Looking at the brightly colored, clawing graffiti on the Hokage Rock—especially the abstract art... poop on the face of the Second Hokage.
Hinata was momentarily speechless. What would the Second Hokage do if he saw this?
"Evil brat of the Uzumaki Clan, I will personally..."
The sounds of chatter gradually drifted from the surroundings.
The villagers clearly did not share her sense of humor; their pointing and discussions were filled with dissatisfaction and reprimand.
"It's that Naruto again!"
"This is outrageous! How could he do that to the Hokage Rock..."
"A demon fox is indeed a demon fox, he has no sense of respect!"
..."This is bad, Lord Third Hokage!"
At this moment, the Sandaime was looking at something through a crystal ball with a somewhat lewd expression. Upon hearing someone enter, he immediately cut off the Chakra link.
"Cough, what happened?"
"Naruto... that fellow Naruto is actually defacing the stone statues of the Previous Hokage."
Sandaime:... Hinata's pure white eyes swept over those indignant faces. She had no intention of joining this public condemnation and was preparing to silently leave this place of trouble when her peripheral vision caught a familiar figure leaping nimbly across the rooftops, followed by several furious Chunin teachers.
The sound of Naruto's loud laughter followed.
"Hahaha, I'm amazing!"
"Stop right there, Naruto!"
"Hehe, catch me if you can!"
It had to be said that Naruto, even while still in school, was capable of leading Chunin around like dogs; he really did have some skill.
She looked back at Naruto's masterpiece; that was no small undertaking.
The fleeing Naruto noticed Hinata and even shouted at her.
"Oh! Hinata, did you see my painting? How is it, isn't it cool?"
Hinata was helpless. With that shout, everyone around was looking at her. How was she supposed to respond? She could only play dumb.
Naruto wasn't discouraged and hopped away in a few bounds.
Midway, he used the Clone Jutsu to lead everyone away, then hid by a wall using a piece of cloth.
"Heh, I won't let you guys catch me."
Iruka appeared silently behind Naruto the moment he finished speaking.
"Hey!! Naruto!!"
"Ya! Aggghhh!"
Naruto was startled into the air... Hinata had already arrived at the classroom by this time.
Not long after, she saw Iruka dragging back a tied-up Naruto.
She could see that although Naruto's head was hanging, there wasn't much regret in his eyes. Instead, there was a stubbornness of 'at least everyone noticed me' and a trace of hard-to-detect grievance.
"Naruto, you rascal, how dare you mess around with the Hokage stone statues."
"Hmph."
Naruto turned his head away.
Hinata clearly saw a vein pop on Iruka's forehead.
"Today's lesson is the Transformation Jutsu. If you can't complete it, you're finished! Everyone, line up downstairs!"
"Eh??!"
Dissatisfied voices immediately erupted in the classroom.
"Naruto, you jerk, you're always causing trouble for everyone."
Sakura Haruno was the first.
"I'm starting!"
"Transform!"
With a puff of white smoke, her figure had already turned into Iruka, showing no difference.
"Very good."
Iruka recorded the grade.
"Yatta! Sasuke-kun, did you see that?"
Sasuke ignored her; he wasn't blind.
"Next, Sasuke."
"Transform."
Sasuke's transformation was perfect.
"Good."
Next, Naruto.
Naruto was acting nonchalant in the line, and Shikamaru beside him spoke up.
"What a drag."
Ino also spoke up.
"It's all your fault."
"None of your business," Naruto walked forward, speaking carelessly.
He formed hand signs, and blue Chakra swirled around him.
"Transform!"
With a 'bang', Naruto's body was shrouded in white smoke, but what appeared was not Iruka... it was a seductive female version of Naruto, unclothed, with smoke covering the key parts, winking at Iruka and blowing a kiss.
"Ah ha~"
Iruka was petrified, his mouth wide open, as a stream of heat sprayed from his nose. The recoil was so great that Iruka fell straight over.
Naruto transformed back, laughing loudly.
"Ah hahaha! How was that move? I call it the Sexy Jutsu!"
"You idiot!! Don't create such a pointless Ninjutsu!!"
Iruka roared.
Hinata, meanwhile, was observing closely from the side.
'Hey, don't say that, Naruko actually has some looks, quite pretty.'
'And who says this Sexy Jutsu is pointless? This Ninjutsu is great.'
Iruka was furious and told Naruto not to leave after school; he was going to watch over Naruto and make him clean the Hokage Rock thoroughly.
After the test ended, Hinata sat in her seat and took out her textbook. On the surface, she was studying seriously, but her mind had long since drifted off somewhere else.
"I need to speed up the cultivation progress. This speed isn't enough; my strength isn't increasing fast enough."
The fingertips touching her book pressed down slightly.
After school, she returned home.
"Exchange for the Spirit Gathering Formation Plate."
As the thought fell, the Formation Plate appeared in the room.
Hinata placed them in various corners of her room, ensuring they wouldn't be discovered.
She glanced out the window, her gaze seemingly piercing through the classroom toward the direction of the Hokage Rock.
Iruka was probably supervising Naruto as he worked hard to wash away the graffiti, and he'd likely treat Naruto to ramen afterward.
It could be said that without Iruka, there would be no future Seventh Hokage Naruto.
He played a huge role in Naruto's growth; Iruka was a figure who was both a teacher and a father to Naruto.
This could be seen from the fact that in the original story, when Naruto got married, he invited Iruka to attend as his father. He remembered Naruto's birthday and would frequently look after the boy.
Initially, when Iruka was assigned by the Sandaime to guide Naruto, he was very reluctant. He also hated the Nine-Tails and even hated Naruto; Iruka's parents had died during the Nine-Tails Attack.
But after interacting with Naruto, he felt that it wasn't Naruto's fault and that unprovoked hatred shouldn't be forced upon a child.
Iruka, who had lost both parents, was in great pain. When he saw the lonely Naruto, he could empathize and understand the loneliness and pain deep in Naruto's heart.
If not for Iruka, Naruto might very well have darkened and become an existence similar to Uchiha Madara.
He would either be completely consumed by the Nine-Tails within him or completely control the Nine-Tails to bring chaos to the world... After the Formation Plate was set up, Hinata could clearly feel the room had become different. This feeling refreshed her spirit and perfectly met her expectations.
"Good, this is the effect I wanted."
Hinata immediately sat cross-legged and began to sense the Spiritual Qi in the air.
The Spiritual Qi had become much more abundant and its purity had increased. It was very convenient for her to absorb and easy to capture.
A night passed, and Hinata's cultivation had loosened significantly; this was after just one night.
"At this rate, it won't be long before I reach the Sixth Level of Qi Refining. Foundation Establishment is just around the corner."