Childhood Sweetheart Is a Loli

The Uchiha clan grounds, the public housing on the outskirts.

An old man was sitting under a large tree enjoying the shade when he suddenly looked up and saw a familiar little fellow.

"Baiyu, you're back."

"Yes, I'm back."

Baiyu nodded with a smile and said.

The area around the public housing was filled with people on the fringes of the clan, their entire lives bound to the clan's fate.

Baiyu was one of them.

The clan's glory had nothing to do with them, yet the clan's decline would require them to sacrifice their lives.

"Keep working hard on your training!"

Old man Kuma encouraged him.

Baiyu responded with a smile, "I will."

A group of people forgotten by the clan gathered here, living together in great harmony.

When Baiyu was young, he had received quite a bit of help from his neighbors.

"Baiyu, did you have a falling out with little Hitomi? I haven't seen you two together in a long time. You used to go to school together, did you have a fight?"

"Grandpa Kuma, I graduated two years ago! Hitomi is still in school."

Baiyu pointed to his forehead protector with a helpless expression.

Since the death of Uchiha Madara.

Old man Kuma was likely the oldest living member of the Uchiha, eighty-five years old this year.

He would need to live several more decades to catch up to Uchiha Madara.

When he had first transmigrated, Baiyu had thought Kuma was a hidden expert of the Uchiha and had fawned over him.

In reality, he was just an ordinary old man, and a bit forgetful at that.

"Oh! Well, keep up the good work then!"

Kuma rubbed his bald head in embarrassment, wearing an apologetic expression.

The old man often complained about his own forgetfulness, and whenever he realized he had misremembered something, he would immediately begin to reflect on it.

Baiyu waited for him for a moment, and seeing that he had nothing else to say, he took his ingredients and headed home.

In the half-month he had been away, a thin layer of dust had settled in the house, so Baiyu first carefully cleaned the place from top to bottom.

After washing his hands and face, he set the water to heat and began preparing the ingredients.

He pre-processed the meat as usual before going to take a bath.

He liked to manage his time efficiently.

While buying the meat, Baiyu had already decided what dishes to make today.

This time, he didn't want anything too greasy, so he chose to make a dish of garlic-sauce pork, also known as Lizhuang Boiled Pork.

He had selected five pounds of the best pork belly, with a ratio of about fifty percent lean to fifty percent fat. Four pounds would be used for the Lizhuang Boiled Pork, and the rest would be combined with the onions and green peppers he had bought to make a Twice-Cooked Pork.

With the spare ribs he had been given, he would boil a pot of soup with corn and potatoes.

Normally, spare rib soup should include ingredients like shiitake mushrooms or kelp to enhance the aroma and flavor, but Baiyu didn't like those, so he swapped them for potatoes.

Potatoes might be cheap, but they were delicious!

After finishing all the cooking and ensuring the food stayed warm, Baiyu opened the door and stepped out.

It had been a long time since he had invited the old neighbor to dinner, and this was the perfect opportunity.

He stepped out, went downstairs, and turned right, seeing Grandpa Kuma still lost in reflection, and he smiled knowingly.

"Grandpa Kuma, you haven't eaten yet, have you?"

"Ah? No, I haven't."

Old man Kuma looked up in surprise and answered instinctively.

Everyone here was on the fringes of the clan; the younger generation could still change their lives by learning ninjutsu.

But these elderly, widowed clan members who had lost their combat ability and retired, with their children and parents having died in battle, had no one to rely on and could only scrape by on the meager subsidies provided by the clan.

There weren't many old people around the public housing, but children made up a large portion of the residents.

The children grew up with the support and help of the elders, and once they became ninja, they began to shoulder the responsibilities of the clan.

The older generation quietly waited for death before being sent to the graveyard. Once the young people became ninja, they moved away to the center of the clan grounds.

Baiyu hadn't done that, choosing instead to keep living here.

The location was remote, and the rent was cheap.

He was surrounded by familiar faces.

"I've finished cooking at my place, let's eat together!"

Baiyu asked with a smile.

Neighbors should look out for one another.

"Then I'll be troubling you. A child with cooking skills as good as yours, Baiyu, is a perfect match for the prettiest girl in the Uchiha clan! You can't let Hitomi get snatched up by someone else."

Old Man Kuma agreed readily and began to lecture Baiyu once more.

Baiyu looked embarrassed; all the neighbors knew he and Hitomi had a very close relationship.

Old Man Kuma had been saying these things since Hitomi was seven or eight years old.

