At noon the next day, Nobuhiko was at Training Ground Three, studying the scroll for Exploding Water Colliding Wave.
Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a beautiful red-haired girl arriving at Training Ground Three as well.
Nobuhiko understood.
The friend Tsunade wanted to introduce him to was probably Kushina Uzumaki, but she had not told the Third yet and was not sure whether it would work out.
So what he needed to do now was pretend he had not seen her.
He continued studying.
After waiting a little longer, he finally saw Tsunade and the Third arrive.
Seeing both Nobuhiko and Kushina at the training ground, the Third recalled the suggestion Tsunade had just made to him, and the corner of his mouth twitched.
At this point, could he really send Kushina back to stop the two of them from getting acquainted?
"Lord Hokage, Sister Tsunade."
The moment Nobuhiko saw them, he ran over to greet them like an eager lackey.
Seeing how cheerful and positive Nobuhiko was, the Third patted his shoulder with a kindly expression.
"You must be Nobuhiko. I read the reflections on the Will of Fire you wrote at school. Very well written!"
"It's all thanks to your excellent guidance, Lord Hokage."
"Ever since your speech when we first enrolled, I've been deeply captivated by the Will of Fire."
"Since that day, I've kept thinking about how to better put the Will of Fire into practice. I gain new insights every day!"
Nobuhiko shouted his answer with a fanatical expression.
"Good boy, good boy."
The Third was even more pleased. Thankfully, he had not handed this child over to Danzo back then. Otherwise, such a promising seedling would have gone to waste.
Standing nearby holding Kushina's hand, Tsunade found this harmonious scene a little hard to believe.
Knowing the Third as she did, she could naturally tell that he really was excited right now.
A five-year-old brat could fool the old man just by saying things like that?
What was wrong with this world?
The Shinobi Hero, and this was all he amounted to?
"Tsunade tells me you've learned a lot of ninjutsu?"
"Yes, Lord Hokage. Would you like me to demonstrate them now?"
"Heh heh, no rush, no rush. Let me test you first."
"How do you think you can better put the Will of Fire into practice?"
Good grief, he was going straight for the heavy stuff.
Nobuhiko mulled over how to answer in a way that would both impress the Third and make him feel his wholehearted sincerity.
Got it.
Nobuhiko instantly snapped his heels together, straightened his legs, tucked in his stomach, thrust out his chest, and raised his head to look up at the Third. His eyes were fanatical as he roared out his answer, one word at a time.
"Scallion!"
"Orange!"
Seeing the Third's eyes light up, Nobuhiko decided to keep going.
"I believe we must be completely loyal to Lord Hokage!"
"As long as Lord Hokage gives an order, no matter how many difficulties and dangers lie ahead, we must carry it out to the letter."
"If mountains stand in our way, we'll cut through them! If seas stand in our way, we'll fill them in!"
"I would gladly give my life for the Hokage, with no need to return alive through Konoha's gates!"
"Good, good, good! Good boy. From now on, I'll come here every few days to guide your training."
The Third was so moved by Nobuhiko that he nearly wept.
Feeling that it was still not quite enough, Nobuhiko used every ounce of his strength to roar out his trump card.
"Lord Hokage, banzai!"
At those words, the Third's eyes finally reddened.
What a wonderful child. In the first half of his life, he had followed his teacher into battle across the Shinobi World, unafraid of sacrifice, leading the charge. In the latter half, he had served as Hokage, working diligently and giving selflessly. What had it all been for?
Wasn't it so the village could have more good children like this?
The more good children like this there were, the brighter the village's future would be!
"Good boy. If you ever have any questions about your training, come find me at the Hokage's office anytime."
The Third thought for a moment, felt that was not enough, and added another sentence.
"If you gain any new insights into the Will of Fire, you can come find me anytime as well."
Nobuhiko was a little excited. After putting on this act for so long, wasn't this exactly what he had been waiting to hear?
"Yes, Lord Hokage! Banzai!"
Nobuhiko continued shouting slogans with "fanatical" fervor.
Tsunade, who was watching from the sidelines, fared a little better. She merely felt a buzzing in her head.
After all, she had already told Nobuhiko to build a good relationship with the Third. She just had not expected him to pull something like this, or for it to work so remarkably well.
Kushina, however, was a different story.
↓↓↓
As a result, she was now rather confused. On the one hand, she felt Nobuhiko was behaving exactly as a Konoha ninja should. On the other, she felt there was something very awkward about his behavior.
"Nobuhiko, I'd like you to become friends with that child. Would you be willing?"
Thinking of this gave the Third a headache. On the way here, Tsunade had not only told him about Kushina's request, but also said she wanted Nobuhiko and Kushina to become friends.
Yet before he could finish considering it, the two of them were already here. What else could he do?
"Scallion!"
"Orange!"
Nobuhiko once again roared out his answer fanatically.
This pleased the Third greatly.
"Kushina, what about you? Would you be willing to become friends with Nobuhiko?"
Still confused, Kushina suddenly heard her name called. Instinctively, she straightened her back and shouted Nobuhiko's slogan too.
"Scallion-orange."
After shouting it, Kushina realized what she had done. Her face flushed scarlet with embarrassment, and she buried herself in Tsunade's arms.
Tsunade shot Nobuhiko a glare, said goodbye to the Third, and left first, taking Kushina with her.
Watching the two leave, Nobuhiko had not expected this performance to fool not only the Third, but Kushina as well.
Terrifying!
The only one who was happy was the Third.
The power of a role model truly was boundless. There was nothing wrong with Nobuhiko's thinking or his loyalty. In a moment, he would take a closer look at his talent and see whether he had the potential to become an elite jonin.
"Nobuhiko, now that it's just the two of us, I have two more missions for you."
"Scallion!"
"Orange!"
Nobuhiko straightened his back as he replied.
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"She's always been doing harmless D-rank missions within the village."
"But now she's had enough of them and very much wants to leave the village to carry out dangerous missions."
"However, her identity is very special. I won't go into the details."
"In short, the village doesn't want her leaving to carry out those dangerous missions."
The Third spoke gravely at the end.
"Is there anything I can do, Lord Hokage?"
"Your first mission is to have a sparring match with Kushina in a little while."
"Huh?"
↓↓↓
"You only need to keep her occupied while demonstrating your own strength."
"Huh?"
Nobuhiko still did not quite understand.
↓↓↓
"That way, the village will have even firmer grounds to refuse to let her leave."
Nobuhiko understood, but still nodded as though he only half understood.
The Third was very pleased with Nobuhiko's response. Loyal, yet not overly calculating-who wouldn't like a child like that?