Entering the Campus

After the Third Hokage finished speaking, he looked at Naruto in the crystal ball and said, "I will talk to Naruto again; there must be something he hasn't said yet.

"Notify the various ninja villages first and have them carefully protect their jinchuriki. If what Naruto said is true, someone is definitely secretly collecting the Tailed Beasts. It is even more likely to be an organized group, so if they are discovered, we must unite and strike at this group together."

Hiashi and Fugaku nodded in agreement, saying, "That is the best solution." Afterward, the Third Hokage ended his surveillance of Naruto and his group.

Naruto said to Hinata, "Hinata, your Hyuga clan must have ninjutsu that works in tandem with your White Eye, right?"

Hinata nodded and said, "Yes, our Hyuga clan's Gentle Fist is used in conjunction with the White Eye. Because the White Eye can see a person's meridian system, our clan can use it to strike chakra into a person's body, sealing their chakra flow or damaging their internal organs. Furthermore, the White Eye possesses keen insight and a 360-degree field of vision with no blind spots."

Upon hearing Hinata's words, Naruto said, "Then demonstrate the Gentle Fist for me; I want to think about what direction you should develop in." Hinata had blind trust in Naruto, so she nodded and performed the Gentle Fist right in front of him without holding anything back.

Seeing that Hinata's Gentle Fist only exerted its power at close range, Naruto immediately had a plan.

After telling Hinata to stop, he said, "Hinata, I see that your Gentle Fist can only be used at close range, which limits your offensive options. If you encounter someone with better taijutsu than you, you will be forced into passive defense, let alone attacking.

"With such strong insight and chakra control, you should possess long-range skills rather than just close-quarters combat. You must fully utilize the advantages of the White Eye."

Hinata asked in confusion, "Then what should I do?"

"How about this: try to condense your chakra into a senbon needle. If you can manage that, using condensed chakra needles to perform the 'tenketsu' striking technique would be far more sophisticated than your current close-range method. If you succeed, your strength will increase exponentially." Naruto said this while thinking of the scene where Kaguya used her hair to pin down Sasuke's summoning beast.

In truth, this was also a training method Naruto had conceived for his own White Eye: using Gentle Fist for close combat, and chakra senbon for single-target long-range attacks, while using "Eight Trigrams Mountain Breaker" and "Rotation" for crowd control. However, Naruto was currently unable to practice it due to the influence of the Nine-Tails.

Hinata listened to Naruto's words and replied, "I will listen to you, Naruto-kun." But condensing chakra into a needle was difficult enough on its own, let alone ensuring it wouldn't dissipate after being fired; even Naruto could only achieve this while in "Sage Mode."

Just like that, Naruto and Sasuke practiced tree-climbing and water-walking, while Hinata practiced condensing her chakra. It is worth mentioning that after hearing Naruto's guidance to Hinata, Sasuke also asked Naruto what direction he should develop in.

Naruto simply replied indifferently, "Master tree-climbing and water-walking with me first. If you can't even control your chakra, talking about anything else is just empty talk."

In reality, Naruto really didn't have much to guide Sasuke on regarding his training; the applications of the Sharingan had already been thoroughly developed by his ancestors. Sasuke just needed to accumulate combat experience.

As for other applications of the Sharingan, he had his clan to rely on. As for Hinata, it was because her clan's development of the White Eye was simply too low (their imagination wasn't big enough), which was why Naruto was able to guide her.

And so, Hinata practiced how to condense chakra into needles, while Sasuke and Naruto practiced tree-climbing and water-walking until evening before heading home.

The three agreed to go to school together the next day and continue their training, though Naruto understood that it was unlikely Hinata and Sasuke could always train with him, as they still had to train in their respective clan's ninjutsu and taijutsu at home.

But at least Hinata and Sasuke promised to set aside some time every day to train together. Naruto was already very happy; at least they truly considered him a friend.

After seeing them home, Naruto muttered to himself, "Am I really afraid of loneliness? No, I should be used to it by now. But this feeling of having friends is really good."

Before Naruto could finish his reflection, a hateful voice rang out in his mind: "Even if Sasuke treats you like a brother now, don't forget that in two years, Itachi Uchiha will wipe out the Uchiha clan. When that time comes, Sasuke will only be immersed in hatred. Are you sure you can save him from that hatred? Don't forget, you aren't the original Naruto; you can't do what he did."

Upon hearing the Dark Persona's words, Naruto replied in his heart, "Heh, I am indeed not the original Naruto, but like him, I hate loneliness. Now that I've tasted the flavor of friendship, do you think I'll just give it up?

"You underestimate my intentions. What I said to Sasuke and Hinata today was actually meant for the Third Hokage, Fugaku, and Hiashi to hear. As long as they aren't stupid, the Uchiha clan won't be wiped out.

"But a major purge is certainly inevitable. Alright, you don't need to worry about what I do; just mind your own business." After replying, Naruto blocked the mental communication channel.

Seeing that Naruto had blocked the channel, the Dark Persona could only look displeased.

At this moment, the Good Persona said to the Dark Persona, "I'm really speechless when it comes to you. Can't you be a bit more optimistic? Always tearing people down like that will just make you hated."

