Gaze

Carrying a large pot brimming with food into the room, he took out the cleaned bowls and chopsticks and set them on both sides of the dining table. "Give it a try. My cooking's pretty good."

Samu Kokaze emerged from the kitchen with a smile, grinning as he looked over Naruto, who sat across from him on a stool, constantly sniffing the air.

"It smells amazing!"

Naruto twitched his nose as he inhaled the aroma of food filling the entire house. With a sigh of admiration, he unceremoniously picked up a bowl filled with food. "Let's eat!"

With that, he opened his mouth wide, lifted the bowl, and shoveled the food into it.

"Well? It tastes great, right?" Samu Kokaze asked with a grin as he watched Naruto wolf down the food across from him.

"Mm! It's weally good!" Naruto nodded repeatedly, his cheeks stuffed full.

Watching Naruto struggle to speak with his mouth crammed with food, Samu Kokaze smiled, picked up his own bowl and chopsticks, and began eating as well.

After a while.

"Burp..."

Full and satisfied, Naruto stood up shakily with his belly bulging out. He picked up the mess of bowls and chopsticks beside him, preparing to clean up.

"Naruto, sit for a while and digest first. I'll handle these." Seeing Naruto struggling to lift the large pot, Samu Kokaze stood up, took it from his hands, and walked toward the kitchen.

Naruto bent over, intending to snatch it back, but his round belly kept him from bending down.

Left with no choice but to give up, he clutched his stomach and said enviously to Samu Kokaze, who had clearly eaten even more than he had but whose belly was not bloated at all, "Feng, you're incredible. You ate more than me, but you're totally fine."

Samu Kokaze smiled and turned back. "It's a constitution thing. Nothing for you to envy!"

Naruto watched Samu Kokaze enter the kitchen. After hesitating briefly, he still walked over and said, "Feng, it's already late. I'm heading back first. I'll be there on time for Ino's birthday tomorrow."

"Hm?" Samu Kokaze, who was washing dishes in the kitchen, looked up in surprise at Naruto as he entered. "It's so cold out. Why not stay here tonight? I live alone anyway."

Naruto's face showed hesitation. It was clear that, having finally made a friend, he did not want to leave so soon. Yet after thinking of something, he still shook his head resolutely. "Next time. I'll come find you again tomorrow!"

Seeing Naruto's determined expression, Samu Kokaze did not try to persuade him further. He nodded, wiped the water off his hands with a rag, then got up and walked into the shop. He picked up a miniature wooden carving engraved with the faces of Konoha's successive Hokage and handed it over.

"Didn't you say your dream was to become Hokage? This is for you. I hope that one day, I'll be able to carve your face onto Hokage Rock. Let this be a testament to our friendship."

Looking at the wooden carving held out before him, Naruto's hands trembled slightly. He looked up at Samu Kokaze and saw him nodding with a smile. Trembling, Naruto accepted it from his hand.

"I'll treasure it. One day, Feng! I'll make you carve my face onto Hokage Rock! I swear!" A fire fierce enough to burn away everything blazed in Naruto's eyes as he spoke each word with unwavering determination.

Hearing Naruto's words, Samu Kokaze nodded just as seriously and said four simple words. "I believe in you!"

Others might not know what Naruto would achieve in the future, but how could Samu Kokaze, a transmigrator, not know?

Setting aside Shimura Danzō, who controlled Konoha's Root, Naruto would become Konoha's Seventh Hokage—and the strongest Hokage in history at that. His backing was practically sky-high.

Never mind that he possessed the Nine-Tails and was the Fourth Hokage's son. His identity as the reincarnation of the Sage of Six Paths' son alone was enough to ensure that anyone plotting against him would die without a grave.

After all, the Sage of Six Paths' chakra still lingered throughout the Shinobi World. Who knew whether he would intervene when Naruto was pushed to the brink of death?

