Chapter 138: Bloody Night
Fleeing in terror from Shino, the trio finally let out a sigh of relief, wiping cold sweat from their brows.
"Captain Naruto, why are you so afraid of bugs?" Tianyu teased.
Naruto huffed, "I... I'm not afraid of bugs. I just didn't want to hurt them. Like Shino said, they're so... cu... cute..."
Maki looked at him with disdain. "Cowardly Captain Naruto."
"Damn it, weren't you two scared to death too?" Naruto barked, pointing at them. He hadn't expected that his attempt to recruit a teammate would end in a fright.
"Us? We aren't even three years old yet. You're already a six-year-old kid," Tianyu and Maki said in unison.
Naruto's face immediately fell, his pout becoming more prominent than anyone's. Damn it, are two-year-olds really that impressive? No, I can't get angry at two-year-olds. Gah! Annoying toddlers!
Unwilling to admit defeat, Naruto refused to acknowledge that he was any worse than Kiba or Sasuke. He was the future Hokage.
Next, he sought out other classmates, hoping they would help him brainstorm. Unfortunately, unlike Shino, the others kicked him out the moment they saw him. They didn't welcome him at all; some even scolded him, saying it was impossible for him to ever become Hokage.
Tianyu and Maki followed behind Naruto, feeling that he was quite pitiable. Unlike them—who could get whatever they wanted from adults just by acting cute—Captain Naruto seemed to be hated by everyone. He was so different from the cheerful Naruto who used to hang around their house.
Being only two years old, they didn't think too deeply, but they felt Naruto must be hurting inside. Both siblings possessed powerful perception and could feel the fluctuations of Naruto's emotions every time he encountered someone.
Affected by this, they stopped mocking him. Instead, they addressed him as "Captain Naruto" at every turn, which made Naruto incredibly happy. He felt like he was finally being recognized, even if it was just by two toddlers.
"Hey, should we tell him that Dad is actually Iruka-sensei's teacher?"
"Probably not. He seems to be having fun."
"True. Let's just keep following him."
Tianyu and Maki exchanged glances and followed closely behind. Little Naruto was indeed enjoying himself. He realized that there were still people in the village who treated him like a normal person instead of a monster—like Shikamaru and Shino. This gave him more motivation to keep going.
He explored every classmate, male or female. Eventually, a little chubby boy joined his side.
"Naruto, you're amazing! You're a Captain before even becoming a Genin," Choji said. He thought Naruto was playing a ninja game and joined as soon as he was invited. Because he was large, whichever team he joined usually lost, so other kids never played with him. Only Shikamaru was willing to be his friend. Therefore, he was very excited by Naruto's invitation. As for "monsters"—what were those? Could you eat them?
"Well... of course! I'm going to be Hokage in the future," Naruto said bashfully, laughing loudly. He hadn't originally planned to invite Choji, but the feeling of not being looked at as a monster was too good. He hadn't expected Choji to agree to join his intelligence squad so readily. Moreover, Choji genuinely respected him.
"If you're Hokage, does that mean I'll be the strategist?" little Choji laughed.
"Mhm! Then Choji, how do you think we should find Iruka-sensei's teacher?" Naruto asked. He didn't actually think Choji could come up with a better plan than his own.
"Great! Since I'm the strategist, how should I find Iruka-sensei's teacher?" Little Choji fell into deep thought. Since that teacher could create a ninjutsu with such a specific taste, maybe he could create other delicious flavors too. If they found him, could they eat forever without getting full?
Suddenly, a spark of wit hit him. He spoke up: "Let's pay a visit to Iruka-sensei."
"Visit Iruka-sensei?" Naruto was confused. If Iruka-sensei were going to tell them, he would have done it already. What was the point of a visit?
"Yeah! I've heard that every student who graduates and becomes a Genin takes a photo with their teacher. They usually put the photo in a prominent place in their room. My dad's room is like that; we can try looking there."
Choji remembered the many photos in his father's room. Images of his father's disciples—the one with the bowl cut, the one with the senbon in his mouth, and the scrawny one—flashed through his mind.
"Eh? Is that true?" Naruto asked.
Tianyu and Maki felt relieved. Luckily, Naruto had never been inside their father's room, or the cat would have been out of the bag instantly. They looked at each other, thinking: If Naruto discovers the truth, how do we escape?
Choji nodded. "Exactly. Even if we fail, we can just act cute to Iruka-sensei. He might tell us then!"
"Act cute?" Naruto was stunned. "We aren't three-year-olds anymore, and you want to act cute? If people found out, wouldn't we die of shame?"
"Exactly. The Ninja Secret Art: The Adorable Act."
A scene flashed through Choji's mind. He had seen it when he went to Shikamaru's house. Uncle Shikaku had used the Transformation Jutsu to turn into a tiny version of himself, hugging Shikamaru's mom's leg and acting cute. Shikamaru told him it was a ninja secret art—by looking young and innocent, you could make people let down their guard and make them unable to hit you.
"Fine. Since you're my strategist, I'll trust you this once." Naruto hadn't expected Choji to come up with such a good plan.
"But how do we get into Iruka-sensei's room?"
"Look at our two teammates," Choji pointed at Tianyu and Maki. "They're not even three; they can run around anywhere and no one will care. Let them go in and look."
The two toddlers were still trying to figure out how to keep Naruto from finding out, and Choji had just handed them a perfect opportunity. If they went in and found a photo, they could just hide it! That way, Naruto would never know. They immediately nodded in agreement.
"Yoshi! I didn't know you were this smart, Choji! You're awesome!" Naruto gave Choji a big thumbs up. Choji rubbed his head shyly; it was the first time anyone had called him smart.
"Very well! Toward Iruka-sensei's house, march! The future Hokage will definitely be me!" Naruto stood in the street, pointing toward Iruka's house and laughing loudly, drawing a round of scolding from the neighbors.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Shhh!
Hagoromo Clan, Night.
Countless dark shadows appeared under the moonlight, slowly blending into the environment. They avoided the Hagoromo guards and ninja sentries as if they knew their exact routes. Transformation Jutsu, Hiding Jutsu, Earth Travel Jutsu...
Sizzle!
Slash!
Puff, puff!
Blood splattered. The pure white moonlight was stained with a brilliant, fresh red.
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