Well, from now on, he would probably lower his attention toward me, right?
While feeling relieved, Shiki turned his focus back to The Third standing in front of him. He still didn't know how The Third would arrange things for him.
"This afternoon, I'll introduce you to a new friend. You'll be living at his home from now on."
A new friend?
Who could it be? Shiki couldn't help but start imagining possibilities.
Right now, the most likely candidate would be Sasuke, wouldn't he?
After all, Itachi had just wiped out the Uchiha clan under Danzo's orders.
But thinking about Sasuke's personality gave Shiki a headache. Especially later on when he became obsessed with revenge and disregarded everything else—he really couldn't stand that attitude.
Plus, the many despicable things he'd done to another member of the Uzumaki clan, Karin, made Shiki truly unforgiving.
Of course, Shiki didn't quite know what to make of Karin either. Wasn't she kind of clueless?
Suddenly, Shiki recalled something—[Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu], one of the techniques most suitable for members of the Uzumaki clan.
Could it be Naruto?
The reason Shiki thought of this technique was because it was often used to assist training. After all, that's how Naruto learned the Rasengan so quickly.
Of course, to achieve high efficiency, this method required enormous chakra reserves.
Shiki suddenly remembered heated discussions he'd seen years ago on the Tieba forum (a popular Chinese online forum platform) about the Naruto series—was the Uzumaki clan naturally blessed with large amounts of chakra?
Although most discussions ended inconclusively since the original manga never explicitly stated anything—it remained mere speculation.
However, Shiki started thinking differently. It seemed that every single member of the Uzumaki clan shown in the original work did possess unusually vast chakra reserves.
That ratio was simply too consistent to be explained by mere coincidence.
Chakra itself was a combination of physical energy and spiritual power. The Uzumaki were a clan widely recognized for their incredible vitality. Even if one took a step back and considered "physical energy" and "vitality" as separate concepts, they must still have been closely related.
Therefore, according to Shiki's reasoning, while not every individual within the Uzumaki might necessarily possess massive chakra reserves, the clan overall tended to produce more ninja with abundant chakra than other clans.
He hoped his luck wasn't that bad—he really didn't want to end up with weak chakra.
So Shiki spoke up, "Lord Third, can you teach me the Shadow Clone Jutsu?"
"Oh, the Shadow Clone Jutsu?" The Third seemed somewhat surprised because usually, when young kids dreamed of becoming ninjas, they always imagined learning legendary techniques.
Something like the Flying Thunder God, for instance. Requests for the Shadow Clone Jutsu were rather rare. Guess he's still just a child at heart, drawn to flashy moves like that.
Thinking along those lines, The Third said, "Certainly, but only after Shiki becomes a true ninja. Until then, Shiki should first attend the Ninja Academy and learn what it truly means to be a ninja."
I knew it. Things wouldn't be that simple.
Shiki thought gloomily. The Third treated him like a child—understandable, given the age of his current body.
With nothing more to discuss, the Third Hokage gave a few final instructions before leaving.
Mengbai remained alone in the Konoha hospital, casually wondering which family he would end up staying with.
And how should Mengbai develop from now on?
Although he imagined things going well for himself, Shiki knew deep down that he might not have a high Chakra Reserves Amount.
If his talent turned out even worse, to the point where he couldn't use ninjutsu at all, he'd probably have no choice but to train alongside Rock Lee in Taijutsu and the Eight Gates.
However, Shiki never disrespected Rock Lee or any ninja who relied solely on physical combat. In fact, he deeply admired them.
Still, if he could only depend on Taijutsu, his path toward becoming a powerful ninja would definitely become far more difficult.
As Shiki was thinking, a gentle voice suddenly reached his ears: "Hello, may I ask why you're all alone here?"
Shiki turned toward the voice and saw pink hair in front of him—it was a very cute girl.
Suddenly realizing who this was, Shiki greeted politely, "Hi. As for why I'm alone, well... because I'm an orphan."
"Oh? I'm really sorry," Sakura quickly apologized.
This struck Shiki as odd—he had expected Sakura to be a spoiled and sharp-tongued girl, yet she seemed so gentle now.
But thinking about it, Shiki felt like he understood.
Sakura probably only acted spoiled around people she trusted and relied upon—like Naruto.
"Wait a second!" Sakura suddenly said, then rushed out the door.
Just as Shiki wondered what she was doing, Sakura returned, holding a white carnation in her hand.
"My mom says people recover faster when they get to see flowers every day," she said, placing the white carnation into the vase by the bedside.
Shiki replied reluctantly, "Actually, I'm getting discharged this afternoon."
Curious, Sakura asked, "Then what are you going to do next?"
"I guess I'll attend the Ninja Academy. Maybe we'll even be classmates."
After that, they talked about many things, making the wait less boring for Shiki. Sakura had come to the hospital with her mother to visit patients. But since everyone else was grown-up, the little girl could only seek out Shiki to chat with.
"Damn it! Old man! I told you already, you've got no right throwing some stranger into my house! I protest! I protest!"
A loud commotion came from outside, interrupting the conversation between Sakura and Shiki.
The Third firmly held Naruto down and said, "Hey hey, at least meet the guy first! I bet you'll actually like him!"
What the Third didn't know was that although Naruto outwardly wore a look of refusal, deep down, he was actually very excited about the boy who was about to live with him.
After all, Naruto had been lonely for a very long time. Because of the Nine-Tails, he had never had a single friend.
Of course, stubborn Naruto would never admit this aloud.
Yet in the hospital room, Shiki suddenly smiled slightly—it turned out he'd be living with Naruto after all.
Hearing Naruto's stubborn yet cocky tone, I couldn't help but smile slightly. Someone else might've actually thought he was serious about being hostile.
With a creak, the hospital room door swung open again, and Naruto's gaze instantly snapped to Sakura.
"Hey, Sakura! You're here too? What a coincidence!"
Sakura shot an annoyed glance at the overly excited Naruto and groaned, "Ugh, it's you again, you idiot!"
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