"What's wrong?"
Naruto noticed Kitagawa Gen had suddenly come to a halt. Curious, he craned his head to peek ahead.
Soon enough, he spotted a girl up ahead looking back in their direction.
"Oh, it's Hinata?"
"Yeah, your classmate," Gen replied, snapping out of it with a nod—only to be met with Naruto's mischievous grin.
"What's this? You freeze up the moment you see her. Don't tell me…"
"Idiot."
Gen reached out and gave Naruto's head a rough rub. This brat really had a knack for talking nonsense.
Still, he understood what Naruto was thinking. After all, at this point in time, Naruto hadn't paid much attention to Hinata.
Or rather, to him, Hinata was just another classmate.
His eyes were filled only with Sakura, who spent all day chasing after Sasuke. It wasn't until Nagato came storming into Konohagakure, raising hell and shouting like a lunatic, and Hinata stepped forward to defend him, that the seed was finally planted.
"He really doesn't know how lucky he is…"
Gen muttered inwardly. But while the two of them were messing around, Hinata had already walked over.
"N-Naruto-kun… and Gen-senpai …"
Her cheeks were flushed red, her head bowed, and her voice stuttered slightly.
Yet her eyes kept stealing glances—faint and fleeting—at Gen.
"Long time no see, Hinata."
Gen let go of Naruto's head and smiled at her.
"What are you doing out by yourself? Not going home?"
"Father took Hanabi to visit an old friend of the clan. They're not home, so I came to school early."
She still spoke in a soft, timid voice, her head lowered—so much so that Naruto scratched his own in confusion just watching her.
"I see."
Gen didn't think much of it. After a moment's thought, he smiled again.
"Perfect timing then. I was about to take Naruto to grab some food. Join us?"
"Eh… eh?!"
Hinata's face instantly turned a deeper shade of red. She wanted to say she'd already eaten, but as a member of a prominent clan, she was taught to be polite.
Besides, she figured… maybe eating a little more wouldn't hurt.
More than that, there was something inexplicably compelling about this Gen-senpai standing before her. A kind of indescribable familiarity.
And a certain pressure.
This strange combination of feelings left her completely unsure of whether to accept or refuse.
Her conflicted expression gave Naruto a bit of a headache. Fortunately, Gen didn't seem to mind and made the decision with a smile.
"Alright, it's settled then. Let's go. We'll have Ichiraku today."
"Okay…"
Seeing Gen speak so decisively, Hinata could only nod slightly and quietly fall in line behind them.
"Tch… she's way too shy."
Naruto, walking beside Gen, couldn't help muttering under his breath. Then he raised an eyebrow and smirked.
"Hey, I think she was staring at you the whole time, Gen."
"Can't be helped. It's only natural."
Gen shrugged.
"The two of us standing side by side—who would you look at? The tall and handsome one… or the short and clueless one?"
Naruto glanced between their heights and immediately turned red with indignation.
"You bastard!"
But Gen wasn't in the mood to joke around anymore. He had noticed Hinata's strange behavior just now too.
Clearly, he wasn't the only one feeling something odd—Hinata sensed it as well.
'Is it a reaction caused by the Ōtsutsuki bloodline?'
He mulled over the idea in silence. The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
After all, his bloodline development had reached 10%, and the Hyūga bloodline originated from the Ōtsutsuki to begin with.
Even though the branch in the shinobi world had significantly degenerated and couldn't compare to the one on the Moon, Hinata was still the 'Byakugan Princess'.
That pure Byakugan could naturally draw in Gen, and in turn, Gen's unique bloodline traits would inevitably attract Hinata.
"Ramen! Ramen! Old man!"
As soon as they reached the ramen stand, Naruto couldn't hold back and shouted excitedly—earning a scolding look from Ayame.
"Keep it down, would you? It's not like he can't hear you. You should try acting more like Gen."
"Alright, alright—no harm in a little noise."
Teuchi didn't mind at all. He simply chuckled in response and began boiling the noodles as he spoke.
