"Father, I don't plan to go out for training anymore. I want to stay home and take care of Mom. Could you help gather some books for me on knowledge about the shinobi world and theories on ninjutsu? Preferably something more advanced."
In Yue's heart, he actually wanted to get his hands on some of Konoha's confidential information as well. However, he knew it wouldn't be appropriate to ask for it, and he figured Minato wouldn't agree anyway.
"Then come by this afternoon to pick them up. I'll have everything sorted by the morning. Having you accompany Kushina during this time also puts my mind at ease."
"I'm really sorry, Kushina. I might not be able to spend much time with you."
"Just focus on your work, Little Sun! You have to manage the village well and become a Hokage who surpasses the previous generations!"
Kushina never blamed Minato. Instead, she always encouraged him.
"Mm, I'll do my best!"
After Minato left, Yue took the initiative to clear the breakfast dishes. Kushina told him to go read and leave the chores to her, but for the first time, Yue insisted on doing them himself.
Kushina wasn't upset by this—on the contrary, she was even happier.
Standing alone at the kitchen sink, Yue stared at the dishes in front of him, feeling a bit dazed.
It had been a long time since he had done this. It reminded him of the difficult days in the past, which felt so different compared to now…
With a sigh, he dragged over a small stool. He still wasn't quite 120 cm tall, so he needed the boost.
Then, he got to work, swiftly finishing everything in no time.
"Mom, I just remembered something I need to take care of outside. I'll be right back."
Leaving the house, Yue headed toward the clothing store where he had bought clothes a few days ago—it was time to pick up his shoes.
"Hey! I'm standing right here, and you don't even see me?!"
Lost in thought, Yue was suddenly blocked by someone. Looking up, he saw it was Kurenai Yuhi.
"What is it?"
"You little brat, can't you at least say hello if there's nothing else?"
Yue glanced around and noticed they were near the dango shop where he had previously treated Kurenai and Itachi. It looked like she had come to eat dango again.
"I was just thinking about something."
Kurenai found it difficult to talk to Yue. She also found it odd—how did such a young kid's mind work? He always seemed more mature than her…
"Are you heading out to train? I recently learned an advanced genjutsu—want to give it a try?"
After being humiliated by Yue and Itachi last time, she had pestered her father, Yuhi Shinku, into teaching her an advanced genjutsu. She had practiced for days and felt confident she had mastered it. Running into Yue today seemed like the perfect chance for revenge.
But today, Yue had no interest in humoring her.
"No thanks. I don't feel like training these days. But I appreciate the offer."
"Huh? The villagers on this street all say you've been training like clockwork for over a year. What made you change your mind today?"
She had overheard this from the townspeople's gossip. After all, the Fourth Hokage's son, a four-year-old who could stick to a training regimen that even many adults couldn't, was bound to attract attention.
"I just want to spend more time with my family."
"Spend time with your family? The Fourth Hokage doesn't even need you to—"
Kurenai suddenly stopped. She realized that Yue was different from her. He still had his mother, while she had never known hers. It had always just been her father raising her alone.
"Fine then. I'll let you off this time, but next time, you won't get away so easily!"
With her mood suddenly dampened, Kurenai threw out a parting threat and left, leaving Yue a bit puzzled.
After parting ways with Kurenai, Yue arrived at the clothing store. The same clerk from last time warmly welcomed him and quickly brought out the shoes he had ordered.
Right then and there, Yue swapped his footwear, decisively tossing away his ninja sandals. His toes were finally free…
Back home, he read for a while, then had lunch. Yue originally wanted to clean up the kitchen afterward, but Kushina shooed him out. Left with no choice, he went to his room to lie down for a bit.
Once he estimated enough time had passed, he greeted Kushina and left for Minato's office to pick up the books. He wanted to make use of this time to read as much as possible and see if he could uncover any hidden secrets.
There were no systematic records of history, culture, science, or even ninjutsu in this world. The only books Yue had managed to find before were from street vendors, and the library was practically useless.
The major villages and clans monopolized all knowledge and ninjutsu, which left Yue feeling like he only had a vague understanding of this world.
So he used this opportunity to request books from Minato. The only question was—how much would Minato, as Hokage, be willing to grant him access to?
Just like before, Yue walked straight to the Hokage's office without anyone stopping him. He found this privileged treatment quite convenient.
Pushing open the office door, he was met with a familiar sight—just like the last few times he had visited.
Standing between him and Minato was the ever-present white-haired Kakashi Hatake.
"Then, I'll leave this task to you for now, Kakashi."
"Understood."
Their conversation had just concluded when Yue entered. Kakashi turned to leave, passing by Yue without a glance, and Yue had no interest in engaging with him either.
His social withdrawal has gotten even worse…
That thought briefly crossed Yue's mind, but he quickly dismissed it—Kakashi's problems had nothing to do with him.
"Yue, it seems you were right… I really did make a poor decision. The darkness in Kakashi's heart has been growing worse lately."
Yue had no solution to offer—he wasn't a psychologist.
"Let's not dwell on that. I've already prepared the materials you asked for. Since carrying them home would be troublesome, I sealed everything inside this scroll. Consider it a small test—try to figure out how to unseal it yourself."
"Thank you, Father. If there's nothing else, I'll head back now."
"Alright. Let Kushina know I'll be home late, so you two don't need to wait for me."
After a brief exchange, Yue left for home.
Back in his room, he opened the scroll, which was covered in densely packed symbols surrounding a large "seal" character.
Analyzing the symbols and the sealing technique, Yue didn't take long to break the seal.
A thick stack of books materialized from the scroll, piling up taller than Yue himself.
"Not too bad. This should last me about a week."
Yue was a genius among geniuses—if he transcribed everything stored in his mind, it could fill his entire house.
Though the books seemed plentiful, most were just records and didn't require deep analysis, so Yue didn't consider them much of a challenge.
He began scanning the titles, prioritizing the most valuable ones. The rest he planned to read later.
"Biographies of the Five Great Nations, History of the Warring States Era, Strategic Analysis of the Three Shinobi World Wars, Bloodlines and Clan Secret Techniques, The Senju-Uchiha Wars… and this one—The Principles of Bloodlines and Secret Techniques?"
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