"Go back first."
"We'll talk about it tomorrow."
"Okay."
Naruto said without looking back. Holding Hinata's hand, he stepped into the glowing portal and disappeared.
Naruto was honestly a bit surprised that Sasuke had come to him.
After all, given how proud and aloof Sasuke had always been, Naruto figured he would only try to become stronger by himself, and would never come to him for help.
But truth be told, Naruto did need a teammate. If Sasuke couldn't keep up with him, then he will have to fight against the Akatsuki alone… and eventually, the entire Otsutsuki Clan by himself.
Why solo a boss raid when you could have a full party?
Moreover, Sasuke can be said to be the biggest cheater besides himself, so it won't take much time to train him.
Once the two of them were at full power, it wouldn't matter how many Momoshiki or Isshiki came knocking. They'll deal with them all.
As soon as Naruto passed through the portal and arrived at the Hyuga Clan's compound, he saw Hiashi standing in the middle of the gate with his arms folded.
Naruto could smell the anger on this guy from a mile away.
When Hiashi saw Naruto and Hinata, he didn't say anything, but just stood there and watched them.
Not only was he watching, but once the Hyuga Clan's members noticed this, they also came out to also silently stare at Naruto.
With the veins bulging on their temples, it was clear that all the Hyuga Clan's members had activated their Byakugan.
The atmosphere at the scene suddenly became solemn, and Hinata felt that it was becoming difficult to breathe.
Naruto had the illusion that he had accidentally entered a gang's hideout, the only difference was that these Hyuga Clan's members didn't have guns in their hands.
He was really worried that in the next second, one of the Hyuga Clan's members would jump out and shout 'Big bro, let's kill this kid!' or something like that.
"F-Father…"
Hinata kept her head lowered as she timidly walked toward Hiashi, sneaking glances back at Naruto as she went.
Meanwhile, Naruto swore the temperature around him just dropped several degrees.
"Where did you go?"
Although Hiashi was asking Hinata, his eyes were fixed on the yellow-haired brat.
In the eyes of the Hyuga Clan...
Their eldest princess went out to hang out with some yellow-haired guy after school, and she didn't return until after dark.
This blonde brat was only six or seven years old and was already pulling stunts like this. What was he going to do when he got older?!
If it weren't for Hiashi's strict order not to lay a finger on Naruto, they would have rushed up to beat him up.
Who would care that he is the son of the Yondaime Hokage and the Kyubi's Jinchuriki?
"I… I…"
Facing her strict father, Hinata kept her head down and was unable to say anything.
After all, today is the first time she'd ever been out so late.
"Hinata is going to train with me."
"From now on, we'll be training together after school."
Naruto smiled and explained to Hiashi innocently.
As for whether Hiashi would believe it or not, Naruto didn't know.
However, he found that Hiashi activated his Byakugan after hearing what he said.
"Go on in."
"Your mother is waiting for you in the living room."
Hiashi glared at the yellow-haired brat in front of him, then turned around and went back with his daughter.
The surrounding Hyuga Clan's members also slowly dispersed when they saw this.
However, everyone's expression was full of regret, as if they were regretting missing a chance to rough up the yellow-haired brat.
Hinata followed behind her father, then turned to smile at Naruto, giving him a tiny wave goodbye.
She didn't dare move too much, for fear that her father in front of her would notice.
Naruto smiled back at Hinata.
After watching her go back, Naruto tossed another portal and headed home for dinner.
That night, after eating, Naruto spent a few hours cleaning up all the trash in the grove.
Then, he took out the oak and spruce trees from the system inventory and planted them all around the area to serve as his own training equipment in the future.
After all, trees have so many uses.
He could use them as punching bags, and later on, he can practice Chakra Control by walking on them.
By midnight, the dense forest on the east side of the village had returned to its former glory.
Thanks to the system's natural adaptation mechanism, the trees planted by Naruto looked no different from the surrounding forest.
