"Why are you here? And how did you even find this place?"
Leo's expression was cold as he faced the timid little girl in front of him.
"I wanted to thank you for helping me yesterday, so I made you a bento!"
As she spoke, Kushina pulled out a pink lunchbox from behind her back, her small face full of hopeful anticipation.
Seeing this, Leo's expression softened slightly. It wasn't that he was unfeeling—just that a constant sense of danger always lingered in his heart.
If he were truly just a child, carefree laughter might have been possible. But he carried the soul of an adult—and in the original timeline, there was no ninja named Leo who survived until the end.
That truth weighed heavily on him, leaving his life in this world lonely and suffocating.
If it were another transmigrator, they'd probably already be trying to cling to the main character's thigh for protection.
Even though his timeline was slightly earlier, Namikaze Minato was clearly a protagonist-tier figure. With someone like that as your backer, you could practically strut across the village unchallenged.
But Leo understood one thing well—if you wanted to follow a protagonist, you needed to have a protagonist's luck.
Without it? You'd just be cannon fodder. After all, hanging around the main character meant constant danger—small disasters every three days, major crises every five.
So in the end, Leo chose to rely only on himself. The stronger he became, the harder his fate would be to break.
Kushina stood there, unsure what to do as Leo remained silent and motionless.
"Thank you."
"Put it over there." Leo pointed at the old, rickety table outside his hut.
"Mhm!"
Kushina nodded eagerly and placed the bento on the table. Then, instead of leaving, she clasped her hands in front of her and looked at Leo expectantly.
Leo didn't respond. Dawn was just breaking; there was still more than an hour before classes at the Ninja Academy began.
He continued his training, sandbags strapped to his hands and legs as he repeatedly struck a wooden training post.
One hundred strikes. Two hundred. Five hundred… His movements didn't slow in the slightest, sweat pouring down like rain.
The wooden post was stained dark with blood from his knuckles, and the white bandages around his hands were already dyed crimson.
Still, Leo continued to push himself relentlessly. Perhaps it was because of his awakening of the Three Colors of Haki—he could feel his body getting stronger with every blow.
His physical constitution was improving—his stamina and resilience rising in ways he had never felt before.
No wonder monsters like Garp in the One Piece world were so terrifying—he hadn't just mastered Haki; his raw physical strength was monstrous.
Leo remembered that Garp had once trained his "Fist of Iron" specifically to counter the pirate Don Chinjao.
And how did he train it? By smashing entire mountains with his bare fists!
Such inhuman endurance was beyond comprehension.
After about an hour, the horizon began to glow with the first rays of sunlight.
Leo finally stopped, taking in a deep breath of the crisp morning air. When he turned, he was surprised to find Kushina still standing there.
"You didn't leave? Why are you still here?"
Kushina's little face was pale—whether from the chill of dawn or from being scared by Leo's hellish training, he couldn't tell.
Her small hands rubbed together at her chest, a faint mist of warm breath escaping her lips as she murmured,
"You hadn't eaten your bento yet… so I waited."
"Oh, I see. Sorry, I got too caught up in training." Leo said casually.
Though the words were an apology, Kushina didn't feel the slightest hint of sincerity from his tone.
She wanted to complain, but thinking of how he had helped her yesterday, she chose to forgive this cold, unsociable boy and instead smiled gently.
"It's okay, Leo-kun! The bento should still be warm. Please, eat it while it's hot!"
"Got it. You should head to school."
(This guy just wants to get rid of me! How dare he treat the great Princess Uzumaki like this!)
Kushina's inner voice fumed, but on the surface, she maintained her gentle smile.
"It's fine, I can wait and walk to school with you—it's on the way anyway."
"Suit yourself."
Leo replied flatly, walked to the table, and opened the bento. A wave of fragrant steam escaped the box—it was sushi, with seared beef on top. The aroma was mouthwatering.
He realized this might actually be the best breakfast he'd had since coming to this world.
To save time, however, Leo shocked Kushina by simply opening his mouth and tipping the entire box of sushi in, chewing a few times before swallowing it whole.
"Not bad," he said casually.
Then, without another word, he went inside to wash up and change for school.
"???" Kushina stared in disbelief. So that's what it meant to wolf down food! But how could he even tell it tasted good if he barely chewed!?
On the way to school, Leo wore a clean black training outfit. His black hair was slightly tousled, and his dark eyes gleamed like deep starlight.
Kushina followed beside him, finding it hard to connect this calm, handsome boy with the blood-soaked maniac from earlier.
Especially remembering how savagely he ate—compared to his current cool and refined look, it was like two completely different people.
They walked in silence. Leo wasn't the talkative type.
But Kushina… was the complete opposite. Silence drove her insane.
"Um, Leo-kun, do you always train that hard?" she asked.
"Yeah."
"Do you live alone?"
"Yeah."
"That's so amazing!"
"Mm."
"Do you like flowers?"
"Mm."
By the end, Kushina was on the verge of tears. Talking to Leo was like smashing her head against a wall.
Fortunately, someone broke the awkward silence.
"Morning, Ye-kun!" came a bright, friendly voice.
Without turning, Leo already knew who it was—Namikaze Minato.
In the entire Ninja Academy, he was the only one who would greet him, an outsider from another village.
That was just how things were in this era—everyone united against outsiders.
Leo was lucky the one who'd rescued him was from Konoha. Had it been another village, he'd have been silenced long ago.
"Morning," Leo replied with a single word.
Minato's warm smile widened. He noticed the girl beside Leo and said,
"You must be the new student. I'm Namikaze Minato—nice to meet you."
"Hello." Kushina replied quietly, her mood still sour from earlier. Thanks to Leo, her enthusiasm was thoroughly extinguished.
"Ye-kun," Minato said suddenly, "did you upset someone from the Uchiha clan?"
"No."
"But I heard that Uchiha Tsuki has been looking for you. He said he's going to 'teach you a lesson.'"
"That name sounds familiar," Kushina murmured.
Leo stopped walking, turned to Minato, and said evenly,
"If it's a fight he wants, then a fight he'll get."
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