“One fox demon!
One freak with those weird eyes!
Go to hell!
Wahahaha—!” “Hey, yellow-head!
We already taught you a lesson last time, and you still dare stick your nose into our business!” “Hey, hey, don’t kill the monster yet.
Let that eyeless guy—” (he actually has eyes, but they’re usually hard to see) “—show me his Byakugan first.
Then we can deal with him.” In the woods, the three large boys stopped kicking and punching Naruto Uzumaki and turned toward Hinata Hyuga, who was slumped on the ground nearby.
Through the gaps between them, Hinata saw Naruto curled up motionless on the ground.
Her heart ached as though it were being pricked by needles.
Her already pale face turned deathly white, and tears welled uncontrollably in her eyes.
These were the same people who had bullied her last winter.
Naruto had stepped in to defend her, only for them to beat him until his face was swollen and bruised.
They had even destroyed the scarf he wore to keep warm.
She had happened to run into Naruto today and had merely wanted to thank him for what he had done last time.
That was why she had sent the shinobi protecting her away.
But she never expected the same thing to happen again.
[Move, Hinata.
Fight back…] [Just like when you practice taijutsu with Father and Neji-nii-san…] [You can protect yourself!] The memory of her palm splitting a wooden board was still vivid in her mind.
Yet in reality, the closer those three boys came, the weaker her arms and legs became.
Everything she had learned seemed to vanish from her mind.
Even their faces gradually transformed into those of her father and Neji-nii-san glaring angrily at her, making her feel even more helpless.
“Hey, hey, this Byakugan freak can cry too.
What do you think?
Is she really crying, or is she faking it?” The leader of the three looked extremely curious.
“Her eyes are supposed to be different from ours, right?” Hinata’s body trembled.
She squeezed her eyes shut and desperately backed away until her back struck a tree, leaving her nowhere else to retreat.
[Tokuma, Father, Neji-nii-san…
Anyone, please come save Naruto and me!] “Hey!
You three!
Don’t touch her!” Hinata Hyuga abruptly opened her eyes, while the three boys turned around in disbelief.
The voice belonged to none other than Naruto Uzumaki, who had just been beaten until his face was swollen and bruised and could barely open his eyes.
His arms trembled as he struggled to push himself upright.
With dirty fingers, he pointed at the three boys, looking as though he might collapse at any moment.
“We…
we haven’t decided who’s stronger yet!
I’m only now going to show my real…
strength!” [Na…
Naruto!] Hinata covered her mouth with both hands to suppress her sobs.
[Don’t…
don’t stand up again.] The three boys exchanged glances.
Their initial disbelief gradually disappeared, replaced by vicious grins.
Mocking him, they said, “Quit boasting.
If you’ve got what it takes, then come over here and stop us!” All three had attended the Ninja Academy.
At a glance, they could tell that Naruto being able to stand at all was already a miracle.
There was no way he could walk more than a few steps before collapsing again.
Sure enough, Naruto took only one step before nearly falling to his knees.
Once they confirmed that Naruto was merely bluffing, the three boys turned back toward the white-eyed girl.
“I told you!
Your opponent is me!” Naruto shouted with all his remaining strength.
Taking advantage of the distraction, he grabbed a moderately sized stone from the ground and hurled it at the three of them.
The boy who had been targeted easily dodged it.
He was just about to turn around and mock Naruto when he heard a teeth-grating cracking sound, as though bones had just been shattered.
“Crack—!” The three boys’ hearts jumped.
They hurriedly turned around and focused their eyes on the large tree Hinata had been leaning against.
Their expressions changed drastically, as if they had just seen their own ghosts.
The stone Naruto had thrown was embedded deep in the very center of the tree trunk, like a meteor that had smashed into the earth.
But that wasn’t all.
Circular cracks densely covered the area surrounding the stone, resembling ripples spreading across the surface of a pond after rainfall.
A massive fissure extended from the impact point toward the back of the tree, almost splitting the entire trunk in two.
If that stone had hit one of them squarely in the head, it could have cracked their skull wide open.
“Hey, hey…
You’re kidding, right…?” One of the boys felt his legs go weak.
“He really is a monster…
We should—we should get out of here.” The three cautiously glanced at Naruto, who stood there in a daze as though he didn’t even know what had happened.
