Probing, Naruto Makes a Move

"Hey, Minato." The Nine-Tails, who had been closely watching the outside world, suddenly asked, "Might Guy, do you still remember him?"

"Guy? Is that Kakashi's friend?" Minato raised his head, looking somewhat confused as he frantically prepared his lesson plans. "What about him?"

"...Ah, it's nothing." The Nine-Tails swished his tails. He had only heard about Might Guy from Naruto. Guy had once forced Madara Uchiha—who was practically invincible after absorbing the Ten-Tails—to suffer a huge blow, though it was a pity he had not witnessed it with his own eyes.

By the time he saw him later, Might Guy was already crippled, and he could not feel even a shred of that power comparable to the Sage of Six Paths.

"Perhaps this is a good opportunity." The Nine-Tails paid utmost attention. Ninjas capable of fighting against the combat power of the Ōtsutsuki Clan were truly rare in this world.

"How about it? This place is much more suitable for you guys than the small Training Ground from before, right?" Might Guy laughed heartily, turning to the group behind him. "This is the Training Ground assigned to me by the village after I became a Jonin. It's not a bit inferior to the Training Ground of your Hyuga Clan, right? It's just that every time I finish a mission, I'm more used to going back to my old spot to practice. Unfortunately, I was a bit too excited this time, and since I didn't have anyone maintain it usually, it's temporarily out of commission."

Naruto looked around excitedly, taking everything in. Guy's Training Ground was several times larger than the public one in the village. Furthermore, the targets and various mechanisms set up within the field were extremely abundant. Even a brief glance at the dense forest overhead revealed it had been specially trimmed, and its bizarre routes were exceptionally well-suited for practicing the Body Flicker Technique!

"Inferior? Not by a long shot." Hyuga Hengzuo withdrew his gaze and sighed. "This is a Training Ground exclusively for Jonin. There's no better place in the entire village."

"Still, I'm sorry, Guy." Another Hyuga told Guy, "Although you mean well, the secret arts Training of the Hyuga Clan is not for outsiders. We can't perform them in a place like this."

"Huh? You know me?" Hearing how the other person addressed him, Guy looked at him in confusion. "Oh my, this face of yours... so familiar..."

"What, you don't even recognize your old classmate?"

"Old classmate... Ah, you're Hyuga... Hyuga..." Guy squinted as he looked him up and down, feeling extremely awkward. In truth, he had recognized the man just a moment ago, but he completely failed to remember his name, so he had deliberately put on the act of a stranger.

"Hyuga Ichita," Hyuga Ichita introduced himself helplessly, as if he was already well-acquainted with this flaw of Guy's. "You're still the same as before, never remembering anyone's name except Kakashi Hatake's."

"Ahahaha, Ichita! How could I possibly forget your name? It's just that it's been so long since we last met, and you've gotten so handsome, I didn't even recognize you just now!" Guy forced a laugh to cover up his embarrassment, then patted the other man's shoulder. "Since it's been so long since we last saw each other, how about it? To sweat and enjoy our youth after all this time—let's go do fifty laps of frog leaps around the village!"

"Count me out, count me out. Anyway, just like I said, we're only here to guard the Young Lady, and we won't be taking part in other matters." Hyuga Ichita pointed at his companion, Hengzuo. "The two of us are Chunin-level, after all. This kind of training is just..."

"You can't talk like that, old classmate." Hearing Ichita's latter half, Guy's expression suddenly turned solemn. The hand resting on Hyuga Ichita's shoulder suddenly exerted force and squeezed, causing the latter to wince in pain. "The war ended not long ago, and you're already slacking off? If I were right now—"

Both Hyuga Ichita and Hengzuo were startled. The moment his voice finished, Might Guy had already appeared right beside the completely unreacting Hinata Hyuga, and his fist was hurtling directly toward Hinata's small head.

His movements were so swift that no one would ever think he would stop, and at that moment, Hinata had not realized a single thing!

"Stop!"

The two Hyuga guards hurriedly stepped forward to try and stop him, but their skills were light-years behind Might Guy's. They didn't even have time to get close...

"The Hyuga Family is considered a major clan in the village, but I didn't expect its members to be so slack. I'm just trying to scare them, yet they can't even stop me? Or perhaps I should teach them a lesson to wake them up."

Guy wasn't a total airhead. Although he was cheerful by nature, he was extremely meticulous inside.

