I'm not that Naruto Uzumaki

"Naruto! You're bleeding!"

Minato Namikaze, still in shock from Naruto's actions, quickly reminded his son that he was already injured.

Naruto, who had landed on the stone platform, took a deep breath. Reaching behind himself, he grasped the kunai embedded in his shoulder—only the handle remained visible. As he tightened his grip, beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.

The burning pain, transmitted through his nerves, felt like it was searing straight into his soul.

Despite the excruciating pain, Naruto knew he couldn't pull the kunai out too quickly or too forcefully, given how deep it was lodged.

Understanding this, Naruto's ocean-blue eyes gradually turned bloodshot. Clenching his fist tightly, his knuckles cracked audibly. His nails dug into his palm as he gritted his teeth and slowly extracted the three kunai from his body, one by one, tossing them onto the stone platform.

"Hurry! Naruto, you have bandages and medicine in your ninja tool pouch!"

Inside the sealed space, Minato Namikaze watched as his son, initially drenched in sweat from the pain, eventually removed the kunai with an unchanging expression.

Naruto's astonishing willpower and endurance didn't make Minato proud—instead, they filled him with unease.

"It seems I don't need them. The wounds appear to be healing on their own?"

Hearing his father's concerned voice, Naruto had been about to reach for his ninja tool pouch, but then he felt a tingling sensation in his shoulder. He realized that his wounds were healing rapidly.

"What?"

Minato, unsure if he had misheard, was momentarily stunned.

Soon, Naruto felt that the wounds had completely healed. He reached up to touch his shoulder—there was no trace of the injury, not even a scar.

His eyes flickered with thought, recalling a similar scene from the original storyline.

During Team Kakashi's first mission outside the village—the Land of Waves mission—Naruto had stabbed his own hand with a kunai to prove his bravery.

At the time, Kakashi, as the team's instructor, treated Naruto's wound. However, as soon as the kunai was removed, aside from a bit of blood, the injury vanished in the blink of an eye, leaving his skin perfectly intact.

From Kakashi's perspective, this incredible healing ability was due to the Nine-Tails' chakra within Naruto.

But Naruto could now clearly feel that this had nothing to do with Kurama. His body was healing on its own.

"Father, did my mother ever experience spontaneous healing like this?"

Naruto turned to ask Minato inside the sealed space.

"No," Minato replied definitively, but then a flash of awkwardness crossed his face. "Or maybe… she just never had the chance? From the day your mother arrived in Konoha, she was always the one chasing others down and beating them up… I… I don't think I ever actually saw her get injured…"

"Naruto, this situation of yours reminds me of someone!"

Kurama's voice suddenly echoed from the side.

Hearing this, Naruto's heart skipped a beat. "Who?"

Kurama fixed his gaze on Naruto, his expression intense as he uttered a name.

"Hashirama Senju."

Hokage's Office

"When do you plan to make contact with Naruto?"

The Third Hokage had just returned from Konoha Hospital. After taking a puff from his pipe, he glanced at Nara Shikaku, then turned to a small child standing before him.

"Ah~ Lord Hokage, this is a real hassle~"

A child with the Nara clan's signature spiky pineapple-shaped hair yawned lazily before responding.

"Cough, cough! Shikamaru, mind your manners when speaking to the Hokage!"

"Haha, it's fine, Shikaku," the Third Hokage chuckled warmly before continuing, "Shikamaru, months have passed. Have you figured out how to befriend Naruto yet?"

Shikamaru's previously laid-back expression turned serious—an unusually mature look for a child his age. "Lord Hokage, I'm not stalling for time—it's genuinely difficult."

"I've been analyzing Naruto's movements for months, and I haven't had a single chance to approach him."

"Every day, as soon as he leaves his house, he heads straight to a small grove near the Uchiha compound. Even though I'm just a kid, as a member of the Nara clan, it wouldn't be appropriate for me to go there."

"I even planned to bump into him at his usual ninja tool shop, but then I hit a major problem—Naruto never goes out without using the Transformation Jutsu."

"If I tried to approach him directly, it would be a dead giveaway."

Hearing this, the Third Hokage couldn't help but feel frustrated.

Why had he taught Naruto the Transformation Jutsu so early on?

"Hmm, you make a good point. Well then, let's see what Naruto is doing right now."

After exhaling two smoke rings, the Third Hokage pulled out a crystal ball from his desk. Gesturing for the Naras to come closer, he activated it, revealing a live image of Naruto.

At that moment, Naruto was just leaving the small grove, having transformed into a boy around twelve years old using the Transformation Jutsu.

Earlier, inside the sealed space, as Kurama had been explaining the similarities between Naruto and Hashirama Senju, Naruto had sensed the Third Hokage returning to his office.

He quickly retrieved all the ninja tools he had brought with him and was about to head home when he sensed Uchiha Sasuke approaching the grove—along with another unfamiliar chakra signature.

Not wanting to interact too much with Sasuke, who still had a childish attitude, and feeling that the unknown presence was somewhat unusual, Naruto chose to leave.

Soon, he saw Sasuke approaching, followed by someone else—a young man dressed in a black-gray high-collared short-sleeved shirt, wearing triangular guards on his arms, and matching pants with leg wraps.

As the figure got closer, Naruto's pupils shrank.

The person following Sasuke was… Uchiha Shisui!

"Huh? Who are you? Why are you in the Uchiha compound?"

Sasuke, still as arrogant as ever, immediately questioned Naruto upon seeing him.

Naruto suddenly understood—so this area was part of the Uchiha district. No wonder no one had been following him recently.

"I'm just a passerby who accidentally wandered here."

Naruto smiled slightly as he replied.

"A passerby?" Sasuke scrutinized him suspiciously. After a moment, he asked, "Did you see a blonde-haired guy in the grove?"

"So he really came looking for me…" Naruto thought to himself. Keeping his expression calm, he answered, "No, I didn't see anyone."

"Sasuke, is this the boy your brother said was stronger than you?"

Shisui stepped forward, examining Naruto with a curious look.

As Shisui's gaze held a trace of scrutiny, Naruto's danger sense immediately flared.

Did Shisui see through his Transformation Jutsu?

But… he hadn't even activated his Sharingan!

"No, he's not that annoying guy!" Sasuke pouted, then added, "But you… you feel kinda familiar."

We only met once—why do you already dislike me?

Naruto silently complained but kept his expression neutral. After nodding politely to Shisui, he turned to leave.

Watching Naruto's retreating figure, Shisui frowned.

He didn't know who this person was.

Even though the boy had hidden it well, Shisui had still caught a faint scent of blood…

Back in the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage and the Naras had watched the entire interaction through the crystal ball. After observing Naruto return home, the Third Hokage finally withdrew the image.

"Lord Hokage, you saw it, right? Even when heading home, Naruto uses the Transformation Jutsu."

Shikamaru shrugged helplessly.

However, recalling Naruto's reaction in the crystal ball, the Third Hokage suddenly smiled. "Hehe, Shikamaru, have you considered taking a different approach?"

Shikamaru blinked. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"You don't need to worry about making contact with the transformed Naruto."

"You just need to complete the mission of befriending him."

"Why fixate on what face your friend is wearing?"

"All you need to do is earn his absolute trust. Do you understand?"

Seeing the Third Hokage's enigmatic expression, Shikamaru's face grew complicated. He was about to refuse when he saw his father subtly signaling him.

"…Understood, Lord Hokage. But I can't guarantee I'll succeed."

"Hehe, Shikamaru, I believe in you. You're the only person I've ever said that to—aside from your father."

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