With the conversation reaching this point, Hiruzen Sarutobi finally understood why Hinata wanted the Flying Raijin Jutsu and the Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags.
It was because Tobirama Senju was, in truth, the ultimate role model for the vast majority of normal shinobi.
What if a person didn’t possess Hashirama Senju’s divine, godlike power?
What if someone lacked talent so astonishing it left the world in awe?
Was a person supposed to just stop dead in their tracks whenever the road of life was overgrown with thorns?
If there was no road, then one simply had to carve a brand-new path through sheer force of will.
To counter the Sharingan’s terrifying visual acuity, Tobirama Senju had independently created the Flying Raijin, earning the title of the fastest shinobi in existence.
After that came a string of legendary creations, including the Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags and Impure World Reincarnation.
To counter the Uchiha Clan’s world-renowned Fire Release, he relentlessly refined Water Release, streamlining the forty-four hand seals required for the Water Dragon Bullet Technique down to a mere four.
Even now, decades after Tobirama’s death, the shinobi of the Hidden Mist were still stuck using the full forty-four hand seals for that very same jutsu.
To counter the Uchiha’s bewildering sword techniques, the legendary Sword of the Thunder God had been born.
On top of all that, the entire administrative system of the modern Leaf Village was still running smoothly on the structural framework established back in Tobirama’s era.
Yet, despite Tobirama’s endless list of monumental achievements, he remained forever eclipsed by his older brother, Hashirama Senju.
The reason for this was brutally simple, condensed into a single word:
Invincible.
Hashirama had been truly, terrifyingly invincible.
Only those who had personally witnessed and felt the full weight of Hashirama Senju’s godlike might could ever comprehend just how monstrous that man had been.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had seen it with his own eyes.
Even standing thousands of meters away, that wooden statue towering directly into the clouds radiated an overwhelming pressure that chilled the blood.
It felt as though Hashirama could flatten entire nations with a single casual sweep of his palm if he ever felt like it.
Sensational techniques like the Flying Raijin, Impure World Reincarnation, or Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags…
stood entirely helpless in the face of a walking natural disaster.
Yet that divine power belonged exclusively to Hashirama Senju.
For anyone else, even dreaming of touching a fraction of that realm was pure delusion.
For a six-year-old girl who idolized Tobirama, however, laying out that cold, unyielding reality felt a bit too cruel.
After all, ninety-nine percent of the people in the shinobi world could spend ten lifetimes striving and still never touch Hashirama’s shadow.
Choosing to sidestep the heavy topic entirely, Hiruzen adopted a lighter, playful tone instead.
“So, does little Hinata like men built like the Second Hokage?”
“Will little Hinata pick her future husband based on someone like Lord Second?”
Hearing those words, Hinata froze on the spot.
Her dark brows furrowed into a tight knot, her face hardening into a look of severe disgust as she stared back at the old man.
Who the hell likes him?!
“In my opinion, Lord Second is just slightly more inspiring than Lord First,” Hinata stated matter-of-factly.
“Lord Second never had a wife in his entire life; I think there was definitely something wrong with his body.”
“Even a big dummy like the First Hokage managed to get married.
If the Second Hokage had been smart enough to marry an Uchiha woman, maybe Madara Uchiha would’ve never defected from the Leaf in the first place.”
???
Hiruzen stared at her in utter, speech-deprived shock.
You little brat, do you even realize what you’re saying?!
You dare slander the Second Hokage’s personal health?!
Believe it or not, he will use Impure World Reincarnation to crawl right out of his grave and stuff Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags straight under your mattress!
And…
marry an Uchiha woman?
Hmm…
Maybe the next Hokage could give that a try.
“As for a husband or whatever, I don’t want one.
If I ever get married, it’ll be someone marrying into my house!” Hinata pouted, her small face brimming with aggressive defiance.
Damn it, this old man has completely lost his mind!
A husband?!
Even a stray dog wouldn’t want one!
“Right, right, little Hinata is the one who should take a spouse into her family,” Hiruzen chuckled warmly, only now remembering that the girl in front of him was the eldest daughter of the Hyuga Clan’s Main Branch.
If she ever took a partner, she wouldn’t marry out; she would directly recruit a gentle, obedient husband for the Hyuga Clan.
“Actually, I don’t want to get married at all,” Hinata added, her nose tweaking in visible disgust.
“All the boys in the village look like total idiots.”
