New Friends

When Naruto woke up, it was already the next morning.

"Mm, what time is it? Only six?" Naruto woke from his dream and checked the time.

"My body? It feels like it's gotten much stronger again." Naruto silently sensed the changes in his body.

With his powerful sensory abilities, he was naturally extremely sensitive to changes within himself.

The Uchiha Clan bloodline had already fused perfectly with his body.

Naruto's physical abilities were now at least on par with Rock Lee from the original story after extensive training, without opening the Eight Inner Gates.

And that was purely Naruto's natural physical talent, without any training.

"As expected, in the world of Naruto, bloodlines are the most important thing. People with powerful bloodlines can grow stronger even while lying down." Naruto carefully felt through every change in his body.

"My eyes feel a little itchy? Don't tell me I'm about to awaken them?" Naruto secretly activated the Mind's Eye of the Kagura. Teacher Kakashi was not nearby, and it was still early. Only a few Anbu were around, and from the looks of it, they seemed to be slacking off?

Then he could relax.

He got out of bed, walked to the mirror, and looked at his reflection.

He gently rubbed his itchy eyes. His eyes had originally been blue, but they were now slowly turning red.

Naruto splashed water on his face, then suddenly realized in surprise that his eyes in the mirror had awakened!

A single tomoe slowly rotated in each eye.

His vision seemed to have improved, and his observational ability had greatly increased as well.

"But if someone finds out, my identity will really become suspicious."

He was Minato's child, with the Nine-Tails sealed inside him, yet his eyes were Sharingan. Did that make sense?

After some experimentation, Naruto finally figured out how to deactivate the Sharingan.

Fortunately, he had awakened the Sharingan by obtaining the Uchiha Clan bloodline, so he could activate and deactivate it at will.

Poor Teacher Kakashi, on the other hand, was not from the Uchiha Clan, and the Sharingan was not particularly compatible with his physique. Keeping it activated for long periods had instead become a burden, making it impossible for him to use it continuously.

It had even become dead weight that restricted the growth of his strength.

It was also why Teacher Kakashi was constantly short on Chakra.

Seeing his eyes turn blue again, Naruto finally relaxed.

Damn it, the Anbu were still watching him!

Could restricted freedom still be called freedom?

It would be great if he could learn a Transformation Jutsu that would keep him from being discovered. Then he could find a suitable opportunity to use the Shadow Clone Jutsu, leave behind a Shadow Clone to deal with the Anbu—

—and go out to train himself.

"You won't pick up a ninjutsu for free by staying home all day. I should go out for a walk."

Naruto's awkward situation now was that he knew a B-rank ninjutsu, the Shadow Clone Jutsu, but had nowhere to use it.

The moment he used it, the Anbu would discover him. Once he learned the Transformation Jutsu, this situation could improve somewhat.

As he wandered the streets aimlessly, a voice called out from behind him.

"Hey, Naruto! Naruto!" It was Kiba's voice.

"Woof, woof, woof!" That was Akamaru's voice.

Naruto turned toward Kiba. Sure enough, it was Kiba and Akamaru.

"Naruto, I told you last time I'd take you to meet my friends. Let's go!" Kiba casually threw an arm around Naruto's shoulders.

Akamaru naturally jumped into Naruto's arms as well.

Stroking Akamaru in his arms, Naruto said worriedly, "But Kiba, you know my reputation in the village isn't very good. They might not want to play with me."

Kiba froze for a moment before saying, "Probably not? It's fine, I'll vouch for you. Everyone will definitely play with you for my sake. Once they meet you and get to know what you're like, they definitely won't reject you like that anymore!"

"Then... all right." Naruto did not really care what others thought of him. He only cared about how his friends felt. He did not want his friends to be treated the same way he was.

"Hey, everyone, I'm back!" With an arm around Naruto's shoulders, Kiba led him to a small park.

There were familiar faces Naruto recognized, as well as unfamiliar figures.

"Hey, isn't that Naruto? So you're the friend Kiba mentioned. Want some chips?"

The first person to speak to Naruto was Akimichi Choji. So they had already been friends. No wonder the group had gotten along so well in the original story—they had known each other long before then.

