I, Uchiha Hikaru, have joined the chat group.

Chapter 9 Meeting with Hiruzen Sarutobi

"Hmm...it was probably just a spur-of-the-moment thing."

Uchiha Hikaru gave an ambiguous answer.

"But I'm a monster that everyone hates. In the village before, no one was ever willing to speak up for me, and no one was willing to touch my hand..."

As they spoke, Naruto lowered his head, as if he had suddenly seen something, and began to pull away from the hand that Uchiha Hikaru was holding: "Sister, my hands are dirty... covered in blood and dust, they'll get on you."

Uchiha Hikari was taken aback by Naruto's sudden action, then chuckled. She really hadn't expected that Naruto at this age would be so insecure and sensitive, that even such a small act of kindness could leave him bewildered.

"It's okay."

Uchiha Hikaru pulled Naruto along for a few more steps, stopping in front of a two-story apartment building at the end of the street: "Your home should be up there, right? Would you mind inviting me up to take a look?"

"Huh? How did you know my house was here, sister...?"

"Guess."

—This apartment building isn't the same one Minato Namikaze mentioned in the chat group. It's probably a new place the Third Hokage arranged for Naruto after the Nine-Tails' attack. It's not difficult to find, though, since it's not far from the shopping street we just visited, and its exterior is very conspicuous; Hikaru Uchiha has probably seen it countless times in the anime.

Four-year-old Naruto wasn't that naive. Although he was wondering about Uchiha Hikaru's source of information just a moment ago, he grinned the next second: "Of course I don't mind! No one has ever visited my house except for Grandpa! I'll take you upstairs right now..."

Go upstairs.

Open the door and go inside.

What greeted the eye was a simple and messy scene. The walls were slightly yellowed, the coffee table and chairs were peeling, and the dining table was covered with a bunch of cup noodles, kettles, milk cartons and so on. Perhaps because the soup from the instant noodles had been drunk very clean, there was not much of an odor in the air.

"Oh dear, I forgot to tidy up the house today..."

Naruto glanced at Uchiha Hikaru with an embarrassed look, then ran over to tidy up the table: "Sister, wait a minute, the room is too messy, I'll clean it up right away!"

The sound of table legs scraping against the floor could be heard.

Watching Naruto's flustered movements, Uchiha Hikaru casually took a few steps forward, picked up half a carton of milk, shook it, and glanced at the date.

Yes, as expected.

"Was this milk expired when you bought it?"

"what?"

Naruto paused for a moment before walking over, picking up the milk, and looking at the label like Uchiha Hikaru had just done. He then poured the remaining half into his mouth: "Whether it's expired or not, I don't really know... I picked this milk up from the bins behind those stores. If I went in, they would kick me out..."

As they were talking, Naruto brought over a stool: "Sister, I've wiped this chair clean, please sit down! I'll go boil some water, Grandpa taught me how to use a kettle..."

"Thanks."

Uchiha Hikaru thanked him, sat down as instructed, and turned his attention to the chat group.

[Nameless: Fourth Hokage, have you decided what to say to him? I can pass it on for you.]

A brief silence.

[Nagashi: Hikari-san, could you please not reveal my existence to Naruto yet?]

【nameless:?】

[Yongdai Mei: I might... not be a good father.]

"really."

From Uchiha Hikaru's perspective, Namikaze Minato was indeed not a competent father, far worse than he was as a ninja and husband.

[Yongdai: To this day, I don't regret sealing the Nine-Tails inside Naruto, because it was the best choice at the time. I only regret not being able to be by Naruto's side as his father and watch him grow up... The Nine-Tails' rampage caused too many villagers to die, and everyone needed an outlet for their emotions, but the one who should have borne these burdens was me, not Naruto who knew nothing about it.]

[Eternal Sister: Miss Hikari, could I ask you for another favor? In return, I can teach you all the ninjutsu I know, including some of the ninjutsu techniques I'm famous for.]

[Nameless: ...To correct you, the optimal choice is actually to seal the Nine-Tails back into Kushina's body. While a Jinchuriki losing their Tailed Beast will indeed be on the verge of death, if the Tailed Beast can be sealed back immediately, they still have a chance to survive. This is especially true for races like the Senju and Uzumaki, whose vitality is extremely resilient.]

[Yongdai Mei: ?!]

It can be... like this?

Uchiha Hikaru didn't dwell on the topic and continued typing telepathically:

[Anonymous: Let's get back to the point. What do you want me to do?]

[Nameless: Let's make this clear first, I can help you take care of Naruto for a short period of time, but I can't stay by his side forever.]

Uchiha Hikaru was indeed somewhat interested in Minato Namikaze's ninjutsu.

As the renowned Yellow Flash of the ninja world, Minato Namikaze's signature "Flying Thunder God Technique" is a bug-level space-time ninjutsu, which is no less powerful than Obito's "Kamui".

However, what she wanted to learn was not "Flying Thunder God".

Space-time ninjutsu is arguably the most talent-dependent of all ninjutsu. Learning "Flying Thunder God" requires exceptional chakra control and reflexes. The former is relatively easy to improve through repeated practice, but the latter is essentially innate; individuals like Tobirama Senju and Minato Namikaze are one in a million. Hikaru Uchiha didn't believe he possessed that kind of talent.

But the other kind of technique is different—

Sealing Technique!

As Kushina's husband, Minato Namikaze was arguably one of the most knowledgeable people in the ninja world about sealing techniques. Aside from techniques like the "Adamantine Sealing Chains," which require a bloodline limit to perform, he was likely familiar with all other sealing techniques. Uchiha Hikaru was very interested in this kind of knowledge!

Of course, the importance of sealing techniques cannot be compared to the former. Minato Namikaze might be willing to teach her the Flying Thunder God Technique and the Rasengan, but he might not be willing to teach her sealing techniques.

But Uchiha Hikaru can add more chips.

—Minato Namikaze is inside a Shinigami, and he needs her help to accomplish anything he wants. Therefore, if she does a little more than the terms of the deal, she can make Minato Namikaze owe her a favor, which he will then find a way to repay.

In a sense, this is also a form of "moral blackmail." Given the Fourth Hokage's character, he would not feel at ease letting himself make sacrifices for nothing.

Even if he couldn't learn the sealing technique, Uchiha Hikaru could at least use this opportunity to imprint the "Eight Thousand Spears" mark on Naruto and borrow some of his chakra if necessary.

even……

She also wanted to imprint the mark on another person—

Someone who is very likely to appear today.

In the chat group.

Minato Namikaze snapped out of his reverie about the "optimal choice" and continued the conversation with mixed feelings.

[Haitai: I know I won't make such an unreasonable request, but I just want to ask you, Hikari-san... to talk to the Third Hokage.]

……

Gumbling--

The kettle in the kitchen started beeping.

Uchiha Hikaru helped Naruto turn off the power and was about to pour himself a glass of water when he heard hurried footsteps coming from the hallway outside the door.

Then came the knocking on the door.

"Naruto, are you home? Grandpa's here to see you, open the door for Grandpa!"

(End of this chapter)