Chapter 32: May Uzumaki Naruto Never Find a Girlfriend
As Naruto was unwrapping the cake, Katsuragi was feeling a headache coming on. If it had just been Naruto, he might have considered knocking him out and dumping him at the door, but with the Third Hokage present, he couldn't exactly knock them both out and throw them out!
Besides, he didn't have the power to knock out the Third Hokage.
"Katsuragi, do you know?" The Third Hokage, while smoking, looked at Katsuragi standing in front of him and spoke sentimentally, "Your father was a hero. It's because of people like him that the village is protected, allowing you all to live peacefully now."
"Yes, I know! The orphanage director told me!" Katsuragi replied seriously, while internally he scoffed: This peace won't last long; in another decade or so, when a certain woman goes berserk, she might just wipe out humanity!
"Good!" The Third Hokage nodded with a satisfied smile and then glanced at the shy Hinata beside Katsuragi, asking, "I heard from Hiashi that you've been training there, do you plan to become a ninja in the future?"
"Yes! I plan to become a hero who protects the village, just like my father!" Katsuragi declared righteously, his handsome young face brimming with pride, as if it were a noble calling.
"I see!" The Third Hokage's eyes flashed with approval, then looking at Naruto who had started to loudly unpack the cake, he said, "Alright, enough talking. Today is both of your birthdays."
"Go on, make a wish and blow out the candles!"
Looking at the cake on the table and then at the excited Naruto and the smiling Third Hokage, Katsuragi's greatest wish at the moment was to smash the cake into their faces and send them both packing.
Make a wish? Wish for what? I just want some alone time with my little loli!
An angry lolicon raged internally, but due to his lack of power, Katsuragi could only suffer silently, secretly deciding that once he was powerful enough, he would surely get his revenge.
As Naruto urged him to make a wish, Katsuragi closed his eyes and silently wished upon the candle:
"May Uzumaki Naruto never find a girlfriend in his lifetime!"
"Achoo!" Naruto suddenly sneezed at the side, nearly blowing out the candles, prompting the Third Hokage to caution, "It's getting cooler, be careful not to catch a cold!"
"Hehe!" Naruto scratched his head, completely unaware of the malicious curse he had just received from a resentful lolicon.
But considering the original story, Naruto always had a bit more affection for Sasuke anyway, and now without Hinata around, their chances of ending up together might even be greater, Katsuragi thought bitterly to himself.
In the end, Katsuragi never got a chance to be alone with Hinata, because as it got late, the Third Hokage volunteered to escort Hinata home, leaving Katsuragi to silently weep inside, his last hope for a private moment vanishing.
After this birthday, Katsuragi noticed that the Third Hokage's surveillance seemed to have ceased almost entirely, as if he had truly come to trust him. And since he hadn't received any special summons from anyone, perhaps the Third was still secretly protecting him.
Of course, it could also be that Danzo hadn't noticed Katsuragi at all, for aside from the time Hinata was kidnapped, Katsuragi had never really shown his prodigious talents in public.
Only a few people like Hiashi, Neji, and Hinata knew of his skills, and since the Hyuga were primarily aligned with the Third Hokage, Danzo likely had no access to information about Katsuragi. A mere association with Naruto was hardly enough to warrant his attention.
Time flew by, and before Katsuragi realized it, winter had passed again and spring had arrived in March.
"Phew! Today's task is..." Early in the morning, as the sky began to brighten, Katsuragi checked the bounty seal in the courtyard, then frowned, "Fifteen giant snakes! Damn, always snakes, I'm not Orochimaru! Where am I supposed to find so many snakes?"
Katsuragi was frustrated looking at the bounty seal. As his strength steadily increased, the difficulty and rewards of the bounty seals also rose, though due to his location, the increase in difficulty was somewhat limited.
In fact, Katsuragi would rather have fewer rewards than take on such tasks; they were too bothersome, difficulty aside. The main issue was the target of the tasks, like this time with fifteen giant snakes.
This kind of task had appeared seven or eight times in a month, and Katsuragi had encountered at least a hundred snakes, though he hadn't killed most of them. This still resulted in nearly no snakes being found in the places he frequented.
And since the task required a specific number of targets, failing even one meant incomplete task fulfillment, adding to his irritation. Katsuragi had even considered whether he could domesticate some of the target animals, as the bounty seal often involved similar types of beasts.
Unfortunately, due to the large number required, he could only manage to corral a few bears in one place; other wild animals were simply not feasible to keep. After all, he was just a five-year-old orphan.
Moreover, doing anything too out of the ordinary might attract attention and danger before he was fully capable of defending himself.
Katsuragi looked at his coin count: so far, he had only earned 250,000 coins, still needing another 230,000 to upgrade Yuki Onna to five stars, almost double the amount, though he was closer to awakening the Three-Tails.
"Sigh, forget it, I'm taking a break today!" Katsuragi glanced at the other two tasks, which would require a lot of effort and might not even be completed, and decided to give himself a day off.
However, after lying in bed for a while, Katsuragi still got up. Although completing the task seemed unlikely, he wanted to give it a try; some things, if not attempted, are guaranteed to fail, but trying might lead to success.
Besides, failing to complete a task still garnered some coins from defeating or killing beasts, albeit in very small quantities. To survive in the future, he had to keep striving.
The noon sunlight filtered through the trees, casting dappled shadows on the ground. A small figure agilely maneuvered through the forest, occasionally startling a flock of birds—it was Katsuragi, searching for his task targets.
"Phew! I didn't expect to be so lucky to complete it!" Looking at the bounty seal showing a successful completion, Katsuragi felt a subdued happiness. The coins were basically equivalent to his strength, and whether it was awakening the Three-Tails or reaching five stars with Yuki Onna, either would greatly help him.
"It's time to find Hinata!" Katsuragi checked the time, realizing it was already noon, and prepared to head to the Hyuga residence.
As he and Hinata were nearing school age, Hiashi no longer required him to come to the Hyuga compound every day.
But as a self-denying lolicon with plans to cultivate a childhood sweetheart, how could Katsuragi give up his time with Hinata? So, much like before, he continued to freeload daily at the Hyuga residence.
Over time, thanks to his clever and articulate nature, many of Hinata's relatives had come to regard Katsuragi almost as a member of the Hyuga clan.
"Eh!? What's going on here?" Arriving at the residence, Katsuragi was puzzled by the festive atmosphere. Was there some happy event?
It was only after finding Hinata that he learned what had happened.
"Katsuragi, Katsuragi! I have a little sister now!"
Seeing the joyously bouncing Hinata, Katsuragi silently recited the name Hinata hadn't yet told him: "Hyuga Hanabi?"
Indeed, it was her. In the original story, she caused Hiashi to give up on Hinata as the family heir, which led to Hinata having more time to spy on Naruto and eventually turn the tables to become the wife of the strongest Hokage—cough, something like that, anyway!
End of Chapter 32