11 Although eager to ignite the Ninja War

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Sakura Haruno couldn’t help but use polite language: “Kotono, what wish do you want to fulfill?”

“My wish isn’t important,” she replied calmly. “Clearing fifty billion points is everything.”

“I want to fulfill the wishes of Naruto, Sasuke, and those I care about.”

Those she cared about—like Saber, whom she had yet to meet, and Kakashi, who hadn’t adopted her yet.

Anyway, with eight Holy Grails, there would be plenty to go around.

What about my wish?

Naruto instinctively glanced at Kotono.

“Do you want to help Naruto become Hokage?” Sakura thought that seemed unlikely.

“Naruto’s true wish isn’t that. I want to help him perfectly revive his family,” Kotono said without hesitation. “The position of Hokage, he can earn that through his own efforts.”

The group fell into stunned silence once again.

Someone belatedly realized, “Oh right, that guy Naruto doesn’t have parents.”

But isn’t Kotono an orphan too? She’s not planning to revive her own family, choosing instead to give that chance to Naruto?

So selfless!

Anyway, Shikamaru thought if he could get an all-purpose wish machine, he would definitely wish for an endless supply of snacks.

Hearing such kind and warm words, even Kiba couldn’t find anything to criticize.

“Kotono…” Naruto’s azure eyes misted over instantly.

A steady stream of warmth surged from his heart, so tender yet bittersweet that he found himself speechless.

Could it be that someone truly cared about his feelings?

Seeing through the superficial teasing and laughter, someone who always watched over his true inner thoughts.

Naruto felt shy, having never voiced such feelings before…

Because everyone’s dreams were grand.

Everyone has parents; who would think that’s special?

Only an orphan like him would yearn for that.

So he suppressed all his soft desires deep in his heart, wrapped under the glamorous title of Hokage.

Only Kotono.

Only Kotono—the closest, most beloved, kindest girl in the world—would treasure his little secret.

“Hey.” Sasuke suddenly appeared behind her. “You don’t have to give it to me.”

Despite their tense relationship after recent defeats, Sasuke’s tone softened subtly.

He didn’t understand why Kotono wanted to include him in her wish, but it was good intention nonetheless.

He lifted his chin a little: “I don’t lack anything. If I want something, I’ll get it myself. That spot is yours.”

What Sasuke didn’t say was that if it was to revive those two idiots’ parents, he might just help Kotono win the war.

The elite Uchiha clan was invincible. What could those two fools accomplish alone?

Kotono shook her head at him.

“It’s okay. You’re about to need a dad soon.”

Maybe a mom and a mentally stable older brother too.

“Sakura, do you have a dream you want to fulfill?” Kotono smiled at the pink-haired girl, her amber eyes reflecting Kotono’s image.

Could it be Kotono wanted to help her too?

For some reason, Sakura’s cheeks blushed lightly.

She felt shy admitting her wish was to be with Sasuke.

When Kotono asked like this, she always felt dreams should be grander.

But didn’t Naruto, who always shouted about becoming Hokage, actually just want to be with his family?

Yet this “small” wish wasn’t mocked by anyone.

Then what was her own dream, the one that belonged solely to herself?

The pink-haired girl looked a little lost.

“What nonsense are you kids chatting about!” Iruka-sensei couldn’t hold back any longer after listening for a while.

A bunch of kids who just entered the academy, not even graduated yet, dared to talk about starting a ninja world war.

Ignorant and overconfident, thinking war was just a game!

Especially that Kotono Uzumaki—she was the biggest troublemaker of all.

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Iruka felt a deep headache.

There was no doubt Kotono Uzumaki was a true genius. Despite being an orphan, her personality was surprisingly gentle and cheerful, always willing to help others. Her guidance had even made little Naruto’s attitude toward studying improve.

Just looking at the reverent eyes of these kids showed she had ambition and brilliance far beyond her peers—even many seniors couldn’t match her.

Yet when she spoke, her life goal was to subdue the Four Great Nations and seize all the Tailed Beasts??

Tailed Beasts—true monsters that bring destruction.

Remembering the Nine-Tails rampaging and destroying everything, Iruka felt both hatred and fear.

He wanted to scold the kids for being so reckless but then realized Kotono’s reason for wanting to do this was to treat the Tailed Beasts as wish-granting machines.

…She wanted to find Naruto’s parents.

Not from arrogant ambition, but pure selflessness.

This gentleness and kindness caring for comrades, burning with the fierce Will of Fire, almost scorched Iruka’s heart.

This kid… sigh.

“Tailed Beasts won’t bring happiness. They are monsters—no matter which one,” Iruka said, rubbing Kotono’s head and softening his voice. “You’re too young to talk nonsense.”

Someone couldn’t resist: “Then what about Naruto? Everyone says he’s a demon—”

The boy was cut off abruptly.

Because he suddenly met Kotono’s gaze, cold and chilling enough to make him shiver.

No one expected the cutest girl in class to have such a terrifying moment.

