"I'm not hiding anything from you, can't I just be honest?" Naruto grinned, holding a teacup.
"Fine, I won't meddle in your affairs. It's your business anyway," Neji shook his head, "But you do have a point. If a war really breaks out, our Hyuga Clan will definitely have to go to the battlefield."
"Fighting for the village is our duty, but the battlefield is unpredictable and full of risks." Naruto circled back to his main point.
"As for Hinata and Ino, I've already made arrangements. Regardless of my own selfish motives or anything else, I just want them to stay safe."
Neji was a bit confused by Naruto's vague wording.
"Then just find an excuse to keep them out of it." Neji said casually. He and Naruto were close enough that they could speak freely in private.
Having been Clan Head for a while now, Neji carried an air of authority, his brows perpetually furrowed.
"How is that an option?" Naruto waved his hand dismissively, "What kind of terrible idea is that? First of all, Ino is way too sharp… she's even put off having kids because of her work. If I forced her to sit idle, she'd figure out it was me in no time. I'd be doomed."
"And even if Ino didn't mind, Hinata wouldn't agree. When you and her father are on the battlefield, Hinata might seem soft-spoken, but once she makes up her mind, she's stubborn as hell."
Listening to Naruto's rambling analysis, Neji couldn't help but laugh.
"Naruto, you've got a lot on your plate, huh?"
"Well, with great power comes great responsibility." Naruto said shamelessly, without a hint of embarrassment, "It's all for the village's sake. More people mean a thriving village."
Watching him spout nonsense with a straight face, Neji found it hard not to chuckle.
"Do you know what the Shinobi in the village say about you?"
"What? People dare slander my good name?" Naruto nearly jumped up, downing his tea in one gulp, "What are they saying?"
"Cough." Neji coughed, realizing he might have said too much, "Nothing much, just that you've snatched up all the good-looking ones in the village."
"That's bullshit! Who? Who's spreading these vicious lies?" Naruto was outraged, "Are you saying the only good-looking people in the village are Hinata and Ino?"
"If other girls heard this, the guy who said it would be torn to shreds! This is downright malicious! After all the blood and sweat I've poured into this village, is this the thanks I get?"
"Hinata and Ino… we grew up together as childhood friends. What's wrong with being close? Huh? Is that a crime? If others didn't have the luck, that's their problem! Reincarnation's a skill too, you know!"
Neji barely managed to keep a straight face, silently thinking that Naruto was truly insufferable. He took a sip of tea to suppress the urge to retort.
"Let's not talk about baseless rumors. Is war really coming? It's only been about twenty years of peace, hasn't it? And now it's starting again?"
"The signs are all there. You've seen them too." Naruto sat back down, reached for his tea, found it empty, and poured himself another cup.
Though he'd moved on verbally, his mind was still fuming, 'I'd been keeping a low profile these past two years, no longer flaunting my charm. So why were people still jealous? Hinata and Ino were the little cabbages I'd been nurturing since childhood… what, they didn't understand the concept of reaping what you sow?'
'Jealous? Jealous my ass!'
'Once I had time, I'd teach those pretty boys a lesson. Seriously, have they never experienced a fairy's magical tempering before? Getting all entitled now!'
"No way. Tell me, which bunch of bastards are spreading this nonsense?"
"Huh?" Neji was startled, then couldn't help but laugh, 'Naruto is still the same old Naruto… holding grudges like no one else.'
At the same time, he regretted speaking up. Now he'd just stirred up trouble for the village.
"Well…" Neji hesitated but eventually caved.
He was a little worried about Naruto causing chaos in the village, but better them than him. Besides, those guys had it coming… who told them to mess with Naruto, the living embodiment of karma?
When he learned it was the young men from the minor clans making snide remarks, Naruto's lips twitched. He'd remember this.
'When the chance came, I'd make them regret it. Daring to provoke me, but have no strength to back it up and no influential fathers to shield them, were they tired of living? Have they never seen the vast green pastures before?'
It's not that he was petty… he was genuinely pissed. Who in their right mind would dare joke about the people he cared about? It was all those idiots from the minor clans.
Back in the day, he could have made them kneel and beg for mercy within 24 hours.
But in the past two years, since Tsunade left, he had mellowed out a bit, feeling like he'd had his fill of mischief. Not that he couldn't still make those little bastards regret their lives… he just chose not to.
Their conversation finally returned to the topic at hand: war.
"Sasuke has already declared war. There's definitely some force backing him… no way he could start a war alone." Naruto analyzed seriously.
In truth, war was inevitable. As long as Black Zetsu and Kabuto weren't complete idiots, they'd rope Sasuke into their plans. The declaration was just a matter of time… Naruto had merely sped things up.
He didn't want to wait any longer. Who knew when the Otsutsuki would descend? If internal and external crises hit at the same time, he'd be screwed. And with a family to protect? That's even worse.
The laboratory was starving for research materials, specifically Otsutsuki Kaguya's bodily fluids. So what if she was an alien? Once captured, she'd just be another test subject… especially since Kaguya was practically a local by now.
To solidify her rule, she'd even shamelessly fabricated myths, spreading some tragic princess tale. Talk about assimilating into the culture.
To hell with that. Love between two different species? That was more absurd than eating shit. Even if Naruto transmigrated into a world of monkeys, he'd rather jerk off for eternity than marry one.
At most, he'd use them as tools… how the hell would it turn into some cross-species romance? Ridiculous! Either the storyteller was insane, or Kaguya had lost her mind.
At the end of the day, Kaguya's bloodline purity was guaranteed. As for those two sons of hers, they're probably just backup energy storage, as she couldn't digest the entire Chakra Fruit alone.
Kaguya, the outsider, sure knew how to blend in. She cooked up all sorts of flashy nonsense, trying to farm and fortify the Shinobi World against her fellow Otsutsuki.
Unfortunately, halfway through the effort, the two backup hidden energy sources rebelled. You could say Kaguya was too clever for her own good… what helped her also doomed her, all because she insisted on playing by human rules.
This teaches us a lesson: if you're going to scheme, at least read some history first. History never repeats itself exactly, but how many human rulers have been overthrown by their own sons?
Then again, in the end, it's the outsiders' own business. What Naruto wants is to catalyze it all… capture Kaguya as soon as possible and begin the experiments.