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“The plot’s changed,” Shin muttered to himself, stroking his chin. Temari and Gaara, who should have been here, were absent.
Oh well, plot changes didn’t matter much. Regardless of how things unfolded, it wouldn’t affect Shin. Besides, the plot had already deviated significantly.
“Hey, Sakura, what are you staring at?” Naruto Uzumaki, momentarily forgetting his annoyance, noticed Sakura Haruno zoning out beside him and asked with concern.
At this stage, Naruto was still Sakura’s loyal simp—completely unaware that simping often leads to nothing.
“You’re blocking my view of the handsome guy!” Sakura punched Naruto away, her eyes sparkling as she gazed at Shin.
‘Wow, someone even more handsome than Sasuke!’ Sakura felt like she was drooling.
“Hey, brat! You’re still young! Don’t stare at people like a pervert!” Kushina glared angrily at Sakura Haruno.
Ogling others was one thing—but ogling Shin? Even if she was just a little girl, Kushina still felt annoyed.
“Kushina-neechan, leave her to me,” Karin said, rubbing her fists together eagerly.
“Uh, let’s not go that far. I’m not that petty,” Kushina faltered, then said to Karin.
“Oh.” Karin looked disappointed. She had also felt annoyed earlier and wanted to teach the girl a lesson.
“You three, come with me. Lord Hokage’s orders.”
Just then, an Anbu ninja appeared, pointing at Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno.
When leaving, the Anbu also took Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi.
“Who’s this guy? Why should we go with him just because he says so?” Naruto grumbled, annoyed. But since the man mentioned the Hokage’s orders, Naruto couldn’t refuse.
Sasuke, however, ignored Naruto’s grumbling, glanced briefly at Shin and his group, then followed the Konoha Anbu ninja.
Unlike the clueless Naruto, Sasuke knew more; he recognized the Legendary Anbu Black Ops—Naruto shot Shin a fierce glare, then dragged Sakura away with him.
——
“Haha, that kid seems hostile towards me.” Shin chuckled. Naruto was clearly showing hostility because of Sakura.
“Why are you laughing when someone’s hostile towards you?” Hanabi looked up at Shin, puzzled.
Shin looked down at Hanabi expressionlessly. “Have you wiped your hands clean on my clothes yet?”
Hanabi immediately hid behind Hinata, stuck her tongue out at Shin, then pulled out snacks and continued eating.
“Stop eating! You’ll cry when you turn into a little fatty.” Shin tapped Hanabi’s small head.
“You used to say I was too thin,” Hanabi couldn’t help but retort.
“Yes, I did say you were too thin back then. But look at you now! Are you still thin? If you keep eating recklessly like this, you really will become a little fatty.”
Hearing Shin’s words, Hanabi, who was about to stuff more snacks into her mouth, put them down. Though tempted, she decided to restrain herself to avoid becoming overweight.
“Actually, even if you became a little fatty, you’d still be an adorable little fatty,” Shin comforted Hanabi.
“Oh? So Shin, do you like that?” Kushina couldn’t help but ask Shin.
“I don’t. I don’t like tanks, not even small ones,” Shin stated with absolute honesty.
Kushina didn’t know what Shin meant by “tank,” but her intuition told her it definitely wasn’t a compliment.
“Those kids the Anbu took—they must be important,” Kushina changed the subject.
The Anbu ninja was clearly tailing Naruto and his group. Discovering Shin had prompted the Anbu to take them away immediately.
“They are. The Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, the Fourth Hokage’s orphan, the Uchiha Clan survivor, and Hiruzen Sarutobi’s grandson.”
“The Nine-Tails Jinchūriki must be that blond brat, right?” Kushina asked Shin.
“Correct. His name is Naruto Uzumaki. He’s the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki and also the Fourth Hokage’s orphan,” Shin nodded to Kushina.
“The Fourth Hokage’s orphan… So that means he’s Akiko Uzumaki’s son?” In that case, he was technically half Uzumaki.
“Alright, don’t worry about them. Let’s continue exploring. Konoha still has plenty of delicacies.” Shin said, deliberately glancing at Hanabi to see her reaction.
Hanabi’s expression was conflicted.
“Endure!” Hanabi clenched her fists. To become a great ninja, one must endure what others cannot. Father taught me this.
——
Meanwhile, the Anbu ninja led Naruto and the others away, then released Konohamaru.
“You can leave now.” After saying this, the masked Anbu ninja vanished using the Body Flicker Technique.
“He just left? How weird.” Naruto scratched his head. The Anbu had claimed it was the Hokage’s orders and told them to follow, but then he just ran off halfway? Naruto thought they were going to see the Third Hokage.
Sasuke also found it strange, but since they were told to leave, he wouldn’t linger. He needed to continue training—to kill that man.
Even though he hadn’t been home to witness the Uchiha massacre firsthand, it didn’t lessen Sasuke’s hatred for Itachi Uchiha.
——
The Anbu ninja who had led them away had already arrived at the Hokage’s office, reporting the earlier incident to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
He was the Anbu ninja assigned to monitor the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, Naruto Uzumaki. Every Anbu ninja basically knew Shin Uzumaki by sight.
That was why he had appeared and led Naruto and the others away—he feared Shin Uzumaki might harm the Jinchūriki.
“I understand. Continue your mission.” Hiruzen waved his hand, dismissing the Anbu ninja to continue monitoring Naruto Uzumaki.
Naruto Uzumaki, as the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, was too important. Hiruzen couldn’t rest easy without Anbu watching him.
After the Anbu left, Hiruzen fell into deep thought, his face clouded with worry. The only person who could cause him such distress was Shin Uzumaki.
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