Chapter 65
After the various children were picked up by their parents,
the incident caused by the outsider suspicious boy Yuta in the back mountains came to an unexpected conclusion in this way.
…
Nara Clan residence. Afternoon sunlight filtered through the lattice windows, casting dappled shadows across the tatami mats.
Nara Shikaku held a shogi record book in his hand, but his gaze drifted somewhat.
He looked through the courtyard toward the leisurely drifting clouds in the sky.
"Shikamaru." He called out to his son, who was sitting beside the shogi board.
"Hm?"
Shikamaru turned his head in confusion toward his father.
"What were you all doing in the back mountains the other day?" Nara Shikaku asked as if casually, his eyes never leaving the shogi record.
"Just training with Chōji, and hanging out with the other classmates in the back mountains."
Shikamaru's answer was concise and clear: "Then we got too tired and apparently fell asleep. Woke up in the hospital. What a drag."
After all, in his memory, it really had just been an ordinary gathering with friends.
The cause was normal, the process vague, the result absurd.
Nara Shikaku gave an "mm," turned to the next page of the shogi record, and asked no more.
But as Konoha's military advisor, a glint of shrewdness flashed in his eyes. His superior intellect instantly processed the information and understood the anomaly.
Fainting from fatigue? This explanation was far too distant from what he knew.
The intelligence he had received was much more complicated than what his son described. It seemed his son's memories had become disordered.
The absence of that segment of memory also relieved his son of any psychological burden—forgetting it made things cleaner.
He placed the shogi record over his face, leaned back, and seemed ready to fall asleep like that.
No need to make him recall this troublesome matter again.
…
Hyūga main house.
In the solemn atmosphere of the training hall, Hyūga Hiashi watched his daughter training with sweat pouring down.
After Hinata was brought back, as the head of one of Konoha's great clans, he had learned the full details directly from Sarutobi Hiruzen.
His own daughter had joined Uzumaki Naruto in snatching someone from Anbu—even clashed with several Anbu members.
If this were made public in the village, it would undoubtedly cause serious repercussions.
But as the Hyūga clan head, he didn't consider it a big deal.
His gaze fell on his daughter. Though she appeared largely unchanged on the surface, something new had appeared deep in her eyes.
That was the immense courage required to stand against Anbu—regardless of right or wrong.
Participating in an incident of that magnitude at least proved her personality was no longer as timid as before.
The daughter who had always been weak had genuinely improved over these years.
This realization actually dissolved some of the dissatisfaction in his heart caused by "his daughter being led away by Uzumaki Naruto and put in danger."
The Hyūga heir could not remain merely a flower grown in a greenhouse.
However, he had naturally noticed that Hinata had forgotten about the outsider boy involved in the incident.
After all, he knew his daughter well—only if she had truly forgotten could she train normally like nothing happened, as she was doing now.
"From today onward, double your training volume."
Hyūga Hiashi's attitude remained stern as ever.
Hinata's body trembled. Gritting her teeth, she trained even harder at Gentle Fist.
Her father's training had suddenly become far stricter than ever before.
In her heart she felt wronged, thinking this must be punishment.
Punishment for not staying home properly to train those days, for following Naruto to the library to research, for going to the back mountains to train and play together…
But she didn't know—this wasn't punishment.
It was the Hyūga clan head's way of expressing satisfaction toward his heir.
As the head of a great clan, he could not express concern like an ordinary father.
He could only teach her to master more practical power as quickly as possible through training.
Speaking of ability, Hyūga Hiashi's thoughts drifted far.
He thought of Hyūga Neji.
Only eight years old, yet already proficient in Gentle Fist—and he had even absorbed another style of "Gentle Fist" from Uzumaki Naruto.
His talent far surpassed that of the heir, Hyūga Hinata.
A thought emerged in his mind.
Should branch family members also be allowed to learn the secret taijutsu techniques passed down through generations in the Hyūga main house?
According to the rules, this was absolutely impossible.
Great clans valued rules above all.
Yet his younger brother Hyūga Hizashi—though placed in the branch family—had mastered those same secret techniques. In every aspect of strength, the two brothers were evenly matched.
Whether to teach or not seemed to depend only on whether this matter should be brought into the open.
…
Meanwhile, at the Inuzuka Clan training ground, a different family scene was unfolding.
"Kiba! You little brat! Sneaking off with Akamaru again these past few days! Look at how listless the two of you were before!"
Inuzuka Tsume—Kiba's mother, a woman even more bold and unrestrained than most men, leader of the Inuzuka women—slapped the back of Kiba's head, scolding her son.
"I didn't! We were really training!" Kiba stubbornly retorted.
"Still talking back!"
"Ow!"
Akamaru: "Awoo!"
A chaotic scene of flying teeth and barking dogs ensued. Kiba ultimately had no choice but to endure silently.
After all, what awaited him was his mother's even fiercer "love training."
…
At Haruno Sakura's home.
"Sakura dear, how many times has Mom told you—don't do dangerous things! What if you get hurt? If something happened to you, how could Mom go on…"
Haruno Mebuki held her daughter's hand, launching into her usual nagging.
Sakura sat quietly, listening to her mother's endless lecture, her second emotion gradually turning to irritation.
I clearly didn't do anything—why am I getting blamed for no reason?
"Alright, alright, Sakura's fine, isn't she?"
Her father Haruno Shō mediated from the side.
"Our little Sakura is so full of energy—maybe one day she'll become an important ninja in the village!"
…
Akimichi Clan.
Chōji's father Akimichi Chōza was very open-minded and excellent at comforting and encouraging his son.
"Chōji, you're a gentle and kind child. Dad believes you wouldn't do anything bad."
He didn't ask what exactly happened that day.
"Was it fun training and playing with Shikamaru and the others?"
Chōji looked up and nodded.
Being with friends was, of course, fun.
Even though Shikamaru hated trouble, he never refused Chōji's requests for help.
Ino would always stand up for him in front of others.
Uzumaki Naruto—though one of the top students in class—didn't have Sasuke's cold demeanor. He was also a very good friend.
…
Yamanaka Flower Shop.
Yamanaka Ino was humming a tune while carefully tending to pots of fresh flowers.
Her father Yamanaka Inoichi—captain of Konoha's Analysis Division—was sitting quietly on a nearby chair, watching her.
As a core member of the intelligence department, he knew far more than the other parents.
His daughter's mood these past few days had been completely normal—she ate well, slept soundly, as though nothing had happened at all.
Which was precisely what made it abnormal.
She said she only remembered going to the back mountains to play with Shikamaru, Chōji, and the others. All memory of the outsider boy had completely vanished.
Yamanaka Inoichi's finger twitched slightly.
He decided to confirm it personally.
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