Chapter 14

After Iruka returned, he announced the punishment decided by the Hokage.

Running ten kilometers? That was nothing. But copying the Will of Fire ten times? That was just cruel.

The book may be thin, but it had a lot of words. Copying it ten times would practically break their wrists—and worse, it was basically a form of indoctrination. That old man Sarutobi was ruthless.

Oh well. Might as well accept the punishment obediently.

Natsuki flipped upright from his handstand and began to run. The others followed one after another.

By the time school ended, the ten kilometers were finally done. Everyone was panting heavily. Natsuki had to pretend to be tired too, forcing out quite a bit of sweat.

After all, a six-year-old running ten kilometers without sweating or gasping for breath? That would look too suspicious.

At that moment, Natsuki caught sight of a short-haired, white-eyed little figure peeking from a corner. He couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

Who else could it be but Hinata, the ultimate peeking maniac?

Back when he watched the anime, he already thought this girl was way too shy. Seeing it in person was even more exasperating. She couldn't even talk properly, let alone get close to Naruto.

Natsuki looked at the goofy Naruto, then at the girl hiding behind a post, and his mouth twitched.

You two... Want me to give you a hand?

"Oi! Hinata! Come over here for a sec!" Natsuki waved at her.

Hinata jumped, shrinking back reflexively. But after a moment, she poked her head out again. Under everyone's curious gaze, her face flushed red, but she still walked over slowly.

Coming from the Hyūga clan, strict upbringing dictated that if someone called her by name—especially publicly—she had to respond.

Naruto looked confused. "Hinata? Why were you hiding in the corner?"

Hinata fidgeted with her fingers and mumbled, "N-Naruto-kun, I just..."

Natsuki cut in, "Hinata, this guy's trash at hand-to-hand. Got beat up pretty bad and he's injured. Do you have any medicine? Give him a bit."

"What?! Naruto-kun got badly hurt?! I-I have ointment!"

Hinata immediately panicked, pulling out a container of ointment. She wanted to apply it for him but was too shy to get close.

Naruto, annoyed, said, "Hey! What are you talking about, Natsuki?! Who's trash at hand-to-hand? I was just holding back! If I went all out, those guys would be flying!"

There he goes again, talking big.

Inuzuka Kiba: "Flying, huh? You mean us?"

Everyone was speechless, but none of them said anything. They were too busy watching Hinata.

Shikamaru and Shino, the two smart ones, seemed to catch on. When they saw Natsuki looking all smug and relaxed, and Hinata blushing like crazy while Naruto acted completely oblivious, they suddenly had a flash of insight.

Ahhh... So that's what's going on.

No wonder the little Hyūga girl had been hiding and peeking around.

Naruto, of course, noticed nothing. When he saw Hinata blushing, he reached out and touched her forehead. "Hey, you okay? Are you sick or something?"

Hinata's face turned scarlet and she fainted on the spot.

"Hinata?! What happened?!" Naruto panicked, catching her in his arms.

Hinata fainted blissfully in his embrace.

Natsuki couldn't stop grinning.

He didn't have strong feelings either way about the Naruto x Hinata ship, and he had zero intention of destroying Boruto at the source.

Hinata had fallen hard for Naruto a long time ago. There was no place for anyone else to step in. Natsuki had awakened his past-life memories far too late—he missed the window completely.

Besides, even if he had the chance, Natsuki wouldn't interfere.

Not because Hinata wasn't a good girl—far from it. But the Hyūga clan's rules were a pain. Marry Hinata, and your child might end up with the cursed seal of the caged bird? No thanks.

Just that alone was enough to make Natsuki pass. Better not to start anything in the first place. It's not like there aren't other great girls in the ninja world. And it's not like he had to get married anyway.

So he'd rather just quietly watch the ship sail from nearby—and maybe give it a little push now and then.

With Hinata now Naruto's responsibility, the others dispersed. They still had to go home and copy the Will of Fire, after all.

Natsuki returned home at top speed, had dinner and digested a bit, and exactly at 7 o'clock, entered the special laboratory space to begin his research.

Project One: Could Henge no Jutsu transform him into thin paper to replicate the Kami-e (Paper Drawing) technique from Rokushiki?

Project Two: Combat applications of Bunshin no Jutsu.

Project Three: Chakra shape transformation and chakra threads.

Project Four: Chakra nature transformation, and infusing water-nature chakra into the Rasengan.

There were quite a few projects, but the first three wouldn't take too much time. The real challenge was the fourth—combining chakra shape and nature transformation.

Naruto took a long time to develop Fūton: Rasenshuriken, and even though Natsuki believed his talent exceeded Naruto's, doing this alone with no teacher's guidance would be incredibly difficult.

Most crucially—he had never seen chakra nature transformation!

If he even knew a single Suiton jutsu—even just a D-rank—he could at least observe how chakra turned into water. But right now, he was completely in the dark, and could only approach the research with a "try and see" attitude.

If it really didn't work out, he'd just make another deal with Shino. Surely Shino could get his hands on a D-rank scroll.

"No point just thinking. Let's get to it. First up—the first project."

Natsuki visualized the form of thin paper in his mind and quickly performed the seals. With a poof, he did transform into a piece of paper—but it was as thick as a notebook.

That just showed how poorly he had mastered the transformation jutsu. He couldn't freely control the form.

And he didn't just want to become any paper. What he wanted was a paper-thin form, like a 2D cutout that swayed in the wind—light enough that a punch wouldn't land, the air alone would push it aside.

That was the essence of Kami-e from One Piece's Rokushiki—a superb dodging technique, well worth researching. After all, Natsuki didn't have that many techniques to study at the moment.

He pushed on, refining his image and transforming over and over. After half an hour, he finally succeeded in turning into a paper-thin version of himself.

Then, using thought-controlled wooden puppets to attack, he found that no matter how heavy the blows were, his transformed body could easily dodge or be blown away—completely unharmed.

"Whew! Henge no Jutsu: Kami-e… completed!"

He returned to his normal form, extremely satisfied with the first project's success.

But before he could celebrate, one of the wooden puppets smacked him on the head, making him wince. He'd forgotten to dismiss them.

He quickly dispelled the puppets and rubbed his aching head. It didn't cause damage, but it still hurt.

No time to waste. On to the second project:

Combat Development of Bunshin no Jutsu.

This wasn't too hard, but definitely worth experimenting with.

Bunshin no Jutsu created one or more chakra-based illusions with no substance or attack power. Its main purpose was to confuse opponents.

Sounded great in theory—but the drawback was huge. Once the enemy realized which one was real, the technique became useless and was just a chakra drain.

That's why it only appeared in the early stages of the original series—like the graduation exam, or in the Chūnin Exams during Sakura vs Ino. It was ultimately treated like a useless textbook technique.

(End of Chapter)

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