The Dark Persona looked at the Good Persona with disgust and said, "Get lost, you hypocrite. You're even more disgusting and pathetic than I am." With that, he vanished.

The Good Persona was speechless, finally muttering to himself, "How did he know I was pathetic? Is my face too honest?" The Good Persona also vanished.

The next day, Sasuke came to knock on Naruto's door early in the morning to go to school together, which surprised Naruto, but he was also very happy. He thought, "It's incredible that this guy would actually take the initiative to find me."

But Naruto didn't tease him, because Sasuke was very prideful; if he teased him, Sasuke might fly into a rage out of embarrassment. He might never take the initiative to find him again, so Naruto suppressed the urge to tease Sasuke.

He only said, "Sasuke, wait a moment, I'm going to put on a mask." After Naruto put on a mask, he went to school with Sasuke. When they reached downstairs, they happened to meet Hinata, who had come to call for Naruto, so the three of them went to the Ninja Academy together.

Today was the first day of school, and the homeroom teacher, Iruka, arrived at the classroom early. This was his first time teaching, so he was a bit nervous.

As soon as Sasuke entered, he became the focus of all the girls in the class. Seeing those girls looking toward Sasuke, Naruto immediately took Hinata's hand and slipped to the side, finding a quiet corner to sit down with her.

"Hello, Sasuke-kun, my name is Ino Yamanaka. I'm very happy to be your classmate."

"Hello, Sasuke-kun, my name is Sakura Haruno. I'm very happy to be your classmate."

Just as Naruto pulled Hinata away, two girls—one with long blonde hair and the other with pink hair—approached Sasuke to introduce themselves.

Seeing others going to strike up a conversation, the other girls in the class were not to be outdone and came up to introduce themselves to Sasuke. Sasuke's face immediately darkened, but his upbringing meant that although he was annoyed, he didn't lose his temper; he was just depressed.

Naruto looked toward Sasuke and said, "It's a good thing I had the foresight, hehe. By the way, Hinata, you didn't get bumped into by this group of maniacs, did you?"

"No, I'm fine, Naruto-kun." Hinata replied with a blushing face. Her gaze involuntarily drifted to the hand still held by Naruto, and her heart felt sweet.

"What a drag," a weary, old-sounding voice rang out from the desk next to Naruto.

Naruto looked to his left and saw a kid wearing short sleeves with a ponytail, looking completely listless. Beside him was a chubby boy constantly eating potato chips. Naruto recognized them at a glance as the Konoha 12's Choji Akimichi and Shikamaru Nara.

Just then, two more people arrived at the classroom door: one with a small dog perched on his head, and the other wearing a large trench coat that wrapped him up tightly, with dark glasses on his face. "Those two must be Shino Aburame and Kiba Inuzuka.

"Adding the two girls circling Sasuke—the pink-haired Sakura Haruno and the blonde Ino Yamanaka—I've seen the nine rookies of this generation. The only ones missing are Neji, Tenten, and Lee, who are a year ahead of me."

While Naruto was lost in thought, Sasuke came over to sit next to him with a dark expression. "Hehe, Sasuke, you're really popular; it's truly enviable. Look at all those girls circling you. Hahaha." Naruto laughed with schadenfreude.

Sasuke's face grew even darker, and he said with ill intent, "Do you want me to pull off your mask and let the girls in class see your face? I don't think the effect would be any less than mine." Sasuke was still wondering why this guy had started wearing a mask again; it turned out he had planned it all along.

Naruto knew Sasuke was just venting, so he played along with a fearful expression, "I don't want that. I already have Hinata; I only need Hinata. You can have all the others; you're used to it anyway, aren't you?" Naruto raised his hand, which was still holding Hinata's.

Hinata was made to blush by Naruto's gesture and felt very shy, yet her heart was filled with sweetness. Seeing his smug look, Sasuke didn't say anything more; it was best just to ignore this guy.

Naruto didn't get angry when Sasuke ignored him and turned to chat with Hinata instead. The girls who had originally wanted to follow were also called back to their seats by Iruka.

"Today is the first day of school, so let's start with some simple self-introductions so everyone can get to know each other. When I call your name, please come up to the podium," Iruka said, clapping his hands.

The entire class quieted down, listening attentively to the teacher. Everyone, that is, except for Naruto. That guy was still chattering away incessantly to Hinata, and suddenly, Naruto's voice was the only thing left in the room.

"Hinata, do you think if I go tell Uncle Hiashi that you're my girlfriend, he'll beat me to death? Hmm, Hinata, why aren't you answering? Huh, why is it so quiet?" Naruto looked up and realized the entire class was staring at him.

It was awkward, but Naruto's skin was thicker than a city wall. He chuckled and said, "Carry on, don't mind me." After saying that, he sat there as if nothing had happened, quietly watching the homeroom teacher, Iruka.

It was as if he were saying, "Teacher, please continue; just pretend I don't exist."

This made Iruka extremely angry. Iruka prepared to let this disobedient student know that when a teacher is angry, the consequences are severe.