Reflection

"It's so delicious, Jian!"

"Your cooking skills have surpassed Aunt Huiya's!"

"..."

As Shijian ate, he watched the blond-haired boy across from him shoveling rice and picking at his food, making his cheeks round and chubby.

No, he should be called Naruto Uzumaki, the chosen one of this world's future.

Aunt Huiya, his mother, is a single mother who came to Konoha alone with her child.

As for why he knows Naruto?

It was quite an accident, really. He was born a month earlier than Naruto, and when he arrived in Konoha, a year had already passed since the Nine-Tails' attack.

And the apartment his mother found... happened to be next door to Naruto.

At the time, Naruto was just a one-year-old kid. When he was standing alone at the door, his mother saw him and warmly invited him to come and eat with her. After a while, the Third Hokage saw this and entrusted his mother to take care of Naruto, and also gave her corresponding compensation.

As a result, the two children became acquainted.

Later, when he was four years old, his mother fell ill and passed away, and the job he was entrusted with was gone.

To be honest, although he and Naruto were both orphans, they were different. According to the original rules, he should have been sent to the Konoha Welfare Home when he was four years old, but he refused.

He was well aware of the darkness within the Konoha Welfare Institute. Once he went there, he might be targeted by some one-eyed old man and become one of those who protected Konoha in the shadows.

This kind of backbreaking, unsecured job is not his dream.

Although the recruitment requirements of the orphanage are quite high, requiring so-called geniuses, he was not sure if he met the requirements. But who knows, maybe they would come to the orphanage by chance, suddenly feel that he fits their criteria, and directly recruit him as a special candidate?

So, after thinking about it, I decided against it!

Fortunately, his mother had saved up some money, enough to last him for a few years. In addition, Naruto started coming over to eat after seeing him cook, and even paid for his meals. So, he now had enough money to cover his living expenses.

"Burp, I'm full. It was so delicious! When I become Hokage, I'll definitely repay you!"

"No need for repayment," Shi Jian said irritably. "Just sell me that piece of land on the Fire Shadow Rock later!"

"Huh? Hokage Rock? What are you going there for?"

"I plan to build a house on it!"

"Why would you build a house on it? That's so strange!" Naruto scratched his head in confusion upon hearing Ishigami's words, but soon regained his cheerful expression. "But alright! Since it's Ishigami who said it, I agree. When I become Hokage, I'll give you that piece of land."

"...Then do you remember!" Hearing that Naruto had given him Konoha's important land resources without hesitation, Ishigami didn't care. After giving a perfunctory reply, he unceremoniously assigned Naruto chores, "And after you've eaten, hurry up and wash the dishes."

"Okay, okay!" Naruto chuckled as he tidied the table, seemingly already used to this arrangement. He picked up the bowls and went to wash them, saying as he did so, "By the way, by the way, where did you go today, Shijian? Weren't we supposed to go to the Ninja Academy together? I didn't see you when I woke up, and I couldn't find you even after I got to the Ninja Academy."

When I got up, you were still taking a nap. I called you but you didn't wake up, so I went out by myself.

Shi Jian offered a casual explanation.

When he got up and saw that Naruto was still asleep, he didn't care and headed towards the Ninja Academy, even acting as a tour guide for the three guys along the way.

Just as Shijian was recalling what had happened that afternoon, Naruto, who had finished washing up, came over with a grin. "We were both accepted! That's great! Now I can go to the Ninja Academy with Shijian. Oh, and the Third Hokage even sent over a ninja tool kit."

As he spoke, he pulled out a new ninja tool pouch from the side. "This is yours. I also have one. The Third Hokage said this was specially prepared for you."

"..."

Shijian accepted the new ninja tool kit, seemingly surprised that the Third Hokage would actually prepare a ninja tool kit for him.

But he didn't refuse, which saved him some money!

The ninja tool kit is a necessary learning tool before the start of school. He originally planned to buy it later, but now it seems he doesn't need to.

To be honest, after so many years in Konoha, he'd discovered that the Third Hokage wasn't the hypocritical politician he'd read about in his previous life's fanfiction... On the contrary, the old man was quite decent. He just didn't know if it was genuine incompetence or a skillful disguise.

As for Naruto being bullied by the village, it really can't be blamed on the Third Hokage. Many adults in the village knew that Naruto was the son of the Fourth Hokage, and in fact, apart from Naruto himself not knowing, many ninjas and civilians knew it.

However, those guys still allowed their own children to bully the fourth generation's son.

Perhaps the people in Konoha really are all unruly!

"It's a promise then." Naruto looked at Ishigami happily. "We'll go to school together."

"understood."

After receiving Ishigami's permission, Naruto was overjoyed, skipping and hopping back to his room, which was... next door, just like a child.

Shi Jian shook his head. He knew too... because he had no friends, Naruto considered him, who was willing to play with him, as an important friend.

I just don't know who is more important, him or the future Sasuke?

But thinking of this, Shi Jian shuddered again.

Why would those two be bound by their own era and get involved in something so trivial?

Quickly clear your mind of these random thoughts.

But with Naruto, the future Seventh Hokage, as a friend, I believe my retirement life will be quite good, and I might even be able to build a house on the Hokage Rock!

What a pity~

"Why does the village explicitly forbid anyone from building a house on the Hokage Rock?" Ishigami sighed. "Could it be that someone before me planned to build a house on the Hokage Rock?"

After internally criticizing some unknown senior colleague, Shi Jian picked up his clothes and went to take a shower.

Don't let the dilapidated appearance of this apartment fool you; it's not only cheap, but also fully equipped with amenities and has plenty of hot water every day.

After taking a comfortable bath, Shi Jian lay down on his bed, picked up the bead he had made into a pendant, frowned, and seemed to be deep in thought.

Past and present...

If that really was Konoha's past, then with his intervention, wouldn't Konoha have changed at all?

Is it still the same storyline I know?

He did nothing about the past.

If not, then it is...

Shi Jian muttered to himself, "A parallel world?"

And why can't his beads be viewed by multiple people like Hashirama Senju's?

But after thinking about it for a while, he still couldn't come up with anything. Shi Jian was also getting sleepy, so he put the beads away again. "Forget it, let those three big shots on the other side handle this kind of troublesome matter!"

Now...it's time to sleep!

However, he didn't know that just as he closed his eyes to go to sleep...

In another timeline of the ninja world, things were still far from calm because of his last words.