Neji's Earnest Observation

Having completed his daily training, Uzumaki Menma left Root and found Naruto.

After finding Naruto, he also found Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino.

Once the five of them were assembled, they headed to Hinata's house to find her.

Because Hyuga Hiashi had given them a heads-up, this time they didn't have to climb over the wall and could enter directly from the Hyuga Compound's entrance.

However, when they arrived at Hinata's house, Hinata hadn't finished her training yet, and was only a little bit away from completing it.

So, the group decided to wait for Hinata to finish her training.

Kumiko Hyuga thoughtfully brought out snacks and drinks to distribute to the five, and she was very happy to see so many children come to her home.

Shikamaru looked at Uzumaki Menma, who was holding a book and muttering to himself, and asked strangely, "Menma, what book are you holding? Why are you always looking at it?"

Naruto also asked curiously, "Yeah, Menma, you're even looking at the book while you're walking. Is the content really that good?"

"Good my ass!" Uzumaki Menma said with a bitter face, "Would I be reading it if I didn't have to? If I can't memorize it, I'm going to get bitten by bugs tomorrow!"

Ino asked doubtfully, "It's just bugs, you don't have to be so afraid, right? I also encounter bugs from time to time when I'm arranging flowers."

Uzumaki Menma retorted, "You're talking about one bug, I'm talking about a swarm of bugs. Have you ever had the feeling of a swarm of bugs crawling all over your body, covering your entire body, and then biting your skin?"

Ino imagined it and shuddered in disgust.

Choji silently put down the potato chips in his hand, suddenly feeling that the potato chips in his hand were no longer fragrant.

Shikamaru and Naruto put their hands on Uzumaki Menma's shoulders and said with pity, "You're so pitiful."

Uzumaki Menma sighed, "Not only do I have to do almost abusive physical training, but I also have to memorize books. I don't know when this torturous life will end."

About half an hour later.

Hinata's training was completed, and after changing her clothes in her room, she jogged over.

"Sorry, I kept you waiting."

Naruto put his hands behind his head and said, "It's okay, let's go quickly."

The group left the Hyuga Clan and walked on the streets of Konoha.

"So, what are we going to do next? Ninja game?" Naruto asked.

Shikamaru agreed, "Then let's do a ninja game. It just so happens that six people can be divided into two teams equally."

After deciding, the group went to the forest.

After the six people were divided into two teams, the game began.

However, the ninja game was out of place for Naruto, like a low-end player mistakenly entering a high-end game.

Not to mention Uzumaki Menma, Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, and Hinata were all born into Konoha ninja families and had already started training like Uzumaki Menma.

Only Naruto hadn't started training yet. Due to the unequal strength, Naruto had no game experience at all.

At the beginning of the game, the first person to be eliminated was, without any surprise, Naruto.

Naruto sat on the ground with a sad face, "Why can I be found no matter where I hide?"

Uzumaki Menma teased, "If you didn't expose half of your butt when you were hiding in the grass, we wouldn't have been able to find you so easily."

Ino also teased, "Hinata has discovered you several times and pretended not to see you, thinking you would change your hiding place. Who knew you were still hiding there."

Naruto looked at Hinata.

Hinata's small face flushed slightly, and she explained, "It's not like that, actually I... really didn't see."

As Hinata spoke, her voice became smaller and smaller, and even she didn't believe that her explanation would make Naruto believe her.

Naruto pouted, "Can we change the game to something I can actually participate in?"

Uzumaki Menma thought for a while and said, "How about we play hide-and-seek?"

Naruto immediately became energetic, "I'm good at hide-and-seek, let's play hide-and-seek!"

Ino sharply retorted, "Naruto, you can't even hide well in ninja games, how can you be good at hide-and-seek?"

Naruto retorted with a flushed face, "That's different! I can be the one who seeks, and I will definitely find you one by one."

Uzumaki Menma explained, "The hide-and-seek I'm talking about is different from the hide-and-seek you're thinking of. You don't need to hide, you just need to find."

Choji stuffed a large handful of potato chips into his mouth and asked while chewing, "We just need to find? Find who?"

Uzumaki Menma proudly flaunted, "I've learned a ninjutsu, the Summoning Technique, I'll summon my summoned beasts, and you'll find them!"

Shikamaru asked in surprise, "Summoning Technique? That's a C-rank ninjutsu, a Chunin-level move, aren't you bragging?"

"Hmph, you'll know when you see it!"

Seeing that Shikamaru and the others didn't believe him, Uzumaki Menma had to show off a bit!

He finally learned a ninjutsu, how could he not show it off?!

Uzumaki Menma formed the Tiger seal with both hands.

"Nine Mask Svāhā! Azure White Vermillion Black Void South North Three Jade! Nine Masked Beasts!"

Uzumaki Menma summoned the Nine Masked Beasts in an extremely cool way.

Shikamaru was a little puzzled; this wasn't quite the Summoning Technique he remembered.

The hand seals for the Summoning Technique were Boar - Dog - Rooster - Monkey - Sheep.

But Uzumaki Menma had directly performed the Summoning Technique with just the Tiger seal, and without even smearing his own blood on his palm.

Was this really the Summoning Technique?

Naruto, Choji, Hinata, and Ino all stared at the Nine Masked Beasts with stars in their eyes.

Naruto and Choji: "So cool!"

Hinata and Ino: "So cute!"

Uzumaki Menma instructed the Nine Masked Beasts, "Go hide, and don't let anyone find you."

Having received Uzumaki Menma's order, the Nine Masked Beasts went straight into the forest and concealed themselves.

Uzumaki Menma announced, "Then the hide-and-seek game begins! I'll be the referee, and we'll see who finds the most!"

Naruto, Shikamaru, Choji, Hinata, and Ino immediately entered the forest to search for the Nine Masked Beasts.

Meanwhile, Uzumaki Menma sat on the ground, miserably flipping through the book in his hands.

He'd almost forgotten the content he'd just memorized, so Uzumaki Menma needed to seize the time to remember it again.

Just as Uzumaki Menma was concentrating with all his might, using every cell in his brain to memorize, he suddenly heard the sound of a twig snapping.

Uzumaki Menma stared intently at a large tree not far away.

For some reason, Uzumaki Menma could clearly sense that someone was hiding behind that tree.

Uzumaki Menma closed the book and tiptoed towards the tree.

When Uzumaki Menma reached the tree behind which someone was hiding, he saw an unexpected person.

Hyuga Neji was crouching on the ground, veins bulging in his eyes, clearly activating his Byakugan and observing the situation in the forest.

Hyuga Neji was so focused that he didn't even notice Uzumaki Menma had come up behind him.