“Just you wait!” Leaving those words behind, they hurried away down the road.
But they had barely gone around the bend when another figure appeared in front of them, startling them badly.
Looking closer, they discovered that it was a boy of about four or five years old.
He had short black hair that was relatively smooth (at least compared to Sasuke’s), delicate yet stern features, and a dark-red short-sleeved shirt.
His hands were filled with the mundane necessities of everyday life as he carried plastic bags stuffed with vegetables and fish.
Yet his entire body radiated an icy, unapproachable aura.
And that wasn’t even the most striking thing about him.
It was his eyes.
They were like a frigid mountain pool hidden beneath a veil of mist—deep blue, still, and utterly devoid of life.
There wasn’t the slightest glimmer of light in them.
They resembled two bottomless black holes, as though hinting that their owner had no soul and was merely a walking corpse.
The boy walked toward them with slow but steady steps.
He didn’t even glance at the three boys, yet they instinctively moved aside, their eyes fixed nervously on his every movement.
Fine goosebumps rose across their skin, partly from the cold and partly from those eyes that looked nothing like those of a living person.
It wasn’t until the boy had passed them that they saw the clan crest on his back—the familiar symbol that looked like a “ping-pong paddle” (actually a uchiha fan).
Only then did they realize who he was.
“It’s that crazy Uchiha!” “No wonder he scared me half to death!” “Run!
Otherwise the Police Force will catch us and throw us in jail!” After whispering among themselves, they used what little chakra they possessed to flee as quickly as they could.
Meanwhile, Naruto Uzumaki had completely exhausted himself and collapsed into Hinata’s arms.
Yet a satisfied smile spread across his face.
Of course, his satisfaction had nothing to do with lying in a girl’s lap.
It came from the tree that had been struck by the stone and now stood trembling precariously, looking as though it might split apart at any moment.
“Hey, hey, you saw that, right?!” He couldn’t even remember Hinata’s name, yet he grabbed her sleeve without the slightest hesitation and shook it vigorously.
“That was my real strength!
I just wasn’t serious before!
Just you wait and see!
I…
I’m definitely going to become Hokage…” Hinata nodded through her tears.
She couldn’t hear anything else.
She had even forgotten to be embarrassed.
All she wanted was for her attendant, Hyuga Tokuma, to hurry over and take Naruto to the hospital.
At that moment, the sound of approaching footsteps reached their ears, and a shadow fell over the two of them.
“Ah—!” Hinata flinched in fright, but instead of letting go, she clutched Naruto even tighter.
Naruto could barely keep his eyes open.
Thinking the three boys had returned, he tried to struggle to his feet.
Then he smelled something strange.
It was somewhat bitter, yet faintly fragrant.
“…” Hinata regularly applied medicine to her fists every day, so she was very familiar with the smell.
She immediately accepted the small container being offered to her.
Although there was a faint scent of wisteria mixed into it, there was no doubt that it was medicine for external injuries.
Only then did she raise her head and carefully examine the boy’s face.
Her clear eyes gradually widened.
“U-Uchiha Tōru?” Uchiha Tōru was the same age as her.
He was the son of the Uchiha clan head and had a twin elder brother named Sasuke.
She knew him for more than one reason.
The Hyuga and Uchiha compounds were not far apart, and whenever her father criticized her for not working hard enough in her training, he would often use “that good-for-nothing son of Fugaku” as an example to warn her.
Furthermore, whenever she wandered around the food stalls because she hadn’t eaten enough, she would occasionally see Uchiha Tōru selecting things at the market.
For example, the plastic bag he had placed on the ground now contained two dying salmon, each more than half a meter long.
They were hard to miss.
Uchiha Tōru expressionlessly swept his gaze over the two of them.
Hinata Hyuga and Naruto Uzumaki felt as though a gentle light had passed through their bodies, exposing every secret they possessed.
What they didn’t know was that, within Uchiha Tōru’s field of vision, the two were no longer simply “people.” They had become organic structures composed of muscles, bones, nerves, and other biological components.
Through a visual ability known as the Transparent World, Tōru could tell at a glance that neither of them was an ordinary child.
The blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy’s damaged skin and muscle tissue were rapidly regenerating under the influence of a strange energy originating from his abdomen.
He probably only needed a good night’s sleep to recover without even leaving behind a minor injury.