“Oh?” Hiruzen raised an eyebrow.
“Then, little Hinata…
what kind of person do you like?”
Recalling Hinata’s ruthless performance at the Academy and her sharp, unusual takes on the First and Second Hokage, Hiruzen couldn’t help feeling intensely curious.
For someone as dangerously sharp as Hinata, anyone who could catch her eye had to be extraordinary.
“People like Ino and Sakura!” Hinata blurted out without a split second of hesitation, leaving Hiruzen completely dumbfounded.
Wait, what?!
You don’t like the boys at the Academy, so you fell for the girls instead?!
“Uh…
little Hinata, do you prefer someone with Ino’s bright personality, or someone with Sakura’s gentle traits?” Hiruzen asked tentatively, probing with extreme caution.
If it was merely their personalities that had won Hinata’s favor, then a boy with similar traits should theoretically be able to win her heart as well.
But if it was the other way around…
“Can’t I just like both?” Hinata countered in a crisp, sharp tone.
“Doesn’t Hokage Grandpa think Ino and Sakura are exceptionally cute?”
Hiruzen: …
He was completely trapped, unable to utter a single word in reply.
He could hardly stand there as the Hokage and declare that the young children of his village weren’t cute.
A sudden wave of deep gloom washed over Hiruzen’s heart.
Over in the Uchiha Clan, Itachi Uchiha spent every single day glued to Shisui Uchiha’s side; Izumi Uchiha, who clearly had a massive crush on Itachi, got far less time with him than Shisui ever did.
And now, Hinata Hyuga was taking things to an even wilder extreme—ruthlessly beating up every boy in sight while reserving her warmest, brightest smiles purely for the girls, explicitly declaring that all the boys in the village were idiots.
Is this some kind of bizarre, incurable disease common among absolute geniuses?!
Hiruzen felt profoundly melancholic.
He suddenly felt as though the village’s future prospects were looking exceedingly dark.
“Alright, alright, does Hokage Grandpa have anything else to discuss?” Hinata stood up from the grass, dusting off her clothes as she prepared to leave.
“I’m heading home.”
“There is one more thing,” Hiruzen looked at her, his heart weighing heavy as he voiced one final question.
“Back then, when you thrashed Naruto alongside A-Da, A-Er, and A-San…
was your intention to stop those three idiots from bullying Naruto?”
Hearing that, Hinata stared at him in genuine shock.
The sole reason she had beaten up those three idiots along with Naruto was simply because she didn’t want to get pushed into marrying Naruto in the future.
Those three bullies were nothing more than a completely irrelevant side detail.
“Yes, that’s exactly what I thought,” Hinata put on a deeply serious, righteous face.
“After all, Naruto is always being bullied by people in the village.
How could they treat him like that?”
Ah, so that was it.
Hinata truly is a kind, good-hearted child at her core…
Hiruzen’s deep anxiety over the village’s gloomy future dissolved in an instant.
“Is it really their turn to bully Naruto?” Hinata continued seamlessly, her voice laced with heavy disdain.
“Those idiots don’t even know how to bully someone properly; I had to personally step in and demonstrate how it’s done.”
The relieved expression that had just settled onto Hiruzen’s aged face froze instantly.
When you said ‘how could they treat him like that’, you meant the villagers weren’t bullying Naruto in the right way?!
My Leaf Village is genuinely doomed!
“And that idiot Naruto!” Hinata added, throwing her hands up in frustration.
“When people bully him right to his face, he doesn’t even bother fighting back!”
“If it were me, I’d beat them so black and blue they wouldn’t be able to find their own teeth on the ground!”
“Oh, right!”
Speaking of which, Hinata looked up at Hiruzen, her face full of sheer mockery.
“Hokage Grandpa, you’d better hurry up and clean up the disgusting atmosphere in this village.”
“Right now, there are still brainless idiots who don’t even recognize the Byakugan trying to bully me.
I don’t really care if they try it with me, since I’ll just beat them half to death anyway.”
“But if they target other kids who can’t fight back, what are those children supposed to do?”
“Sakura gets bullied constantly just because she has a slightly broad forehead.
And I heard from Brother Neji that there’s a student in his class named Rock Lee who gets relentlessly picked on just because he can’t use ninjutsu.”
Hinata crossed her arms, giving him a cool, demanding glare.
“I really think Hokage Grandpa ought to do something about it.”