Uchiha Itachi had graduated, and Fujiwara Kirito 's life returned to peace once more.
Aside from training, he often went shopping with Uchiha Izumi, and they exchanged gifts frequently. Of course, most of the time, it was Uchiha Izumi who gave Kirito gifts. For example, all his clothes were provided by Izumi.
There wasn't much else to do. It was Kirito 's fault for being so poor. He lived on a subsidy from Konoha, which was just enough to keep him fed but not starving. If it weren't for the help from the well-off Izumi, he would barely be able to make ends meet.
As time passed, the relationship between the two grew closer.
Kirito clearly noticed that Izumi was gradually developing deeper feelings for him, and he didn't dislike it. He let things take their course, thinking that maybe it wouldn't be so bad to live this way in the future and embraced the peaceful life.
Before long, Fujiwara Kirito was already 11 years old.
He was nearing the age to graduate from the ninja academy.
He had grown much taller, and his skills had advanced to the fourth level.
He had mastered the God's breath and was now able to store an extremely large amount of magical chakra in his body.
In other areas, he had also made significant progress.
During the five years at the Ninja Academy, he used the Shadow Clone Technique to fully integrate all the martial arts moves recorded in the God's breath.
He visited the ninja tool shop and bought some chakra test paper, which showed that he possessed both fire and lightning chakra natures.
After much persuasion, he obtained various collections of ninjutsu from Uchiha Izumi's family.
In his words, "What's mine is yours and what's yours is mine. The worst that can happen is that I won't perform the Uchiha clan's unique ninjutsu before I reach the legal age."
This comment made Uchiha Izumi blush and run away with a flushed face.
But the next day, she returned carrying a small bag and delivered the ninjutsu scrolls to Kirito .
The only downside was that her family only had a few fire-style ninjutsu scrolls, writings on how to practice changing the nature of fire-attribute chakra, and some illusion and summoning techniques that required the Sharingan, but no lightning-style ninjutsu.
In desperation, Kirito practiced the changes in the chakra properties of Fire Style according to the notes given by Uchiha Izumi.
Along the way, he also perfected the Body Flicker Technique, combining it seamlessly with the flash skill of God's breath to create a new version of the Body Flicker Technique.
But, as luck would have it, there was always a way out.
When he was nine years old, Kirito met a little girl. The system assigned him a task, and he learned the perfect lightning attribute chakra nature change.
It was a winter day, with everything covered in snow. The cold weather, with wind and snow, made the streets empty.
At that time, Kirito had just spent the New Year at home with Izumi. After sending Izumi home, on his way back, he passed by a snow-covered corner of Konoha and encountered a beautiful girl with pure white eyes.
She was wearing black clothes, running wildly in the snow with tears in her eyes. She fell to the ground, her face full of fear and confusion. Finally, she squatted in the snow, shivering and sobbing with her hands covering her face.
Kirito didn't think much about it at the time. He carried her on his back and took her home.
It wasn't until he saw the large characters "Hyuga" on the gate that he realized this little girl was Hyuga Hinata.
At the same time, he learned that this day was the funeral of Hyuga Hizashi, Hinata's uncle, and the death anniversary of Hyuga Neji's father.
In a daze, Kirito recalled the peace agreement signed between Konoha and the Cloud Ninja some time ago.
Sarutobi Hiruzen, as the person who promoted this contract, had specially arranged for a warm welcome ceremony.
The whole village was bustling with activity, but unfortunately, his actions were seen as a sign of weakness by the Cloud Ninjas.
That night, they went to the Hyuga clan and kidnapped three-year-old Hinata, trying to steal the Hyuga clan's Bloodline Limit, the Byakugan.
The result was predictable. The intruders were killed by Hyuga Hiashi, the leader of the Hyuga clan.
Despite the failure, the Cloud Ninjas refused to admit their actions and instead accused Konoha of killing the Cloud Ninja. They threatened war with Konoha and demanded that Hyuga Hiashi be handed over, still attempting to get their hands on the Byakugan.
The Third Hokage, who had always been weak in foreign affairs but strong internally, compromised once more.
This eventually led to the tragedy of Hyuga Hizashi dying in place of his brother.
Today was also a cold and snowy winter day. The snow was falling all over, and it seemed to flash with a cold chill, wrapping Konoha in a thick cotton coat.
At this time, it was almost dark.
Kirito , who had just finished a whole day of training, took a shower and changed into clean, tidy clothes.
Just like in previous years, he was preparing to spend the New Year with Uchiha Izumi.
As he passed by a snowy corner of Konoha, an unexpected situation made Kirito stop in his tracks.
Not far ahead, three naughty kids, two boys and one girl, were bullying a little girl about five or six years old.
"I heard you're from the Hyuga family, so show us the Byakugan!"
"If you don't want to, then don't look over here."
"Those eerie eyes, you must be a monster, a white-eyed monster."
The girl had short lavender hair, pure white eyes, and a beautiful appearance.
The three naughty kids were mocking and ridiculing her, causing the girl's large eyes to well up with tears. She covered her face and cried.
"Hinata?" Kirito murmured as he looked at the familiar face of the little girl.
At that moment, the long-lost system prompt sounded in Kirito 's mind:
[Ding, as the strongest protector of little girls, how can the host sit back and watch the little girl in front of him get hurt? Go help her.]
[1. Step forward to help, so that the little girl no longer suffers from the bullying of her peers. Reward: Earth attribute chakra nature change skills.]
[2. Ignore it and receive a hidden reward: Danzo's secret underwear.]
"Underwear again? And it's Danzo's, how much do you like Danzo's underwear?"
Kirito was speechless for a moment and chose option one without hesitation. As the saying goes, it's always good to have many skills. Although he didn't have Earth Release ninjutsu to learn yet, he would eventually.
However, if he wanted to solve the problem of bullying, directly intervening wasn't enough.
The reason was simple. Kirito was much older than them. If he stepped in now, they might run away out of fear, but they would still bully Hinata next time.
This would only be a temporary solution. The key was to teach Hinata to stand up for herself.
Thinking of this, Kirito formed a seal with his right hand.
The Transformation Technique was performed.
With a puff of smoke, Kirito transformed into a six-year-old child.
"Hey, do you guys think it's fun to bully people?"
The three naughty kids were taken aback by Kirito 's words, as they were used to being the bullies.
Seeing Kirito , who was not very tall, walking over, they burst into laughter.
"Where did this little guy come from? Trying to play hero and save the girl in distress?"
"Haha, the little monster wants to save the white-eyed monster."
"After all, they're both monsters. It's normal for the little monster to want to save the white-eyed monster."
As they said this, the leading kid stepped forward, ready to punch Kirito . The other two kids watched with smirks, feeling amused. They weren't from ordinary families; their parents were both ninjas. Although they hadn't entered the academy yet, they had already started ninja training.
Naturally, they fought more often than children from ordinary civilian families.
But soon, they couldn't laugh anymore.
Facing the attack from the leading naughty kid, Kirito simply raised his right hand slowly, easily blocked the punch, and then countered with a straight punch, hitting the kid in the face.
Before the other two could react, Kirito stepped forward and punched both of them simultaneously.
The three naughty kids slowly squatted down, covering their bleeding noses, and burst into tears.
(End of the Chapter).