Ti rewound slightly to earlier that day.
Another night, another dream.
Naruto slowly woke up with a long yawn. By now, he had already grown sowhat accustod to dreaming every single night.
Although he could never clearly rember what happened within those dreams, every ti he woke up, he always felt strangely refreshed and comforted.
It was as though soone had quietly listened to all his loneliness and sadness before constantly encouraging him afterward.
Because of that, the hostility and resentnt born from the cold stares and mockery he endured every day had almost completely faded away.
Even stranger, despite how comforting those dreams felt, Naruto never once felt tempted to lose himself within them.
It was difficult to describe.
Every ti he woke up, it felt like a brand-new goal had appeared sowhere deep inside him, sothing he instinctively wanted to accomplish.
For example—
"Ah… the milk expired."
Naruto shook the carton in his hand.
Normally, his carefree personality would never pay attention to tiny details like this, yet today he unusually found himself carefully checking the food around the house.
As a result, very little of his ergency food stash actually qualified as "safe."
It was almost as though soone had deliberately reminded him to pay attention to expiration dates.
"I'll just eat outside."
Naruto casually shoved the milk back into the cabinet, changed out of his pajamas, and headed out the door.
The mont he opened it, warm sunlight shone across his face, making him instinctively squint.
At this point, this had beco normal too.
He often slept until noon nowadays, almost as though the ti inside his dreams mattered more than reality.
Fortunately, October sunlight wasn't particularly harsh.
It only felt pleasantly warm.
Ah, speaking of which—
Today was a special day.
Inside the Hyūga Clan compound.
"…Neji wins. Match over."
Following the referee's sharp announcent, Neji's fierce Gentle Fist palm strike stopped less than half a finger away from his opponent's forehead.
Under the other boy's respectful gaze, Hyūga Neji calmly withdrew his hand and bowed slightly, signaling the end of the match.
"As expected of genius Neji. His Gentle Fist has already reached this level. Even branch family elites five years older than him are no match for him anymore."
"Forget the branch family. There's probably nobody among the younger generation of the main family who can defeat that kid."
"Hizashi really left behind an incredible son."
Praise continuously echoed among the Hyūga clan mbers.
Yet for six-year-old Neji, many of those words sounded unbearably grating.
These people always acted as though they were complinting him.
Yet unconsciously, they constantly emphasized the distinction between the branch family and main family—
And repeatedly ntioned his father, who had died an unjust death.
As though they were reminding him not to grow arrogant.
That he was rely a…
Bird in a cage.
"Next should be Lady Hinata's turn, right?"
One of the main family participants who had already finished his match let out a long breath before glancing around.
"Why haven't I seen her?"
"Now that you ntion it, I don't think the young lady has been here for a while."
anwhile, near the rear gate of the Hyūga estate—
Hinata Hyūga was crouched alone in a corner.
As the eldest daughter of the Hyūga Clan, the etiquette of the main family absolutely forbade such an improper posture.
But right now, Hinata simply couldn't care less.
She was terrified.
Hinata had never understood fighting.
Why did the clan mbers who normally treated each other kindly suddenly beco so serious whenever battles began?
Why did they willingly endure pain and injuries just to prove sothing?
Even Neji-niisan, who had once cared for her so gently, had sohow started hating her.
During their recent sparring matches, he no longer showed her any rcy whatsoever.
Hinata feared pain.
She feared getting hurt.
And even more than that—
She feared hurting others.
Yet despite wanting to run away, she understood better than anyone that escape was impossible.
"So scary…"
The more Hinata thought about it, the more shaken she beca.
Curled up in the corner, she buried her face against her knees.
"Yoho~ Hmm? What're you doing?"
At that mont, a childish greeting rang out nearby.
"Eh?"
Startled, Hinata instinctively looked up.
Standing there was a blond-haired boy wearing a bright, sunny grin as he greeted her cheerfully.
I-It's him?
Hinata stared at him in surprise.
She recognized Naruto.
Back during the winter, when she had gotten lost and was being bullied by so bad kids, he had been the one who helped her and escorted her ho.
Afterward, Hinata had even secretly asked around to learn his na…
"U-Uzumaki… Uzumaki Naruto-kun… h-hello…"
Hinata timidly returned the greeting, though her voice was so soft that Naruto instinctively leaned closer to hear her.
Poof.
The mont Naruto moved closer, Hinata's face instantly turned bright red.
But Naruto himself was delighted.
Because although he greeted people all the ti, almost nobody in the village ever responded to him.
Not to ntion that most children his age only grouped together to mock the orphan with no parents.
"Ah, hello hello~"
Scratching the back of his head, Naruto grinned.
"Just passing by, just passing by! I was actually heading out to eat breakfast… uh, I an lunch?"
Seeing the blazing sun hanging overhead, Naruto hurriedly corrected himself.
"O-Oh…"
Hinata nodded softly.
The two of them imdiately fell into awkward silence again.
"So… you still haven't told what you're doing here?"
Naruto, completely incapable of enduring silence for long, quickly dragged the conversation back on track.
"I…"
"Oho~"
Inside Naruto's ntal world, Kurama let out a highly entertained sound while watching the scene unfold.
"What is it?"
Beside him, Minato looked curiously toward Kurama after hearing the strange reaction.
"…How should I put this…"
Kurama glanced sideways at Minato before speaking thoughtfully.
"Naruto really is your son."
"He's exactly like you were as a kid."
"No—actually, he's even earlier than you."
"What are you talking about?"
Kurama's words instantly sparked Minato's curiosity.
Inside the ntal world, many things could be created through imagination, and since chakra bodies did not require sleep, Minato could continue researching various techniques even outside Naruto's dreams.
But at this mont, no research mattered more than satisfying his curiosity.
After all, Kurama's words had imdiately reminded him of certain matters a father absolutely needed to care about.
"See for yourself."
Kurama didn't bother teasing him further.
Instead, he slightly altered the nature of the chakra he was lending Minato, allowing him temporary access to Naruto's vision in the outside world.
Minato felt the scenery before him distort.
The dark, cold sealing space gradually faded away, replaced by the sight of Naruto talking with a little girl he didn't recognize.
And the very next scene instantly made Minato understand exactly what Kurama had ant.
"…Even if nobody else believes in you, that's okay! I can beco the one person who does! You've gotta have confidence in yourself!"
Naruto suddenly grabbed Hinata's tiny hands and stared at her with wide, earnest eyes while passionately encouraging her.
"Uuuuuu…"
Little Hinata's face grew so red it practically looked ready to steam.
"Hm? What's wrong?"
Naruto looked completely confused at the sight of the nearly fainting girl before him.
Then, this absolute genius suddenly arrived at a conclusion.
"Ah! So you're still scared!"
"That's fine! I'll go back with you and cheer for you!"
"Mm… mmh…"
Poor little Hinata's brain had completely overloaded.
At this point, she barely even processed what Naruto was saying anymore.
All she could do was respond blindly while her consciousness floated sowhere far away.
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