“What did you say Naruto is?” she asked softly.

The boy’s lips trembled, nearly in tears.

“I—I didn’t say, it’s just… wah!!!”

He actually got scared into crying.

“Kotono, no scaring classmates!”

“And you, no giving nicknames! Everyone is friends, be kind!”

Then came the usual sunny lessons about unity and friendship.

“Kotono, you’re indeed a kind girl, but you should read fewer ninja novels. Tailed Beasts are not all-purpose wish machines!”

Kotono was always the quickest to agree and the most sincere in correcting herself.

Because she deeply understood and pitied Iruka-sensei’s limited perspective.

It wasn’t the fault of the mediocre to misunderstand the Holy Grail’s essence.

After all, only she possessed the eyes that could see through fate and overturn the cycle of all things.

So there was nothing to fear; she would handle everything.

She would bear all hardships.

Kotono firmly believed that once she claimed the Holy Grail, she could solve most of the world’s misfortunes.

For those truly unsolvable problems… she would solve the problem-makers themselves.

This Holy Grail was guaranteed to do that.

*

In the past two days, Uchiha Itachi finally had time to train his younger brother seriously.

Under his careful guidance, Sasuke defeated the deliberately underperforming Kotono Uzumaki twice in a row, reclaiming the top spot for his age group.

“Still, Kotono is pretty strong,” a classmate whispered.

Hearing this, Sasuke’s lips twitched slightly.

That idiot, compared to others, was barely decent.

“But it seems Kotono took quite a hit.”

“She’s been practicing high jump on the playground lately, even though she keeps failing, she stays late practicing.”

The smile on Sasuke’s lips flattened slightly. He was a bit puzzled.

High jump?

In the crimson twilight, the school and corridors were bathed in a rich, vibrant glow.

Other students had already paired off to go home or been picked up by their families.

Sasuke packed his books and stepped out of the classroom when he suddenly heard Naruto’s voice from the playground.

“Kotono, keep it up!”

He instinctively turned his gaze.

On the playground bathed in orange sunset, the red-haired girl with a ponytail was running up.

“Hah—”

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With a sharp shout, she leapt, trying to clear a bar that was well over her height, her braid tracing a beautiful, elegant arc in the air.

Bang.

Kotono landed on the soft mat, but the bar was knocked to the ground.

She didn’t get discouraged; instead, she challenged failure again and again.

“Come on, Kotono!”

A blond boy crouched at the sidelines, watching her every move, fervently cheering her on.

All the other students had left, but Naruto stayed with Kotono, even when she told him to go eat first, he refused.

Bathed in the sunset’s glow, each of her leaps was clean and beautiful, dazzling him.

Naruto liked watching her.

Uzumaki Naruto liked Uzumaki Kotono.

Especially after the wish incident, Naruto clung to Kotono even more.

Just thinking about sharing the same surname made him incredibly happy.

Actually, it didn’t matter if she couldn’t seize the Tailed Beasts or help him fulfill his wish.

Because he had already found his true family.

However…

Naruto frowned in puzzlement.

When Kotono clearly reached her limit but still kept trying again and again, it was hard to understand.

Wasn’t she already excellent?

The key was, besides cheering her on, he didn’t seem able to do anything for her. He suspected he himself couldn’t even clear half the height Kotono was trying.

He sensed that her repeated attempts stemmed from dissatisfaction—a need to prove something.

“Idiot, with the posture you just showed, you’ll never clear it in your life.”

A clear voice sounded behind them.

Kotono wiped the sweat from her forehead and looked back with Naruto.

A black-haired boy stood with his hands in his pockets, expression cold.

“You’re watching me jump high too?”

He smirked lightly: “With Naruto shouting so loud, who wouldn’t know?”

“Then will you teach me?”

She smiled and stepped aside.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, eyes gleaming with the sharp edge of a genius wanting to show off.

He casually tossed aside his bag, took a few running steps, and leapt like a black cat—

Effortlessly clearing the bar.

He landed gracefully, turned around with a slight self-satisfied smile, then said, “Did you notice the spinning technique I used just now?”

Kotono clapped involuntarily, her cheerful smile making Sasuke’s cheeks flush.

This guy…

Thankfully the sunset was radiant; even with some redness on his face, it probably wasn’t noticeable.

“But your performance was pretty good too,” Sasuke said coolly.

Kotono tilted her head. “Does this mean I have Sasuke’s approval?”

“Hmph, just a rival. Who wants to help you—”

“But only friends help each other.”

Nearby, Naruto pursed his lips slightly, unable to join their conversation.

The after-school moments that belonged only to him and Kotono now seemed to be confidently and forcefully broken by someone else.

For some reason, his heart felt tight and a little sour.

He seemed to understand who Kotono had been trying to prove herself to these past days.

His gaze fell on the tall bar—the white horizontal bar, seemingly symbolizing the distance between an underdog and someone called a “genius.”

He…

couldn’t clear it.