"Whoa, Choji, you know Naruto? And you're even willing to share your chips with him? Did you fry your brain or something? You treasure those chips like crazy. You never even give us a tiny bit."

Kiba looked at Choji in surprise.

"Of course! Naruto is my friend. We competed before, and he even treated me to ramen. Of course I'm willing to share my chips with him. Here, Naruto!" Choji had already handed the chips over.

Naruto was curious what chips in the Naruto world tasted like. He reached in, took one, and put it into his mouth.

Mm, a very authentic original flavor—no flavor at all!

Besides Choji, Naruto curiously looked toward the others. There were three more people, one boy and two girls.

The boy wore his hair in a pineapple-shaped ponytail and looked thoroughly impatient, muttering about how troublesome it was to have to meet new friends again.

But he looked rather smart.

Wasn't this the "Deer" of the new generation's Ino-Shika-Cho, Nara Shikamaru? In the original story, he was a genius Strategist said to have an IQ above two hundred. He would also become Naruto's right-hand man, helping Naruto handle daily government affairs after Naruto became Hokage.

There were also two girls.

One had blonde hair tied into a ponytail. She looked very pretty and cute.

Naruto naturally recognized her as well. She was the "Boar" of the new generation's Ino-Shika-Cho, Yamanaka Ino, who was skilled at the Mind Body Switch Technique in the original story.

The Ino-Shika-Cho clans had been family friends for generations, so it was perfectly normal for them to be encouraged to play together from a young age and build a good relationship.

After all, they were practically destined to become teammates in a ninja squad, so their teamwork and coordination would naturally far surpass that of other squads.

As for the final girl, Naruto's feelings were somewhat complicated.

She was Haruno Sakura, the ninja who was often criticized by readers in the original story.

At this point, Sakura's forehead was indeed a little broad, but she had a red ribbon tied around her head, and her pink hair was truly beautiful.

However, the Sakura of this world was not the Sakura from the original story. If she turned out the same way as in the original story, Naruto would naturally find her extremely unpleasant.

But if her personality could be more normal, Naruto would not mind becoming friends with her.

After all, Sakura's talent was still somewhat better than that of the other rookie nine. She could at least contribute a little during the Ninja World War.

She just lacked self-awareness. Lady Tsunade, I think I've caught up to them a little!

That was just your illusion, child!

"Hello, everyone. I'm Uzumaki Naruto, the man who will become Hokage in the future!" Naruto greeted them politely.

As the saying went, you did not slap a smiling face. Even Shikamaru, who looked completely impatient, awkwardly said upon seeing Naruto's bright smile, "Hello. I'm Nara Shikamaru. I hate trouble and don't like making friends, but if it's you, I suppose it's not impossible."

Great, another tsundere!

Sakura and Ino looked at Naruto's gentle smile, their hearts fluttering slightly.

Naruto's whiskers had now completely disappeared. After obtaining the complete Uzumaki Clan Physique and the Uchiha Clan bloodline, Asura's Chakra had also begun to awaken a little.

It gave him an extremely warm feeling that made people want to get close to him.

"Hello, I'm Yamanaka Ino. My family runs a flower shop, so you're welcome to come buy flowers from us!" Ino said openly, staring fixedly at Naruto.

"H-hello, I'm Haruno Sakura. I'm Ino's friend, and this is my first time coming here to play too." Sakura was actually so shy as a child, completely unlike her fierce self later on.

Could his arrival, or perhaps the system, have caused some changes in this world?

If Sakura was like this, then he could interact with her without worry in the future.

"Hello, then what are you all playing here?" Naruto asked generously.

Although he could secretly sense several people watching them, they were not the Anbu who had been monitoring Naruto earlier.

It seemed that the children of these great clans naturally had people protecting their safety as well.

But Naruto still pretended not to know anything.

"Let's play Ninja Game!"

Inuzuka Kiba loudly suggested.

"Sure, sure!" Everyone unanimously agreed. At this age, they loved the ninja profession most of all.

Being able to use all kinds of ninjutsu that dazzled the eyes was simply amazing.

"Then I want to be Hokage!" Kiba was the first to speak.

"Ding! System Quest issued: Please have the Host become Hokage in the Ninja Game!"

