Leaving the clan grounds, Hinata headed straight for the Hokage Residence with a singular purpose in mind.
To Hinata, Toneri Otsutsuki’s sudden arrival was nothing more than a brief side interlude.
Sure, on paper, it seemed like if Toneri was around, every future enemy could just be chopped into pieces by him in instant lighting-reed mode.
But that was all predicated on one critical premise: that he stole her little sister Hanabi’s eyes in the original timeline.
How could Hinata ever sit by and watch her own little sister lose her light?
What kind of trash was Toneri Otsutsuki compared to her?
He wasn’t even half as good as her super-invincible, cosmic-level adorable little sister.
“Little girl?”
“Do you need something?”
On her way to the Hokage Residence, Hinata stopped in front of a small bun stall along the main street of the Leaf Village.
“This one, this one, and that one!” Hinata pointed three small fingers at the menu: a fish-mint filled bun, a mooncake-style sweet bun, and a bullfrog-filled bun.
“Oh?
You want those three flavors?” The stall owner couldn’t help tears of joy from welling up in his eyes upon seeing his three weird, signature creations finally score their very first customer.
He immediately reached for the absolute biggest, highest-quality bullfrog bun to give her.
“No, those three flavors are way too disgusting.
I don’t want them.” Hinata looked at the excited owner with a completely blank expression.
“Give me two of every single one of the other twenty-eight flavors, plus a whole bucket of warm milk.”
“…?”
Hiccup~~
With fifty-six steaming buns tucked securely inside her stomach, Hinata finally patted her smooth, flat little tummy with deep satisfaction.
Mm, including the breakfast she had just eaten back at home, she was roughly eighty percent full—not bad at all.
Standing hidden in the shadows, her official secret guard, Tokuma Hyuga, touched his paper-thin fortune-cat wallet and let out a silent, sorrowful sigh.
Bodyguard?
There was no such thing.
To Hinata, a so-called bodyguard was just an official designated payer who stepped forward whenever she bought things on impulse.
Anyway, her dad would reimburse him for every penny later.
By the time Hinata strolled casually into the Hokage Residence, her lightning-fast metabolism had already digested most of the food.
“Hello, I am here to meet Lord Hokage.”
“Did you make an appointment beforehand?”
At the main entrance of the Hokage Residence, Hinata spoke directly to the guard standing at the post.
Seeing a tiny girl walk up to him, the guard couldn’t help letting out a soft laugh.
He squatted down to her eye level and asked gently, “Little girl, do you have some business with Lord Hokage?”
“Lord Hokage is the one who asked to see me,” Hinata corrected him earnestly.
Since she had requested two S-rank forbidden techniques, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, naturally wanted to inspect the applicant in person.
“Uh, well…
why would Lord Hokage want to see a kid like you?” The guard blinked, thoroughly confused.
“Shouldn’t you go ask Lord Hokage that?” Hinata tilted her head, throwing the question right back.
“Why are you asking me?”
The guard choked on his own words, completely stuck on how to answer her.
Fortunately, his partner was standing nearby.
Unable to hold back his laughter any longer, the second guard stepped in to rescue his friend.
“In that case, little girl, why don’t you sit in the lobby for a moment?
I’ll head upstairs and check if Lord Hokage is free right now.”
Hearing this, Hinata nodded in approval.
“Alright then, Big Brother.
You’re definitely way smarter than this other guy.”
The first guard: (๑ŏ﹏ŏ๑)
Online help needed: What should I do when a six-year-old girl looks down on me like an idiot?
Knock, knock, knock~~
“Enter.”
When the door to the Hokage’s office was knocked on, Hiruzen Sarutobi was hard at work behind a mountain of paperwork, responding without even lifting his head.
“Hokage Grandpa!”
The moment she stepped through the door, Hinata called out in a crisp, sweet voice.
That made Hiruzen look up in surprise.
During their last brief meeting, he had told Hinata to call him “Grandpa” in front of Hiashi, and Hinata had immediately seized the chance to switch titles.
He hadn’t expected her to still remember it so naturally today.
This was entirely different from the rigid, overly formal demeanor he usually associated with the Hyuga Clan.
“Ah, little Hinata.
Wait for Grandpa just a moment.
I still have a few documents to clear,” Hiruzen said, a warm, kindly smile spreading across his aged face.
“Okay!” Hinata nodded obediently, taking a seat on the leather sofa nearby while casually surveying her surroundings.
She hadn’t looked too closely last time, but now that she was free to observe, she noticed that the entire Hokage Residence was surprisingly worn down, practically begging for renovations.
There were visible hairline cracks running along the hallway walls, and the Hokage’s office wasn’t in much better shape.
Doesn’t this place leak whenever it rains?
Hiruzen didn’t keep her waiting for long.
Exactly five minutes later, he signed off on a report concerning flooded roads on the east side of the village that were blocking civilian travel.
“Little Hinata, let’s take a walk up to the mountain behind us,” Hiruzen suggested, stepping out from behind his desk with the gentle smile typical of an elderly man as he patted her head.
“The scenery up there is quite nice.”
Asking a six-year-old girl in a formal office why she wanted the Flying Raijin and the Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags felt far too intense and cold; it might terrify the child.
A casual stroll through the back mountain felt much more appropriate.
That way, he could showcase his warm, accessible persona as Hokage without leaving a bad impression on the future Hyuga heiress.
???
Isn’t the office perfectly fine?
Why are you taking me up to a secluded mountain?
Bah, you wouldn’t happen to be a loli-con too, would you?!
Huh?
Why did I add the word “too”?
Hinata’s arms and legs were far too short to outpace Hiruzen, so she could only follow him obediently through the back entrance toward the mountain.
The Hokage Residence was separated from the back mountain beneath the Hokage Monument by only a narrow passageway.
A stone path had been cleared between them, making access incredibly convenient.
Stepping through that narrow corridor, the view suddenly opened up in a breathtaking sweep.
Spread out before them was a serene, glassy lake surrounded by lush green lawns and dense forest.
Perched atop the cliff of the Hokage Monument stood an ancient, elegant pavilion.
Hinata recognized it immediately.
In the Road to Ninja movie, that was the specialized training ground Minato Namikaze had used to hone his godlike reflexes—a place packed with hidden traps and mechanisms.
She hadn’t expected such a location to actually exist in the real world.
“It’s a wonderful place, isn’t it?”
A gentle breeze rustled past her face, carrying the rich scent of damp earth.
Hiruzen’s chuckling voice drifted into Hinata’s ears.
“Mm, I didn’t expect the village to have a place like this,” Hinata remarked, looking around with genuine interest.
“I’m glad you like it, little Hinata.” Hiruzen let out a soft laugh, instinctively reaching into his pocket for a match to light his pipe, only to freeze mid-motion.
Ah, there’s a child here.
He withdrew his hand.
“Little Hinata, I heard from your father that you take a deep interest in the Second Hokage, Lord Tobirama Senju?” Hiruzen asked, looking down at the girl beside him with a smile.
Here it comes.
Hinata thought for a brief second before giving a firm nod.
“That’s right!”
“Lord Second was truly incredible!”
Her enthusiastic answer fit Hiruzen’s expectations perfectly.
After all, Tobirama Senju had been his revered teacher; he knew better than anyone how extraordinary that man had been.
“To make the Leaf Village flourish under the leadership of a First Hokage who possessed ultimate power but zero political brain cells…”
“A man like Lord Second was truly remarkable!”
???
Wait a minute, little Hinata…
I won’t argue with you about how great the Second Hokage was.
But why did you have to put down the First Hokage just to lift up the Second?!