The Beginning of the Plot 1/2

Time flew by, and half a year passed in the blink of an eye.

It was March, Year 60 of Konoha.

Spring had arrived. The lingering chill of spring remained, while all things began to sprout.

Atop Hokage Rock.

Hayato grabbed Naruto by the ear. "Hey, you little brat, you've got more and more nerve. You actually dared to graffiti Hokage Rock. Looking for a beating? And~~~ the graduation exam is only a few days away. You still have time to play around?"

Naruto bared his teeth. "It hurts, it hurts... Boss Hayato, my ear's going to come off."

So Hayato let go... and grabbed his other ear instead.

Looking at the Fourth Hokage's statue on Hokage Rock, which had nearly been covered in paint, Hayato thought, Naruto, one day you'll thank me. Yeah, your dad will thank me too.

"Do you know what you did wrong?"

"I know, I know."

Hayato released Naruto, found a clean spot to sit down, and asked, "No problems with the graduation exam?"

"Heh! I'm Naruto Uzumaki, the man who'll become Hokage." Naruto pointed his thumb at himself. "As long as they don't test the Clone Technique, there won't be any problems."

The Nine-Tails was sealed inside Naruto. Its chakra constantly leaked out, strengthening his body while also interfering with Naruto's chakra system. As a result, Naruto was quite good at taijutsu, but his ninjutsu was a complete mess—especially the Clone Technique among the Three Body Technique.

Hayato suspected that Sarutobi Hiruzen had deliberately arranged the Clone Technique test in order to keep Naruto in Konoha by another means. From the village's perspective, it was the most beneficial choice. Once Naruto became a ninja, he would inevitably have to leave the village to carry out missions, and the safety of a jinchuriki would be difficult to guarantee.

Naruto was treated as a cage imprisoning the Nine-Tails, while Konoha was treated as an even larger cage imprisoning Naruto.

In the original story, what had made Sarutobi Hiruzen change his mind?

His feelings for Minato Namikaze, or Naruto's persistence moving him?

No one knew.

Hayato said, "Then do your best!"

"You too, future King of the Pirates!"

Hayato: "???"

He hadn't expected Naruto to remember the nonsense he'd casually spouted back then.

Hayato smiled and patted Naruto's shoulder. "That King of the Pirates stuff was just a lie. There's no such profession in this world."

"Huh? Huh! You lied to me?!"

"It doesn't exactly count as lying," Hayato said. "The so-called King of the Pirates should be a kind of spirit—a spirit of adventure that pursues freedom. Walking freely, thinking freely, living freely, dying freely. Got it?"

Naruto shook his head, then nodded. "Not really, but if I become Hokage, I can help you make it happen."

"Pass the graduation exam first. Come on, I'll treat you to ramen—a huge bowl with fish cake and miso soup with seaweed."

"Boss Hayato, long live!"

Host: Hyuga Hayato

Age: 1

Rank: Genin

Taijutsu: 8↑

Ninjutsu: 557↑

Genjutsu: 458

Chakra: 668→80↑+(0%)

Current Mission: None

String-String Fruit (Intermediate): Five-Colored Strings 100%, Overheat 100%, Bullet String 100%, Stitching String 100%, Shadow Riding String 100%.

Fused Ninjutsu (): Fist of the North Star Assassination, Southern Dipper Water Bird Fist.

Titles: Barbecue Expert, Strongest Genin, ANBU Rising Star

Available Draws: None

Equipped Items: Ichigo Kurosaki's Mask, Fire Rat Robe.

Over the past half year or so, the system had issued missions at irregular intervals with no discernible pattern, and Hayato's strength had improved enormously.

First was the String-String Fruit, which had gained Stitching String and Shadow Riding String. More importantly, after the String-String Fruit reached the intermediate level, Hayato could create strings over ten thousand meters long, tie them to the clouds, and walk through the air like Donquixote Doflamingo.

The moment he gained aerial movement, Hayato had considered giving up on further developing Moon Step. In the end, however, he decided that aerial movement's burst speed was too slow, so he did not completely abandon Moon Step's development. He merely changed its direction, abandoning sustained aerial movement in favor of speed bursts.

As for fused ninjutsu, he had gained Fist of the North Star Assassination and Southern Dipper Water Bird Fist. Thirty-Two Beast Wave Palm, which had served as the basis for fusing Southern Dipper Water Bird Fist, had disappeared after the fusion.

Fist of the North Star Assassination could be seen as an enhanced version of pressure-point strikes. Striking seven specific acupoints allowed it to wreak destruction from within, with power equivalent to planting miniature timed bombs inside the body.