Heaven knows how he could tell back then that Hitomi would grow up to be the greatest beauty of the Uchiha.

"Alright, alright, Grandpa. Let me help you home first. I'll go find her right after!"

Baiyu replied, carefully helping the old man up and picking up the cane beside the wooden chair.

He wondered how he should talk to that girl.

It had been nearly a year since he last saw Uchiha Hitomi.

The old man was nearly senile, yet he never forgot to play matchmaker for the two of them.

When he first arrived in this world, Baiyu had thought having a cute childhood sweetheart was a pretty good deal.

But Uchiha Hitomi seemed to stick to him like glue; whenever she had free time, she would run to his side.

Her shadow was everywhere, as if she had been hit by Baiyu's own Shadow Possession Jutsu.

Over time, anyone would be terrified.

Especially after Baiyu awakened his Sharingan, it became even more excessive.

Who would want to open the door after using the bathroom, only to find a little girl standing outside, asking in a milky voice:

"Big Brother, how do you activate the Sharingan?"

How was Baiyu supposed to answer that!

The little girl was also an orphan, and the person she was closest to was Baiyu.

Was he supposed to tell her to kill her own brother to achieve enlightenment?

That girl followed him around all day long, and even during Ninja Academy, she would often run over to attend class with him, ruining his chances of picking up any little fan-girls in class despite his peerless Uchiha looks.

How infuriating!!!

Recalling the memories of his childhood, a smile couldn't help but tug at the corners of Baiyu's mouth.

He had been very angry back then, but looking back on it now, he felt much more indifferent.

Before he knew it, he had arrived at Uchiha Hitomi's front door. He hesitated for a moment, then gently knocked on the door.

"Knock, knock, knock!"

"Who is it?"

A soft, sweet girl's voice came from inside.

After a short wait, the door opened, and a girl wearing a blue-and-white gradient floral kimono appeared. Her dark, silky hair cascaded over her shoulders like a waterfall, her bangs slightly covering her eyebrows, and a single cowlick ruined her otherwise perfect hairstyle. Her cute, slightly round face and large eyes stared blankly at the person outside.

She had grown taller, and she had become even prettier!

Baiyu muttered to himself, looking at the familiar face before him, and sighed slightly:

"Long time no see, Hitomi."

"Big Brother Baiyu!"

Hitomi suddenly lunged at him, like a collision.

The impact left him feeling soft all over in an instant, a fragrant scent filling his nose!

"Why is it like this every time? You're a big girl now!"

Baiyu pushed Hitomi away slightly, his brows furrowed as he spoke in a stern tone.

Uchiha Hitomi was hanging onto him like a koala.

It was highly improper!!

"Big Brother Baiyu, you haven't come to see me in such a long time. You can do whatever you want with me, you know!"

Uchiha Hitomi stared at Baiyu with her dark eyes, asking with full expectation.

"Grandpa Kuma invited you to my place for dinner. Hurry up and get ready."

Baiyu said, speechless, turning his head away. That girl's head was almost pressed against that spot.

Baiyu hurriedly pulled Uchiha Hitomi away, reciting scriptures in his mind to suppress his impulses.

"Okay! Right away!"

Uchiha Hitomi's eyes lit up, and she hopped and skipped back into the house.

"Hurry up! Just put on your shoes and go."

Baiyu urged.

"Alright, coming right away! You go back and keep Grandpa company first; I'll be there in a moment."

Uchiha Hitomi's voice drifted out from the room.

Baiyu shook his head; this girl was still the same as ever.

Having grown up together, she was the person he had spent the most time with since arriving in this world.

This bond was something that could never be erased.

Though Baiyu claimed to find her annoying, he was surprised to find himself feeling a bit nostalgic after being away for too long.

Without strength to rely on, there was no room to speak of romantic or familial attachments.

Could it be that I was truly afraid this girl would kill her brother to prove her path once she awakened the Sharingan? Now that my swordsmanship has achieved success, I actually don't dislike her as much anymore.

Inside the room, Uchiha Hitomi gazed at herself in the mirror, full of excitement, as she fastened a Konoha ninja headband across her forehead. She pulled her loose black hair up into a high ponytail and tied it with a white cord.

After changing into a new set of clothes, Uchiha Hitomi secretly cheered herself on: "Come on! Hitomi, you will definitely be able to protect Big Brother Baiyu."

The affection grown from childhood had blossomed into a deep, unshakable bond.