I'm not that Naruto Uzumaki

After confirming he had received the reward, the mechanical prompt also emphasized that he no longer had any challenge time left.

With a thought, Naruto exited the mirror world, and immediately, a tidal wave of exhaustion swept over him. He collapsed straight onto the bed…

That night, Naruto slept deeply. Even at five in the morning, when an Anbu operative stood on the second floor and forcefully opened the window, he remained unaware.

The person monitoring him had been assigned by the Third Hokage for close observation at fixed times—three times a day, always punctual.

Naruto had known about this for a long time but had always pretended not to.

Previously, he thought he had no secrets, so he would leave the window half-open every day. The watchers treated it like a routine check—take a look and leave.

But last night was different. He had closed the window tightly and hadn't had the energy to restore its previous state before sleeping.

What finally woke Naruto was the biological clock he had developed over two lifetimes. When the clock on the wall reached 6:30, his eyebrows twitched naturally, and he struggled to open his eyes.

He stretched his arms. Though his body instinctively wanted to continue resting, he pushed himself up from the bed.

As soon as his vision cleared, he saw the open window.

His brows furrowed.

He knew the monitor had already been here, but he wasn't frowning because of the surveillance itself.

The people watching him were Anbu ninja, and as ninja, they shouldn't forget to erase traces of their movements. It seemed they didn't even bother pretending anymore.

Did they really think they had everything under control?

How laughable. How pathetic.

Naruto's gaze deepened.

Soon, as usual, he washed up, changed clothes, and had breakfast. Then, unhurriedly, he left the small building, locking the door behind him.

The world was covered in white. Though no new snow had fallen, the land remained blanketed, silver and pristine—unchanged from the day before.

But from now on, he was no longer the same person as before.

His gaze swept around, and his hands quickly formed seals.

Since he had successfully condensed chakra, it was time to begin a different life.

Transformation Jutsu!

Poof!

Naruto transformed into a young boy with brown hair and a tender face—one of the children he had seen among the onlookers yesterday.

Crunching through the snow, he walked toward today's destination…

"Full Marks Ninja Tools."

Muttering the name softly, Naruto looked at a store with advertisements for various ninja tools hanging at its entrance.

After walking through several streets, he had found the place. He was here to buy chakra paper.

After a brief moment of thought, he followed the flow of customers entering and stepped into the store.

Inside, shelves were stocked with various ninja tools, scrolls, and what appeared to be books and materials from different fields.

As he stood in an aisle, engrossed in examining some dagger-like ninja tools, a gentle voice spoke from the side.

"Little one, these aren't toys. The toy store is on the street near Yakiniku Q. Do you need me to take you there?"

Turning slightly, he saw a woman dressed as a store clerk, bending down with a smile.

Naruto's expression remained unchanged as he calmly replied, "Thank you, but I'd like to buy some chakra paper."

"Oh, a customer! Right this way."

The woman's smile remained, though a flicker of surprise flashed through her eyes. She extended her hand, then straightened up and stepped aside, leading Naruto to a counter.

"Here is the chakra paper. How many would you like?"

"I'll take five, please."

"That'll be 1,000 ryo!"

—

After leaving Full Marks Ninja Tools, Naruto didn't head straight home. It was still early, and he had time before lunch.

Now, he walked through a sparsely populated, somewhat dimly lit street in the village, contemplating the mirror world's request to collect data.

According to the explanation, the necessary data could randomly appear on certain people, buildings, or objects.

It was like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Seeing that the mirror world's data completion rate was still only 1%, Naruto felt a little frustrated.

But frustration wouldn't help. Silent, he walked through the alley, thinking about his next move…

Before he knew it, the already quiet street was now completely deserted. After glancing around, he turned a corner.

Poof!

He released the Transformation Jutsu, preparing to head home.

"Hmm?"

Rustle… rustle…

The moment he reverted, he heard a discordant sound in the snow. Looking up, he saw a small figure stumbling toward him.

Naruto stopped. The figure tripped and fell repeatedly, getting closer and closer, until he could hear sobbing.

Plop~

As she neared, the small figure fell face-first into the snow.

The crying reached his ears—it was a girl. She wore a brown winter coat and a beige scarf.

"Why are you crying? Can you tell me?"

"I… I…"

At the sound of his voice, the girl lifted her head.

A pair of blue eyes met his—clear and bright. Her golden hair shone like sunlight.

Their eyes locked, and Naruto froze slightly.

Short bangs. White eyes.

Hinata.

Seeing the tears welling up in her eyes, unable to speak, Naruto extended a hand and pulled her up.

This scene seemed familiar.

Hinata had probably been mocked for her Byakugan by some village children. In the original story, Uzumaki Naruto had been there, and the two had met because of it.

Now, he wasn't that Uzumaki Naruto. He had missed the original event, but he still encountered Hinata.

"Are you lost?"

Naruto asked while gently brushing the snow off her scarf.

Hinata didn't speak. First, she shook her head, then she nodded. Tears threatened to fall again.

"Don't be afraid. I'll take you home."

Naruto smiled and took Hinata's hand, leading her in the opposite direction of his own home.

As they exited the street, a figure suddenly appeared in the middle of the road.

This man had a pale complexion and dark circles under his eyes.

"Cough… Cough… It's about time to report the target's status to the Hokage."

After saying this, he disappeared just as suddenly as he had come…

—

"We're here. This is your house, right?"

"Mm~"

Naruto had brought Hinata to the Hyuga clan's compound. Above the entrance, the plaque clearly bore the characters for "Hyuga."

"Well then, goodbye!"

Naruto waved and turned to leave without introducing himself.

Hinata stood there, stunned. She still didn't know who he was…

—

Naruto soon returned home. After a simple lunch, he didn't rush to test the chakra paper. Instead, he sat on his bed, closed his eyes, and began refining chakra.

After a while, he suddenly found himself standing in a dim space.

A massive iron gate loomed before him, with a sealing tag marked "Seal" plastered at its center.

As he stepped forward, a gigantic fox face filled the entire gate, its scarlet vertical pupils glaring down at him.

"Even though I knew about the Nine-Tails, seeing it for the first time is still overwhelming. But more than that… I'm surprised. I was wondering when I'd end up here."

As Naruto mused, the giant fox grinned, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth.

"Heh… Brat, I didn't expect you to enter here so soon."

Naruto took another step forward, studied the creature, and said, "Beautiful."

The Nine-Tails' eyes widened. Its face twisted in rage.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY, BRAT?!"

"Shhh."

Naruto pressed a finger to his lips, then suddenly sprinted forward, jumped up, and grabbed the seal on the gate—ripping it off.

Rip!

The seal was gone.

"NANI?!"

No warning. No resistance. It happened too fast!

The Nine-Tails' eyes bulged in shock, its excitement surging—until it noticed another figure had appeared in front of the gate.

Its pupils shrank in horror.

"ROAR!! IT'S YOU! FOURTH HOKAGE!"

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