You lecherous brat, take this!

Outside Konoha, in a dense forest.

The setting sun was as red as blood. Scorching sunlight streamed through the thick branches, dappling the forest floor.

"Uncle Nichirin, how come that person you mentioned still hasn't arrived?"

Tsubaki kept tugging at her pink T-shirt as she watched the village, looking this way and that, but couldn't spot a single person.

Perhaps because the two enormous mounds on her chest stretched her shirt too tight, tugging at it did nothing to let in a cool breeze. Sweat had nearly soaked through the shirt, leaving it clammy and making her mood grow increasingly irritable.

"If he doesn't show up soon, I'm leaving. I'll find a cool day and beat him up some other time."

All she wanted now was to take off the T-shirt and go home for a cold shower.

"Wait a little longer."

Nichirin wiped the sweat from his brow. He was getting impatient too, but still urged her to be patient. "The Uchiha may be arrogant, but most of them aren't the sort to break their word. He should come."

"All right..." Tsubaki pouted and reluctantly agreed.

But ten minutes later...

The secluded forest was still completely empty.

"Damn it, I'm done waiting!"

Resisting the urge to burst out of her clothes, Tsubaki slapped the small tree beside her in half and glared furiously.

"Uncle Nichirin, I'm heading back first. I'll change clothes, then go straight to find him!"

"..."

Nichirin was annoyed too. He hadn't expected that Uchiha brat to dare stand him up like this.

"Come on, I'll go with you. When we find the brat, we'll hit him with the Eight Trigrams Palm!"

"Good! Let's beat him to a pulp!"

Whoosh!

Just as the two were getting ready to fight, a Hyuga clan member suddenly darted over the treetops and landed nearby.

"Lord Nichirin, a message came from the clan. That brat named Uchiha Ao sent someone to deliver word. He says he wants to change the sparring location."

Meanwhile, at Uzumaki Mito's residence.

"Is that really true?!"

Uchiha Ao jumped to his feet, so excited he could barely contain himself. "Then I, Ao, am willing to give everything for you, my lady! I'll stand firm whenever you need me!"

"Giggle..."

Mito covered her smile. "Don't make promises you can't keep. And I'm only giving you this Wood Release senjutsu on one condition. Although Hashirama was my husband, the Wood Release he left behind still belongs to the Senju Clan. I can't just hand it over to someone else."

"I wonder..."

So there's a condition after all... A glint flashed in Ao's eyes. He didn't mind, though. Straightforward terms were better than someone scheming behind his back.

"Besides the mission, what other condition do you have, my lady?"

What he meant was that by taking on this mission, he was already helping her homeland. He hoped she wouldn't ask too much more of him.

"You smooth talker."

Mito gave him a flirtatious look. "Don't worry. This additional condition isn't dangerous. In fact, it would be a great thing for you."

"A great thing?" Ao looked puzzled.

What, are you really going to make me give everything?

He didn't have any objections, but if her younger brother-in-law found out, he'd probably chase Ao across half the Shinobi World with the Flying Thunder God.

"Uh... Lady Mito, I know you may have been feeling a little lonely lately..."

"Pah! What are you thinking?"

Seeing Ao hesitate, Mito realized what he was getting at. Her charming face flushed red, and she chided him, "I mean I want you to marry a girl from the Uzumaki Clan."

The Uzumaki Clan's plea for help, Tobirama's attitude, and the precarious state of Uzushiogakure in recent years had all made Mito realize that she couldn't put all her eggs in one basket.

After considering it, the Uchiha Clan seemed like an excellent choice. They had held their own against the Senju Clan for years, and their bloodline power was among the very best in the entire Shinobi World.

But aren't you a girl from the Uzumaki Clan too...? Ao grumbled to himself, but didn't dare say it aloud. Instead, he asked with a puzzled look, "I see... But why did you choose me, Lady Mito?

"I imagine that given your influence in Konoha, you've already had my circumstances thoroughly investigated over the past couple of days.

"I'm not particularly strong within the Uchiha Clan, and in the village, I'm practically a nobody... I mean, just an ordinary Ninja.

"Would marrying a girl from the Uzumaki Clan to me really have much of an impact on Uzushiogakure's situation?"

"Is that really so?"

Mito glanced at his chest, her meaning plain in her beautiful eyes.

"Then why did I sense power in your arms that surpasses the ordinary Sharingan? I fought alongside Hashirama and Madara for years, so I know that power all too well. You can't fool me."

Otherwise, she would have turned against him long ago for his brazen behavior just now.

Did he really think she was some naive little girl?

"Power that surpasses the ordinary Sharingan..."

Following Mito's gaze, Ao looked at one of the pouches on his chest, and a flicker of surprise passed through his eyes.

Could what Clan Leader Qiongyue gave me be...

