True to his promise to Neji, every time Naruto completed the friendship process with another Konoha ninja, he stayed afterward to explain the situation carefully. He made sure each new friend understood: befriending people was his personal dream and had absolutely nothing to do with Neji Hyūga.
The beaten ninja would lie on the ground, faces swollen, listening to Naruto's sincere explanation with what appeared to be calm acceptance. They'd nod along with his reasoning, which made Naruto extremely happy.
Clearly, Konoha's ninja were reasonable people—both before and after becoming his friends. It showed the high quality of the village's shinobi forces.
Naruto felt confident that after such heartfelt explanations, they'd definitely reflect on their behavior. They wouldn't go seeking trouble with Neji-nii anymore. This way, he'd fulfilled his promise perfectly.
Satisfied with keeping his word, Naruto cheerfully continued making friends without stopping. The process took considerable time for each person—otherwise, neither party could properly demonstrate their sincerity. The word "friend" was precious precisely because of that sincerity.
Today was his only day for this particular round of friendship-making. Though time was tight, the explanation process remained necessary. Otherwise, if Neji came to his office again with complaints, Naruto would lose face.
After today, tomorrow Naruto planned to find Tsunade and bring her back to either succeed him or temporarily replace him as Hokage. That would free him to leave Konoha and visit other ninja villages to be friends there.
He couldn't limit himself to just Konoha forever.
In the Boruto timeline, Naruto had naturally learned about Tsunade, though she hadn't been in Konoha during his visit. She'd been traveling at the time, so he'd regretted not becoming her friend personally. However, he'd gathered information about her through other channels and could roughly infer her personality from those details.
Before Hiruzen Sarutobi's death, Tsunade had been obsessed with gambling outside Konoha. So if Naruto wanted to find her, he'd need to visit places with numerous gambling establishments.
He'd have to search multiple locations. According to his intelligence, Tsunade's luck was notoriously poor—she lost nine out of every ten bets. To avoid her massive gambling debts, she employed two strategies. First, she constantly changed her appearance, using transformation techniques to look twenty, thirty, or forty years old. Second, she traveled constantly. Once her debts at one location became too huge and the casino owners blacklisted her, she'd simply move to another place where nobody knew her face and continue gambling.
However, with the information from the Boruto timeline, Naruto felt confident he could track her down relatively easily.
With that thought settled, Naruto wasn't in any rush to finish his current friendship campaign. Konoha was his home base, after all. If he didn't complete everyone today, he could always continue in the future.
Of course, he'd still explain the situation about Neji along the way.
He'd originally expected someone to argue with him or refuse to listen to his explanation. After all, when explaining his perspective to others, he was naturally speaking from his own subjective standpoint without truly considering their feelings. Some resistance would be normal.
However, by the end of the day, Naruto discovered that every Konoha ninja he befriended would lie on the ground with bruised and swollen faces, yet their hearts seemed genuinely peaceful. They all wore expressions that said "you're absolutely right, I completely agree," which touched and pleased Naruto deeply.
He felt gratified that they were willing to listen to him. He also took pride in his own charisma—not a single voice of opposition had emerged.
This experience made Naruto even more confident. He couldn't help feeling grateful to the System for guiding him down the path of Ultimate Taijutsu. Not only could he make more friends through it, but he'd discovered an additional benefit: people became remarkably willing to calm down, listen carefully, and hear him out.
"Next time I need to explain something to someone or present my reasoning," Naruto mused to himself, "maybe I should go through the process first."
The day passed quickly. As Naruto made his way home, he reflected on his productive day. Every few streets marked another three to five Konoha ninja added to his circle of friends.
What Naruto didn't know was that after he left each location, those ninja friends who he'd thought were calmly accepting his explanation suddenly changed their expressions. They felt that Neji must be using Lord Hokage's name to threaten them. Yes, they were just insignificant Konoha ninja, but they refused to be intimidated.
Naruto had explained the situation. They'd listened.
But that didn't mean they agreed.
So they decided to wait along the road to the Hyūga compound and ambush Neji to vent their frustration properly.
Naruto didn't know any of this. He didn't think he needed to know. He'd already fulfilled his request and promise to Neji. Whatever happened afterward was beyond his control.
Neji was his friend. Those Konoha ninja he'd just befriended were also his friends. They were all friends. It wouldn't be right to help one side over the other in any disputes between them.
