Naruto-kun caught me... How embarrassing.
Her little face instantly turned red. Lately, Naruto had greeted little Hinata whenever he saw her, hoping to cure her habit of fainting at the sight of him.
It seemed to be working. Hinata blushed, but she didn't faint.
"Nar... Naruto... kun."
She stammered, and her little hands began twirling in circles.
Seeing her adorable expression, Naruto nearly melted.
"Mm, just call me Naruto. I saw little Hinata here, so I came over to say hello." Naruto scratched his head.
Of course, that was just an excuse. He'd known for a while that Hinata had been watching him. The main reason he'd come over was that the Anbu watching him had recently let their guard down, and Root had also eased up on monitoring him.
There wasn't much to keep an eye on when he was just training his body. They mainly watched where Naruto was; what he did didn't concern them.
"Naruto," she whispered. Honestly, if Naruto's hearing hadn't been so sharp, he might not have heard her.
"Let's sit and chat." Naruto knew she was nervous, so he didn't stare at her face, even though little Hinata was very cute right now.
Naruto sat down and looked out over the river. No longer under his gaze, Hinata quietly breathed a sigh of relief and sat on the grass too.
"Training is for yourself. It's to protect the people you cherish, not to put on a show for others. I don't care what they think of me. If I really did, I wouldn't still be alive."
Naruto spoke to the river, trying to encourage Hinata as well. Having read the original story, he knew what she was like. If he had to say, her talent wasn't bad, but it wasn't outstanding either. Her personality held back her ability.
"Hmm?" Hinata didn't understand. But she knew what people said about Naruto, so she understood the second half.
Naruto smiled. If he hadn't lived another life, he might not have been able to let it go either. Still, he was a little troubled. He really wasn't good at talking people around, and a little girl wouldn't understand it if he went on about big ideas.
"Then don't think too much about it. I train because I want to protect my friends and the people who care about me. People like you, little Hinata." He scratched his head, thinking this might be a better way to explain it.
Hinata let the first part pass her by. The part about protecting her made her very happy, and for the first time, she felt motivated to train.
"Mm-hmm, I understand. I'll train hard too. I'll protect Father, my little sister, and Naruto." Her voice was barely audible by the end.
"Mm, do your best, Hinata. Remember, your strength belongs to you. It's for protecting your family and friends." Seeing a spark in little Hinata's eyes made Naruto happy.
Naruto's encouragement made Hinata even happier.
"If you have time later, you can come train with me. Since we've still got some time today, let's spar. I have the Uzumaki Constitution, so I won't get hurt. Don't hold back."
Seeing that little Hinata had gained some confidence, Naruto also worried she might be discouraged after going home. After thinking it over, he decided to see how she was doing, and explained that she didn't need to hold back. He also dragged a long cut across his arm with his fingernail, but it healed almost instantly.
Naruto wasn't lying. With the Nine-Tails Chakra, his own Uzumaki Constitution, and the Six Thief Immortals, Naruto was now almost as strong as the First Hokage's Sage Body.
Hinata hesitated. Seeing Naruto's face, she found it very hard to attack him.
"Just think of it as practice."
As he spoke, Naruto formed Hand Seals. It was the signal that their sparring was friendly.
Seeing this, Hinata made up her mind. She also wanted Naruto to see how strong she was.
They took their positions.
Hinata attacked first. Since it was their first time sparring, she didn't dare hit him too hard, nor did she dare use Tenketsu Strike.
Naruto raised a hand and blocked her attack.
"Hinata, are you looking down on me?" Naruto frowned. He understood her personality, but being so kind in a fight wasn't good.
Seeing Naruto frown, Hinata panicked a little, then steeled herself.
She activated her Byakugan.
She used Tenketsu Strike.
Naruto still blocked with his hand. Hinata's fingers struck his arm, and she was startled. She was just about to say something when what she saw through her Byakugan left her utterly shocked.
Naruto had barely felt anything, and his body had instinctively forced open the tenketsu in his arm. He'd also drawn on a little of his own chakra.
The terrifying amount of chakra nearly frightened Hinata.
Hinata had never seen the Third Hokage's chakra, but she had observed the Jonin in her clan. The chakra she'd just seen inside Naruto was greater than that of every Jonin she'd ever seen put together—and that was only in one of his arms.
Naruto, of course, had no idea. He'd never paid attention to his chakra: the Nine-Tails Chakra, the chakra in his own body, and the Natural Energy absorbed by the Six Thief Immortals.
Hinata took a deep breath. She'd known Naruto was strong, but she hadn't expected him to be this strong. Tenketsu Strike might not work on him.
Hinata began to take things seriously. Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms was currently little Hinata's limit. To avoid discouraging her, Naruto could only praise her. But having read the original story, he wasn't satisfied with her current strength. If nothing else, without a Chakra Mode, close combat really wasn't suited to the Ninja World.
Ninja had high attack and low defense. Taijutsu wasn't suited to the Ninja World—unless it was a combination of ninjutsu and taijutsu, like the Third Raikage and Fourth Raikage used.
As direct descendants of Kaguya Otsutsuki, the Hyuga Clan honestly didn't have much strength worth noting right now.
It wasn't that their Taijutsu was weak, but the current state of the Ninja World was all about ninjutsu. It was like mages fighting warriors. What kind of strategy was that...
While Naruto was still thinking about how to improve Hinata's strength, back in Konoha...
Root was the dark side of Konoha. Very few people knew where its base was.
In a base far beneath Konoha, Danzo was at work.
At that moment, a researcher entered with a report in hand. Danzo, who was determined to become Hokage, knew very well what mattered most in this era: strength. Though he was the same age as the Third Hokage, Danzo looked at least a generation younger. That was one of Root's achievements.
Root researched anything that could help improve strength, so sometimes even Danzo didn't know what they were studying.
After listening to the researcher drone on about a long list of technical details, Danzo's head began to ache. He wasn't like Orochimaru. He'd put all his skill points into scheming. How was he supposed to understand this stuff?
"Just tell me the conclusion." Danzo frowned, displeasure in his eyes.
The researcher wasn't stupid. He knew his superior couldn't understand all that, but they were researchers. If they didn't bring up some technical details, how could they show their expertise? If the boss understood everything, he'd think, "I know all this already. What do I need you for?"
"Sir, we need cells from the Uzumaki Clan for our research. That may allow us to increase your chakra reserves, which would greatly help you suppress the Hashirama Cells."