Not long after, the father and son appeared on the streets of Konoha.
Perhaps because their ages seemed so close, Boruto wasn't restrained around Naruto at all. The two looked less like father and son and more like an older brother and younger brother, attracting the attention of the surrounding villagers.
"Current Konoha is so small. In my era, Konoha City covered three times this area."
"How about we take the Thunder Train now and go to the next town for a Thunder Burger? Thunder Burgers are delicious—you'd definitely like them..."
Boruto kept chattering away while Naruto replied impatiently:
"There are no Thunder Trains or Thunder Burgers yet."
"And didn't we just come out of a restaurant?"
Boruto scratched his head awkwardly.
"You and Mr. Sasuke were being way too serious just now. I didn't dare eat."
"So you get scared sometimes too..."
Naruto smiled before leading Boruto toward the Hyūga Clan compound.
"Come on. Let's go eat at Hinata's house. I was planning to have dinner there today anyway."
The moment Hinata was mentioned, fear flashed across Boruto's eyes.
He waved his hands repeatedly and said:
"Maybe we should forget it. Mr. Sasuke said we shouldn't have too much contact with familiar people, or it might change the future."
Naruto looked at Boruto as though he had already seen through him and chuckled.
"You're afraid of Hinata..."
Boruto nodded guiltily.
"Mom is scary. When she's angry, she's even scarier than Himawari."
"But it's mostly Dad's fault. He only cares about work all day and comes home after midnight every night."
"Coming home in the middle of the night? Sounds like his work efficiency isn't very good."
Naruto paused before adding:
"Does he still eat instant noodles every day?"
"That's right. He eats instant noodles every day."
"But honestly, I can understand him."
"He's the Seventh Hokage. He has tons of things to deal with every day."
"He's a qualified Hokage... just not a qualified father."
Naruto's expression gradually became serious before he suddenly joked:
"It's fine. If I ever get the chance to visit your era, I'll teach that Naruto who doesn't mind his own business a proper lesson."
"Really?"
Boruto immediately looked at Naruto beside him.
Naruto nodded slightly and said:
"But the premise is that you're better than him."
"With your current abilities and awareness, you're nowhere near the Naruto who became the Seventh Hokage."
"You can't even imagine the pain he's gone through."
Boruto hesitated before asking:
"Father... what did you go through when you were a child?"
Naruto answered casually:
"Nothing much."
"At most, I was isolated by most of the villagers and used by the village's higher-ups."
"Even my parents' former subordinates wanted to assassinate me."
"It's just a past I'd rather not remember."
At best?
Boruto was completely stunned.
If those things had happened to him, he would have collapsed long ago.
Yet after experiencing all that, his father had still become the Seventh Hokage.
There was absolutely no way Boruto could do the same.
He would probably end up doubting both the world and himself.
Noticing Boruto's expression, Naruto recalled parts of the Hokage storyline and sighed softly.
In the original story, even Naruto—who was likely influenced by Asura's chakra—had come dangerously close to darkness several times.
The first time, Iruka saved him.
Then the three years spent traveling with Jiraiya helped fill the void left by the absence of a father.
After Pain attacked the village, countless companions appeared who were willing to die for Naruto.
Only then was Naruto gradually pulled back from the edge of darkness.
However, Naruto in the original story should also thank one person.
That person was Nagato.
Nagato sacrificed his own life to perform Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique and resurrect all the Konoha ninjas and villagers who had died.
Otherwise, even if Naruto had defeated Pain, he would never have become a hero.
He would still have remained the son of the demon fox.
After all, Pain's attack on Konoha had been aimed at capturing the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki.
If surrendering the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki could have prevented the war, many villagers would have gladly handed him over.
As for those who died during Pain's assault, the villagers would have blamed Naruto rather than Nagato.
Stopping and walking along the way, Naruto and Boruto soon arrived at the outskirts of the Hyūga Clan compound.
The Hyūga ninja standing guard immediately hurried over after spotting Naruto.
"Naruto-sama, are you here to visit Lady Hinata?"
Naruto nodded.
Under the Hyūga ninja's guidance, he entered the clan's traditional estate.
Hinata was wearing a light-blue training outfit and practicing Gentle Fist in the dojo.
Every movement seemed to draw in natural energy, creating muffled bursts in the air.
In truth, Naruto had personally taught Hinata how to cultivate natural energy.
Although Hinata wasn't especially gifted in combat, her natural foundation was exceptional.
The purity of her Byakugan was enough to make even the Ōtsutsuki on the moon covet it.
Combined with the Shikotsumyaku bloodline Naruto had granted her, reaching Kage-level strength in the future would be relatively easy.
Only this way would Hinata avoid becoming a housewife.
Even Kaguya couldn't become a housewife.
After hearing that Naruto had arrived, Hinata wiped the sweat from her forehead and trotted all the way over to him.
"N-Naruto-kun..."
"I thought you weren't coming today."
Then Hinata's gaze shifted toward Boruto beside him.
"N-Naruto-kun... who is he?"
Boruto immediately hid behind Naruto and didn't dare show his face.
Naruto smiled lightly and replied:
"Hinata, this is Uzumaki Boruto."
"My son."
"N-Naruto-kun's son?!"
Hinata froze on the spot.
After repeatedly looking back and forth between Boruto and Naruto, she realized they really did resemble each other somewhat.
Her expression immediately became dejected.
"So Naruto-kun already has a son..."
"And he's already this old..."
...
At the outskirts of the Hyūga Clan compound.
After Naruto and Boruto entered the Hyūga estate, the Anbu squad that had been secretly following them exchanged glances before immediately rushing toward the Hokage Building.
Soon, the Anbu squad arrived at the Hokage's office and met Jiraiya.
After listening to their report, Jiraiya's expression became extremely strange.
He paced around the room repeatedly while occasionally glancing toward the direction of the Hyūga Clan compound.
He had assigned Anbu to monitor Naruto largely as a way of expressing Konoha's stance.
Although Konoha couldn't defeat Naruto, they at least needed to know his whereabouts.
They couldn't allow someone that powerful to wander freely through the village without oversight.
Otherwise, how would Konoha maintain its dignity in front of the other great ninja villages?
But after hearing the report, he learned that a mysterious ninja who looked somewhat similar to Naruto had appeared beside him.
Jiraiya couldn't help becoming suspicious.
Not because he believed Boruto was Naruto's brother.
He knew exactly how many children Kushina had given birth to back then.
Rather, he wondered whether Naruto had secretly cooperated with Orochimaru and conducted some kind of forbidden experiment.
If that were true, he would have to find an opportunity to have a serious talk with Naruto.
After Konoha had already conceded so many benefits, it would be far too shameless for Naruto to turn around and work with Orochimaru.
And as Hokage, he wasn't some soft persimmon that could be squeezed whenever people felt like it.
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