System, system, you're even issuing quests for playing a game? But I like it!

"No, I want to be Hokage too!" Naruto said without backing down.

Since so many people were watching, he naturally had to put on a good performance and let them know that his dream was to become Hokage and live harmoniously with the people of the village.

That way, the forces behind them could feel at ease letting their children associate with Naruto.

It was also for the system's reward.

"Stop arguing. Let's vote. Raise your left hand if you want Kiba to be Hokage, and your right hand if you want Naruto to be Hokage."

Shikamaru interrupted their argument and proposed a fair method.

"Three, two, one, hands up!" Everyone except Kiba raised their right hands, including Akamaru.

"Waaah! Fine, everyone else can do whatever, but Akamaru, you betrayed me too!" Kiba felt utterly heartbroken.

"It's all right, Kiba. I appoint you as my number one general! How about I make you a jonin?" Naruto quickly got into character and comforted Kiba.

"Really? Naruto, you're so good to me!" Kiba instantly wiped away his earlier sadness and beamed with joy.

"Then I want to be the Hokage's wife!" Ino was incredibly direct, so much so that even Naruto had trouble handling it.

"Ino, the Hokage's wife doesn't seem to have much of a role in our Ninja Game. How about you choose something else?"

Naruto was a little embarrassed. No one had ever expressed their liking for him so directly before. Fortunately, Ino was still young and did not understand what true affection was.

He would just treat it as children fooling around.

"Then I'll be the Hokage's secretary. I heard adults say, 'When there's work, the secretary does it. When there's no work, do the secretary.' I don't really understand it, but it sounds very reasonable!"

Oh my god, Yamanaka Inoichi, is that how you teach your child? What do you usually talk about?

The ninjas watching nearby were also left speechless. They could only take it as childish innocence and ignorance.

"Very good. Then you'll be this Hokage's secretary. What about you, Shikamaru?" Naruto asked, looking at Shikamaru.

"Too troublesome. I'll be a passerby, preferably the kind who dies as soon as he appears. Then I can lie down as a corpse and take a nap."

Shikamaru's fear of trouble had apparently been there since childhood.

"No, that would be too unfair to you. Then you can be my Hokage advisor. I don't know what that does either, but it probably means I ask you whenever something happens."

"N-Naruto, then I'll be an ordinary villager." Sakura lacked confidence. Since her family were civilians, she had only been able to join them because of her good relationship with Ino, so she felt somewhat inferior.

"No, you can be an ordinary chunin. I already have a great general like Kiba, so I'll have to make do with you." Naruto did his best to treat everyone fairly, giving Sakura a somewhat impressive role while also praising Kiba.

That made both of them very satisfied.

"What about me? What about me?" Choji grew a little anxious when he saw that there was no role for him.

"Choji, we need someone to play the bad guy, so I can only trouble you with it."

Among the group, Choji was the strongest and most suited for it.

The moment he heard that he had to play the bad guy, Choji became unhappy.

"I don't want to! Naruto, you're playing favorites!" Choji was about to throw a tantrum, but Naruto, who knew Choji's temperament, understood how to deal with him.

"After we're done, I'll treat everyone to ramen. All you can eat. What do you say, Choji?"

When he heard that Naruto would treat everyone to ramen, especially all they could eat, Choji immediately became quite satisfied.

"That works. Naruto, you really are my good friend. It's just playing the bad guy, right? I'll do it!"

With the roles assigned, the group of children began playing their childish Ninja Game.

Once they were tired from playing, Naruto grandly waved his hand and treated everyone to ramen.

Some of them had originally planned to go home for dinner, but Naruto was too enthusiastic, so they could only follow him along.

When Uncle Teuchi saw Naruto bring such a huge group of friends this time, he could not hide the smile on his face at all.

Naruto always thinks of me whenever he does anything. What a good child. He's even boosting my sales.

Everyone ate very happily, especially Choji, who ate several bowls and could not stop.

Finally, beneath the setting sun, everyone said their goodbyes and returned home.

Everyone had a lot of fun that day.

They were all glad to have made a friend like Naruto.

Naruto was happy as well. Not only had he completed the quest, but he had also met the children of the major clans and become friends with them.

It was truly killing two birds with one stone!

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