His vitality was frighteningly strong.
But there was something else…
How should he put it?
Malnutrition?
What a contradictory child.
It was almost as though his body and that strange energy belonged to two different people.
As for this young lady from the Hyuga clan, judging by the standards of a five-year-old, the muscle development in her limbs was astonishing.
She was hardly inferior to his twin brother Sasuke.
Her chakra reserves were considerable as well.
And yet these two had been bullied by three completely ordinary brats.
Before he realized it, a trace of barely perceptible annoyance appeared on Uchiha Tōru’s face.
He had seen plenty of people who lacked the strength to fight back.
But people who possessed strength yet refused to resist, while dragging others into trouble with them…
He stared deeply at Hinata Hyuga for a moment.
Then, without even acknowledging her thanks, he picked up the plastic bags and left.
After all, she was only five years old.
Even if he explained those principles to her, she probably wouldn’t understand.
Ordinary people wouldn’t possess the same resolve as Tanjiro.
After all, they had never lost someone precious to them, nor had they ever had someone they desperately wanted to protect.
“Who…
who was that?” After the footsteps faded into the distance, Naruto asked nervously.
“Wasn’t he here to cause trouble?” “No.” Hinata’s pale face shook as she answered.
“He’s a good person.
He gave you medicine for your injuries.
I-I’ll help you apply it…” Only now did her little face begin to turn red with embarrassment.
Naruto was stunned for a moment before saying, “Please help me stand up.” “But you…” “I have something I need to ask him.” Naruto’s voice trembled slightly as he spoke pleadingly.
“Please.” Meanwhile.
Uchiha Tōru reached the tree that had almost been broken in half.
He looked around as though searching for something.
“Found it.” He crouched down and picked up a tiny pebble, barely larger than a fingernail.
He rubbed it between his fingers, feeling the terrifying heat still lingering on its surface, and casually tossed it into the distance.
Upon closer inspection, one would notice a tiny depression in the exact center of the stone embedded in the tree.
Its size matched the pebble Tōru had just picked up.
The truth was that Tōru had thrown a small stone from a distance, striking the stone Naruto had thrown.
That collision had redirected Naruto’s stone into the tree, creating the frightening damage.
The intense heat on the pebble had been caused by the violent collision between the two stones.
“Throwing it using the mechanics of Water Breathing, Seventh Form: Drop Ripple Thrust has this much power…?” Tōru stared at the tree trunk for a while.
“Even though this body is still a child’s.” He was about to continue on his way.
He still had something to do.
But Naruto Uzumaki called out to him.
“Wait!” Uchiha Tōru turned around.
Unlike Hinata Hyuga, who possessed strength yet couldn’t bring herself to protect herself, this malnourished blonde boy had remained determined to protect the “weak” even while seriously injured.
That aligned very well with Tōru’s own values.
So he was willing to waste a little more time.
“What is it?” Uchiha Tōru asked coldly.
It was his usual manner of speaking.
“Why did you help me?” Something about Naruto’s condition seemed strange.
The emotion hidden in his voice wasn’t so much gratitude as it was deep confusion, mixed with an intense uneasiness that even Tōru could sense.
[Someone helps you, and instead of being happy, you become suspicious?
What kind of logic is that?
Is this what ninja children are like?
Was Uzui Tengen that suspicious even as a child?] Numerous thoughts flashed through Tōru’s mind, but he didn’t voice any of them.
Seeing that Uchiha Tōru had no intention of answering, Naruto gritted his teeth and shouted, “I’m the Nine-Tails’ fox monster everyone talks about!
Aren’t you afraid of me?!” The Nine-Tails?
Uchiha Tōru tilted his head.
Suddenly, he remembered the enormous red fox he had seen in his elder brother Itachi’s arms shortly after he was born.
His father had called it the Nine-Tails, and he seemed extremely wary of it.
It was also after that day that the Uchiha clan had moved to a more remote area, farther away from the Hyuga clan.
But what did that have to do with this brat?
Tōru stared at Naruto’s face for a moment, his gaze lingering on the six whisker-like markings on Naruto’s cheeks.
Then he seemed to understand.
Naruto noticed where Tōru was looking.
His expression became somewhat relieved, yet at the same time heavier, and he lowered his head.
[He must have helped me because he didn’t know who I was.] [If he finds out later that the person he helped is this monster, he’ll definitely get angry.
