A Holiday, Hiashi Hyuga's Invitation

Today was the last day of classes at the Ninja Academy. The academy was about to welcome a winter break lasting over a month, and the many mischievous students cheered in delight.

Finally, they would not have to come to the Ninja Academy every day. What should they do for fun over the next month or so?

Naruto's little group was also overjoyed. After all, what students loved most was vacation.

Seeing how everyone around him was acting, Naruto kindly reminded them, "Even though we won't be able to train together every day during the break, I hope you'll all keep training on your own. When school starts again, we'll compare and see who trained properly and who didn't. It's only when the tide goes out that you find out who's been swimming naked!"

Naruto's words were like a bucket of cold water thrown over them. Their happiness over the holiday instantly became less exciting. Damn it, they still had to compete during winter break.

Although they did not want to train while they were supposed to be resting, after following Naruto for three months, they had already developed the good habit of exercising every day. More terrifying than being addicted to drugs was being addicted to training!

So even if Naruto had said nothing, they would not have been able to sit still without doing some training. Without classes taking up their time, they would feel the days pass slowly, then start wondering whether everyone else was secretly grinding away.

See? The atmosphere was already there.

Iruka watched the students below with a pleased expression, his heart full of emotion.

Before he knew it, three months had passed. These students had gone from being confused and unfamiliar with one another when they first arrived to fully adapting to the rhythm of the Ninja Academy. Though they still came to school complaining every day, they persisted without fail.

The students had improved greatly, especially Naruto.

Iruka looked at Naruto, surrounded by a circle of friends, and the smile on his face widened.

He had originally worried that Naruto would be isolated or bullied at the Ninja Academy. He had planned to look after Naruto privately so he could study at the academy without worry.

But unexpectedly, Naruto himself was a social terrorist.

There were plenty of people revolving around him, including children from Konoha Village's great clans. They could be extremely proud at times, yet around Naruto, they had surprisingly little temper and all acted like model gentlemen. Iruka could not help finding it amusing.

And Naruto truly was a good child. People around him were unknowingly moved by his words and became more polite. Influenced by Naruto's cheerful, sunny smile, they felt themselves becoming warmer and more enthusiastic as well.

Naruto was truly like a little sun, lighting up the people around him and making them warm.

It was also because of Naruto that whenever students deliberately caused trouble in class, Naruto would take the initiative to stand up and tell them it was wrong, that they needed to respect their teacher. The other students understood and did not make the same mistake again.

Thus, although Iruka's class was recognized as an elite class, there were not many troublemakers in it. Instead, the students all behaved obediently, making teachers from other classes incredibly envious.

In truth, the person who had changed the most over this time was Naruto himself.

When Naruto had first been reborn, all he felt was the villagers' intense malice. Unable even to solve the problem of food and clothing, he naturally harbored hatred toward them.

But later, after the system appeared, Naruto's strength slowly began to grow. Once he possessed the strength to casually crush those ignorant villagers to death—

Naruto no longer hated them quite so much. They were merely insignificant fence-sitters, not even worthy of being strangled by him.

Naruto also understood that his enemies were only a small handful of people: Konoha's higher-ups led by Hiruzen Sarutobi, along with Danzo Shimura, Koharu Utatane, Homura Mitokado, and the others.

At first, Naruto's attitude toward Konoha Village had been rather unclear. He had originally thought he could remain neutral, but after experiencing the villagers' hatred, he had come to hate Konoha Village as well.

But later, little by little, he gained friends around him: Kiba Inuzuka, Choji Akimichi, Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, Sakura Haruno, Hinata Hyuga, Rock Lee, and Sasuke Uchiha.

No matter whether they had initially approached Naruto because of their families' influence, after enough time had passed, Naruto could naturally tell that they sincerely regarded him as a friend.

As the saying went, sincerity was answered with sincerity. After completely unsealing Kurama, Naruto could also sense which people around him truly harbored malice.

If Naruto, just reborn into this world, had gained the power to destroy Konoha, he naturally might have chosen to destroy it. After all, at that time, he had nothing, and Konoha had brought him nothing but endless suffering.

But after several months, Naruto had formed his own bonds in Konoha Village. Because he had bonds, he could not simply cast them aside.

People often became weak because they were bound by emotion.

But! His grandmother had once said, "People may become weak because they love others, but that is not shameful. That is not true weakness. Only those who understand weakness can become truly strong."

