Hinata

"He's already learned it?" The Nine-Tails was utterly stunned, but quickly caught on. "Could it be that what he used this morning was Flying Thunder God? But when did you teach him... I see. Sealing Jutsu?"

"That's right. The Flying Thunder God Technique is actually a combination of Sealing Jutsu and ninjutsu." Minato Namikaze nodded, casually shaping his chakra into a shuriken. He pointed to the Flying Thunder God Mark on it. "The mark itself works on the principles of Sealing Jutsu. You imprint your own chakra onto the surface of any object in the form of a seal, creating a marker that can then be used to draw your body toward it."

"The space-time technique that follows is the Ninjutsu component of Flying Thunder God. And since we agreed not to teach Naruto Ninjutsu first, to anyone else, the Sealing Jutsu portion of Flying Thunder God would look like nothing more than his doodles. Though without enough Ninjutsu training, he can't move even a slightly longer distance."

As Minato explained, the Nine-Tails understood.

No wonder no one in Konoha had mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique after Minato. Even his three personal guards needed to work together to use it. The key lay in Sealing Jutsu, an art that had all but been lost.

The Flying Thunder God Technique demanded both sufficient mastery of Sealing Jutsu and an exceptionally high level of proficiency in ninjutsu. Most shinobi simply lacked those two qualifications. As a member of the Uzumaki Clan, Naruto would certainly be capable of it, but...

The Nine-Tails couldn't help recalling how the future Naruto had once tried to recreate the Flying Thunder God Technique. But he had never systematically studied Sealing Formula. Researching Space-Time Ninjutsu alone naturally wouldn't work.

No wonder Minato could wield the Flying Thunder God Technique with such extraordinary skill—his mastery of Sealing Jutsu was that high. Even that brat Tobirama Senju couldn't match him.

"Was that explanation clear enough?" Minato Namikaze asked, looking at the Nine-Tails, who still seemed lost in thought. "Did it help your understanding of ninjutsu?"

"Hmm?" The Nine-Tails looked at him. Those blue eyes shone with wisdom, as though they had seen through the Nine-Tails' thoughts...

"Hmph. When did you notice, Minato?" The Nine-Tails bared his teeth.

"Not long ago. At first, I just thought you were concerned about Naruto, but later I noticed that you listened closely whenever I explained anything about ninjutsu." Minato Namikaze made no attempt to hide it, meeting the Nine-Tails' faintly threatening gaze head-on. "Honestly, if you simply want to learn about ninjutsu, you can just ask me."

The Nine-Tails fell silent.

He was thinking. He was a natural mass of chakra—a tailed beast, one of the most powerful Lifeforms in this world, born with the ability to control chakra freely. The same was true of the One-Tail and all the other tailed beasts.

And so they had a shortcoming that wasn't really a shortcoming.

They had never studied human knowledge of Ninjutsu. They couldn't even understand or wield the countless bizarre powers those shinobi possessed. Although most of those powers were far too weak to matter to a tailed beast, the principles behind them were not simple.

The Nine-Tails was starting from the same place as Naruto. He was learning, too.

As for why he was learning these techniques, the Nine-Tails didn't know whether he should tell Minato the truth.

When that possibility flashed through his mind, the Nine-Tails decided not to tell anyone after all. Anyone could potentially let it slip. After all... his goal might be something humans could never accept.

"I just want to understand them. But even if you don't want me secretly learning from you, there's nothing you can do. I'm the one who calls the shots here."

"Of course I don't mind. You're welcome to listen. Although the Flying Thunder God Technique is one of the ninjutsu recorded in Konoha's Scroll of Seals, as you are now..." Minato Namikaze smiled warmly. "You count as a member of Konoha too, don't you?"

"...Tch. I'm just on Naruto's side." The Nine-Tails scoffed at Minato's nice-guy attitude.

"That's enough." Minato wore an expression that said it was only natural.

Still, the Nine-Tails asked no more questions, and Minato inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

Of course he knew that the Nine-Tails had his own objectives. After spending nearly a year together in this inner world, he understood him far better than before.

But the Nine-Tails wasn't the only one with an agenda. Minato had his own selfish reasons for teaching Sealing Jutsu first.

He still wanted to give Naruto a fallback...

The conversation between the Nine-Tails and Minato ended there. That was normal for them. During their year in the inner world, apart from discussing Naruto and the things that would happen in the future, they spent most of their time in silence.

It wasn't that they had nothing to talk about. On the contrary, there were many things they both understood but left unspoken for the time being, such as—

Kushina Uzumaki, and the portion of her chakra she had left in Naruto's mental space.

"Here you go! Tonkotsu ramen!"

With Teuchi's enthusiastic call, the final steaming bowl of ramen was slid in front of Naruto, who had been eagerly awaiting it.

"Woo-hoo!" Naruto cried excitedly. He quickly picked up a mouthful of hot noodles and slurped them down without even bothering to blow on them. Soon, the heat had sweat pouring down his face, but his chopsticks never stopped.

Several empty bowls were already stacked in front of him. He had been eating from afternoon until evening, like someone who had starved to death in a past life.

Watching Naruto eat with such gusto, the little girl sitting beside him blushed bright red. She didn't even dare look straight at him, only stealing an occasional glance before shyly lowering her head.

"U-um... um..."

Hinata timidly held out a handkerchief toward Naruto with both hands, her eyes fixed on the tips of her shoes. Her voice was soft and halting.

"Slurp, slurp... Hm? Oh, thanks, thanks!" Naruto thanked Hinata indistinctly through a mouthful of noodles, casually taking the handkerchief and wiping the sweat from his forehead. Finally, he lifted the large bowl and drained every last drop of broth.

"Whew! I haven't had ramen in so, so long. That really hit the spot!" Naruto rubbed his round belly and smiled at Hinata. "Thanks for treating me! Go on, try yours. It's really good."

At his words, Hinata looked at the bowl in front of her, several times larger than her face. The noodles had soaked up almost all the broth. As though she hadn't heard Naruto, she kept nodding to herself, her little hands clenching slightly, as if she were gathering courage or giving herself a pep talk.

Naruto tried calling to her several times, but Hinata didn't make a sound. He scratched his head in utter confusion, then suddenly caught sight of someone outside from the corner of his eye and hurriedly stood up.

After a long while, Hinata finally gathered enough courage and spoke in a voice as faint as an insect's chirp. "U-um, Naruto-kun, thank you so much... for today... A-and, I... I... wish you... Huh?"

When she turned her head, Naruto had already left without her noticing.

Hinata stared blankly at the empty seat beside her, looking terribly dejected.

"Little miss, how do you know Naruto?" Teuchi glanced at her untouched noodles and her undisguised disappointment. His curiosity burning, he couldn't resist asking.