Both the Hyuga Clan and the Uchiha Clan were major clans in Konoha. As a Jonin, Guy was naturally aware of the current internal conflicts involving the Uchiha Clan in the village, and he did not wish to see the Hyuga Clan go down that same path. Especially given Hyuga Ichita's words just a moment ago—having Chunin-level strength, yet refusing to participate in village missions and serving only as bodyguards for a major clan was a very dangerous behavior.

As for this strike, Guy, whose Taijutsu had been cultivated to an astonishing degree, was naturally capable of controlling his movements with exquisite precision.

Not to mention that this punch looked like it couldn't be stopped, he could easily control his strength to ensure the target remained completely unharmed even if he had already made contact with them.

However, before Guy could pull back his fist, Hinata's figure actually vanished beneath it!

"Huh?" Guy swung at empty air, while Hyuga Ichita and Hyuga Hengzuo both froze in shock. Then, a soft voice rang out.

"Bushy Brows Uncle, what do you think you're doing?"

Naruto stood holding Hinata three meters away from Guy, gazing at him with a somewhat dangerous look in his eyes.

Ah, I've been misunderstood. Realizing what had happened, Guy straightened up and instinctively prepared to apologize and explain, but an idea suddenly popped into his head—

How... did he just pull that off?

"Truly astonishing. Was that the Body Flicker Technique? Even we didn't notice it?" The two Hyuga bodyguards were even more shocked. They immediately stepped between Guy, Hinata, and Naruto, raising their defensive postures. They had been negligent just now; now they had to be on high alert!

"Ah... Naruto-kun?" Hinata only then noticed she was being held in Naruto's arms, and she spoke up instinctively.

Her face was flushed red, and she was completely oblivious to the tense atmosphere on the field.

"Hinata, go stand by those two White Eyes uncles." Naruto, however, did not continue joking around. He kept his gaze locked on Guy's figure, revealing a seriousness that completely mismatched his age. "It's dangerous here."

Well, this is tricky. If I don't explain now, his hostility is pretty obvious.

Guy surveyed Naruto's attitude and thought to himself that things were looking bad.

Yet, because he had not unraveled his puzzle, he ultimately chose to stay silent.

"Hengzuo, take Young Lady Hinata and leave first," Hyuga Ichita suddenly said to his companion. "I don't know what kind of madness has gotten into Guy, but it'll be troublesome if the Young Lady gets hurt."

"Ah, right." Hyuga Hengzuo looked at Hinata, who stood there looking bewildered and having no idea what had just happened, and then glanced at Guy, who remained silent. Though he didn't understand why the situation had suddenly turned out this way, he swallowed hard, grabbed Hinata, and prepared to leave.

"Whoosh!"

The green figure once again appeared beside Hyuga Hengzuo with lightning speed, throwing another punch toward the young girl. Only this time—his gaze wasn't lingering on any member of the Hyuga Clan at all; he was staring fixedly at Naruto.

Yet...

Guy's rapid punch swung through empty air once more.

"Hurry and go," Naruto shouted to the three sweating Hyuga members behind him. "He's serious!"

What's happening? Hyuga Ichita looked at the spot where he and Young Lady Hinata had been standing just moments ago; distance had already been put between them and that location.

As for Hyuga Hengzuo, he was even more shaken. He finally seemed to understand what had happened to him earlier by the wall of the Hyuga Clan's compound.

"Hmph, serious?" Hearing Naruto's judgment, the Nine-Tails couldn't help but feel somewhat speechless. "Hey, Minato, looks like you need to teach Naruto how to read other people's intentions. This probe is so obvious, he's practically exposing all his trump cards to the guy. And the other party doesn't even have killing intent, let alone hostility."

"Well... Naruto is only five years old, after all." Minato Namikaze, who had linked up with the Nine-Tails' chakra to watch Naruto as well, was helpless, yet also felt a sense of reflected pride. "It seems the level of Konoha's Jonin is getting higher and higher. With such a simple method to probe Naruto, it looks like Naruto's Flying Thunder God Technique won't be able to stay hidden anymore."

At that moment, Guy stared at Naruto, an astonishing aura radiating from his entire body.

This intense presence made everyone involuntarily swallow and break out in cold sweat.

"Truly remarkable..." Guy muttered. Then, his eyes suddenly flared with brilliance as he looked at Naruto, raised his thumb, and praised him loudly, "I watched your Body Flicker Technique twice and still couldn't detect it! How on earth did you train it? Teach me!"

"...Huh?" Naruto, the Nine-Tails, and Minato all froze.

"Is this guy an idiot?" the Nine-Tails mercilessly remarked.