So Naruto did not think he had become softhearted. Through his interactions with his friends, he could no longer bring himself to betray Konoha, even though he now possessed tremendous strength.

Even if he already had the strength of the Six Paths level and no one in the entire Naruto world could defeat him, he could naturally kill, kill, kill, and slaughter every hateful person. But then what?

Living alone in this world, without any attachments, like a walking corpse—that was not what Naruto wanted.

So, since he could no longer choose to leave, Naruto would choose to remain in Konoha and change this originally detestable village. He would make Konoha his Konoha. That would be far more interesting, wouldn't it?

The bell signaling the end of class rang, pulling Naruto out of his thoughts.

"Since today is the last day, I won't ask everyone to train. If you want to train, go home and do it secretly. Don't let anyone else find out. The winter break grind starts today!" Naruto said to the people around him.

"Hmph, Naruto, just you wait. When winter break is over, I'll definitely show you how much I've improved!" This was the tsundere Sasuke, though he had become much more honest now and could properly express what he felt.

"Naruto, take care of yourself!" This was the somewhat shy Sakura.

"Naruto, come eat with me sometime when you're free!" This was Choji, always thinking about food.

"Naruto, come play at my family's flower shop when you have time!" This was the cheerful and generous Ino.

"Naruto, Akamaru and I will miss you!" This was Kiba and Akamaru.

"Woof, woof, woof!"

"What a drag. Can we go now?" Starting with "what a drag"—it was obviously Shikamaru.

"Naruto, I hope everything goes well for you during winter break." This was the quiet Shino Aburame, who had little presence.

The others gradually left the classroom and headed home.

Naruto had sensed earlier that Hinata had been staring at him. That was hardly normal.

"What's wrong, Hinata? Aren't you going home?" Naruto asked curiously. At the same time, he placed his large hand atop Hinata's adorable little head and gently stroked it.

"N-Naruto, my father invited you to visit today!" Hinata had improved a great deal when it came to her shyness. She could face others normally, but when it came to Naruto, she was still a little nervous.

After all, Naruto was the love of her life.

"Oh? Your father is looking for me? Then let's go together. We shouldn't keep him waiting too long!" Naruto left the classroom with Hinata.

At the entrance of the Ninja Academy, Neji Hyuga was already waiting for Hinata.

When he came to Hinata's side, he said coldly, "Lady Hinata, let us return."

Before Hinata could respond, Neji had already begun walking on his own. Hinata hurried to follow.

Naruto followed right behind them. Seeing Naruto follow as well, Neji abruptly stopped and instantly assumed a fighting stance. "Naruto Uzumaki, why are you following us?"

The atmosphere instantly turned tense. Hinata hurriedly explained, "No, Neji. Father invited Naruto to our home today. Naruto isn't following us with bad intentions."

After hearing Hinata's words, Neji lowered his stance. "Hmph. Since the head of the Hyuga Clan invited you, I suppose I have no choice but to let you follow."

Seeing Neji's attitude gave Naruto a bit of a headache. Young Neji really was like this. After those incidents, his attitude toward the main family had become terrible, and he was deeply pessimistic about fate.

He always believed he was a little bird trapped in a cage, with no possibility of escape.

In the original story, Neji's attitude only began to change after Naruto defeated him during the Chunin Exams.

So with the current Neji, Naruto would still have to use Heavenly Mouth on him a few more times before he might be able to change his attitude.

The three walked together until they finally arrived at the gates of the Hyuga Clan compound, one of Konoha's great clans.

Upon seeing Neji and Hinata return, the guards greeted Lady Hinata while ignoring Neji at her side.

But they simultaneously stared at Naruto behind them. If Naruto did not explain why he was here, they would have no choice but to treat him as an enemy trespassing into the Hyuga Clan compound.

After another explanation from Hinata, they learned that Naruto had come at Hiashi Hyuga's invitation. Only then did they show respectful expressions and allow Naruto through the gates.

The change in their expressions drew a trace of disdain onto Neji Hyuga's face.

After entering the Hyuga Clan compound, Neji said to Hinata in a cold voice, "Lady Hinata, I shall take my leave first."

"Neji—" Before Hinata could finish, Neji had already vanished from everyone's sight.

"It's okay, Hinata. Neji will change someday," Naruto comforted her after noticing the disappointment in her eyes.

"Okay, I believe in you, Naruto!" Hinata led Naruto toward the Hyuga Clan's reception room.

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