Back at the farm, Kurama had already prepared dinner. Orochimaru was also present, dressed in the disguise of a woman pretending to be a man.
Since his defeat and surrender to Naruto, Orochimaru had maintained this particular disguise constantly. He didn't dare reveal his identity as "Tsukisha Hime," terrified that Naruto might recognize him and explode with rage.
Everyone was waiting for Naruto to return before eating.
"Naruto's back! Wash your hands and come eat." Kurama, wearing a miniature apron, poked his head out from the kitchen doorway and called out.
Sasuke maintained his usual cool expression, but when he saw Naruto, a rare smile appeared to greet him. Since the clan massacre, Sasuke never smiled in front of others—only in front of Naruto.
First, because Naruto was a friend he recognized as no different from family. Second, because Naruto gave him a tremendous sense of security. It was a feeling he hadn't experienced in a long time, not since his brother Itachi had been around.
"Naruto! You're back!" Orochimaru greeted him with an exceptionally happy face. The joy practically overflowed from his expression, obvious to anyone watching.
"Oh, Orochimaru, did something good happen?" Naruto asked with interest.
"Haha, yes, something very happy indeed. My research will soon be successful." Of course, Orochimaru played things vague here, not clearly stating what research he meant. What he thought privately was that he'd finally found a way to obtain Naruto's DNA samples. However, by phrasing it this way, Naruto would naturally assume it related to farm biological research.
Sure enough, Naruto's eyes lit up. "Is it about the biological research? That's excellent! Please continue working hard, Orochimaru. If you need any help, just ask."
Orochimaru smiled and nodded. "I will work hard."
"Oh, by the way." Naruto suddenly remembered something. "I invited Kabuto Yakushi to serve as your assistant. In the future, I'll ask you to cooperate with him to achieve great results."
"Kabuto? He is indeed very capable." Orochimaru nodded, then smiled. "Don't worry, Naruto. I'll take good care of Kabuto. He has far greater potential than just being an assistant."
Kabuto's arrival was actually good news for Orochimaru. He'd been wanting to find someone who could replace him at the farm. Otherwise, when he eventually ran away, Naruto might come hunting for him immediately. Having someone as a replacement changed everything.
Now that Kabuto was joining, things worked out even better.
During dinner, Naruto turned to Sasuke. "Sasuke, come with me on a trip tomorrow. I need to find someone."
Hearing this, Sasuke stopped eating. He shook his head. "I don't have time. I need to train. Otherwise, when will I fully master the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan?"
"Huh?" Naruto's bicep twitched visibly.
Sasuke's pupils contracted. Without a moment's hesitation, he continued smoothly, "Of course, training is important, but there's no need to rush. Better to balance work and relaxation. My training schedule was too intense before—I was just looking for a chance to unwind. Since Naruto's inviting me, that's perfect. I'll go with you."
"Sasuke really is my good friend." Naruto's tone turned warm and kind.
"Yes, yes. After all, we're good friends." Sasuke replied politely, ignoring the look of complete disdain on Kurama' face beside him.
"Naruto, I'm going too!" Kurama announced loudly.
"Alright, you can come. You don't need to shout so loud." Naruto laughed.
After dinner, Sasuke went to wash the dishes while Kurama sprawled on the sofa with absolutely no regard for proper posture. Naruto took advantage of this time to visit Sakura—he wanted her to come along so she could learn from Tsunade eventually.
When he found Sakura, her face looked unusually nervous.
"What's wrong with you, Sakura? Why so tense?" Naruto asked with concern.
"I'm not!" Sakura shook her head quickly. She'd thought Naruto had come for a "friendship maintenance session."
"Sakura, are you free tomorrow?"
"No time. I need to train." The words came out without thinking.
"No time?" Naruto's face showed exaggerated disappointment. "I was planning a distant trip tomorrow to relax. Sasuke's coming with me. Most importantly—Ino won't be there."
After delivering this regretful statement, Naruto turned as if to leave.
Sakura grabbed his arm urgently. "Wait! Actually, I'm free tomorrow. I'll go too!"
"Didn't you want to train?" Naruto's smile returned.
"No!" Sakura shook her head vigorously like a rattle drum. "Actually, it's fine to spare a little time for fun. Training doesn't show immediate results anyway. Most importantly, Naruto and I are good friends. Of course I have to agree to a good friend's request."
