Even though Makoto wasn't as emotionally dense as Naruto, the fact remained that Hinata had never actively spoken to Makoto before this.
After all, being surrounded by so many beautiful women, she felt too shy to approach him.
And Makoto, having missed the timing for a heroic rescue, hadn't considered that Hinata might have feelings for him, so he hadn't paid much attention to the pale-eyed, large-chested girl he had also coveted in his previous life.
Facing the young girl standing before him with a first-love expression, Makoto thought for a moment and spoke again:
"Hinata, I do like you a lot."
Confronted with this sudden confession, Hinata was so shy she almost fainted.
"L-Leader..."
Her body swayed, and her eyes started spinning.
Fortunately, Makoto acted in time, cosplaying a certain brocon by gently poking her forehead, injecting a bit of Chakra to sober her up.
Makoto continued: "But I have too many women. You need to think carefully if you want to join."
As a 'frankly and openly scummy' good man, although Makoto did desire Hinata, he still wanted to make things clear to her in advance.
After speaking, he gave Hinata a bright smile, waved his hand, and turned to leave.
"..."
Hinata opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but her throat felt blocked.
Under the setting sun, Makoto's back grew smaller and smaller. Golden rays fell on his shoulders, gilding him with warm light.
Hinata stared blankly at that retreating figure, momentarily unsure how to respond.
This... this confession wasn't what she had imagined.
And to be honest, Hinata's current feelings for Makoto were still mostly 'admiration'.
As for 'like'... she didn't even know if that's what she felt.
She just felt that he had something she had never had.
In the end, Hinata didn't even know how she got home.
She just locked herself in her room upon returning, not coming out. She lay on the bed, burying her face in the pillow, her mind filled with the image of that man leaving, his back and that bright smile.
Hiashi stood in the hallway, looking at his eldest daughter's closed door. After some thought, he decided not to interfere.
It's good as long as she didn't offend Makoto.
But Hanabi couldn't resist going to see Hinata.
"Onee-chan, what happened between you and Leader?"
She lay by Hinata's bedside, staring at her sister with those big, pale eyes.
Hinata remained lost in thought, a thousand-yard stare, completely unresponsive.
Hanabi waited for a while. Seeing her sister still silent, she wrinkled her nose.
"Onee-chan, if you like him, I'll let you have him."
It was only then that Hinata finally snapped back to reality.
She looked at her sister's 'generous' expression and couldn't help but roll her eyes.
''Let me have him'? With all those women around him, whether you let me or not doesn't really make a difference.'
Thinking this, Hinata suddenly realized she hadn't needed to get so worked up earlier either. After all, with his countless women, what difference would ten more Hanabis make?
"Onee-chan?"
"..."
Hinata buried her face back in the pillow.
Hanabi tilted her head, watching her sister for a long moment, then said "Oh", and bounced out of the room.
…
On the other side.
Makoto arrived home and pushed open the door.
In the genkan, warm light spilled onto the floor. Dozens of women's shoes were neatly arranged by the shoe rack.
"I'm home."
"Welcome back!"
The girls' voices came from the living room, blending into one.
Makoto walked in and saw the women waiting for him to have dinner.
Seeing him return, Erina and Alice got up and headed to the kitchen.
"We'll cook now."
"Haven't you eaten?" asked Makoto.
Megumi gracefully walked over, took his coat, hung it on the rack, and said with a gentle smile: "No one had the appetite to eat before you came back."
Makoto smiled slightly, leaned down, and kissed Megumi.
After a while, the household 'servants', Momoi, Marin, and the others, entered the kitchen and began bringing out dishes one by one.
That's right, just like when Yui, Miura Yumiko, and the others had initially applied to become Makoto's servants to gain his protection during their first time in the Naruto World…
Now, new players like Mai and Marin had also become the new maids at Makoto's house, responsible for serving tea, cooking, cleaning, washing dishes, and other chores.
Although with his current status, if Makoto wanted servants, plenty of people would line up for the positions, but how could those background extra aunties compare to these popular anime Heroines?
Marin, wearing a pink apron, was setting the table. Her moves were somewhat clumsy, but her looks more than compensated.
Mai walked out of the kitchen carrying a dish.
"Leader, please enjoy your meal."
She bowed slightly and placed the dish on the table.
Makoto nodded and sat down at the head of the table.
"Eat up."
"Let's eat!"
Yotsuba was the first to pick up her chopsticks, her eyes sparkling.
Itsuki followed closely, picking up a piece of braised pork, her cheeks puffing out like a hamster's.
The others also started eating, and the dinner table became lively.
After dinner, tasks like washing the dishes, of course, didn't need to be done by the official wives like the Nakiri sisters or Mrs. Yuigahama.
The new players, Momoi, Marin, and the others, got up voluntarily and began clearing the table.
Makoto leaned back in his chair and looked at Hancock, who had also reverted to her thirteen-year-old self.
"How's the reading of the Scroll of Seals coming along?"
Hancock said adoringly: "We were all waiting for you to come back to read it together."
Makoto chuckled softly.
"It's not that important. Just go ahead and read it."
After all, he had already finished reading everything inside the Scroll of Seals.
Hancock smiled and was about to open the scroll.
Yamato, Airi, Kotonoha Katsura, and the others leaned in, forming a circle around her.
Just as Hancock was about to unroll the scroll—
Nayuta, who had been lying on Makoto's lap like a kitten, suddenly raised her head as if remembering something.
Her golden, ringed eyes swept over the girls clearing the table, then she raised her hand and started 'pointing to pick'.
"You—you—you—you—you—"
Her finger pointed one by one, as if selecting something.
Marin, Momoi, Mai, Ikuyo, Nijika, Bocchi, Yamada Ryo—
She pointed to nearly ten people in one go.
Then, Nayuta unceremoniously pointed towards the door.
"All of you, get out. You can't read this."
The unquestionable authority in her voice made the air in the entire living room freeze.
Megumi and the others immediately noticed that everyone Nayuta had pointed at were the new players who had not yet been with Makoto.
Oh, no, there was one exception... Yukinoshita Haruno.
She was definitely a veteran player, but one Makoto had never touched after all these years.
Suddenly, the girls clearing the table were all extremely embarrassed.