Chapter 8

"Next time, if you dare to bully others or give them nicknames, I'll beat you up again, got it?"

Qianye didn’t use excessive force, just enough to make them bleed from the nose. After a while, when they had cried enough, he grinned and spoke.

As the saying goes, it takes a naughty child to deal with another naughty child.

If an older person had intervened, they would have been scared for a while, but in a few days, they would have laughed it off.

Only a child even naughtier than them could teach them a lesson.

"Got it, waa..." Hearing Qianye’s words, the three of them looked up and saw his pale face with a mischievous smile even more wicked than theirs. They suddenly shivered and answered in unison with tearful voices.

Only when Qianye stopped looking at them did they panic and run away, wishing their parents had given them an extra leg, crying loudly.

At this moment, Hinata Hyuga still had tears in her eyes, looking at the boy who had suddenly appeared like a hero to save her.

For some reason, a sense of familiarity welled up in her heart.

It seemed she had seen him somewhere before.

She mustered her courage, walked up to Qianye, blushed, and bowed, "Um... thank you."

"You don’t need to thank me." Qianye made a hand sign with his right hand, and with a puff, the smoke cleared, and he returned to his original form.

Seeing Qianye suddenly grow larger, the familiar feeling surged in Hinata’s heart again, and she couldn’t help but ask, "Um, have we met before?"

"It seems you remember. Two years ago, in the winter, you were lost in the snow. Do you remember?" Qianye squatted down and asked with a light laugh.

"You’re the big brother who took me home." The familiar scene instantly flooded Hinata’s mind, and she exclaimed excitedly.

Qianye nodded and gently patted the little girl’s head.

Hinata blushed and lowered her head.

Qianye turned his head and glanced at the male ninja with pure white eyes at the end of the road.

He also looked at the yellow-haired little boy hiding behind a tree not far away.

He whispered to Hinata, "Little girl, you’re a child of the Hyuga clan, with the Byakugan. You should have received proper ninja training from a young age.

Why couldn’t you deal with those naughty kids?

Remember, next time you encounter such a situation, don’t back down or cry. Learn to fight back.

Other people’s help is only temporary; no one can protect you for your entire life.

Endless tolerance and weakness won’t solve any problems.

If you want to protect what you cherish, you need to learn to take the initiative.

Well, I have something to do. See you next time."

With that, Qianye turned and slowly disappeared from Hinata’s sight without looking back.

After a while, the Hyuga clan’s chunin ran over, nervously saying, "Miss, why did you run out again? What if you met a bad person? Fortunately, that person didn’t do anything... Also, did you get close to that yellow-haired kid? The clan leader said we can’t..."

Hinata paid no attention to the guard’s nagging. She just looked at where Qianye had disappeared, and behind him, a yellow-haired little boy was stealthily following. She whispered in her heart, "See you next time, big brother."

After that day, Hinata changed her shy and timid personality.

She suddenly became enthusiastic about practicing the Gentle Fist. Besides completing the training tasks assigned by her father every day, she would practice more on her own.

When she had questions, she would ask her father immediately.

This surprised and delighted Hiashi Hyuga, who was responsible for teaching Hinata the Gentle Fist.

During a test, when he found that Hinata had made significant progress, the usually strict man rarely praised his daughter, whom he had previously disapproved of.

Hinata was overjoyed by her father’s praise and trained even harder.

Eventually, she gradually caught up with Neji Hyuga, who was hailed as a genius.

Of course, that’s another story.

......

On the other side, Qianye had returned to Ichiraku Ramen.

[Ding, congratulations, host, mission completed. Reward: Earth chakra nature transformation.]

"Finally, it wasn’t in vain." Hearing the system’s prompt in his ear, Qianye’s lips curled up slightly.

He then glanced behind him.

There, a yellow-haired kid was hiding behind a utility pole with the most clumsy hiding technique, occasionally peeking out.

Seeing Qianye turn his head, the yellow-haired boy immediately shrank back guiltily.

"Come out, you’ve been following me all the way. Aren’t you tired?" Qianye sighed helplessly.

"Nii-san, do you remember me? I’m Naruto... Naruto Uzumaki..." Naruto grinned and walked out from behind the utility pole.

"Of course I remember." Qianye said.

Speaking of which, the two of them had met two years ago when Qianye had taken Hinata home.

Originally, the one who should have taken Hinata home was Naruto, who was wandering the streets without a family.

But because of Qianye’s intervention, the two didn’t meet.

This time was the same.

If Qianye hadn’t intervened, Naruto would have stepped in to save Hinata, just like in the original story, and been beaten up.

On the way back, Qianye met Naruto and, seeing his pitiful state, treated him to a bowl of ramen.

He didn’t expect Naruto to still remember.

Hearing this, Naruto’s light blue eyes instantly showed excitement and joy, his face beaming.

Because Qianye was the first person, besides the Third Hokage, who hadn’t looked at him with strange eyes.

The owner of Ichiraku Ramen was the second.

At that moment, Naruto’s stomach growled.

"You must not have eaten properly again." Qianye looked at Naruto.

Naruto’s face turned slightly red, and he rubbed his stomach awkwardly, glancing at the brightly lit Ichiraku Ramen, his throat moving as he swallowed hard.

"I knew it. Come in, I’ll treat you to ramen." Qianye glanced at the ANBU ninja hiding in the shadows, watching Naruto, and walked into Ichiraku Ramen first.

Naruto was stunned for a moment, then his face lit up with excitement and gratitude, and he quickly followed.

In the shadows, one of the ANBU watching Naruto said, "Someone has made contact with the Nine-Tails jinchuriki. Should we report to the Hokage?"

Another ANBU replied, "No need. The kid probably just felt sorry for the Nine-Tails jinchuriki and is treating him to a meal. Let’s wait and see."

"Hey, it’s Qianye. Why... aren’t you here with your little girlfriend today? What would you like to eat?" Ichiraku smiled and greeted him.

"Give him a bowl of tonkotsu ramen." Qianye pointed to Naruto, who had followed him, and took out the few coins he had, placing them on the table. "Uncle Ichiraku, give him a bowl of ramen every day. This should be enough to last him until the New Year."

"Naruto...?" Ichiraku’s squinted eyes opened, and he looked at Naruto with a complex expression, recalling the time Qianye had brought Naruto to eat ramen two years ago and thinking of Qianye’s background. He couldn’t help but sigh, "Qianye, you’re really a good person."

Qianye smiled and was about to leave when he heard Naruto’s young and hopeful voice, "Qianye-nii, aren’t you eating?"

"No, I have an appointment." Qianye shook his head. Quan was waiting for him to have New Year’s Eve dinner, so he left without looking back.

Naruto stood there in a daze, but soon his thoughts were drawn away by the delicious smell of Ichiraku Ramen.

Today was destined to be a wonderful day for Naruto.

Although he lost the chance to meet his future wife, he gained a New Year’s ramen.

PS: Second update, please give me recommendations and monthly votes.