The aftermath of the Chūnin Exams was still fermenting, and the reappearance of the Flying Thunder God Technique was hard not to draw everyone's attention and excitement.
However, all of this didn't have much to do with Hidezawa. After all, he came from an orphanage, went directly to Root, and was now lurking in Anbu.
It was quite difficult for the ninja of Konoha to even know about him, and he wasn't a guy like Kakashi.
"With such high recognition, what are you doing running around in Anbu..."
The mask setting for Konoha's Anbu was truly absurd. If everyone had short hair and the same hair color, it would be normal not to recognize them with a mask.
But the people in this world, their hair colors were truly indescribable.
For example, Kakashi's head was of white hair, and Yugao's hair was even purplish, almost instantly recognizable.
"No wonder Kakashi can be recognized wherever he goes."
Hidezawa didn't have such troubles, at least not for now.
Moreover, during this period, he was almost always performing missions within the village. When he was free, he even liked to secretly sneak near crowds to hear how people praised him.
However, now Hidezawa also had some headaches, and that was Naruto.
"Alright, you've eaten your fill, aren't you going to go back?"
Sitting inside Ichiraku Ramen, Hidezawa called out to Naruto beside him.
"Soon, soon."
Naruto slurped his noodles, mumbling indistinctly, then he drank the broth in his bowl in one gulp before patting his stomach.
"Finally full, then..."
Little Naruto jumped off the chair, clenching his right fist in excitement.
"Nii-san, let's go train!"
"Crazy kid."
Hidezawa rolled his eyes. He turned to pay the smiling, squinty-eyed owner, then said to Naruto.
"Don'y you have to go to school tomorrow? Hurry up and go home!"
"Oh…"
Upon hearing this, little Naruto also looked a bit deflated. He still wanted to learn more and show off at school later.
However, facing Hidezawa, he didn't dare to refute much. This was one of the few people who didn't dislike him and treated him well.
"Also, don't go picking mushrooms in the mountains by yourself when you have nothing to do. Even if you pick them to eat, don't drag me along. It's best to find Hokage-sama for those."
Hidezawa stroked his chin, thought for a moment, and then suddenly smiled.
"I think Hokage-sama would be very happy to share delicious food with you."
After Hidezawa and Naruto started interacting, no one else interfered, except that he had to write reports explaining some issues, but other than that, everything was fine.
And Hidezawa wasn't at all reluctant to write reports; those were missions.
However, today was somewhat absurd. Hidezawa's team happened to have a patrol mission.
Shisui didn't seem to have changed his attitude towards Hidezawa because of the Chūnin Exams. For now, it seemed either he was faking it or Itachi really didn't say anything.
After completing the mission, Hidezawa planned to escort Yugao home, but Yugao intended to go to the Medical Department for further training, so Hidezawa had to walk alone.
What he never expected was that he would actually run into Naruto, who was returning from the Konoha back mountains with a basket of mushrooms he had picked.
Looking at Naruto, who was excitedly planning to invite him for mushroom soup, and then at the basket of bright red, vibrant, and colorful mushrooms.
For a moment, he couldn't help but wonder if Naruto was trying to assassinate him?
But soon, he felt that Naruto was indeed a 'little strong one' for not dying from this.
"Huh? Nii-san don't you like mushrooms?"
Naruto blinked, asking somewhat dejectedly, while Hidezawa smiled and shook his head.
"No, little guy, you need to know what 'respecting the old and loving the young' means. Such good things should naturally be given to elders first. Isn't Hokage-sama the elder you respect the most?"
Naruto thought carefully for a moment, then nodded seriously.
"I understand. Next time, I'll take them to Hokage Grandpa first!"
"Alright, hurry back."
Hidezawa nodded with satisfaction. He pushed Naruto, urging him to leave quickly.
"Remember to make more friends at school. Kids won't have so much malice towards you.
If possible, make more rich friends. You owe me quite a few bowls of ramen."
"..."
Naruto stumbled, probably because Hidezawa's push was too strong.
However, Hidezawa didn't pay him much mind, instead turning and walking towards his home.
As he walked, he couldn't help but think about that little guy, Naruto.
"This kid's performance at school is really concerning."
Naruto wasn't particularly rambunctious yet because people weren't familiar with him. He had suffered from violence and cold shoulders for a long time, so he naturally still held back a bit.
But once he learned that pranks could attract people's attention, this kid dared to paint the faces of past Hokage on the Hokage Rock.
"The more he wants to be recognized, the more he tries to make his presence known, and the more he makes his presence known, the more people dislike him, forming a vicious cycle..."
Thinking of this, Hidezawa shook his head. He actually had some regrets.
Because there was no Danzo's face on the Hokage Rock.
Well, he probably wouldn't have one in his entire life.
…
[Shigen Hidezawa]
[Overall Physical Attributes: LV7]
[Chakra: LV7]
[Abilities: Flying Thunder God Technique LV6, Wind Style LV6, Earth Style LV6, Water Style LV5, Cursed Seal LV4, Yin Style LV3, Yang Style LV2]
[Free Points: 3]
…
As he walked, Hidezawa simply opened his status panel.
Although he had been in the village during this time, he hadn't relaxed his self-improvement.
The only regret was that without the support of large-scale missions, and with Konoha being relatively peaceful during this period, his missions weren't many.
The free points he obtained were also a bit low, but at least he had leveled up Cursed Seal to LV4.
'What a shame, reaching LV5 would be jōnin-level. Looks like I haven't grinded enough.'
Hidezawa couldn't help but inwardly complain, but he also had to admit that this improvement was quite good for him.
The Cursed Seal inherently provided an all-around boost. Although LV3 and LV4 were still within the same category, the power and duration had certainly improved to some extent.
Especially the duration, that was what Hidezawa valued the most.
'Then, this time, I'll add to Yang Style.'
As he pondered, Hidezawa's Yang Style immediately became LV3, and his Free Points instantly became 1.
The increase in Yang-style immediately made Hidezawa feel that his body had changed again, with the power hidden within Yang-style continuously converging.
He seemed to sense that once he utilized these powers, he could immediately increase his physical strength again, which would undoubtedly bring better feedback in combat.
'There are still too few free points; I wanted to try being Senju Hashirama, but now I've become Senju Tobirama instead.'
Feeling the changes in himself, Hidezawa silently grumbled in his heart.
Flying Thunder God, Water-style, excellent physical fitness, and reaction speed—isn't this clearly Senju Tobirama?
The only drawback might be that his stock of secret techniques were relatively few, not reaching the level where he can cast forbidden techniques with a flick of his hand besides Water-style, but a 'bankrupt version' is still acceptable.
"But I still need to work harder; it's far from enough right now."
*****
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✓ Killed For 100 Years in Hueco Mundo, Aizen Invited Me To Soul Society!
✓ Naruto: Senmei Asahi
✓ Naruto: Uchiha's Intelligence Dealer
✓ Naruto: The Fifth Hokage Is Naruto's Uncle
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