Before coming here, he'd only known that the scroll was a life-saving tool the old geezer Qiongyue had given him.

He'd been hurrying to make it to their meeting and hadn't examined it closely. He hadn't realized it contained a Mangekyo eye technique!

He remembered that in the original story, Jiraiya had used a sealing scroll to seal and retrieve Itachi's Black Flame. Could this scroll be a similar kind of item?

"Looks like you really didn't know."

Seeing the genuine surprise on Ao's face, Mito smiled. "The Uchiha are always like this. They feel more deeply than anyone, yet every one of them pretends to be cold and proud."

That was also why she was willing to choose someone from the Uchiha Clan as a marriage ally. As long as a girl from the Uzumaki Clan earned the Uchiha's genuine acceptance, and as long as Ao remained alive, the Uchiha could keep Uzushiogakure safe for decades.

Ao touched the scroll in his pouch, lost in thought.

I didn't think that old bastard would really go to such lengths to protect me. But it's not that he cares about me so much. There has to be a reason.

He suspected it might have something to do with the Hokage. After all, it was far too much of a coincidence that an Anbu Ninja and that White-faced Ninja had come to see him one after the other.

"Think it over first."

Mito took a sip of tea and spoke unhurriedly. "I've told you all the benefits. Now it's time for you to show your sincerity."

"My sincerity?"

Ao raised an eyebrow. "Do you mean...?"

"To receive these benefits..."

Mito gently set down her teacup, then fixed her beautiful eyes on him. "You need to possess the strength to match them!"

Whoosh!

Before she'd even finished speaking, the gentle, lovely Mito was suddenly enveloped in a thin layer of red chakra. In a flash, she appeared beside Ao and swung a roundhouse kick at his head!

"!!!"

She was even faster than an ordinary Body Flicker Technique. Ao had only just reacted when her leg was already less than ten centimeters from his head.

Crack!

A burst of white smoke exploded, and the chair beneath Ao was smashed to pieces along with it.

"Your reflexes are pretty fast, brat."

Looking at the white smoke that had burst apart, Mito praised him. Her hair stood on end, lifted by the Nine-Tails Chakra surrounding her.

"But dodging isn't enough. Let me see what you're good at!"

Whoosh!

With that, she flashed away and located Ao on a ceiling beam. She followed up with a heavy punch.

This time, however, Ao didn't dodge. A cold glint flashed in his eyes. In an instant, blue-white arcs of lightning enveloped his body, and his muscles were strengthened to their limit.

He reached out his right hand to meet her fist!

Smack!

Her fist, wrapped in the Nine-Tails Chakra's raging power, landed squarely in Ao's palm. Their collision produced a sonic boom. The resulting shock wave didn't bring down the beam, but it shattered most of the windows in the room.

"You're a... Taijutsu Ninja?!"

Mito's beautiful eyes widened as she stared at Ao's handsome face, now enveloped in blue-white lightning.

"I just work out now and then..."

Ao shrugged and grinned. "Do you think my strength is enough to pass your test, Lady Mito?"

As he spoke, he even ran his thumb lightly over Mito's little hand.

Whoosh!

Mito's gentle face turned bright red. She hurriedly jumped backward and landed on the floor, glaring at him.

"You brat! Why can't you keep your hands to yourself?

"Taking advantage of an old lady, are you!"

"Heh."

Ao lightly jumped down after her and landed on the floor. He scratched his head, pretending to be embarrassed. "I just thought your hand felt like a young girl's, maybe twenty years old. I couldn't help myself. If I've offended you, please forgive me, Lady Mito."

"...You..."

Mito's pretty face flushed even redder. That line could disarm just about any older woman, and for a moment she could barely get the words out.

"You—you really are a smooth-talking brat!"

Once she'd calmed down, she began to regret it. If she married a girl from the Uzumaki Clan to this man, he'd probably have her forgetting what day it was.

No. She had to knock that cocky attitude out of him!

"Brat!"

She steeled her expression. "I only used fifty percent of my strength just now. If you want to complete the mission, you'll have to withstand at least eighty percent!

"So get ready!"

"!!!"

Ao's expression changed as he watched Mito gather her strength.

Holy crap! Eighty percent? You're going to punch me into dumpling filling!

"Yamete, Lady Mito! I was wrong, all right? I was wrong!"

"Don't worry. I know Medical Ninjutsu. I won't kill you!"

Mito wore a kind smile, but the Nine-Tails Chakra enveloping her body grew thicker and thicker.

"You lecherous brat, take this!"

At that moment of mortal danger, a commotion suddenly rose from outside the courtyard.

"Let us in! We came to spar with Uchiha Ao. This is the sparring location he agreed to, so why won't you let us in?!"

"Uchiha Ao! Uchiha Ao!!!"