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"What's wrong?"
Naruto noticed that Gen had suddenly come to a halt. Tilting his little head curiously, he looked ahead to see what had caught the older boy's attention.
Soon enough, he saw a girl in the distance who was also looking in their direction.
"Oh, hey, isn't that Hinata?"
"Yes, your classmate."
Gen snapped out of his daze and gave a small nod. But his response was met with Naruto's mischievous grin.
"What's this? You just freeze up the moment you see her. Don't tell me…"
"Idiot."
Kitagawa Gen reached out and gave Naruto's head a firm rub, thoroughly messing up his hair. This little guy sure loved talking nonsense.
Still, he understood where Naruto was coming from. After all, Naruto hadn't really paid any attention to Hinata yet.
Or rather, to Naruto, Hinata was just a classmate and nothing more.
His eyes were full of Sakura, the girl who was always chasing after Sasuke. It wasn't until Nagato invaded Konoha, shouting "bag of rice, carry how many floors," that Hinata stepped forward and quietly planted a seed of love in Naruto's heart.
(P.S. This line is a translated meme from the Chinese Naruto fandom. Feel free to look it up.)
"Truly someone who doesn't know how lucky he is."
Kitagawa Gen muttered inwardly. As the two of them joked around, Hinata had already walked over.
"N-Naruto-kun… and Gen-senpai…"
Her cheeks were bright red, her head lowered timidly, and even her voice carried a stutter.
Yet her eyes, shy and uncertain, would occasionally flicker in Gen's direction.
"It's been a while, Hinata."
Gen removed his hand from Naruto's head and offered her a warm smile.
"Why are you alone? Aren't you heading home?"
"Father took Hanabi to visit some old friends from our clan… so I went to school earlier."
Hinata's voice remained soft as she answered with her head still lowered. Her shy demeanor made Naruto scratch his head in confusion.
"I see."
Gen didn't think much of it and, after a moment of thought, smiled again.
"Then it's perfect. I was planning to take Naruto to get something to eat. Why don't you join us?"
"E-Eh?"
Hinata's face immediately flushed an even deeper shade of red. She instinctively wanted to say she had already eaten, but as a member of a noble clan, she was taught to be polite.
Besides, she thought, maybe eating a little more wouldn't hurt.
More than that, there was something about Gen-senpai… something oddly familiar and deeply compelling.
And at the same time, there was a quiet pressure around him.
That strange blend of warmth and intimidation left Hinata unsure whether she should accept or decline.
Her reaction made Naruto's head spin, but thankfully, Kitagawa Gen didn't seem to mind at all. With an easy smile, he made the decision for everyone.
"Alright then, it's settled. Let's go. We'll eat at Ichiraku today."
"O-Okay…"
Hearing Kitagawa Gen say this, Hinata could only nod quietly and follow behind them, her head still lowered.
"Tch, she's way too shy."
Naruto couldn't help but mutter as he walked beside Kitagawa Gen, a mischievous grin spreading across his face as he raised his eyebrows.
"Hey, I think she was staring at you the whole time, Gen."
"Well, I can't blame her."
Kitagawa Gen gave a cool shrug.
"Between the two of us, who wouldn't look at the taller and more handsome one instead of the short and dumb one?"
Naruto glanced between himself and Gen, quickly comparing their heights. His face turned red with indignation.
"You jerk!"
But Kitagawa Gen wasn't in the mood to bicker with him. He had clearly noticed Hinata's reactions earlier.
And clearly, he wasn't the only one who had felt that strange stirring inside.
"Could it be… a reaction from the Ōtsutsuki bloodline?"
The thought echoed in Gen's mind. The more he considered it, the more likely it seemed.
After all, his own bloodline development had already reached ten percent. And the Hyūga bloodline was originally descended from the Ōtsutsuki.
Even though their lineage had weakened significantly compared to the branch on the moon, Hinata was still known as the "Byakugan Princess."
That pure Byakugan might naturally attract someone like Kitagawa Gen, and conversely, his unique bloodline could just as naturally draw Hinata to him.
"Ramen! Ramen! Old man!"
When they arrived at the ramen stand, Naruto could barely contain his excitement and shouted at the top of his lungs, which drew an annoyed frown from Ayame.
"Keep your voice down. Geez, it's not like he can't hear you. Why can't you learn from Gen?"
"Alright, alright, a little noise is good."
The old man Teuchi didn't mind at all. With a cheerful laugh, he responded while already preparing the noodles.
"Just give me a moment. It'll be ready soon."
"Thanks, old man!"
Naruto grinned from ear to ear as he plopped down onto a stool. Once they were all seated, he glanced at Hinata, who still had her head lowered and face flushed.
