Uchiha Traits

As the days passed, Naruto's life gradually settled into a fixed rhythm. Every morning, he practiced taijutsu, and if he was lucky, he would run into Might Guy. This fiery, passionate man would take the initiative to invite Naruto to train with him, so Naruto never needed to deliberately approach him.

During their second meeting, Might Guy gave Naruto a special gift—a green jumpsuit identical to Rock Lee's. Although Naruto no longer cared about the villagers' stares, he still hesitated when faced with such an outrageous training outfit. In the end, he could only reply stiffly, "I'll treasure it."

As they spent more time together, Might Guy's favorability toward Naruto continued to rise. System notifications rang out one after another.

Congratulations, Host: You have formed a Level 4 bond with the original character "Might Guy"!

Congratulations, Host: You have formed a Level 5 bond with the original character "Might Guy"!

This friendship brought Naruto 500 System Points.

After one training session, Might Guy solemnly promised Naruto that when he graduated from the Ninja Academy, he would teach him an incredibly powerful technique.

Guy rarely boasted, but he said that in all of Konoha, only he had fully mastered this technique. Naruto naturally knew exactly what it was—the Eight Inner Gates.

As time passed, a sudden reading craze swept through the bookstores of Konoha Village. A novel titled "Battle Through the Heavens" rapidly became a sensation, nearly becoming an unavoidable topic among young ninja after meals.

This was the manuscript Naruto had originally given Hizashi, and it had now been officially published. The facts proved that even across different worlds, people's aesthetic tastes were astonishingly similar.

Taking advantage of this wave of popularity, Naruto decided to visit the Land of Hot Water and inspect the construction of Hizashi's base. After instantly arriving through the Flying Thunder God Technique, he found that Hizashi had already used the Transformation Jutsu to become a merchant named "Tanuma," establishing himself locally as a man without a surname.

During their secret meeting, Hizashi gave Naruto, who was disguised as Menma, a detailed report on the current progress. With the income from selling Chakra Metal and the royalties from the novel, he had first invested in leasing an entire hot spring street. In the Land of Hot Water, famed for tourism, this was undoubtedly the safest way to make a profit.

As for the concealed, easily defended main base Naruto had specifically requested, Hizashi had already purchased a large tract of land on the outskirts of town. Although construction had only just begun, at the current pace, fulfilling all of Naruto's requirements was merely a matter of time.

As for why he had not immediately recruited more ninja into the Ember Organization, Naruto had his own considerations—the time was not yet right.

In Stone Village, Deidara was still active as the Tsuchikage's disciple and had not yet been expelled from the village. At this point, he was immersed in creating his explosive art and had no need to seek another path.

Kisame Hoshigaki was still trapped in the Blood Mist Village under Obito's control, carrying out filthy Anbu missions that went against his heart. This "tailless Tailed Beast" remained lost and confused about reality, and with Obito watching him closely, this was not the best time to make contact.

As for Sasori of the Red Sand and Kakuzu, Naruto planned to recruit them after his strength had advanced further. Unless he could display overwhelming power, those two unruly fellows would never submit willingly.

As for a fanatical cultist like Hidan, Naruto had excluded him from the recruitment list from the very beginning.

Therefore, Naruto focused on his daily interactions with Satsuki. Their training time every afternoon became the part of the day he looked forward to most. Bickering and sparring with this tsundere childhood friend, watching her pretend not to care even though she clearly did—this ordinary daily life instead made Naruto cherish it all the more.

And so, on one seemingly ordinary evening—just like the hundreds of farewells before it—after Naruto waved goodbye and watched Satsuki leave, the system notification suddenly rang out.

Ding!

Congratulations, Host: You have formed a Level 7 bond with the original character "Uchiha Satsuki" (maxed)!

Points obtained: 500!

Unexpectedly, this highest-level bond had been achieved without any earth-shattering event, relying solely on their day-after-day interactions.

As the target with the most generous rewards, Satsuki's favorability had risen as fast as a rocket. Naruto could not help but smile at the contrast.

This result was not actually surprising, because the Uchiha Clan had always been like this—cold and unapproachable on the surface, yet once they acknowledged someone, their favorability would soar at an astonishing speed.

However, such blazing emotions were also a double-edged sword. If someone they recognized met with misfortune, Uchiha clan members would fall into an extreme emotional vortex. Even more troublesome, their Sharingan needed precisely such intense emotional fluctuations to evolve. Those with exceptional talent might even directly awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan.

This was the fundamental reason Tobirama Senju had always remained wary of the Uchiha Clan. This peculiar clan's favorability rose faster than anyone else's when they accepted someone, but once they lost someone important, their strength would advance by leaps and bounds while they fell into an extreme state of obsession—it was practically the perfect embodiment of "sacrifice your friends and family to heaven, and your power becomes boundless."

For Uchiha clan members, who placed emotions above all else, emotion would always outweigh reason. Just like Obito Uchiha: after the woman he loved died, he abandoned everything without hesitation and could even bring himself to kill his own mentor.

Just imagine it—if someone like that became Hokage, then if an unexpected change occurred, the blow dealt to Konoha would be catastrophic.

The only Uchiha Tobirama Senju trusted, Kagami Uchiha, was an exception precisely because he was different. In the "Book of Sha," Tobirama had mentioned that Kagami's way of thinking was closer to that of the Senju Clan and completely lacked the characteristics of a typical Uchiha.

Just like that, Naruto had gained another 1,900 System Points. Just when he thought it would be difficult to obtain any more points in the near future, an accident quietly arrived on an utterly ordinary night.

That night was no different from usual. Naruto finished a day of training, packed up his ninja tool bag, and headed home along the familiar streets. Moonlight quietly spilled over the stone road, and the surroundings were so silent that he could hear only his own footsteps. There was no warning, no anomaly; in such an ordinary moment—

Ding!

Congratulations, Host: You have formed an initial bond with the original character "Hinata Hyuga"!

Points obtained: 200!

The sudden system notification made Naruto shudder, and he nearly jumped. Though he was happy to receive the points, the notification sent a chill down his spine—the system would only trigger its reward mechanism when he actually came into contact with someone!

This meant...

Naruto forcefully suppressed the chill in his heart and continued walking as if nothing had happened, but every one of his senses was taut. He deliberately slowed down, then suddenly accelerated as he passed a corner before spinning around sharply.

Sure enough, a small white figure was hurriedly trying to hide. Hinata Hyuga stood there at a complete loss, her Byakugan wide open. Under the moonlight, her face reddened at a visible speed, the blush spreading from her cheeks all the way to her ears.

The instant she was discovered, Hinata turned and fled in fright. Naruto did not even have time to speak before that white figure had vanished into the night, leaving only a string of panicked footsteps echoing through the street.