"Hold on just a moment—it'll be ready soon."
"Thanks, old man!"
Naruto cheerfully took a seat. Once everyone was settled, he glanced at Hinata, who was still blushing and keeping her head down. Losing interest, he turned to look at Kitagawa Gen instead.
"What are you thinking about? You've barely said a word the whole way here."
"I was thinking about training,"
Gen rolled his eyes and casually brushed it off, though he also cast a quick glance at Hinata out of the corner of his eye.
Right now, only one question was on his mind—what's going on with those people on the Moon?
Running into Hinata today had been pure coincidence, but that strange, inexplicable stir within him… that had caught his attention.
Both he and Hinata had clearly sensed something. So then, what about the Ōtsutsuki still on the Moon?
'Can I gradually use my bloodline awakening to sense the Tenseigan up there?!'
He had been thinking about that eye on the Moon for a long time.
Even before obtaining the Ōtsutsuki bloodline, he'd been itching for an excuse to go beat up the old, the sick, and the weak.
One internal war on the Moon had practically wiped out their entire clan—leaving only Ōtsutsuki Toneri alive.
If he didn't find a way to capitalize on that opportunity, he'd be doing himself a disservice.
But unfortunately… getting to the Moon was a huge problem.
If Toneri hadn't come down to capture Hinata, Naruto and the others might never have discovered a path to the Moon.
'After all, even Black Zetsu never went to visit 'Mother' on the Moon.'
Of course, maybe Black Zetsu didn't know, or maybe he did know but was too afraid to mess with the Moon dwellers.
But what was Gen supposed to do—go ask Black Zetsu for directions?
'Forget it, forget it—time to eat!'
Just as he was lost in thought, Teuchi brought over the ramen. Naruto eagerly rubbed his hands together with a grin.
"Hinata, dig in! He's paying today. This bastard's mooched off me for who knows how many meals—I'm definitely making him pay it back this time!"
"T-Thank you for the meal."
Naruto probably would've been better off keeping quiet. The moment he spoke, Hinata's face turned even redder, leaving him scratching his head in confusion.
But to him, everything else was secondary—ramen was the real deal!
"Let's eat!"
Not bothering to overthink, Naruto dove straight into his bowl. The scene made Gen chuckle.
"Slow down, no one's fighting you for it. Ah, forget it. Do your thing."
Watching Naruto scarf down noodles like he hadn't eaten in days, Gen gave a half-hearted warning and then broke apart his chopsticks to start eating too.
Besides, he was in a pretty good mood right now.
'At this point in time, the Moon's civil war is probably over. Who knows how many of them are still alive… but the ones left should mostly be the old, the sick, and the weak.'
And that meant he could go all out!
The only concern was if those guys on the Moon detected his presence in advance.
Perception worked both ways—just like what had happened with Hinata earlier.
Especially considering that the Moon dwellers had been spying on the shinobi world through the Tenseigan this whole time.
Otherwise, Ōtsutsuki Toneri wouldn't have known about Hinata.
The Tenseigan was, after all, one of the Ōtsutsuki's powers. If they 'saw' him and got spooked, choosing to turtle up and seal off the passage instead… that would be a real headache.
It was true that he wasn't the only Ōtsutsuki in the shinobi world—Ōtsutsuki Isshiki was still lurking out there.
But he and Isshiki were very different. Isshiki had already turned himself into a Kāma seal and taken over Jigen's body, while Gen still had his complete form!
'That's why I need to train hard—so I can sense the Tenseigan ahead of time. I can't let it get away.'
Gen gave a subtle nod to himself, then couldn't help glancing at Naruto again.
He had a feeling this guy might be a bit of a lucky charm. Like today—running into Hinata out of nowhere.
However, just as he was about to dig in—
Suddenly, Jiraiya came rushing over, calling out to him.
"Hey, brat! So this is where you were. Forget the ramen—we've got a mission!"
"…"
Gen hadn't even spoken yet, but beside him, Naruto's face had already turned green mid-bite.
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