She's the Woman Who Could Become My Mother!

The first time I'd ever been so grateful for the super moderator.

After that, there wasn't much Danmaku left. The super moderator had probably enabled their permissions.

It seemed the netizens had connected the events of the story to the real world, scaring the super moderator half to death.

"Teacher Kakashi, leave this to me today. Naruto and Sasuke haven't done any hands-on intelligence work before either, so why not let them give it a try?"

Sparkle said.

"Mm."

Kakashi nodded.

For Naruto and Sasuke, who had both lost their parents, that last wave had indeed hit pretty hard.

Yeah, that was right.

Sasuke fell silent as well.

Though Sasuke didn't say anything, he had been happily eating hot pot and singing songs when he was suddenly caught in some inexplicable AOE. His feelings were rather complicated now too.

Calling it intelligence work was really just an excuse to let them relax a little.

Even though so much had happened, everyone still went on doing what they had to do.

"Inari~"

After learning Inari's whereabouts from Tsunami, Sparkle found him again.

The boy was sitting by the sea, staring blankly out at the ocean.

She walked over and gently patted Inari on the shoulder.

"Heroes... die. They'll be killed by Gato..."

Inari's voice was weak.

He felt guilty, but because of his father's death, he couldn't escape the shadow called Gato.

Damn, this brat's attitude toward Sparkle is completely different from his attitude toward Naruto.

Obviously. One's a loudmouthed blond kid, the other's a gentle big sister. How could they be the same?

Sparkle is a woman who could become my mother!

Trust me, Naruto should turn into Twin Tails and come over. I guarantee that speech just now would've worked.

"Naruto's parents died when he was born."

"...Huh?"

Inari froze completely upon hearing that.

"And for various reasons, Naruto had been rejected by his peers since childhood. He had very few friends."

Inari: ...

He thought of his own past as well.

"But Naruto only ever kept those things in his heart. He never talked about them to earn other people's sympathy."

"Naruto never stopped moving forward. Even when he was covered in wounds, he still remained optimistic and positive."

Sparkle said softly, "I don't know how you view so-called heroes. But I do know that some things will never come true if you don't do them."

"Take Gato. If you don't resist, then Gato will forever be the dark cloud hanging over you. But if all of you take action, then perhaps Gato will become nothing more than a paper tiger."

"But..."

Inari wanted to say something, but Sparkle took out a lollipop and stuffed it into his mouth.

"I know you're a gentle child. The reason you told us how powerful Gato is was because you didn't want us to be killed by Gato too, right~?"

Tell me a joke: getting killed by Gato.

Looks like there's a huge difference between ordinary people's horizons and ninja in the Ninja Path world.

Feels like this first arc is all about explaining what a ninja is.

Perhaps because the super moderator had gone on a killing spree just now, the netizens had calmed down.

"Everyone has their own path. Some paths will still be chosen even when people know sacrifice awaits them. But those who retreat shouldn't be blamed either."

"If you want to become a hero, I will praise you. If you merely swallow your anger, that is also a path to survival. If you want to turn around and run away, I will wish you a brand-new life."

"However, you need to understand who is blazing the trail ahead, who is building a home for everyone. At the very least, people like that deserve respect and blessings."

"Heroes may die, and they may sacrifice themselves, but the traces heroes leave behind truly exist."

Inari raised his head in confusion. "The traces heroes leave behind...?"

"Yeah."

Sparkle's smile was incomparably radiant beneath the morning sun. She pointed to Inari's chest. "The traces heroes leave behind truly exist here."

A Woman Who Could Become My Mother!

Hanabi Hyuga, Life Mentor

Someone think of a way to make Sparkle my mother.

Hey, guy above, is that the only line you know how to spam? I'm different. Lady Sparkle, I want to be your dog!

Does anyone know where to get the same doll as Lady Sparkle's? I've looked everywhere and can't find one.

There are knockoffs on Taobao, but they're cracking down hard.

If the audience demand is high enough, there'll definitely be one eventually. Who would leave money on the table?

Take_My_Money!

After Sparkle spoke with Inari, the Danmaku became lively again.

