Just as Naruto collapsed to the ground, coughing up blood, overwhelmed by the consequences of the trap he'd set for himself, Hinata—who was closest to him—hadn't caught the conversation he had with the Ino-Shika-Cho trio. With her ears still covered by Naruto, her hearing was muffled, and she couldn't clearly make out what was said. On top of that, Naruto had been in a blind spot from her view and she hadn't seen the horrifying expression he had intentionally put on earlier. And so, by pure accident, she became the last one present to notice that something was off.
"Na… Naruto-kun…?"
Only when Naruto let go of her ears and crouched down holding his stomach did Hinata regain her hearing and the ability to move freely. At the same time, the sound of him coughing up blood instinctively drew her attention. She turned around—only to see the strange, twisted expression on Naruto's face.
"Naruto-kun! You… What happened?! Are you okay?!"
Her gaze followed the bizarre sound from behind her. Narrowing her eyes and examining him carefully, she finally caught sight of Naruto's unusual distress and couldn't help but gasp, covering her mouth in alarm.
"I-It's… It's nothing…"
Under Hinata's gaze—so full of concern and urgency—even someone as skilled in deception as Naruto, who could fool someone as cunning as Danzo Shimura, began to falter. When it came to Hinata, his instinct was to never lie. That kindness made all his acting skills fall apart. His attempts to cover it up became clumsy, and the guilt began to show. No matter how hard he tried to pretend, Hinata couldn't miss the sweat beading on his forehead and the strange contortions of his expression. It was obvious something wasn't right.
Having grown up sheltered and rarely interacting with others, Hinata was less experienced than most her age. Faced with this unexpected situation, she was quickly overwhelmed.
'W-What should I do? Naruto-kun looks like he's in a lot of pain… Is there anything I can do to help? I… I…'
Her mind went blank with panic. But then, as if by divine luck, she remembered one of the rules announced by Tenzo before they left the Ninja Academy. Latching onto it like a lifeline, she waved her hands with renewed determination.
"Ah! That's right! I remember now! The proctor said if there's an emergency, we can call out to one of the hidden examiners for help… Just hang on, Naruto-kun! I'll go get someone!"
As she spoke, Hinata began to put her thoughts into action. She looked around in all directions, calling out with urgency.
"Um—! Is there a proctor nearby? We need he—"
"No no no! Hinata, don't! Seriously, it's just a stomachache! I'll be fine after a short rest. Really! No need to bother the examiners, I swear!"
Seeing that Hinata was actually about to call for help—potentially risking instant disqualification—Naruto panicked and interrupted her immediately.
Was she kidding?! If a proctor actually came and escorted him away for treatment over a minor stomachache, and Sasuke found out later that the proctor had to step in during his trial just because his belly hurt… Not only would Naruto lose face completely, but that kind of embarrassing incident would go straight into his personal history of shame. Just imagining that little Uchiha fanboy rolling on the ground in laughter over it was enough to shatter the calm, reliable image Naruto had worked so hard to build in private.
"Aha… ha ha… Just a little slip-up, that's all. Ha… ha… Look, see? I'm totally fine now, right? Really!"
He stood up and moved around a bit to prove he was okay, then awkwardly scratched his head while letting out a dry laugh. At the same time, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly, and he silently cursed the real culprit behind his stomach pain as he shifted part of his consciousness toward the Seal.
'Tch… Kurama, you don't have to be that petty. I just wanted to prank the kids a little, that's all…'
"Hahaha! You brought this on yourself, brat. Don't go blaming me~"
For once, Kurama actually sat up from his usual lazy sprawl, unable to resist watching Naruto flounder. He folded his arms across his chest and grinned smugly, speaking with righteous satisfaction.
"I told you already—you can joke all you want, but stop dragging my name into it. I'm not taking the blame for your nonsense."
'Tch… Stingy fox…'
Seeing that Kurama clearly had no intention of backing down, Naruto sighed and gave up on the idea of using his partner's name to scare the Ino-Shika-Cho trio again. He pouted and muttered in protest.
'I can't use your name, huh? After I've carried your burden for years, you can't even let me borrow it to spook some kids?'
But Naruto forgot something important. While their conversations seemed to happen via normal speech, ever since he made an effort to sincerely earn Kurama's trust, the communication within the seal space had shifted to shared thoughts…
In other words, the moment Naruto's chakra connected with Kurama's, or the moment he entered the seal space to talk face-to-face, both of them could directly read each other's thoughts. So naturally, Kurama had picked up on his grumbling—every single word.
"Hmm? Did you just say something?"
"…Ahaha, I—I was just saying, the weather's really nice today! Not a cloud in the sky! Perfect for… light exercise! Yep!"
As Kurama's calm but thunderous voice echoed in his head, Naruto finally remembered how their mental link worked. He frantically waved his hands and turned his head, trying to hide the two silent tears running down his cheeks.
'It's over… This is karma for all the pranks I've pulled lately. I've always been the one digging traps for others… but now I've managed to fall into my own trap twice. God, this game is unplayable.'
In his daze, Naruto seemed to hallucinate a system popup, like in all those games from his past life—an achievement he never wanted to see.
System Message: Congratulations to Player Uzumaki Naruto for meeting the achievement condition: "Fall into your own trap ×2." Advanced Achievement Unlocked — "I'm such a menace, I even troll myself!"
'Back-to-back self-traps… Congrats to the prince of pranks. Not only do you sabotage others, now you've perfected sabotaging yourself too. Yay me. F***ing great.'