Chapter 5
Naruto dashed through the streets and arrived at the small grove near the Ninja Academy gates, not far from home.
The academy students were already on holiday, so few villagers passed by and hardly anyone disturbed the place.
The fresh snow was thick—perfect for Naruto to show off.
He first went to the swing set, where he had built snowmen a few days earlier during the last snowfall.
"Ah—! Who wrecked my Fox Sage snowman?!" Little Naruto looked at the ruins with grievance. The remains were now blanketed in white, hiding the toppled and trampled snow sculpture.
There used to be one snowman modeled after Xuanming—abstract, sure, but with all the key features: fox ears, fox tails, flowing Daoist robe. Beside it stood a smaller snowman with a big smiling face made from curved branches.
What Naruto didn't know was that a few kids had deliberately destroyed them after he left, even yanking off the little snowman's head to use as a snowball.
He casually brushed the snow off the swing seat and plopped down, rocking gently.
Snow from the branches fell onto his head with each sway, but he didn't notice—just kicked at the snow and muttered under his breath.
"Whoever did this is such a jerk… big meanie… I worked so hard to build Fox Sage…"
Suddenly, he heard scuffling and arguing not far away.
"You've got snacks! Share some with us!"
"W-Wait… those are… mine… I was going to… give them to someone…"
It was a soft, trembling girl's voice, laced with sobs.
The voice sounded familiar. Curious, Naruto parted the bushes.
In the clearing, three rough-looking older boys had cornered a small blue-haired girl.
She wore a delicate pink winter coat, a light yellow scarf, and her short dark-blue hair was dusted with snowflakes.
Most striking were her large eyes—pure white pupils staring out.
Right now, she sat collapsed in the snow, back against a tree, clutching a box of sweets to her chest. Tears of fear welled in her eyes.
"Hyūga clan's Byakugan—creepy as hell."
"Hand over the snacks, or we'll bury you in the snow!"
"Eyes like a corpse—so eerie. You're a Byakugan freak. If it weren't for that fox demon last time…!"
The leader snatched the snack box from her arms and shoved her hard.
She fell back into the snow, expression conflicted, then bowed her head and silently cried.
"You guys again? That's too much!"
Naruto felt the warm soup in his belly turn into a surge of anger rushing straight to his head.
He might be carefree and loud, but he absolutely hated seeing people bullied.
And… the way this girl was called a "monster" yet didn't fight back—it reminded him painfully of himself.
"Stop it! Give her stuff back!"
A furious shout.
Naruto charged forward like a little orange cannonball, planting himself between them.
"Hah? You again?" The leader recognized him, expression tensing. "Fox demon, minding other people's business again?"
"I have a name—I'm Uzumaki Naruto!" Naruto clenched his small fists. Though shorter than them, his aura didn't falter one bit.
"Stealing from others—you've got no shame!"
He even stuck out his tongue and made a silly face.
The three boys flushed with rage, tossed the snacks aside, and closed in to beat him up.
"Looking for a beating! All at once!"
Xuanming's figure materialized behind Naruto—of course, he had no intention of bullying kids himself; he was only there to guide.
"This time, don't rely on brute force. Use the self-defense moves I taught you."
This referred to a few days ago when Naruto had run into these same boys bullying Hinata. He'd stepped in, fighting three-on-one despite being younger, holding his own with raw energy. Unfortunately, Xuanming had used up his daily manifestation time that day and could only watch the childish brawl—kicks, bites, wild haymakers, turtle-style grappling…
If he'd taught Naruto properly back then, the boy wouldn't have ended up with a bruised face.
"Got it, Fox Sage."
With Xuanming watching over him this time, Naruto's hot-headed anger cooled a little. He recalled the training.
"Feet never leave the ground—as if walking through mud. Sink the shoulders, drop the elbows, qi settles in the dantian."
Xuanming's voice rang only in Naruto's ears.
"Qian Three Continuous, Push Window Gaze at Moon."
Naruto instinctively obeyed, not panicking or dodging wildly. Instead, his left foot slid forward half a step along the snow, toes turning inward.
Whoosh!
That strange step spun his body 90 degrees sideways.
His right hand deflected the incoming arm; the fist grazed past his goggles and missed completely.
"This is…" The opponent froze for a split second. His momentum left his chest wide open—right in Naruto's side profile.
"Good chance," Xuanming said calmly. "No fist—remember, use palm."
Without thinking, Naruto turned his small left hand into a palm blade. He didn't need much power—just rode the opponent's forward rush, pushing firmly under the ribs and then sweeping outward.
This was called—borrowing force.
"Ow!"
The lead boy felt as if something had "slid" him aside.
Thud!
Instead of hitting Naruto, he spun like a top, rolled twice across the snow, and face-planted perfectly—classic dog-eating-shit pose.
Xuanming's voice carried a lazy chuckle. "The essence of this style lies in 'walking.'"
The other two rushed in.
"Shift step! Turn body!"
Naruto moved his feet in a circular path across the snow.
His weaving, turning figure looked almost comical in the snow—not like fighting, more like some bizarre dance.
Every time their fists or kicks came close, Naruto used that low, gliding "mud-walking step" to slip to impossible angles—behind or beside them.
"Left one's kicking."
"Duck, sweep the support leg!"
Naruto dropped low; his short leg drew a half-circle in the snow.
Bang!
The left boy kicked air—his support leg swept out from under him. He flipped upside-down in midair and landed flat on his back.
"Right one's going for your collar."
"Catch the elbow, lift upward!"
Naruto's hands shot up, jamming into the last boy's elbow joint.
"Waaah!" The boy's arms went numb, dropping uselessly to his sides.
Naruto raised a hand as if to strike—he immediately dropped to his butt in fright.
In barely ten-odd seconds (including dodges), three boys several years older than Naruto lay groaning in the snow.
Most shocked of all was Hinata Hyūga, still leaning against the tree. From the moment Naruto appeared, her gaze had locked onto him, following every move.
But what stunned her wasn't that he'd saved her again.
It was the moves coming from him—extremely familiar.
"This is… Gentle Fist? No… not quite the same."