If Tsunade hadn't taken the initiative to contact Takeshi, he wouldn't have even considered asking her for the Strength of a Hundred Technique.
That would've been an insult to the Isobu sealed inside his body.
A Jinchūriki like him—was he supposed to be afraid of a mere fatal wound?
Takeshi tucked away the scroll, gazed at the snowy scenery before him, and casually scooped up a handful of snow, kneading it into a snowball.
"When I see Naruto, I'll hit him with this first."
Takeshi revealed a mischievous grin, then activated the Flying Thunder God Technique.
"Eat this—Snow Release: Rasengan!"
The moment he landed, Takeshi hurled the snowball from his hand.
He perfectly displayed the professional precision expected of a jōnin—his snowball hit the target dead-on, right in the face.
However, the person hit—whether in height, build, or especially hair color—didn't look like the Naruto he had in mind at all.
"That's weird… Naruto, how'd you get so tall in just a short while? And you dyed your hair black?"
As he watched the man in front of him suppress his fury while brushing snowflakes off his face, Takeshi suddenly had a bad feeling and spoke with a guilty tone.
"Idiot Takeshi-nii, I'm over here."
Feeling a tug on his pant leg, Takeshi looked down and saw Naruto, his hands covered in blood.
"Oh crap—Naruto! What happened to your hand? Why is there so much blood? Are you hurt?"
Heart aching, Takeshi gently held Naruto's hand and began checking for injuries.
"You're so careless! How'd you hurt your hand this badly? How am I supposed to explain this to your mom?"
He muttered as he nearly wiped all the blood away, but still couldn't find the so-called wound.
Had it already healed on its own?
"Hey you—is this your child?"
The man who had just taken a snowball to the face spoke in a cold tone, the fury in his eyes practically tangible.
"Who the hell are you?"
Still racking his brain on how to deal with Kushina, Takeshi replied irritably.
"Who am I? I'm this kid's father!"
The man pulled over a "pig-headed" child and glared at Takeshi, furious.
"Pfft—cough, cough, your kid's face is… pretty unique."
Takeshi couldn't help but laugh after searching in vain for the boy's facial features.
"Of course it's unique! Did you see the blood on that kid's hand? That's my son's!"
Seeing Takeshi still have the nerve to laugh, the man barely held back the urge to punch him.
"Enough talking! Kid, go get this boy's parent—now!"
"Yeah, seriously, whose kids are these? They're all underage and just wandering around like this."
Two other parents chimed in beside him.
Each had a "pig-headed" child in tow—one even had a balding spot.
"You beat all of them?"
Takeshi whispered to Naruto.
"No, Itachi-san helped too."
Naruto whispered back.
"What the hell happened?"
Takeshi was totally lost. A brawl among kids? Why would Itachi be involved?
"I—I'm sorry… it was all my fault…"
At that moment, little Hinata timidly raised her hand.
Her presence had been so faint that Takeshi only noticed her when she spoke.
"You…"
The moment he saw Hinata, Takeshi seemed to understand everything.
Holy crap, Naruto—are you trying to win a wife or what?
"Let me explain, Takeshi-nii."
Itachi stepped forward just then and calmly explained everything from start to finish.
"You're lying! My kid is so well-behaved—how could he possibly provoke a girl from the Hyūga clan? You big clans always bully others with your power!"
"Yeah, exactly! If no one takes responsibility, I'm reporting this to the Police Force!"
After hearing Itachi's account, the parents immediately exploded, dragging their children toward the Police Force headquarters.
"Go ahead. I'm telling you—go ahead! If you don't, I'll look down on you."
Knowing that his side wasn't at fault, Takeshi's attitude instantly hardened.
"You see this kid? You know who he is? Uchiha Itachi—the son of the terrifying, unbeatable legend Uchiha Fugaku."
"You know what Fugaku-sama does for a living? He's the head of the Police Force."
Takeshi didn't hesitate to push Itachi forward as a shield.
Fugaku already had plenty of complaints filed against him. A few more wouldn't make a dent.
Besides, the Hyūga clan was involved here too—they'd cover for it.
Takeshi casually pulled Hinata forward as well and pointed at the parent who had threatened to report to the Police Force.
"Listen to me—if you go there and they find out your kid insulted a Hyūga girl, you think those petty Hyūga clan members are gonna let you off easy?"
The atmosphere instantly froze.
"Alright, alright. Still, your kid did get hurt—that's a fact. Here's what we'll do. Let's all take a step back. I won't pursue your kids for insulting Hinata, and you can take yours straight to Konoha Hospital. Just mention my name to the director—they'll treat your kids."
Seeing that the other side had finally backed off, Takeshi also gave a proper solution without pressing further.
"What's your name?" asked one parent, who happened to be a mid-ranking chūnin. Seeing how confident Takeshi was and that he could vouch for both Uchiha and Hyūga kids, he found the guy increasingly familiar.
"Shimura Takeshi. The medical fees are on me."
"Takeshi-sama!"
The moment the name came out, the parent's face turned pale—so pale it blended into the snow.
"We were out of line this time. Please excuse us!"
Realizing who their kids had provoked, the chūnin quickly bowed and yanked their children away without looking back.
Good grief—if it had just been Uchiha or Hyūga, they could've at least relied on the fairness of the Hokage.
But provoke Takeshi?
Yeah, he was the definition of fairness.
...
"Takeshi-nii is that well-known?"
Watching the panicked parents flee the scene, Naruto asked Itachi curiously.
"Well… in Konoha Village, his name does carry some weight."
Itachi gave a tactful answer.
With the troublemakers dealt with, Takeshi crouched down, his expression softening as he turned to Hinata.
"Alright, time to take little Hinata home."
"Y-Yes… sorry to trouble you…"
Hinata's soft, sweet voice instantly triggered Takeshi's protective instincts.
Takeshi: Too adorable! Right, right, Isobu?
Isobu: Yeah, adorable. (emotionless)
Takeshi: You lolicon.
The Hyūga clan compound was quite far from here. No wonder even after all this time, no one from the Hyūga side had shown up yet.
By the time Takeshi led the kiddie parade to the Hyūga compound, they happened to run into Hyūga, who had met Takeshi once before. Hyūga was just about to head out with the branch family to search for Hinata.