Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 109 Acquaintances from the Past

Ninja physical training is tedious and boring, and Boruto, with his exceptionally bright mind, used to dislike it the most. However, since the Otsutsuki incident, he has finally come to accept his father's view on power. External forces ultimately do not belong to oneself; only abilities earned through diligent training are truly in one's own hands.

However, the kids of this new era are still a bit too relaxed. After two hours of strenuous hiking in the forest with his dad, who's the same age as him, Boruto was starting to fall behind, but he gritted his teeth and didn't call for a stop. He didn't want to embarrass himself in front of his dad!

"Are you a ninja too? You've been following me for so long." How could Naruto not know that the child was panting behind him? So he stopped at the perfect moment.

"Of course... no!" Boruto grinned sheepishly, almost blurting out the truth. "Don't underestimate street performances; we train regularly!"

Naruto feigned disbelief, pulled out a dozen shuriken, and asked, "So you practice throwing targets too?"

Boruto confidently took the shuriken, assumed a standard throwing stance, and the three shuriken were aligned in a vertical line, simultaneously piercing the tree trunk with a unified sound.

"Not bad." Naruto knew that Sasuke's disciple couldn't possibly be bad at swordsmanship. The reason he still provoked Boruto was to make him leave more traces in this world.

After several hours of observation, he was certain that the effects on inanimate objects would not cause significant fluctuations in spacetime; of course, that could be because the damage was not strong enough. Only after confirming that people wouldn't be suddenly swept away by spacetime did he dare to confidently fulfill Boruto's wish.

"It really is Naruto!" A boy with a watermelon-shaped haircut suddenly darted out of the woods, rushing towards them full of energy. "Weren't you just discharged from the hospital the day before yesterday? You're out training so soon."

That familiar look, that matching dark green bodysuit… Metal looks so much like Uncle Li when he was a kid. But he just said he was discharged from the hospital two days ago?? Is Dad still injured? He ran for so long, and he wasn't even out of breath!

Boruto was having a mental whirlwind when he came to his senses and suddenly met a pair of Byakugan eyes.

"Naruto, who is he?" Neji's gaze darted back and forth between Boruto and Naruto, clearly hesitant to speak.

"Oh, this is Boruto, he's from outside the village." Naruto skipped over the part about being assigned to keep watch. "You guys are here for training, right? Didn't Guy-sensei come?"

Tian Tian shrugged. "They've gone on a mission. The Jonin have all been incredibly busy lately."

"Understood." Naruto understood instantly. To make up for the impact of the last surprise attack and restore Konoha's image in the eyes of the Daimyo, the ninjas were practically doing two jobs at once, so the Jonin instructors naturally had no time to teach students. Soon, these Genin would also be dispatched in groups, so being given such a long leave was a special privilege from Granny Tsunade.

"Perfect timing! We've decided to have a proper sparring session today, so let's have you as witnesses!"

When it comes to the differences between old-school and new-generation ninjas, ruthlessness is definitely a top priority. Boruto witnessed several of those ultimate techniques, the kind they wouldn't normally use in a fight, all in just one day. Things like the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, the Eight Gates, and the Rotation...

The two genin's sparring session felt like a life-or-death battle. Boruto wondered several times if they were going too far, but every time he turned around, he saw his father cheering them on, and suddenly felt a profound disillusionment with the world.

To be honest, the Hyuga clan hasn't produced any noteworthy successors since his generation. Furthermore, because there's no history of Hyuga members marrying outside the clan, they weren't aware that even those without the Byakugan could awaken it. Therefore, Boruto hadn't had much exposure to the Byakugan-based fighting style of the Hyuga clan growing up, only learning Gentle Fist at most. He discovered for the first time that the Hyuga clan, besides possessing the Byakugan, also had terrifying fighting power. Even though Uncle Lee had opened the Eight Gates, he still didn't have much of an advantage against his uncle who could seal pressure points.

It turns out his uncle was already this amazing when he was a child!

The visceral impact of hand-to-hand combat is always exhilarating, but it can also easily lead young people astray. The Baguazhang's attacks have virtually no blind spots, and the Gentle Fist's deflection is a strong counter to Lee's more direct punches. He's showing signs of opening the Four Gates, while Neji is being relentlessly pressured to the point of using his mastered techniques. However, suddenly, a wind blade slices open the center of the training ground, and Naruto, who has been watching from the sidelines, finally steps forward.

"This isn't a life-or-death battle, isn't this enough? Let's call it a draw, how about that?"

Neji and Lee didn't show any sign of resentment, but they both tacitly withdrew from their stances and then "reluctantly" formed the reconciliation seal.

Since Naruto made his move, Boruto's focus shifted from the battle to the Wind Release technique. He sprang up from the stone bench and stared at the crack in the ground with shining eyes.

That wind blade was absolutely stunning! Dad was hiding this skill from him and didn't teach it!

At this moment, Boruto had completely forgotten what his master had said and was plotting how to trick his father into teaching him this move.

After what seemed like an "ordinary" sparring session in this era, Naruto took Boruto to say goodbye to Team Guy, and then focused his mind on his other friends still in Konoha, planning the most logical way to bump into them.

On their way to Ichiraku Ramen, they encountered Shino searching for insects in the woods, and happened to pass by the Yamanaka clan's flower shop, where they chatted briefly with Ino. A few steps later, Kiba appeared carrying Akamaru; this was the very path he took to buy Akamaru snacks. A couple more steps, and Shikamaru and Choji appeared, on their way to find Ino. Shikamaru had been promoted to Chunin and was now qualified to lead a team, so this was Team 10's first mission without their teacher, and even though it was only a D-rank, they had to approach it with full enthusiasm. After overcoming numerous obstacles, they finally arrived at the entrance of Ichiraku Ramen, where they happened to run into Hinata, who was emerging from behind the curtain. Hinata was no longer speechless upon seeing Naruto as before; instead, she greeted him softly but firmly.

When Boruto saw the ramen with its unusually familiar aroma laid out in front of him, he was startled to realize that he had actually met all the uncles and aunts from his childhood on his way here! Only Aunt Sakura and Mr. Sasuke had not yet appeared.

Boruto, bursting with curiosity, couldn't contain himself and immediately asked, "I remember ninjas are organized into teams. Where are your two teammates?"

Naruto blinked and said, "Sakura is interning at the hospital and is too busy to talk to me."

"anything else?"

"...And there's another one, the protagonist of the rumors you first heard, the one who was kidnapped." Naruto pretended to lower his eyes, snotted his nose, and wiped away non-existent tears.