The Third Hokage felt he had pulled off a perfect bit of brainwashing.
So he let the three of them leave the Hokage Cemetery first, but stayed behind himself. Whether sincere or not, he still had one final lesson to teach them.
That was to leave them with the sight of his lonely figure standing in the Hokage Cemetery.
He firmly believed that scene would have quite an impact on the three children.
Just imagine it.
The setting sun slanted westward, bathing everything in a dusky yellow glow, while the Hokage stood alone before a memorial stone. That scene alone was enough to move anyone, wasn't it?
Unfortunately, none of the three looked back.
Still, that didn't really matter. The Third Hokage genuinely wanted to stay here a while anyway.
Buried here were his most favored successor to the Hokage position, his teacher, and the comrades who had once fought by his side.
One day, he too would be buried here.
Gua left with Naruto and Hinata.
He took the two of them out for ramen for dinner, mostly to treat Hinata. The girl probably never went out; she was even better at idling than he was.
Only, Gua idled by choice.
Little Hinata, on the other hand, seemed timid about everything because she had never been out before. Aside from occasionally casting curious glances at things, she hadn't said another word.
The one thing that surprised Gua was little Hinata's impressive talent for eating.
Naruto polished off three bowls in one sitting.
And little Hinata actually polished off two.
Gua was starting to feel sorry for his little wallet, but although Hinata ate two bowls, he only had to pay for one.
The reason was that Teuchi thought the little girl was adorable and, since she was a