Hiruzen, who is still in the Hokage's Office, heard the report from the Anbu that Naruto had reforested a huge section of land overnight, and his efficiency was comparable to that of Hashirama himself.
When he heard this, Hiruzen didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
He was indeed happy that Naruto could restore the environment that he had destroyed before...
But he really doesn't like Naruto farming!
'Why does this kid always have a problem with trees?'
'And his strange Kekkei Genkai...'
Hiruzen always felt that Naruto had a better talent for agriculture than being a Shinobi.
He'd figured it out by now. Unless it was something truly serious, he will not use the crystal ball to check on Naruto's condition ever again.
Instead, from now on, he will just listen to the reports from the Anbu. That way, he could at least keep a bit of his sanity.
If he kept watching Naruto every day like he used to...
Hiruzen was pretty sure he wouldn't live long enough to see Jiraiya return to the village.
…
The next morning, Naruto went to the Academy to clock in and stare blankly as usual.
Sometimes, he really felt hopeless about his freakish constitution.
Yesterday, he spent the whole afternoon pulling up trees, had a fight with Sasuke in the evening, then spent the night cleaning up the grove and reforesting the area.
By the time he got home, he felt as tired as a dog and even moving his fingers was painful.
But when he woke up the next day, he found that he was completely fine. He couldn't even find an excuse to skip training.
Seeing him like this, Kurama-sensei even wanted to increase his training intensity a bit...
'Hmm?'
Naruto, who was lost in thought, found that Sasuke was already standing in front of his seat.
When he looked up, he found that the classroom was already empty.
'The class is over...'
'But what was Sasuke doing here now?'
'Wait… does he want to skip class with me?'
"You want to skip class with me?"
"Well, there's nothing left in the Academy that can make me stronger."
Sasuke replied flatly.
He had already learned all the courses in the Academy in advance, including the Three Basic Techniques and various theoretical knowledge.
If it weren't for Naruto still being in the Academy, he would have wanted to graduate early.
"Alright, let's go."
Naruto nodded, went out to find Hinata and said goodbye. Then, he tossed a portal and took Sasuke to the grove by the river.
Sasuke was still thinking about Naruto's technique, wanting to see if he could learn anything from it.
The moment he stepped through the portal, he secretly activated his Sharingan, but he didn't detect any Chakra fluctuations.
In the end, Sasuke could only blame himself for not having the talent for Space-Time Ninjutsu.
He had looked into it before and heard that mastering this kind of Ninjutsu requires extremely high talent.
In the entire history of Konoha, only the Nodaome Hokage and the Yondaime Hokage had pulled it off.
And Naruto is the son of the Yondaime…
Judging from his talent in this area alone, Sasuke had to admit that he is no match for Naruto.
'If I wanted to surpass Naruto...'
'I needed to evolve my Sharingan to the same level as that man.'
Of course, seven-year-old Sasuke had no idea that Naruto was basically a monster.
As for now...
Sasuke just wanted to see how Naruto trained day to day.
"What should I do?"
"Punch that tree."
Naruto pointed to a big tree not far away, adopting the tone of a seasoned senior guiding a junior.
However, he was worried that the kid didn't know how to punch the tree, so Naruto started to demonstrate it on the spot with two 'bang bang' sounds.
Sasuke nodded slightly, walked over to Naruto's side without any hesitation, and started punching the tree just like he'd seen.
Soon, the 'bang bang' sound filled the riverside area, and if one listened carefully, they could hear the rhythm from it.
In the shadows, the Anbu assigned to monitor Naruto, especially Kakashi, felt a headache when they heard the sound of the two children punching the trees.
'It's fine if you, the Kyubi's Jinchuriki, are punching the trees, but why are you dragging another kid into it?'
'Do you really think that the others have the same abnormal physique as you?'
Kakashi felt so tired.
And for the first time, the thought of quitting the Anbu started to take root in his mind.