The back mountain.
With Hiromi's arrival, the silent back mountain seemed to recover a bit of its former liveliness.
Two figures emerged in his memories.
A young boy with a buzz cut constantly doing basic training.
A young boy constantly practicing Shurikenjutsu.
The two young boys had never spoken a word, but his memory linked them together.
Hiromi knew why Sasuke was not here.
First, Sasuke did not practice Shurikenjutsu, but instead practiced ninjutsu like Great Fireball Technique, so the place he went to train was the lake and other such areas.
Second, he had started school. Half a year ago, the Ninja Academy opened but Hiromi did not go.
Everyone thought it was only natural.
First, Hiromi was crippled.
Second, children from ninja clans did not necessarily go to the Ninja Academy.
In the eyes of the villagers, the Ninja Academy was a place to learn Ninjutsu. But in the eyes of the ninja clans, the Ninja Academy was a place for social networking. And Hiromi did not need to obtain these two things from there. Therefore, he was not keen on attending the Ninja Academy.
Hiromi looked at this familiar forest and revealed a faint smile.
His hands were a bit itchy. For nearly a year, he had been constantly working towards Fire Release Chakra Mode, which made him feel like his body was a bit uncomfortable.
No sooner said than done.
Push-ups, sit-ups, frog jumps...
The silver-haired Anbu wearing the smiling fox mask in the distance took a look, took out the Icha Icha Paradise from his ninja tool pouch, and the dead fish eyes instantly disappeared. He narrowed his eyes and began to read with enjoyment and focus.
...
Time flew by. Without realizing it, the sun began to set.
After Hiromi, who had been training the whole time, perceived the light dimming, the village seemed to become lively.
He remembered that at this time, it should be the Ninja Academy's closing time.
Thinking of this, he revealed a faint smile.
'Let's go and provoke them.'
...
At the bustling Ninja Academy gate, some free parents came to pick up their children.
When the children saw their parents, some wailed that they couldn't go play, while others rejoiced at their parents' unexpected arrival.
In the midst of this bustle, a young boy with a buzz cut, eyes closed, walked over with a calm expression.
The young boy walked like a normal person, as if he could see. Yet within that calm expression, there was a faint hint of imposing authority.
Many confused parents instinctively moved aside, their gazes filled with uncertainty as they looked at the boy.
Only members of certain clans, such as the Akimichi and Inuzuka, had solemn expressions.
"Dad?!" Choji was shocked.
His father, Akimichi Choza, had actually opened his eyes.
Choza usually had a kind face, and his small eyes always looked closed. Now, his eyes were clearly visible, and a fierce glint seemed to surface within them.
Beside Choji, Shikamaru frowned as he witnessed this.
Why were the adults, especially those from the prominent clans, so serious about a boy roughly his age?
Then, he noticed the clan crest on the boy's clothes.
From the Uchiha clan?
Suddenly, he recalled the great battle that had erupted in the village that day, and that Skeletal Giant that had smashed the ground in a fury.
The image became clear in an instant, and that sentence filled with endless rage still echoed in his ears: "Danzo! Give me back my brother's eye!!!"
When his father, Shikaku, returned that day, he said nothing, but he would always give him a strange look.
Finally, his father told him something odd: "If you encounter an Uchiha child, do not approach."
Even without his father's warning, he knew the Uchiha clan's current situation was troublesome. He naturally stayed away and even avoided Sasuke.
But now he understood—the person his father wanted him to stay away from wasn't Sasuke, but the boy standing before him.
At that moment, a blond, blue-eyed boy rushed out of the Ninja Academy, looking very excited.
"Choji! Shikamaru! Let's go play together!" He looked at Choji and Shikamaru expectantly.
The boy had one very distinct feature: six whisker-like marks on his cheeks.
However, his reaction seemed a bit slow. It was only after running out that he noticed the strange atmosphere at the scene. But he wasn't the slowest to react.
"Sasuke-kun, shall we go play together?" A young girl with pink hair had hearts in her eyes as she looked expectantly at a young boy, as if he were the only person in her world.
The boy was a bit arrogant. Without even looking at her, he continued walking and said, "I'm going home to practice Ninjutsu."
The girl didn't give up and asked expectantly, "Then let's practice Ninjutsu together?"
After walking five or six steps out of the school gate, the girl finally noticed the odd atmosphere at the entrance.
Even Sasuke, who had been walking with an expressionless face, froze.
He instantly recalled Itachi's solemn words: "Sasuke, promise me, do not get close to Hiromi."
But now, he hadn't approached, Hiromi had come to him.
He stared blankly at Hiromi. "You... why are you here?"
Sasuke thought Hiromi had come looking for him.
The silver-haired Anbu following Hiromi, as well as Naruto's Anbu, thought the same. After all, Naruto's identity was a secret that no one knew. But everyone knew that this boy, Naruto, had to be protected.
Though they found it strange that the Hiruzen allowed rumors to spread in the village saying Naruto was a demon fox, causing the villagers to hate him, it had nothing to do with them, so they didn't interfere.
Hiromi faced Naruto and spoke a sentence that stunned many people, "I knew your father."
Naruto's reaction at this moment was faster than anyone's. "Really? Do you know who my father is?"
Naruto, who had always envied others' parents, was excited. But at the same time, he was afraid Hiromi was lying to him. Quite a few children had used that to trick him into going somewhere just to hit him. But he wasn't afraid of being hit, he was afraid of hope turning into despair once again.
Hiromi didn't answer and simply turned to leave.
Naruto was stunned for a moment.
The next second.
"Wait!"
Naruto hurriedly ran after him.
The silver-haired Anbu and the other Anbu felt their scalps go numb.
"You keep an eye on them, I'll go report to Hokage-sama." The Anbu watching Naruto said.
The silver-haired Anbu nodded, put away the Icha Icha Paradise in his hand without hesitation, and hurriedly followed behind Hiromi and Naruto. His gaze was fixed on them, seemingly unwilling to miss a single moment.
***
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