Daily Life

When Sasuke Uchiha came in on an ordinary day, the girls would have instantly surrounded him.

But now, everyone was quiet.

Even ordinary villagers knew what had happened to the Uchiha Clan.

Although it was all over now, ordinary people were still somewhat afraid.

Sasuke paid no attention to the others and looked straight toward Naruto at the back.

Naruto himself didn't seem to care.

The day passed. That evening, Naruto was taking Hinata to eat at Ichiraku Ramen.

"Naruto, did you move?"

"How did you know?"

"I went to your place this morning, but you weren't there."

"I..."

Naruto was about to explain when he suddenly stopped, his eyes fixing on the road ahead.

Amid the crowd, an ordinary-looking man strolled along, glancing around.

Such powerful chakra. Who is he?

Naruto looked at the man.

"What's wrong, Naruto?"

Hinata was puzzled.

Naruto didn't answer, still thinking.

The man walking ahead seemed to sense something. He turned at once and met Naruto's gaze.

Killing intent. A Kage Level fighter.

Naruto instinctively stepped forward, shielding Hinata behind him.

"What a perceptive little brat. The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki?"

The man recognized Naruto at once when he saw the clan emblem on his clothes.

It was Orochimaru. After hearing that the Third Hokage had died and Tsunade had become the Fifth Hokage, he couldn't resist coming to take a look.

The Third Hokage's death hadn't caused much of a stir beyond Konoha.

Konoha's official explanation was that the Third Hokage had grown old and the Uchiha Clan had turned traitor, so Tsunade had put them down.

Whether anyone believed it didn't matter.

To keep the fallout to a minimum, Qiuyu Uchiha and Itachi Uchiha had both been sent to guard the borders.

That chakra feels so cold and sinister.

For a moment, Naruto couldn't figure out who the man was.

"Come on, Hinata. I'll take you home to eat today."

Naruto turned and led Hinata away.

Hinata wasn't stupid. Seeing Naruto's instinctive reaction, she knew something was wrong.

"Interesting little brat."

Orochimaru licked his lips unconsciously as he watched Naruto leave.

After some thought, he decided to visit the old man's grave first.

Once he sensed the man had gone far away, Naruto breathed a sigh of relief.

"Naruto, was that man dangerous?" Hinata asked softly.

He wasn't really a threat to Naruto, but Naruto hated trouble.

"He didn't seem like a good person. We'd better stay away from him."

Naruto bought some groceries and prepared to cook himself.

"This is your house?" Hinata asked in surprise, looking at Naruto's new home.

"Yeah. My parents left it to me."

Hinata wondered about Naruto's parents.

"My father was Minato Namikaze, and my mother was Kushina Uzumaki."

Naruto caught a trace of curiosity in her Byakugan, so he casually explained.

Hinata's mouth fell slightly open.

"The Fourth Hokage!"

Even if she didn't know anything else, every child knew about the Hokage.

Hinata hadn't imagined Naruto was the Fourth Hokage's son.

Then why had he had such a miserable childhood?

"Surprised? I only found out recently myself."

The two chatted casually.

Soon, the food was ready.

Three simple dishes and a soup, along with a bowl of noodles.

Thanks to the nourishment of the Yin Seal, Hinata's appetite had returned to normal.

That made her happier than anything. After all, it was embarrassing for a girl to have such a huge appetite.

She'd never dared to eat her fill before, afraid her father would scold her.

And since the portions here were small to begin with, Hinata had never once been full.

Naruto had known that from reading the original story.

After dinner, he walked her home.

He also checked with his senses and found that the man had already left.

Over the course of a single meal, Naruto had figured out who the man was.

"Orochimaru? What a shame. He has a lot of good stuff in his hands."

Naruto narrowed his eyes.

But with his current identity, it wouldn't be wise to approach him.

Life remained peaceful. In the blink of an eye, three years passed.

Name: Uzumaki Naruto

Bloodlines: Uzumaki Bloodline, Uchiha Bloodline, Senju Bloodline

Cultivation Method: Triple Inversion

Skills: Fire Style, Twin Palms, Adamantine Sealing Chains, Mind's Eye of the Kagura, Flying Thunder God, Four Symbols Seal, Five Elements Seal, Wood Release

Chakra: 2,000 units

Restriction: Cinnabar Mark

Draws: 10

In three years, Naruto's strength had advanced another step, and he had gathered the three strongest bloodlines.

He'd obtained the Hashirama Cells from Danzo. Although they'd been diluted, Naruto had strengthened them through experiments and other means, using Twin Palms. He still didn't know how they compared to the original Hashirama Cells.

The strongest Hashirama Cells should be the half-corpse Madara Uchiha cultivated on the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path using Hashirama's flesh and blood.

After being strengthened by the God Tree, they must have been incredibly powerful. Strictly speaking, Wood Release was the God Tree's power.

After restoring them with Twin Palms, even Naruto didn't know how much he could recover.

As for the Uchiha Bloodline, he'd extracted it from Sasuke Uchiha.

Naruto carefully felt the bloodlines within his body.

He could vaguely sense them merging.

Twin Palms would speed up the process. It would take about three more days.

That would be just in time for his birthday.

No one knew when Naruto's birthday was—or rather, no one cared anymore.

I really do miss that old man a little.

Thinking of how the Third Hokage had visited every year to check on him, Naruto found himself missing the old man.

Naruto was now 1.65 meters tall.

Unlike the little kid in the original story, he was now a bona fide handsome young man. Combined with his distinctive air, he'd become quite well-known in class.

People often followed the lead of those above them. During the Third Hokage's time, Naruto's position had been awkward: the higher-ups didn't dare approach him, and those below feared him.

After the Fifth Hokage took office, she immediately set the record straight. Though Naruto's identity wasn't made public, he had Jiraiya as his backer, and everyone basically knew he'd become a student of Lord Jiraiya, one of the Sannin.

Tsunade also thought highly of him, and people's attitudes gradually changed.

They weren't exactly fawning over him, but at least they no longer insulted him or treated him with disgust.

After school, Naruto led Hinata home.

After six years together, Hinata had become much livelier and more cheerful around Naruto.

"Naruto, we're graduating soon, aren't we?"

"Yeah."

"Do you think we'll be put on the same team?"

"Probably."

"Then who will the other person be?"

Hinata was curious.

"Probably a boy," Naruto said, rubbing his chin.

Tsunade was assigning the teams this time. He couldn't be sure about anything else, but Hinata would probably be on the same team as him.

Naruto believed Tsunade could see that.

As for Hiashi, Naruto wasn't worried. Hinata often came over to his house, and Hiashi had never stopped her, so he probably didn't disapprove.

"Why?" Hinata asked, confused.

"It's a Konoha tradition. Most teams have three members: two boys and one girl."

Naruto explained.

As for whether the third person would still be Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto had no idea.