Southern Dipper Water Bird Fist, meanwhile, could be seen as an enhanced version of Thirty-Two Beast Wave Palm. Beast Wave Palm could slice through the human body's muscles, while Southern Dipper Water Bird Fist could even sever bones.

The item inventory had also gained a Fire Rat Robe. It was a fiery red outer robe with the attribute: Fire-Style Ninjutsu Defense +80%. Hayato did not know whether it could withstand Amaterasu head-on.

With all that said, including the growth of his skills, taijutsu, ninjutsu, genjutsu, and chakra reserves, Hayato now believed that he had the strength of a jonin. He could put up a fight against Hatake Kakashi. As for whether he could win, that was hard to say. After all, the gap in combat experience was right there.

Should he find an opportunity to test it out?

Through Hasebe Kazuaki's connections, Hayato and Kakashi were now at least familiar with each other.

Would it be too much to ask for a spar?

Probably not, right?

Sparring wasn't sex. No one was going to get pregnant!

Yeah, he would find an opportunity.

He would wait until Naruto was assigned to Kakashi's team. Then, using Naruto as a connection, it should be more appropriate.

Running into Naruto had been a coincidence. After finishing ramen, Hayato returned to the ANBU.

Sharoro immediately complained, "You took a stroll for so long. Did you fall into a pit or something? Do you even care about ANBU discipline? You abandoned your post without permission."

"Heh, discipline." Hayato said, "You've got the nerve to talk about discipline? The one who follows it the least is you, ANBU old hand Moonlight Sharoro. Come on, you just didn't want to go out because you wanted me to bring you lunch."

"Hmph, hmph." Sharoro sniffled.

Oh? She actually wasn't denying it. She hadn't been like this before.

Forget it! This was what they meant by getting to know someone over time.

A shut-in girl's true nature simply could not be concealed.

Hayato pulled a box out from behind his back and said, "Here. Takoyaki. Happy now?"

"Hehe." Sharoro accepted the box with a beaming smile, held it beneath her nose for a sniff, then waved her hand. "You can get lost now."

"Hehe." Hayato smiled without saying anything and strolled away.

Heartlessly casting someone aside after getting what you wanted came at a price.

A moment later.

"Hayato~~~ you bastard!!!"

Sharoro let out a roar as though it had come from hell itself.

What had Hayato done?

It was simple. One of the takoyaki balls had been stuffed with insanely spicy chili powder. And Sharoro was the kind of person who would huff and puff from even mildly spicy food.

So regardless of gender, never put your pants back on and pretend not to know someone. There would be retribution.

Of course, what Hayato had done was also extremely unethical, and retribution came swiftly.

Look!

Sharoro was chasing after him with a blade, trying to chop him to pieces.

When Hatake Kaito returned, he saw Hayato and Sharoro drenched in sweat, bracing themselves on their knees and gasping for air.

Hatake Kaito asked in confusion, "You just finished lunch. Don't you think you're pushing yourselves too hard? Young people, this isn't good for your stomachs."

"Get lost!" the two said in unison, then glared fiercely at each other.

Hatake Kaito sighed. "You make a fuss every day. You two really have such a great relationship."

"Who has a good relationship with this cataract-eyed freak?!"

"Who has a good relationship with this short thug?!"

Over the past half year, Hayato had grown a full seven centimeters, reaching a height of 1.62 meters. Sharoro had not grown at all. Instead, her chest had taken another big step toward being truly busty.

Height was a sore spot in Sharoro's heart!

"Ah, ah..." Sharoro howled again as she chased Hayato with her blade.

Hatake Kaito said enviously, "Youth is wonderful."

Heh, what was a twenty-four- or twenty-five-year-old pretending to be world-weary for?

[PS] Thanks to reader 0800046659 for 1 recommendation ticket; A-Yi-You, a Nine-Tails., Hua Jiu Laobing, One, Yunju Mofeng, and --Liud for their recommendation tickets; squiSu and Lemon Dango Sauce for 6 recommendation tickets; and Shouxin and Shouqing. for 8 recommendation tickets.

[PS] Thanks to Lemon Dango Sauce and squiSu for the 100 Qidian Coin rewards, and thanks to --Liud for the 100 Book Coin reward.

[PS] See you tonight in the next chapter. These past two days, Directionless Fungus has been frantically cutting down the plot and the wordy parts. It'll still be one or two chapters, and update times are a little uncertain. Please add it to your collection.