"I…"
Despite Naruto's expression and tone having clearly softened, Ino still couldn't feel even a shred of relief.
In fact, guided by his words, she became more painfully aware of the unspoken bond between Shikamaru and Chōji, a bond displayed instinctively in their actions.
Biting her lip and murmuring to herself, she unconsciously placed a hand over her chest, trying to suppress the sudden, inexplicable stabs of pain that surged from deep within.
Just as Naruto said, now that she had calmed down a little and took a closer look at the faint scratches still visible on Shikamaru's body, and Chōji's bloodless, pallid face after intense exertion, only then did Ino slowly realize how excessive her actions had been.
Her feelings of grievance and unwillingness dissipated like clouds, leaving behind only guilt. She dazedly lowered her head, her vacant eyes fixed on the tips of her shoes, lips quivering faintly as she muttered in near silence, sinking into deep reflection.
"Na… Naruto-kun… please don't be mad anymore…"
Biting her lip, Hinata glanced at Chōji's face, which didn't look promising. She had been quietly thinking of a reason to plead on Ino's behalf, and just as Naruto expected, she finally spoke up with her usual hesitant tone, haltingly cutting off any chance of the conversation continuing.
"Father said… as long as someone admits their mistake and corrects it, they're still a good child… Ino, she… she probably knows what she did wrong now. Could you forgive her just this once?"
"'Forgive her'…? Why does that sound so weird? Like someone just handed me the kind of hat no man ever wants to wear…"
Even though Naruto understood Hinata's innocent nature, when he heard her blurt out such a line to change the subject, he almost couldn't hold back the strange discomfort and irritation bubbling inside.
His carefully maintained aloof image crumbled in an instant… Though he resisted the urge to openly complain, internally, he was grumbling non-stop, and his furrowed brow twitched ever so slightly.
"Whether to forgive her or not… isn't really up to me, Hinata. Or rather, it's not my place to say. I'm not qualified. After all, I'm not the one Yamanaka Ino betrayed. It was her teammates who trusted her."
After muttering something vaguely pointed at the girl in his arms, Naruto quickly rephrased his words when he noticed Hinata's confused look.
Pausing for a second, he studied her puzzled yet faintly nodding expression, then continued in a neutral tone, making sure everyone around could clearly hear and understand.
"If she really wants forgiveness, then the only ones here who can give it… are Shikamaru and Chōji, the ones who got hurt because of her actions."
"I… I see…"
Unable to argue back, Hinata immediately fell silent in the face of Naruto's reasoning.
After a short pause, she gathered her courage once more, gently tugging at Naruto's sleeve with a soft whimper, trying to steer the conversation away yet again.
"B-But! Chōji-kun… he really looks like he needs help right now… S-Shouldn't we check on him first? We can talk about everything else… later, okay Naruto-kun?"
"Tch… Fine, fine. You're impossible to resist… I'll go restore Chōji's stamina. I promise he'll be more energetic than he was before the exam."
Naruto frowned dramatically, pausing for a moment in exaggerated silence. But faced with Hinata's pitiful pleading and constant sleeve-tugging, he finally "relented" with a sigh.
"You'll help Chōji recover too?! That means… we might not be disqualified?!"
Naruto's "reluctant" agreement instantly filled both Shikamaru and Ino—who were still conscious enough to understand what was going on—with a surge of hope and relief, like drowning people grabbing a lifeline. Simultaneously, they both looked at Hinata with deep gratitude.
'It's all thanks to her stepping in to plead for us… When this exam is over, we definitely need to find a way to properly thank her.'
Under Naruto's deliberate orchestration—his black face playing off Hinata's red one like a practiced duo—this interaction drastically changed the way the new generation's Ino-Shika-Chō trio viewed Hinata. The sense of distance between them shrank significantly, and in the future, once they each gained influence within their clans, they would even take the initiative to ally with the Hyuga Clan.
And this—this was one of Naruto's main goals behind playing the "bad cop."
It was easy to imagine: after successfully persuading the two undeniably strongest clans of the Hidden Leaf Village—the Uchiha Clan and the Hyuga Clan—to join forces, the support and alliance of the Ino-Shika-Chō trio, long part of the pro-Hokage faction, would add wings to a tiger.
This newly emerging invisible power bloc would begin to unify the formerly chaotic and factionalized village into one solid, unshakable force.
It would become the foundation for the Leaf's return to prosperity—and maybe even a future more brilliant than anything recorded in the history books.
But all of that… would be left to the Third Hokage, or more accurately, dumped on the future "big golden goose" Fifth Hokage to handle as "grunt work."
As for Naruto? No way was he planning to sit on the Hokage throne so early in life. Better to quietly lay the groundwork so someone else could carry out the rest of the plan for him—just the way he liked it.
Besides, with his second objective still incomplete, Naruto wasn't exactly thrilled with the current outcome.
So he had no intention of letting Shikamaru and Ino enjoy their relief for too long. In fact, the moment he spotted the tiniest hint of smiles starting to creep onto their faces, he deliberately dragged out his words and spoke again—ruthlessly pulling their hearts back into the depths of despair.
"But… don't think you're off the hook just yet."
"…Huh?"
"Chōji is the only one among you three who hasn't yet received any healing from me. So if it's my intervention that brings him back into fighting shape…"
As he spoke, Naruto slowly turned and began walking toward Chōji, quietly considering how to help him recover while also improving his body.
At the same time, he continued speaking in a calm but pointed tone.
"Then even if his physical condition becomes good enough to finish the exam… he'll still have to pay the same price as the rest of you."
He already had a plan for what to do with all three of them…
But before putting it into action, Naruto intended to twist the knife just a little more—hoping he could push the outcome just a bit closer to his ideal version.