Village Park
"That's really happened? No way," Kiba said out loud while looking at his best friend with a disbelieving expression.
"That's what my dad said," Menma responds, looking ahead while walking with his hands in his pockets.
"It must be some sort of mistake. What you just told me seems like a fictional story written by an author and not the reality we live. Out of all the students that become an official ninja, Naruto is by far the weakest. That loser is even lucky to even graduate. How could he possibly beat someone that their Jonin sensei failed to do on his own?" Kiba said, shaking his head in disbelief.
"No idea." Menma slightly shakes his head. "Maybe Sasuke's father..." Menma looks down while walking, unable to find the words he thought he had.
"Nonsense!" Kiba screams at the top of his lungs. "All of it. I'm telling you. If Naruto is strong enough to fight a Jonin, then I'm ready to be Hokage." Kiba laughs afterwards.
Menma looks up to his friend as they both chuckle.
"I also don't believe it. Even if it's true, I still wouldn't care," Menma scoffs. "Enough about him." Menma looks around and smiles, waving at the villagers who happened to visit the park.
"It's Lord Hokage's heir."
"The Fourth Son"
"Say, is that?..." Kiba points his finger towards the specific person in the crowd.
Menma looks where his friend's finger is pointing, and it takes him a few moments to realize who it is.
Menma looks at Kiba as they smirk at each other.
"See you later, bro," Menma yells as he runs ahead.
Several dozen meters away from Menma and Kiba's previous location, there's Satsuki carrying books that Hitomi gave her for her to learn about the Cursed Spirits and the danger they pose, especially those who are at Special Grade.
This book also contains basic information surrounding the Jujutsu Sorcerers that Hitomi didn't have time to inform them about since Hitomi was suddenly called by other Jujutsu Sorcerers for a very special meeting.
Right now Satsuki walks back to the Uchiha Clan Compound, thinking about the information she just learned, especially about Naruto.
She previously thought that she was somewhat able to guess the limits of Naruto's strength based on the observation she had of Naruto, but Hitomi destroyed her assumption.
She didn't know the limits of Naruto's strength; in fact, throughout the time they spent as a team, Naruto never once went all out, even during the graduation test.
Satsuki also finally understands the reaction of Miguel after the latter learned the fact that Naruto is currently at the Land of Waves.
Satsuki guesses that either Miguel heard of Naruto's reputation or the fact that he faced Naruto in battle once. Satsuki believes it was the latter, especially after thinking about the expression Miguel had at that time.
Satsuki unconsciously clenches her fist, thinking about the time they spent together training to become stronger. It was clear that the training Naruto did throughout the entire time as a member of Team 13 wasn't enough to break a sweat.
"Throughout this entire time, did he even take us seriously?" Satsuki slightly bites her lower lip.
She thought that they would become closer after spending this time together, but it seems it was just her naive thoughts. She didn't even know if Naruto took the job as a ninja seriously.
Even Hitomi wasn't sure of the reason why Naruto became a ninja.
Still, no one's dared to question Naruto's decision. Hitomi wasn't sure why no one dared to question him, but she theorized that they feared angering Naruto, which was something she thought absurd.
Just as she starts to think of many possible reasons behind Naruto's actions, she suddenly snaps out of her thoughts after hearing a familiar voice.
"Well, if it isn't the most stunning girl on the planet," Menma said with a smile on his face, and one can see a blush on his cheeks.
"Hi, Satsuki," Menma added, but his smile became bigger after Satsuki looked at him.
"Hello," Satsuki responds plainly.
Menma's heart skips a beat after he notices Satsuki staring at him for longer than normal.
"Where are you going?" Menma asks while his eyes unconsciously stare at her hands, which are holding books.
Menma doesn't know these books but mentally noted to search around to purchase something similar. He plans to read such books so next time he and Satsuki have something in common to talk about.
"Home," Satsuki responds.
"Let me walk you to your home," Menma calmly said, and his smile was still plastered on his face.
"Shouldn't you be with your team?" Satsuki asks, raising one of her eyebrows.
She knows that right now isn't a day off for his team or any Genin teams for that matter. The only reason why Team 13 currently had a day off was to rest themselves after completing an A-rank mission.
Thinking about this, Satsuki suddenly had thoughts about Keimei. Keimei's team right now is still active and should be either completing a D-rank mission or training at their respective training ground, yet she saw her in the park earlier this day.
Satsuki also remembers the fact that Naruto and Keimei seemed to have a plan to go somewhere, but where they are going is something she didn't know.
'Could Keimei know about the existence of Jujutsu Sorcerers? 'Satsuki thought and inwardly frowned.
These thoughts wouldn't leave Satsuki's mind, and she plans to ask Hitomi about this after she returns from her meeting.
Menma didn't notice Satsuki's abnormality and waved his hand dismissively.
"Don't worry about it. I'm right where I should be," Menma calmly said, causing one of Satsuki's eyebrows to raise.
Satsuki slightly shakes her head. It wasn't her problem if Menma suddenly decided not to meet up with his teammates.
The two walk alongside each other, and on the way the two only have small conversation, but the entire time Menma's smile doesn't leave his face.
Hokage Mansion.
At the Hokage Office, where most of the time Minato spends his time. He was currently accompanied by Inoichi Inoichi, the head of the Yamanaka Clan, and Shikaku Nara, the head of the Nara Clan.
They are still waiting for another person to come, and what they are about to discuss is something very important that only a select few people should know.
This isn't about what happened to Kakashi.
As much as Minato wanted to know what happened, the investigation they had left zero results.
While investigating, they manage to find spies from different villages, but they weren't the ones who caused what happened to Kakashi.
Inoichi also can't help in the investigation since using their mind-related techniques might worsen Kakashi's condition.
What they can all do right now is wait patiently for Kakashi to wake up and inform everyone about what happened to him.
While waiting for the last person to arrive, the three start having a small talk, which is mostly about their children. And after talking for a few minutes, their conversation landed at Team 13.
"I didn't expect you to agree with Fugaku's reckless decision back then," Inoichi said.
"Indeed," Shikaku nods. "It wasn't part of the plan we created. While the results were incredible and far surpassed what we calculated, the danger behind such reckless action is still something else."
"Did you create another plan after learning more information about the Land of Waves?" Inoichi asks while staring at Minato.
"No," Minato shakes his head. "It wasn't part of the plan. In fact, Fugaku decided not to follow the plan after they experienced their first sneak attack."
"Why did he decide to carry out such a mission despite knowing it will endanger his students?" Inoichi asks in confusion.
While he had a strange relationship with Fugaku, Inoichi knows the fact that when it comes to missions, Fugaku moves logically, so he couldn't think of any reason why he decided to continue the mission along with his students despite knowing the risk.
"It was because of the stubbornness of Hinata. From what he told me, Hinata was the one who stopped the team from returning and insisted on helping Tazuna."
"What?!" Shikaku and Inoichi said, voices tinted in disbelief.
How can they not be shocked since they know about the meek personality Hinata had? This was the problem Hiashi faced.
They learned from Hiashi the fact that his clan elders weren't satisfied with Hinata's personality and didn't think she was suitable to be an heir of their clan. Hiashi did everything he could to change it, but to no avail.
This is why Hiashi was forced to change the heir of their clan to Hanabi.
While Shikaku and Inoichi didn't agree with the method Hiashi used, as to them it was cruel, but it wasn't their business to begin with, so they could only turn a blind eye to it.
But still the fact that Hinata, who everyone thought was a meek person, stood up in front of Fugaku, who is infamous for his strictness, was so surprising.