However, the scene had now switched to Naruto.

After sending Inari back and receiving a round of thanks from Tsunami, Sparkle dismissed the Shadow Clone Jutsu.

It was time for the next step of the plan.

"Gathering intelligence..."

Naruto walked alongside Sasuke with his hands behind his head.

"The situation in the Land of Waves is really awful."

Unlike Naruto, though Sasuke had been hit by an inexplicable AOE, he recovered quickly.

Although his knowledge of intelligence gathering had previously been limited to textbooks, Sasuke adapted quickly.

"Ah..."

Naruto looked up at the sky.

Sasuke couldn't hold it in any longer. "What's wrong with you, idiot? You were always so carefree before. Why did you become like this after coming here?"

"Huh?!"

Naruto got annoyed. "What do you mean by that?!"

"Naruto?"

All of a sudden, Naruto heard a voice. His spirits visibly lifted.

"Who's that?"

Sasuke looked over as well.

A woman wearing Beiyi stood there. Yet her red eyes and ice-blue hair could vaguely be seen.

She gave off a very gentle feeling.

"Aunt Kushina!"

Naruto eagerly ran over to greet her.

Kushina Yukiei smiled. "What a coincidence, Naruto."

"A beautiful woman. Is she hiding herself for safety?"

During his earlier investigation, Sasuke had already learned about the Land of Waves' current circumstances. There were many unemployed people, and cases of people selling their children or wives were probably not uncommon.

—A country that had lost hope.

"Sasuke, Sasuke, this is Aunt Kushina I told you about before. Aunt Kushina, this is my companion, Sasuke."

Naruto was very happy.

"Aren't you ninja here to carry out a mission? Why are you wandering around?"

Kushina Yukiei asked "curiously."

"We're conducting an investigation."

Thinking Naruto might not be reliable, Sasuke rushed to answer first.

"That fan..."

Kushina Yukiei's attention shifted to Sasuke.

She had just noticed the fan on Sasuke's back.

"Ah, it's my clan's emblem. You know it?"

Sasuke became wary.

"Ah, I seem to have seen it while traveling in the Land of Lightning before." Kushina Yukiei smiled.

Sasuke frowned but said nothing.

However, from the "audience perspective," Sasuke was muttering to himself inwardly. "The Land of Lightning? Now that I think about it, the Uchiha Clan seemed to have stayed in the Land of Lightning for a while in the past?"

Nice assist!

Sparkle was very satisfied with Sasuke's "extra scene."

The purpose of those words was not for the Land of Waves before them, but for the future Uchiha Hikari.

Her "special treatment" was limited to this Land of Waves incident. How could she not seize the opportunity?

As Hanabi Hyuga, going to search the Konoha archives for something like Warring States Sealing History would definitely be OOC.

Although Sparkle had plans to defect, it wasn't convenient to start acting on them now.

If she had no way of getting information from Konoha, then she could only get it from the Uchiha Clan.

As it happened, according to the records, the Uchiha Clan's ancestral home had indeed been in the Land of Lightning for a time before they later came to Konoha.

Then Sparkle couldn't be blamed for adding some extra scenes.

Compared to Konoha, the Uchiha Clan's history in the Land of Lightning was older, vaguer, and more convenient to fabricate.

Sparkle felt no burden whatsoever about fabricating history in the Naruto World. Besides, it was for the audience's viewing experience.

Besides, this sort of thing was practically commonplace in Naruto.

Black Zetsu did it too!

If some unnamed mastermind behind the scenes could do it, why couldn't she?

"Since you're working, I won't disturb you."

Kushina Yukiei glanced at Naruto, then bowed and prepared to leave.

"Actually, we don't really have anything important to do—"

Naruto suddenly spoke.

He didn't know why.

Perhaps because of what Inari had said, Naruto instinctively wanted to stay with her a little longer.

But when he thought of his responsibilities, Naruto got stuck. The words he had only half spoken lodged in his throat.

Sasuke sighed.

"We didn't have much to do in the first place. This... Aunt Kushina lives here alone, right? Naruto, if there's something you want to do, go do it. I'll take care of the rest."