Under normal circumstances, Hinata would probably have fainted from shyness by now. However, her mind was completely preoccupied with concern for her guard's condition. Yet, with her hand firmly grasped by Naruto, she couldn't break free—or rather, she never even thought of struggling. She could only hurriedly bow in apology to her guard.

  The guard stared bnkly at the retreating figures of the two until they completely disappeared from the barbecue restaurant. Only then did he withdraw his gaze, clutching his chest as he struggled to get up. But the moment he moved, the pain from his wound made him grimace, leaving him temporarily unable to rise.

  Just then, a hand suddenly appeared in front of the guard. Startled, he instinctively looked up and saw none other than Kakashi.

  "Hatake... Kakashi?"

  The guard was stunned. He had no idea why Kakashi had appeared at this moment, but he instinctively reached out his hand.

  Kakashi grabbed the guard's hand and pulled him up from the ground. It all seemed so natural, but the guard knew Kakashi hadn't just happened to pass by.

  "Please report this matter truthfully to Mr. Hiashi, but after that, I ask that you to refrain from spreading it around," Kakashi said with a smile, though his tone carried an invisible pressure. The guard's heart trembled, and he nodded instinctively.

  Back in the barbecue restaurant, Naruto had boldly ordered a table full of food. Hinata, however, only sampled a little of each dish, spending most of her time watching Naruto eat. Naruto, on the other hand, showed no restraint, thoroughly enjoying his meal.

  After eating their fill, the two bid farewell at the entrance of the restaurant and headed their separate ways. Originally, Naruto had pnned to accompany Hinata home after the meal, but after the incident with the guard, he decided against it. Escorting her home would have been the proper thing to do, but today was definitely not the right time.

  Humming a tune and skipping along, Naruto returned home and happily flopped onto his bed, feeling utterly content. Today had been the happiest day since he had transmigrated—he had eaten well, spent time with Hinata, successfully enrolled in school, and even managed to skip training. It was practically perfect.

  Meanwhile, Hinata knelt in the main hall of the Hyuga family's estate. The hall was empty except for her.

  Her heart was beating rapidly, seemingly in deep reflection. However, unlike her usual remorseful expression when she made a mistake, this time she was desperately trying to suppress a smile, knowing it would be inappropriate to let it show.

  Hinata had known she would be punished the moment she agreed to Naruto's invitation for barbecue. The Hyuga family's rules were always extremely strict.

  As the heir of the main family, the expectations pced on her were exceptionally high. Skipping going home after school and privately going out for barbecue with a cssmate was definitely punishable, especially since her guard had been injured.

  While eating barbecue, Hinata had been pondering what kind of punishment awaited her upon returning home. She had imagined numerous scenarios being scolded harshly, being forbidden from continuing her interactions with Naruto, being ordered to face the wall in the cn's ancestral hall, receiving a stern lecture from the family elders, and so on.

  However, to her surprise, upon her return, she was merely punished by kneeling in the main hall until dinner. Her father announced the punishment and then hurriedly left without a single word of reprimand. Compared to the joy she had experienced that day, this punishment was almost negligible.

  As soon as Hyuga Hiashi left the house, he headed straight for the Hokage's office. In reality, he had received the news shortly after the guards were attacked, but almost simultaneously, he also received a summons from the Hokage. Since it wasn't extremely urgent, he waited until Hinata returned home before setting out. Although the news and the summons seemed unreted on the surface, as the head of a major cn and one of the higher-ups in Konoha, he immediately sensed a direct connection between the two. That's why he didn't punish Hinata severely and instead hurried out.

  Upon pushing open the door to the Hokage's office, Hiashi saw not only the Hokage but also Kakashi present.

  "Hokage-sama, what is the matter that you summoned me here?" Hiashi respectfully bowed to the Third Hokage, who, not wanting to appear overly formal, quickly stood up and did not accept the full bow.

  "Hiashi, I apologize for calling you here so te. In truth, it was Kakashi who asked me to summon you. He will expin the details to you."

  .......

  As the sun set, Naruto, who had gone to bed early, gradually grew drowsy and slowly closed his eyes, ready to sleep. But the moment his eyes fully shut, his mind blurred, and when he regained his senses, he found himself standing before a massive cage. Beneath his feet was a vast expanse of water, and inside the cage was none other than the Nine-Tails!

  However, the Nine-Tails before him was vastly different from what Naruto had imagined. In Naruto's mind, the Nine-Tails should still harbor immense hostility toward him. Although it couldn't escape the cage to attack him, its tone and demeanor should still be filled with malice. But the Nine-Tails before him could only be described as "pitiful."

  The enormous Nine-Tails was bound to a massive bck cross with dark chains, and a huge wooden nail pierced through its abdomen, firmly pinning it in pce. There seemed to be no possibility of escape, and the chakra that should have been overwhelming was now incredibly weak due to these restraints.

  The Nine-Tails slowly raised its head, opening its enormous eyes. The right eye was a typical fox eye, but the left eye bore the pattern of the Mangekyo Sharingan—a pattern Naruto would never forget, as it was the same as Itachi's Mangekyo.

  At that moment, Naruto finally understood what Itachi had done to him and why that surge of chakra had come so timely during his battle with the guards. It was all because of this.

  "So, you've come, brat."

  The Nine-Tails' tone was extremely unfriendly, but since it was firmly pinned down, Naruto wasn't afraid. Instead, he curiously approached the bars, trying to stick his head through the rge gaps. However, the cage was a product of sealing techniques, and despite the apparent size of the gaps, it was impossible to get his head through.

  "Kyubi what's wrong with you... what's going on?"

  "That's what I should be asking you! Brat! What the hell did you do? Why are those eyes here? Damn it!"

  Kyubi who had been calm just moments ago, suddenly erupted with rage at Naruto's question. His violent aura surged wildly as he thrashed his body the chains beneath him cnking noisily as he tried to break free from his restraints. But it was all in vain. The power of Tsukuyomi was something even Kurama at his peak couldn't shake, let alone a half-sealed Kurama in this state.

  "Hey, hey, calm down! Why are you so worked up? It's not like I'm the one who used Tsukuyomi on you. Getting mad at me won't help!"