After saying that, Hyuga Hiashi had nothing more to add.
He tucked his hands into his loose sleeves.
Then he slowly walked into the side courtyard.
Today had been one of the days he'd talked the most.
Well... in his whole life.
It was the most he'd ever said at once!
As the Hyuga Clan's Clan Head, he had too many things to worry about.
Sometimes, he couldn't take everything into consideration.
He found it a little unbelievable himself that he'd said so much to Naruto today!
He believed that as long as Naruto was smart, he would understand the meaning behind his words.
Naruto gazed into the distance, his eyes deep, looking up at the sky dyed red by the setting sun.
"Had my father-in-law just laid out the conditions for giving his daughter away?"
"He wants me to become Hokage, then use the Hokage's authority to help the Hyuga Clan reform its internal system!"
"I wonder what exactly changed my father-in-law's state of mind."
"Wasn't he supposed to lower his guard and give this careful thought only after more people from the Hyuga Clan had died?"
He remembered the story.
At this point, Hyuga Hiashi was in his prime as the one in power!
His strength and stamina hadn't declined with age.
Right now, he was surely focused on how to develop the Hyuga Clan even further.
To develop the Hyuga Clan well,
the people in the Branch Family below him
would inevitably be sacrificed and used as cannon fodder.
Hyuga Hiashi wasn't an indecisive man.
Why would he suddenly start worrying about the lives of those beneath him?
Maybe his brother's death had taught him something?
Naruto shook his head slightly. Since he couldn't figure it out, he stopped thinking about it.
In the end, he came up with a reasonable explanation for himself.
"Maybe my transmigration caused some slight changes in this world?"
"But the overall story is still more or less the same."
In the next instant, Naruto smiled and put his hands behind his head.
He strolled away, relaxed and carefree.
A lovely figure flashed into view and instinctively tried to run away.
"Sakura, I saw you. Is there any point in running now?"
Sakura Haruno's heart skipped a beat. She awkwardly turned around and forced a nervous smile.
"Ah... Naruto-kun, what a coincidence! What are you doing here?"
What a lame excuse.
Naruto and Hyuga Hiashi had noticed Sakura Haruno hiding in the distance a long time ago.
But from where Sakura Haruno was standing,
she definitely couldn't hear what the two of them were talking about.
So Naruto and his father-in-law had tacitly agreed
to pay her no mind.
Naruto shrugged and answered bluntly.
"I walked Hinata home. I was worried it wouldn't be safe for her to walk alone."
Sakura Haruno felt as if something had stabbed her in the heart.
It hurt. It felt awful!
Those things should have belonged to her in the first place.
"If there's nothing else, I'll get going."
"I... well..."
"See you tomorrow, Naruto-kun."
Sakura Haruno forced a smile onto her pretty face.
Sakura Haruno was undeniably beautiful.
But her actions in the early days
made it hard for Naruto to feel any goodwill toward her.
He'd even started wondering whether he should kick Sakura Haruno off his harem list.
Hmm... that could work.
She could be a maid who did the laundry and swept the floors. That would be fine—as long as she knew her place.
But that was all for the future.
Maybe Naruto would lose interest in her.
Only after Naruto disappeared from Sakura Haruno's sight
did she snap out of it and mutter to herself,
"Naruto can actually hold Hyuga Hiashi's gaze without showing the slightest fear."
"He's really gotten so strong."
Her voice held both happiness and deep disappointment.
She was happy because Naruto had grown strong.
She was disappointed because of his lukewarm attitude toward her.
Putting aside her complicated feelings,
Sakura Haruno walked home alone, feeling empty inside.
Talk about playing favorites! This was the most outrageous favoritism ever!
Why could Naruto walk Hinata home
but not her?
She wanted Naruto to walk her home, too.
A few more days passed.
During that time, Kakashi had reluctantly given his approval for Team 7 to officially form!
They took a few small missions, like finding lost cats.
The team did pretty well.
Naruto stood out the most.
After that, Kakashi also decided that taking on these little missions was pointless.
Team 7 was strong enough to handle more challenging missions!
So today, he took on a C-rank escort mission.
With an elite High Shinobi like him on the team, and considering the extraordinary ability Naruto had shown,
taking a C-rank mission would be a breeze, with no risk at all.
It was also a good opportunity to take them out and broaden their horizons.
"Kakashi-sensei, you're finally here. Please tell me today's mission isn't finding another kitten or puppy?"
Sakura Haruno sounded worried.
She'd had enough of those missions. They'd been pretty fun along the way, sure, but they lacked excitement!
And those missions didn't do much to help a ninja improve.
Kakashi looked lazy as ever, listlessly lifting one eyelid.
He spoke up.
"No. Today we're taking on a C-rank mission. Basically, we'll be acting as bodyguards."
"We're escorting a middle-aged man safely back to the Land of Waves."
Sasuke perked up at that.
He knew that if he wanted to become stronger, he'd have to train hard!
Of course, taking on missions was essential, too.
They could give him more combat experience.
That would help him tremendously!
He couldn't get that kind of experience just by reading the little yellow book Naruto had given him!
Hmm... these past few days,
he'd finally figured out that Naruto had been messing with him from the very beginning.
He'd seen other kids his age with bruised and swollen faces.
Without exception,
they'd all watched Jiraiya's autobiography with their parents.
Ahem...
They'd been beaten black and blue.
Apparently, over the past few nights, Konoha had finally begun to ring with the pained, pleading cries of children.
Heartbreaking to see, heartrending to listen to.
Aside from Shikamaru, who had escaped unscathed, every other kid had suffered.
As for why Shikamaru hadn't fallen for it,
Naruto wasn't surprised.
If he couldn't see through a little trick like that, how could he become Naruto's strategist later?
How could he be his brains?
Choji and the others hadn't come to Naruto's door these past few days.
Partly because their parents were keeping an eye on them, and partly because they still had to attend lessons with their other High Shinobi instructors.
Eventually, they couldn't take it anymore.
They threw Naruto under the bus.
But their parents refused to believe them.
Their exact words were,
"The Fourth Hokage's son would never do something like that!"
"Dear, look, this kid's still trying to deny it. Beat him harder!"
That only made things worse.
After they said that, several more ninja belts broke.
In truth, Naruto was also using this to toughen up his peers.
He wanted them to learn early on
that the ninja world was full of tricks, so they'd be extra careful on missions and wouldn't trust people too easily.
Ahem... back to the point.
"Oh... so I'll get to meet Zabuza, one of the legendary Seven Ninja Swordsmen of Kirigakure?"
Naruto wondered to himself, but he soon lost interest.
Zabuza was strong.
But he couldn't possibly be a match for Naruto now.
Before you continue