined with his own Uzumaki Clan heritage, one could say he was close to gathering the bloodlines of his ancestors all by himself.

This seems pretty good. With the Six Thief Immortals, I could try absorbing all these bloodlines; I should be able to awaken some kind of special constitution, Naruto thought, rubbing his chin.

Hinata woke up and saw Naruto staring blankly ahead.

Time flew like an arrow, and the final year of school began. Naruto still sat in the back row, but unlike before, this time Hinata boldly became his desk mate.

Although Hinata's personality hadn't changed much, that was exactly what made her cute. At the very least, for Naruto, it was a relief that she didn't faint the moment she saw him.

"Naruto, you skipped class again." Hinata looked at Naruto with a sense of helplessness. Ever since he mastered the Shadow Clone, skipping class had become much more convenient.

"So, little Hinata, how did you figure it out?" The more experienced a person was, the harder it was to distinguish a Shadow Clone, yet Hinata could always tell whether it was the real Naruto or not.

"I can just feel it." Hinata couldn't explain it clearly either; she just knew it whenever she saw him.

Naruto didn't bother to argue and chatted with Hinata in a low voice.

Up ahead, Second Pillar couldn't help but glance in Naruto's direction.

Damn it, I don't know how strong this guy has actually become. What should I do? How much longer will these boring, time-wasting days last? Sasuke gritted his teeth. The last fight had been a huge blow to him. While he was still training, having seen Naruto's training, Sasuke was well aware of the gap in strength between them.

Sakura, sitting not far from Sasuke, was secretly observing him. Upon noticing his gaze, she couldn't help but look in the same direction.

It's that guy Naruto. Since when did he and Hinata get so close? Hmm, what's going on? It feels like Naruto has changed so much; he's even taller than Sasuke now. Because of the Six Thief Immortals, Naruto's presence was very low, and since he actively kept a low profile, his classmates rarely noticed him.

Sakura, who hadn't seen Naruto in a long time, observed him carefully and was suddenly shocked. In the original story, Naruto at this stage was still starving, drinking expired milk, and looked like a malnourished little blond brat.

The current Naruto had the Six Thief Immortals, was the tallest in his grade, had short hair, wore clean and simple clothes, and looked like a sunny, healthy boy.

Noticing someone watching him, Naruto glanced at the two of them and immediately saw Sasuke and Sakura.

He frowned nonchalantly. To be honest, the current Naruto felt that both of them were troublesome existences.

He also knew that he would definitely be placed in a team with these two later. Just thinking about it gave him a headache—a chuunibyou and a fangirl. It might be fun to watch in an anime, but in reality, the thought of being friends with such people felt awkward.

Several of Naruto's Shadow Clones were still researching at home.

Although Naruto's mental energy was quite good, both the Flying Thunder God and sealing jutsu gave him a massive headache. Fortunately, he didn't need to create them from scratch; he only needed to learn and optimize them to better suit himself.

In an underground space in the mountains behind the village, Naruto was training. The floor was covered in dense, complex sealing formulas that would give anyone a headache.

"One, two, three..." It was Naruto's real body doing the basic training. Shadow Clones could only be used for learning and accumulating experience; physical training had to be done by the original body.

Exhaling, Naruto's head was visibly covered in a sheen of sweat.

This sealing jutsu is truly miraculous... This place was originally where Naruto practiced sealing jutsu, but after researching an interesting seal, he had created a gravity field here to train his taijutsu, and the results were surprisingly good.

Training inside allowed for comprehensive development, and wherever he was injured, the Six Thief Immortals would instantly repair it, making his body even stronger after each recovery. While the current Naruto couldn't take an S-rank ninjutsu head-on without a scratch, he could likely handle B-rank ones, and he could recover instantly from A-rank ones.

In the Hokage's office:

"Lord Hokage, this is the recent situation regarding Naruto." Iruka was reporting to the Third Hokage.

"Why has Naruto changed so much lately?" The Third frowned. This was not what he had imagined. Placing Naruto with those from the second generation was meant to teach them the Will of Fire on one hand, and to foster bonds between them on the other.

But the current Naruto was so low-key that it made things difficult for the Third. Compared to the current Naruto, the Third preferred the old one; although he was a bit mischievous, those behaviors meant nothing to the Third.

"Lord Third, I feel like Naruto has become much more sensible." Iruka didn't understand the Third's inner thoughts; instead, he felt that Naruto had matured, which made him, as a teacher, look good.

"You've done well. You may go, Iruka." The Third didn't explain.

Iruka scratched his cheek, not quite understanding why the Third was dissatisfied.

After Iruka left, the Third began to ponder.

The little girl from the Hyuga family, is it? The Third frowned. If Naruto were getting close to others, it would be easier to handle, but the Hyuga family was a bunch of old fossils, which made things complicated.

In the original story, Naruto liked Sakura, Sakura liked Sasuke, and Naruto and Sasuke had a good relationship. To the jonin and the Hokage, these were what they called "bonds." Of course, they weren't wrong; the team assignments were all decided this way, whether it was the current Naruto or the old Team Kakashi.

Therefore, after Naruto showed an interest in Hinata, the Third had to consider a question: should he put Hinata and Naruto in the same team? The biggest advantage of doing so was that it could increase Naruto's bonds. In this ninja world, the best bonds were those of partners and friends, and they only trusted such connections.

But at the same time, he had to consider the feelings of the Hyuga family. Hinata was a member of the main house, her Byakugan had no restrictions, and the one who liked her was Naruto Uzumaki. Although Naruto's identity was kept secret, the high-ranking officials of Konoha all knew how important his identity was.