Blood 2

The biting cold wind swept through the grove as Samu Kokaze looked at the three boys lying on the ground, their heads covered in bumps, and felt a flash of satisfaction.

"Say it! Say you'll never bully anyone again!"

Rubbing the swollen bump at the corner of his eye, blood still at the corner of his mouth, Samu Kokaze glared resentfully at the three boys sprawled on the ground.

"We'll never bully anyone again," the three boys mumbled dejectedly from the ground.

"Too quiet. I can't hear you! Louder!" Samu Kokaze picked at his ear and shot the three boys an irritated sidelong glance.

Even though he had chosen to take that beating himself, it still pissed him off!

"Don't push it too far!" the boys on the ground shouted furiously.

"Hm?" Samu Kokaze raised his voice, his expression turning cold. His icy gaze fell upon their swollen, pig-headed faces as he lifted his fist, eager to give it another try.

"Yeah, shout it louder already, or we'll beat you up again!" Naruto, equally bruised and battered behind him, raised his own fist and loudly threatened them.

The boys lying on the ground exchanged miserable looks.

"We'll never bully anyone again!" They shouted so loudly this time that even the snow on the branches nearly shook loose.

Rubbing the bump at the corner of his eye, Samu Kokaze looked at the pitiful boys with their pig-headed faces and said irritably, "Fine, get lost. If I see you bullying anyone again, I'll beat you up again!"

"Yeah! We'll beat you up again!"

Hearing Naruto echo him from behind, Samu Kokaze was speechless.

The boys exchanged another look, staggered to their feet, and ran away.

Watching them gradually disappear into the distance, Samu Kokaze turned around and looked at the tense Naruto and Hinata, who stood with her head lowered without saying a word.

A warm smile appeared on his swollen face. "All right, it's settled. I'm leaving!"

"Thank you!" Hinata said softly in her timid little voice as she looked at Samu Kokaze.

Hearing her voice beside him, Samu Kokaze smiled and turned toward the shop, silently counting in his heart, One, two, three...

"Wait!"

Naruto suddenly called out from behind him. The nervousness on his bruised and battered face was plain to see.

"What is it?"

Stopping in his tracks, Samu Kokaze let his lips curl slightly as he turned around and asked with feigned confusion.

"Y-you... what's your name? We're friends now, right?!" Naruto shouted excitedly at the figure ahead of him.

Samu Kokaze remained silent for a long moment.

As time passed, Naruto's expression grew increasingly disappointed. In the end, he lowered his head, both hands hanging at his sides clenched tightly into fists.

"Ah! What are you talking about? Didn't we become friends the moment we took them down together?!"

Looking at the disappointed Naruto, Samu Kokaze broke into a bright smile. "My name is Samu Kokaze. Come hang out at Samu Carving Shop when you have time." He paused and shifted his gaze to Hinata. "The same goes for you. You're both welcome to come play with me anytime!"

"Really?!" Naruto, who had nearly fallen into despair, abruptly raised his head and shouted excitedly when he heard that.

"What reason would I have to lie to you?" Samu Kokaze muttered softly. Waving his hand, he said, "That's it, then. I'm heading back. Come find me when you have time!"

"Mm!"

Naruto nodded heavily as he watched Samu Kokaze walk away.

After Samu Kokaze disappeared from sight, Hinata walked over to Naruto, who was still staring ahead, picked up his fallen red scarf, and handed it to him.

"Are you all right?" Hinata asked softly. "I'm really sorry. Your scarf was ruined because you helped me!"

"I'm sorry!" With that, Hinata lowered her head.

"Ah! Don't worry about it!" Naruto stood up and waved his hand magnanimously. "Today, I gained something a thousand times more important than a scarf, so don't take it to heart!"

"See you!" Naruto called out, then happily ran forward.

"Thank you both so much!" Hinata's voice rang out behind him.

"Hehe!" Naruto grinned foolishly as he looked back at Hinata bowing, then continued running through the snow.

Inside Konoha's Hokage Building.

A ninja dressed in Anbu attire knelt on one knee, reporting to the Third Hokage, who was seated at his desk reviewing documents.

"...That was everything that happened today."

The Anbu kneeling on the floor emotionlessly recounted everything Naruto had encountered that day.

After hearing the report, the Third Hokage stopped flipping through the document in his hands.

"Samu Kokaze?" The Third Hokage looked up, paused briefly, then said to the Anbu below, "Bring me his file."

"Yes, Lord Hokage," the Anbu replied in a deep voice. His body flashed, and with a whoosh through the air, he vanished from the Hokage's office.

"Ah..." The Third Hokage sighed, rising to look at the bustling street outside the window. "Naruto, I hope you can find someone who truly wants to be your friend."

Although Samu Kokaze, who had already returned home, did not know what had happened in the Hokage Building, he could roughly guess.

Still, Samu Kokaze believed that the Third Hokage would not suspect him.

After all, Samu Kokaze had always presented himself as a warmhearted person. His background was clean, and he had lived in Konoha since childhood. In the Third Hokage's words, he was someone who had inherited the Will of Fire.

Given the personality he usually showed others, stepping in to help during an incident like today's was perfectly normal. There was nothing at all that could arouse suspicion.

Sitting on his bed, Samu Kokaze carefully reviewed everything that had happened that day. A faint silver glint occasionally flashed in his eyes as every recent scene replayed clearly in his mind.

"Very good. There weren't any flaws! And I also left a deep impression on the heart of the world's protagonist, Naruto Uzumaki."

He nodded in satisfaction. Feeling the intent transmitted by the Nano Core within his body, a cheerful smile appeared on Samu Kokaze's still-swollen face.

Naruto Uzumaki's blood had already been collected by Samu Kokaze during the fight with those children.

With the Nano Core inside his body, Nanobugs had seeped out during the fight, reached the ground, and devoured the blood mixed with the snowflakes.

Of course, not all the blood that had fallen to the ground was devoured. Only half of it had been consumed, to avoid being noticed by the nearby Anbu.

However, although he had obtained Naruto's blood, completely analyzing the genes of the Uzumaki Clan would not be easy. After all, he had only acquired blood, and there were not yet enough Nanobugs in his body, leaving his processing power insufficient.

According to the feedback from the Nano Core, with his current processing power, fully analyzing the Uzumaki Clan's Kekkei Genkai would take a full five years.

Naturally, Samu Kokaze could not tolerate being unable to use the Nano Core's processing power for so long, so he had already decided to supply all the chakra in his body to the Nano Core.

Although doing so would greatly reduce his current combat strength, there was nowhere in Konoha where he needed that strength right now, so it did not matter.

Moreover, as his body grew and his chakra naturally increased, Samu Kokaze was confident that he could completely analyze the Uzumaki Clan's genes in a little over a year, less than two.

Only then, after gaining the Uzumaki Clan's vast reserves of chakra, would Samu Kokaze be able to fully unleash the Nano Core's true power.