Finding it dull, he turned his gaze back to Kitagawa Gen.
"What are you thinking about? You've barely said a word the whole way here."
"I was thinking about training."
Kitagawa Gen rolled his eyes and replied half-heartedly, brushing it off with a vague answer. At the same time, his gaze drifted subtly toward Hinata, catching her figure in the corner of his eye.
In truth, there was only one thing on his mind at that moment—what was the current state of those people on the moon?
His encounter with Hinata had been entirely unexpected, yet the strange resonance he felt between them had quietly drawn his attention.
If both he and Hinata could sense that strange resonance so clearly, then what about the Ōtsutsuki still dwelling on the moon?
"Could I, through the progressive unlocking of my bloodline, eventually reach the point where I can sense the Tenseigan residing up there?"
That eye on the moon had always haunted his thoughts.
Even before he awakened his Ōtsutsuki bloodline, he had often dreamed of finding a chance to beat down the old, weak, sick, and disabled up there.
The internal war that had broken out on the moon had wiped out nearly the entire branch of their lineage, leaving only one survivor behind: Ōtsutsuki Toneri.
If one were to let such an opportunity slip by without at least trying to seize it, it would truly feel like a betrayal of oneself..
However, the difficulty lay in one simple yet monumental issue: how to reach the moon?
If Toneri had not taken the initiative to descend and abduct Hinata, and thus inadvertently opened a window of opportunity, then Naruto and the others might have lived their entire lives without ever discovering the path to the moon.
"After all, even Black Zetsu never went to the moon to see Mother."
Of course, it was possible that Black Zetsu simply had no knowledge of the path. Or perhaps, knowing that there were other Ōtsutsuki present on the moon, he had chosen not to stir trouble.
Regardless, it wasn't as if Gen could just walk up to Black Zetsu and ask for directions.
"Forget it, stop overthinking. Let's just eat some ramen."
Just as he was sinking deeper into thought, Teuchi had already brought the steaming bowls of ramen to the table. Naruto eagerly rubbed his hands together, a wide grin on his face.
"Hinata, eat as much as you want. Today he's the one treating us. This bastard's scammed so many meals off me—I swear I'm going to make up for it all at once."
"T-thank you very much for the meal."
It would have been fine if Naruto hadn't said anything. But the moment he spoke, Hinata's face flushed even redder as she quietly murmured her thanks. Her reaction left Naruto scratching his head in confusion.
Still, none of that mattered to him. Right now, ramen was his entire world.
"Let's eat!"
Without wasting another second, Naruto dove into his bowl with gusto. The sheer enthusiasm of it all made Kitagawa Gen chuckle quietly.
"Slow down, no one's going to steal your food... well, never mind, just do what you want."
Watching Naruto eat like he had been starving for days, Kitagawa Gen offered a half-hearted warning, then picked up his own chopsticks, ready to dig in.
His mood had improved considerably.
At this particular point in time, it was likely that the civil war on the moon had already concluded. How many survivors remained was hard to say, but they were probably the feeble and frail.
The old, the weak, the sick, and the disabled — which meant he could go all in without restraint.
His only real concern was the possibility that those remnants might sense his presence in advance.
Perception, after all, was mutual. Just like Hinata's earlier response — she had clearly felt something.
What was more troubling was that the people on the moon had long been observing the ninja world through the Tenseigan.
Otherwise, Ōtsutsuki Toneri would not have known about Hinata in the first place.
The Tenseigan itself was one of the formidable powers unique to the Ōtsutsuki lineage. If they were to "see" him and get spooked, then chose to hide themselves and seal off the pathway completely, it would become a major obstacle.
It was true that the ninja world did not have only one Ōtsutsuki — Jigen, or rather, Isshiki Ōtsutsuki, was still lurking somewhere.
But unlike Isshiki, who had reduced himself to a "Kāma" mark and taken over Jigen's body, Kitagawa Gen was whole and complete.
Which meant he needed to train diligently and heighten his perception, so that one day he could sense the presence of that Tenseigan on the moon before it noticed him.
He could not afford to let that opportunity slip through his fingers.
Nodding to himself in silent resolution, Kitagawa Gen's gaze shifted once more, lingering briefly on Naruto.
This guy, for all his nonsense, might actually be a bearer of good luck. Just today, by sticking with him, he had encountered Hinata.
But just as he was about to start eating, a sudden figure burst onto the scene — Jiraiya, rushing toward them with urgency written all over his face.
"Hey, brat, so this is where you've been hiding! Forget about eating, we've got a mission to run!"
Kitagawa Gen had not even said a word yet, but Naruto, who had been wolfing down his noodles just a moment ago, instantly turned pale.
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[Chapter End's]
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