Shira looked at the thin boy with dazzling blond hair who had suddenly appeared, and her heart skipped a beat, as if something had gently bumped into her.
Golden hair, Six Paths small mustache-like lines on his face, and those unrealistically blue, wide-open eyes...
Naruto Uzumaki!
Alive and moving, it looked even smaller and thinner than in the comics and animations, with a dirty face and wrinkled clothes. It didn't quite match the image of the loud and boisterous Child of Prophecy in Shira's memories, but it also strangely overlapped with it.
Yes, at this age, he was probably causing trouble all over Konoha, painting the Hokage Rock, and trying to get attention with pranks.
For a moment, Shira forgot the burning pain in her legs and remained in that comical duck-like gait, staring blankly at the blond child a few steps away.
The image that flashed through my mind was of the future Hokage protagonist, carrying the hopes of the entire Shinobi World, whose smile could light up the battlefield. Then I looked at the person in front of me, who looked like he'd just rolled out of a bush, a bit simple-minded...
This contrast made the sense of alienation that had always existed in his heart because of the time travel suddenly become somewhat subtle. It was as if the dimensional wall had cracked open in front of him with a "poof".
Naruto Uzumaki glanced back and forth between the two men. He could sense that they meant him no harm, unlike the adults in the village who would frown upon seeing him or deliberately ignore him.
Their strange poses are especially funny!
His initial wariness and lingering guilt from the prank were quickly overshadowed by the child's curiosity.
He sniffed, pointed to Rock Lee and Shira's legs, and said in a clear voice:
"What game are you playing? Walking while squatting looks so weird! And you're sweating so much, are you having a contest to see who sweats the most?"
As Naruto spoke, he took a small step forward, trying to get a better look. His big blue eyes were full of curiosity, even a little eager to try, as if he thought it was a novel and interesting game.
Shira was almost bursting with laughter at these words, so he quickly cleared his throat and calmed himself down. He slowly straightened his trembling legs, ending the torture of walking like a duck, and also easing the shock of seeing the "protagonist".
Rock Lee also stood up, and both of them breathed a long sigh of relief, feeling the blood flowing back into their thighs, and the soreness became more pronounced.
"It's not a game, it's training," Shira said, his voice still a little breathless, but he tried to sound casual. He looked Naruto over; the kid seemed pretty energetic now, but a little lonely.
Thinking about his situation at this time in the original work, Shira's excitement faded a bit, replaced by a touch of indescribable emotion.
"It's been a tough training session. But you, coming here all alone to play? This training ground isn't usually crowded."
Upon hearing the word "training," Naruto's eyes lit up even more, automatically ignoring the rest of the sentence: "Training? Is it like the training of ninjas? Are you ninjas?"
Looking at Shira and Rock Lee, their honed demeanor and the desperate stance they had just displayed made him subconsciously think they were very formidable.
"I'm a student at the Konoha Ninja Academy!" Rock Lee puffed out his chest, his training uniform soaked and his face covered in sweat, but he still spoke with pride about his identity. Then he pointed to Shira, " Shira is a ninja from Sunagakure, visiting Konoha."
Sunagakure?