Naruto and Hinata walked side by side through the streets of Konoha.
Along the way, villagers kept casting surprised and disgusted looks in their direction.
“Isn’t that the eldest daughter of the Hyūga clan? Why is she hanging around with that kid?”
“I just hope the Hyūga clan’s young lady doesn’t get corrupted by that monster. Otherwise, Konoha might lose another promising ninja.”
…
Listening to the unpleasant comments around them, Naruto frowned.
He really wanted to argue with these idiots—or even beat them up.
But he couldn’t.
That would attract far too much attention.
Thinking of this, Naruto suddenly stopped and turned to Hinata.
“Hinata, can you head home by yourself from here?”
“Naruto-kun… I don’t mind what other people think,” Hinata said carefully.
She knew exactly what the villagers were talking about.
She also understood that openly walking around with Naruto like this would stir up a great deal of gossip about the Hyūga clan.
Even so, she didn’t want to abandon Naruto.
Naruto affectionately patted her head.
“I don’t care what they think either. But I do care about what they say about you.”
“See you tomorrow, Hinata.”
With that, Naruto turned and walked away, bearing the villagers’ ridicule and mockery alone.
“Konoha really is a hard place to like.”
Muttering to himself, he gradually disappeared into the distance.
Hinata watched his lonely back with an aching heart.
“Miss Hinata, it’s time to go.”
Naruto had already disappeared from sight, yet Hinata was still standing there staring after him.
Hinata came back to her senses and gave a small nod.
“Mm.”
After returning to the Hyūga compound, the bodyguard immediately reported everything to Hyūga Hiashi.
“Don’t let the two of them meet alone again. Understood?” Hiashi said.
“I tried persuading Miss Hinata from the beginning, but she wouldn’t listen to me.”
Hiashi replied, “I’ll speak with her. Your job is to prevent that boy from coming into contact with Hinata.”
“Understood.”
…
After separating from Hinata, Naruto went to Ichiraku Ramen for a bowl of noodles, then returned home to take an afternoon nap.
Before long, Naruto sensed someone standing outside his door.
“That familiar chakra… Is it Hinata’s bodyguard from earlier?”
Naruto got up and walked toward the entrance.
Just as a knock sounded, he opened the door.
The sudden timing startled the man outside.
Was he just about to go out?
The bodyguard guessed.
“What do you want?” Naruto asked expressionlessly.
The bodyguard made no effort to hide his disgust.
“I’m here to warn you not to approach Miss Hinata again. Miss Hinata won’t be coming to see you anymore either.”
“Oh.”
Naruto responded indifferently and closed the door.
It was exactly what he had expected.
There was nothing surprising about it.
Infuriated at being ignored, the bodyguard stormed away.
Early the next morning, Naruto arrived at the place where he and Hinata had agreed to train together.
He hadn’t broken his promise.
He waited until noon.
No one came.
Naruto didn’t blame Hinata.
He knew she had almost certainly been confined to the Hyūga compound.
He didn’t have enough money for Ichiraku Ramen today, so he could only head home for lunch.
As Naruto walked back, he silently stared up at the white clouds drifting through the sky.
[Ding! Detected the host worrying about his strength. Your body has worked hard and increased its physical quality by 50%!]
The increase in strength didn’t make Naruto particularly happy.
His physical abilities were already formidable—even considerably stronger than Kakashi’s or Guy’s without opening the Seventh Gate.
But that was all.
Suddenly, two green figures entered his field of vision.
“Lee! Can you feel the passion of youth? Let us race toward the sun!”
They called it running, but the two of them were actually moving while doing handstands.
“Guy-sensei! I can feel it!”
Lee burst into tears of passion.
“My blood is boiling! Burn, my cosmos! OOOOHHHH!!!!”
Two green streaks flashed past, nearly blinding Naruto.
“What dazzling outfits,” Naruto muttered in admiration.
[Ding! Hot-blooded youth is burning! The host’s body has caught fire with passion and worked hard enough to learn the Eight Gates! You can currently open up to the Sixth Gate!]
“…”
Naruto fell silent.
So having powerful people pass nearby could turn his System into some kind of capability machine?
With that possibility in mind, Naruto slowly turned his gaze toward the Hokage Building in the distance.
“Looks like today is a good day to cause some trouble.”