This year marked the fourth year since Naruto had entered the Ninja Academy. Naruto was already ten years old and had grown significantly.
With Minato Namikaze, Kushina Uzumaki, and Shindai by his side, Naruto was indeed growing up in a healthy environment.
During these four years, Shindai had upgraded his puppets multiple times—not just the Human Puppets he sold, but also Kannazuki had gone through several iterations.
Now equipped with scientific ninja tools, the updated Kannazuki had become a truly formidable weapon.
In many of Shindai's missions, he didn't even have to fight personally—Kannazuki's auto-combat mode, combined with ninja-wares, was enough to defeat the enemies on its own.
However, now Shindai had his own troubles too—as he got older, it was time to consider matters of the heart.
That guy Obito's relationship with Rin Nohara was heating up, which left Shindai extremely jealous.
Rin Nohara was Shindai's ideal type—but it wasn't about Rin as a person specifically, rather her gentle personality. What did that guy Obito ever do to deserve such happiness?
At the same time, Shindai realized there seemed to have been a misunderstanding regarding Pakura and Hikaku Uchiha.
"Sigh, if only I could be gentler… Am I actually thinking this? I must've lost my mind. I'm even impressed with myself for daring to think like this!"
Shindai shivered slightly, immediately shaking away those wild thoughts from his mind.
"Aniki Shindai, can you help me make a card set?"
After school, Naruto rushed into Shindai's house and grabbed his arm, begging him.
Slouched on the sofa, Shindai glanced sideways at Naruto. "Make you a card set? How exactly should I make one? What can you even do?"
Naruto raised his head proudly. "I know Rasengan! And I know Shadow Clone Jutsu too!"
Shindai scoffed, "Speak of the devil and he shall appear, huh? You don't really know them anyway. Not happening. Come back when you actually learn them."
Naruto shook Shindai's arm desperately, pleading, "I'll definitely learn them eventually! Please, Aniki Shindai! My good big brother!"
Shindai rolled his eyes. "Convince your mom first, then I'll help."
"Huh?!"
Naruto immediately deflated. Telling Kushina Uzumaki? He sure didn't want to get beaten up for no good reason. Unlike Shindai, he certainly didn't want to suffer an unprovoked punishment.
Shindai asked curiously, "How's school going? Have you mastered the Three Body Techniques yet?"
Naruto forced a laugh, "Well...it's already dismissal time, so maybe we shouldn't talk about this anymore?"
Shindai snorted, "So you haven't learned it yet. Don't tell me you're the class failure at school?"
Naruto protested, "No way! I'm evenly matched with Sasuke in Taijutsu!"
"Just Taijutsu? What about the others?"
"Well...the others are kind of okay too…"
Naruto's voice clearly lacked confidence.
Shindai was just making small talk. Naruto had the Nine-Tails sealed within him, and currently, the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style was very stable, interfering with Naruto's own chakra. Therefore, delicate Ninjutsu techniques were particularly difficult for Naruto to master. As for other theoretical courses… those were simply Naruto's own issues.
The Uchiha clan and Konoha were currently in a honeymoon period. So Shindai believed the Uchiha massacre would never come to pass—it should have already happened if it was destined to.
Still, who could say for sure whether Sasuke, with both parents alive and Itachi around, might still end up straying down the wrong path?
Probably not.
Anyway, Shindai felt he'd laid enough groundwork. Once Naruto graduated, he could finally retire.
Shindai patted Naruto on the shoulder. "Naruto, you've got to keep pushing forward! Here's a promise—I'll make a special card set for you every time you reach a new stage. How does that sound?"
Naruto asked doubtfully, "Every time I reach a new stage?"
Smiling warmly, Shindai replied, "Exactly! Like Academy Student Naruto, Sage Naruto, Six Paths Naruto, things like that."
Naruto asked excitedly, "A sage? You said I could become one too? Like someone who can fly into the sky?"
"Just kidding around, obviously. If you take me seriously, then you lose. But making these card sets for you is real. So work hard, kid."
Naruto now felt extremely excited—once he graduated, he'd get his own card set! He'd sign it and give copies to Sasuke, Hinata, and others. That would totally make them jealous!
Thinking about Hinata, Naruto sighed involuntarily.
Shindai looked puzzled and asked, "You're normally carefree, what are you sighing for?"
Naruto answered, "It's Hinata. She apparently lost to her younger sister Hanabi and got scolded by her father. She seemed really upset. But that shouldn't have happened, right? Hinata's actually pretty strong. There's no way she'd lose to her little sister."
Shindai scratched his cheek thoughtfully. "In my opinion, Hinata losing to her sister isn't abnormal. It's not because she lacks skill—Hinata's simply too gentle. You should comfort Hinata well. However, looks like I need to visit the Hyuga household tomorrow."
"Of course! I spent the entire day trying to cheer Hinata up. I even tried taking her and Shikamaru off school to have some fun, but she didn't seem interested. Eventually, only Shikamaru, Choji, and I went together. But that guy Sasuke—he was such a snob! I invited him out of kindness, and he immediately told Iruka-sensei!"
At this point, Naruto's face showed obvious annoyance.
"Oh? You skipped class?"
Naruto stiffened, inwardly cursing himself for letting that slip.
He forced a laugh and tried to defend himself, "N-nothing like that! You must've misheard, Big Brother Shindai!"
Without hesitation, Shindai sprang from the sofa in an instant, dashing toward the next room like he was starting a 100-meter race.
Naruto acted on instinct, grabbing Shindai's belt before he knew it. But his whole body was yanked off the ground—he simply couldn't stop Shindai.
"Sister Kushina, Naruto said he skipped class today!"
Shindai immediately tattled to Kushina Uzumaki, who was preparing dinner nearby.
Naruto's face turned horrified in an instant, his eyes fixed on Shindai in disbelief.
Could he really have no shame?!
Kushina's hair practically bristled. Still holding her spatula, she marched step by step toward Naruto.
"Na-ru-to!"
Naruto tried desperately to explain, "Mom, let me explain! That's not how it happened! Brother Shindai must've misunderstood!"
Smirking, Shindai added, "Whether he got it wrong or not will be clear tomorrow when we ask Iruka. And if you really did skip class... Tsk tsk, Naruto, lying is bad. As a man, you need to have the guts to own up to your actions."
Defeated, Naruto lowered his head miserably. "I... skipped class. I was wrong."
Of course, an apology wouldn't help at all—Kushina began her 'loving education.'
Shindai watched beside them with obvious amusement.
Naruto shot him a bitter glare, silently vowing revenge. I definitely will!
Shikamaru was clever. Tomorrow, he'd ask Shikamaru for help—both Shikamaru and Choji had suffered under Shindai's rule for ages. They'd definitely agree.
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