Sakura wouldn't give up such a golden opportunity. Without Ino present, didn't that mean she could be alone with Sasuke? She conveniently ignored the problem of Naruto being there as well.
"I know what you're thinking," Naruto said bluntly. "You like Sasuke. Everyone knows that. This is a good chance—you should seize it. I'm very supportive of you and Sasuke as a couple."
Having her feelings pointed out so directly didn't make Sakura shy at all. She felt happy that Naruto recognized her compatibility with Sasuke. "Does Naruto really think Sasuke and I are a good match? Unlike Ino, who's not worthy at all and just keeps pestering Sasuke shamelessly."
"Sakura." Naruto gave her a profound look. "It will be very hard being Sasuke's wife, you know."
"Hard work? I'm not afraid of hard work!" Sakura declared with absolute conviction.
Of course, Naruto wouldn't tell her that Sasuke shouldered the burden of reviving the entire Uchiha clan, which would require many, many children. When Sakura finally married him as she wished, maybe she'd even need Ino's help as a second wife.
Though that premise required Sasuke to become like a breeding bull.
Just like the cattle on his farm—worked so hard that not a single drop remained.
After telling Sakura where to meet tomorrow, Naruto flickered to the hospital in an instant. Jiraiya was still recovering there. Seeing Naruto visit, the old man's face lit up with a genuine smile.
Seeing Jiraiya's happiness, Naruto smiled as well. "Jiraiya-sensei, you should be getting used to living here by now."
Hearing this, Jiraiya's beard practically bristled with indignation. "Thanks to Lord Hokage's generosity, I've been transferred from the general ward to this high-end VIP room. There's even a complimentary fruit plate delivered every day!"
Naruto naturally caught the sarcasm in Jiraiya's words. He responded with equal sharpness. "Next time, if Jiraiya-sensei doesn't correct his attitude, I'll ask the hospital staff to reserve this ward permanently and make it your exclusive room."
"You—!" Jiraiya wanted to explode with anger, but in his current condition, getting angry would accomplish nothing beyond making him need to pee.
Ignoring Jiraiya's fury, Naruto suddenly asked, "Jiraiya-sensei, do you want to go find Tsunade?"
Hearing the name 'Tsunade,' Jiraiya immediately fell into deep thought. After a long moment, he spoke with a distant tone. "After your father died protecting Konoha, we originally planned to have Tsunade succeed him as the Fifth Hokage. But Hiruzen Sarutobi stepped in and took control of everything in Konoha. After that, Tsunade left the village. I don't know where she went."
"I've been outside the village for years. I wanted to search for her, but I never found her."
Looking at Jiraiya's expression, Naruto said quietly, "Tsunade was right to leave. Do you think if she'd stayed in Konoha, Hiruzen Sarutobi would have let her live?"
"..." Jiraiya looked at Naruto speechlessly, then changed the subject. "Naruto, why do you want to find Tsunade?"
Naruto recognized that Jiraiya didn't want to discuss Hiruzen Sarutobi. Death was the ultimate ending, after all. Sarutobi had been Jiraiya's sensei, and Jiraiya valued emotional bonds deeply. He couldn't bring himself to criticize his teacher in front of others, nor would it be appropriate for him to speak badly of Sarutobi directly to Naruto. So he'd simply changed topics.
Naruto appreciated Jiraiya's emotional intelligence and didn't press the issue. Following the new conversational direction, he explained, "I want to bring Tsunade back to Konoha because I want her to either act temporarily as Hokage or succeed me in the position."
Hearing Naruto's words, Jiraiya looked genuinely surprised. He hadn't expected Naruto to have such plans. The boy was so young—only twelve years old—yet willing to give up the position of Hokage. What incredible magnanimity.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's death at Naruto's hands truly wasn't unjust. Jiraiya had to admit that in his heart.
"Naruto, you've only been Hokage for a few days, and you already don't want the position anymore? Being Hokage is the dream of so many people!" Jiraiya couldn't help sighing even as he raised the question.
"Jiraiya-sensei, being Hokage is indeed many people's dream." Naruto laughed. "But it's not my dream."
He paused, then asked, "Jiraiya-sensei, do you know what my dream actually is?"
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