He’ll probably feel like he was deceived.] [Rather than letting him regret it later, I should just admit it now…] Unable to see the other boy’s reaction, Naruto’s mood sank even further.
Rather than having someone like him at first only to hate him later, it was better to let them hate him from the beginning.
At least that was something he was already accustomed to.
Soon, a pair of shoes appeared in his field of vision.
Naruto raised his head in surprise.
He discovered that the black-haired boy had already walked up to him.
His vision was too blurry to see clearly, and he could only make out the boy’s general silhouette.
“If you think you’re some kind of fox…” As he spoke, the boy crouched down and rummaged through the plastic bag containing the vegetables.
A few seconds later, he pulled out a rather comical wooden fox mask and held it out to Naruto.
“Then I’ll give you this.” Uchiha Tōru had made five fox-shaped warding masks.
The one he had prepared for himself was now being given to Naruto.
After all, in a certain sense, Tōru wasn’t truly the son of his parents or the real brother of his siblings.
He was an outsider’s soul occupying someone else’s body.
Uchiha Tōru and Sasuke were, ultimately, not the same person.
The child who should have grown up carefree had already lost his chance to live because of him.
Giving the mask to a child who had come to identify himself with a fox because of his appearance seemed rather fitting.
Naruto accepted the mask in bewilderment.
His emotions were far more complicated than a child his age should have been capable of handling.
Aside from the old man and the owner of Ichiraku Ramen and his daughter, this was the only time someone had ever given him a gift.
And the person was a complete stranger who was the same age as him.
Naruto had already told him who he was.
Yet the boy was still willing to give him a gift.
For Naruto, this was an entirely new experience.
He didn’t even know how he was supposed to respond.
By the time Naruto came back to his senses, the black-haired boy had already walked away.
Naruto wanted to shout out his thanks, but tears flowed into his mouth, their salty taste choking off his voice.
Then he suddenly realized something.
He didn’t even know the boy’s name.
He turned toward Hinata.
He vaguely remembered hearing her say something about “Uchiha,” so he hurriedly asked, “Do you know his na—” “Lady Hinata!” A panicked voice interrupted Naruto.
A white-eyed boy wearing a Konoha forehead protector appeared before them, carrying large bags filled with snacks.
“Tokuma.” A trace of guilt appeared on Hinata’s face.
If she hadn’t sent Tokuma away to buy things, Naruto wouldn’t have been injured.
When Hyuga Tokuma discovered that his young mistress was once again mixed up with that blonde-haired boy, his brows immediately furrowed.
Even though Naruto’s vision was blurry, he could still sense the familiar hostility in Tokuma’s gaze.
He instinctively lowered his head.
“Lady Hinata, let’s return home now.
We mustn’t make the clan head worry.” Hyuga Tokuma ignored Naruto.
Without giving Hinata any chance to object, he pulled her away, as though Naruto were some kind of harbinger of disaster.
Whether he really was one or not didn’t matter.
The clan head had specifically instructed them to stay away from dangerous individuals like him.
Ignoring him completely was the best course of action.
“Please forgive my rudeness.” “Ah…
wait…” Everything had happened too suddenly.
Hinata was practically dragged away, and she couldn’t even leave the jar of medicine in her hand behind for Naruto.
Naruto watched the two disappear into the distance.
A trace of loneliness welled up beneath his swollen eyelids.
But when he lowered his head and saw the mask in his hands, a smile appeared once again on his bruised and swollen face.
“I’ll give him something in return next time.” Naruto rallied his spirits.
He happily flashed a “V” sign toward the cracked tree, then limped away, already wondering what flavor of instant cup ramen he should eat that night.
One minute later.
A masked shinobi appeared in front of the tree.
He merely touched the stone embedded in the trunk.
The tree immediately gave a sharp crack, tilted forward, and crashed to the ground with a tremendous boom.
The ANBU shinobi’s hand, which had been suspended in midair, twitched dramatically.
“I need to report this to the Third Hokage.
We must restrict the villagers and absolutely cannot allow the jinchūriki to be provoked again.
Otherwise, his power could lose control at any moment…” With that, he vanished in a Body Flicker Technique.
From that day onward, Naruto was never deliberately beaten by the villagers again.
But that is a story for later.