What was more, Naruto was the protagonist of this world. Based on Samu Kokaze's deductions from the limited information he had, as well as the prophetic dream of the Great Toad Sage from Mount Myoboku, one of the three great summoning lands—

Naruto was very likely the world's chosen protagonist, born from the world's will to resist Kaguya Otsutsuki. Targeting Naruto was equivalent to opposing the world's will.

Unless someone possessed strength capable of destroying heaven and earth like Kaguya Otsutsuki, trying to scheme against him was nothing but courting death.

"Thank you!"

Tears welled up in Naruto's eyes as he thanked him.

Ever since he had become aware of the world, he had been called a monster. Those days had not been easy. He had never had family or friends, and no one had ever understood him or believed in him.

And today, he had gained his first friend—someone willing to be friends with him, willing to believe he was not a monster. How could Naruto not be moved?

"Haha! Something must've gotten in my eye just now. Well, see you!" Naruto raised his sleeve to wipe the tears from the corners of his eyes, then ran to the door with a smile and waved at Samu Kokaze, who had followed him over.

Winter nights were even colder. When the door opened, the biting wind that swept inside made Naruto shiver. Clutching the first gift he had ever received, Naruto pursed his lips, and his thin figure slowly disappeared into the night.

Samu Kokaze watched Naruto's retreating back. Feeling several chakra signatures beside him vanish, a smile gradually appeared at the corner of his lips.

"Looks like the Third Hokage has truly put his mind at ease about me. He didn't even leave anyone behind to monitor me. As expected, making a move back then was the right choice."

He calmly shut the door and walked to the window, gazing at the bright moon in the sky.

A silver gleam in his eyes reflected the entire starry sky, revealing boundless ambition.

"One day! One day, I will become the strongest person beneath these stars and turn this entire starry sky into my pasture."

The silent roar echoed through Samu Kokaze's heart. Looking at the silver moon radiating a faint glow in the sky, he turned and returned to his room.

Beneath Konoha's Hokage Rock, within Root's underground base.

Shimura Danzō, Root's leader, was in his office. Since it was underground, even with lamps burning on both sides, the place still felt somewhat dim.

Tap, tap... Tap, tap...

A measured set of footsteps echoed through the underground passage. Danzo, seated in the room, raised his head from the documents he was reading and looked toward the approaching sound.

"It's Feng. What is it?"

Danzo glanced up, then lowered his head again to look at the documents in his hands. His somewhat aged voice emerged from his mouth.

Fu Yamanaka belonged to the Yamanaka Clan and was a sensory-type ninja. He was also Shimura Danzō's absolute supporter in Root, skilled in interrogation and memory searches, and privy to most of Root's secrets.

Fu Yamanaka entered and immediately dropped to one knee. Bowing his head, he said, "According to the intelligence received today, the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki has become friends with a boy his age named Samu Kokaze. The plan to force the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki into darkness may fail because of this."

"Samu Kokaze?"

Shimura Danzō, who had yet to transplant the Sharingan and turn himself into a half-man, half-demon, muttered to himself and put down the documents in his hands.

He looked up at Fu Yamanaka, who was kneeling on one knee, and spoke in his aged voice. "This plan was merely an idle move to begin with. If the Nine-Tails brat's fall could lower Hiruzen's standing among Konoha's people, it would have been a fine move."

"But that brat truly is worthy of being the Fourth's son. Even while being hated and ostracized by the entire village, he has somehow retained such an optimistic and positive spirit. I stopped placing hope in this plan long ago."

After saying that, he paused. "What matters now is the Uchiha Clan. They haven't been behaving themselves lately."

His aged voice gave a sigh before he continued, "Bring me the information on that boy Samu Kokaze. I'll take a look. If he has nothing to do with ninja from other villages, leave him alone."

"Yes, Lord Danzo!"

Fu Yamanaka replied from the floor, and his figure instantly vanished from the spot.

"Uchiha? Hmph! You scum who betrayed Konoha and should have died long ago, just wait!"

With a cold snort, the aged voice threw the document in his hand onto the desk.

A closer look revealed that the document contained recent intelligence on the Uchiha Clan, including even classified information such as the Uchiha Clan's meetings.