Chapter 17 Naruto's Deliberate Distance
"Look, what beautiful flowers!"
Ino pointed to a flower with white petals and yellow stamens on the snowdrift and smiled happily.
"Yes, I didn't expect that there would actually be flowers blooming in winter."
Sakura looked at the flower in surprise.
"It's called Wenxing Orchid, and its flower language is good fortune and happiness."
Ino, who knew a lot about flowers from her mother, explained with pride in her eyes.
"Hehe, that's great. I hope I don't run into that nine-tailed fox in the days to come."
Sakura made a wish.
"A nine-tailed fox?"
Ino was puzzled when Sakura mentioned the Nine-Tailed Fox. Her parents hadn't told her anything about Naruto, and she usually didn't pay much attention to rumors.
After all, he's only three years old, and running around and playing all day is his biggest hobby.
"Didn't you know? The blond-haired boy we met before was actually the Nine-Tails that destroyed Konoha three years ago."
Sakura lowered her voice seriously and said in a heavy tone.
"It is said that in order to gain the Hokage's trust, he even hid his beard."
Ino was very surprised, her eyes fixed on Sakura.
She never expected that even the Hokage would tolerate this so-called Nine-Tailed Fox.
In her mind, the Nine-Tailed Fox had long been sealed away by the Fourth Hokage and could not possibly reappear, especially given their age.
"Really? Why didn't my dad tell me this?"
Ino's father, Yamanaka Inoichi, as the head of the Yamanaka clan and one of the members of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio during the last Shinobi World War, could not possibly be unaware of this matter.
"My mother told me that all the high-ranking ninjas were put on a gag order and were not allowed to talk about it."
"And villagers are not allowed to discuss it."
Sakura told Ino what she knew.
"Oh, I see. I'll ask my dad when I get home tonight."
Ino thought Sakura's explanation made some sense, but it would be better to ask her father that night.
"Okay, but you need to be careful of that nine-tailed fox."
"I heard his current name is something like..."
"Naruto Uzumaki".
Naruto's name echoed through the snow-covered forest, traveling far and wide until it reached Naruto's ears, who was hiding behind a tree.
Naruto fell silent, lowered his head, and his initial desire to get to know him vanished.
Silently leaving the place where they continued searching for flowers, Naruto arrived at a stream he often visited.
The stream had frozen over and was no longer flowing, just as cold as Naruto's heart.
"Hey... Naruto, are you alright?"
Kurama's voice came slowly. As a tailed beast, it couldn't really understand human thought, but it could feel the coldness in Naruto's heart.
"Nine-Ra, will I never find any friends?"
Naruto kicked a pebble at his feet onto the ice, the force of which shattered the ice, making a cracking sound.
He is very confused and has lost his composure.
"What are you thinking about? Didn't you save your friend last night?"
Kurama tried to soften his voice and comfort him by mentioning how Naruto flirted with girls under the moon last night.
"But...do I only have that one friend?"
Naruto wonders if there are any other children his age who are as unafraid of him as Hinata.
I always felt that they were different from me.
"Haha, little Naruto, don't worry. When you turn six, you can go to the Ninja Academy. You should be able to make a lot of good friends then."
"Six years old? Winter is over, and there are still two years left."
"Don't be fooled by the tape, believe in yourself."
Hashirama comforted him, and perhaps it was the unique resonance of Ashura's reincarnation that caused Naruto's originally dim pupils to gradually regain their light.
"Alright! I'm going to be the Hokage!"
Naruto's confidence soared. That's right, he already had a friend, and he was sure he would make more friends in the future.
When more people recognize my abilities, I will be able to become Hokage!
"Hahahaha."
Naruto put his hands on his hips and laughed happily.
Meanwhile, blades of grass sprouted at Naruto's feet, swaying in the winter wind along with him.
etc.
Little grass?
Nine-Lama rarely raised his front paw to rub his eyes.
Holy crap, does Naruto really not have the surname Senju?
"Hashirama, do you think that's Wood Release?"
Nine Lama's voice trembled slightly, with three parts shock, two and a half parts disbelief, and two and a half parts numbness.
"Hahaha... huh?"
Hashirama, who was laughing heartily with Naruto, was interrupted by Kurama's words, and then he saw the small grass swaying at Naruto's feet.
Grass?
"Um, it seems, maybe, probably, it should be!"
Hashirama was stunned for a moment, then overjoyed.
I knew it! Naruto is just like me, he's bound to awaken Wood Release!
As expected of the Child of Prophecy, and as worthy of being my disciple!
"Hey, have you ever wondered why Naruto has Wood Release?"
Kurama interrupted the ecstatic Hashirama, trying to bring him back to his senses.
"Oh, isn't it because I taught you well?"
Hashirama tried to play dumb, after all, he didn't know why this was happening, but it's normal for a disciple to resemble his teacher.
"Normal my foot! Isn't Wood Release a bloodline limit? Isn't it for the Senju clan? This kid's surname is Uzumaki!"
If Kurama hadn't been watching Naruto's birth on the day he was born, it would now be questioning whether the child actually bore the Senju surname.
"First of all, Wood Release is not a bloodline unique to the Senju clan; it is a bloodline I developed."
Hashirama cleared his throat and explained to Kurama, who was beginning to have doubts about the home he was staying in.
"When I awakened Wood Release, it was similar to Naruto's. It was roughly like this first, then that, and finally like this, and then I successfully awakened it."
Do you want to listen to what you're saying?
Nine Lamas said he couldn't understand Korean at all.
Are you kidding me? Even your grandson doesn't know the bloodline limit, but Naruto does?
Could it be that Hashirama came to the sealed space, and his power gradually infected Naruto?
Kurama pulled back his crumbling thoughts and began to seriously consider why Naruto knew Wood Release.
Hmm, that makes sense.
After all, there has been no precedent in the past thousand years for sealing a human inside another human body.
Plus, Hashirama probably has more chakra than I do...
Goodness, why don't you change your name and join our Tailed Beasts family?
"I think it's possible that you used Wood Release everywhere inside Naruto's sealed space, causing the power of Wood Release to leak out and Naruto's chakra to gradually develop in your direction."
Kurama shared his speculation with Hashirama and received the same expression he had just received.
However quirky his words may be, what Nine-Lama said still makes sense.
From this perspective, it's still my own achievement.
Wow, no wonder she's a genius teacher and a hot mom!
It was a real waste of my talent that Tobirama wouldn't let me become a teacher at the Ninja Academy back then.
End of this chapter..