The Black Tyrannosaurus of Konoha

While Uchiha Kurohane sized up Uzumaki Mito, she sized him up too.

She had assumed the good friend Kushina Uzumaki had made was Namikaze Minato, the boy Sarutobi Hiruzen had mentioned. She hadn't expected it to be an unfamiliar child, which came as a bit of a surprise.

Since she was always "confined" within the barrier and lived the same unchanging routine every day, she loved surprises.

The boy was handsome and cute, and his eyes were full of intelligence. He seemed quite sharp.

Kushina had a good eye.

"I'm still the head of the Uzumaki Clan, though there aren't many of us left now."

After giving a self-deprecating smile, Uzumaki Mito asked gently, "Little guy, what's your name?"

Her voice was mature and elegant, like a spring breeze brushing against the soul. It left Uchiha Kurohane feeling a pleasant, soothing coolness.

"My name is Uchiha Kurohane. I'm Kushina's classmate."

"Oh? You're from the Uchiha Clan?"

Uzumaki Mito raised a delicate eyebrow and smiled, seeming intrigued by the Uchiha.

Most of Konoha's shinobi were biased against the Uchiha and distrusted them. Mito didn't share that attitude. It probably had something to do with her relationship with her beloved, Senju Hashirama, and Madara...

No, since this Uzumaki Mito was different from the one in the original story—she had learned the Strength of a Hundred Technique and remained young—her relationship with Senju Hashirama might have changed too.

Uchiha Kurohane immediately tried to recall what the history books of Konoha had said.

But as someone who had crossed over from another world, he knew something about Konoha's true history.

He had read a few pages before and noticed a lot of discrepancies. He'd assumed the people who wrote Konoha's textbooks had made things up, so he hadn't read any further.

Now that he thought about it, perhaps it wasn't fabrication. Maybe the worldline had changed.

Uchiha Kurohane really wanted to ask her about it.

But how could he bring up a question like that?

Was he supposed to just say, "Auntie, are you Senju Hashirama's wife?"

If she wasn't, that would be awkward.

He couldn't bring himself to ask!

Just then, Uzumaki Mito raised her fair, beautiful hand and gently patted Uchiha Kurohane on the head.

"Thank you for looking after Kushina. She's only just arrived in Konoha, and this place is completely unfamiliar to her. Please take good care of her."

Uzumaki Mito's hand was soft and carried a warmth like the sun.

It felt wonderful to have her pat his head.

Uzumaki Kushina felt embarrassed and couldn't help interrupting.

"Grandma, don't say things like that. I'm not some helpless little girl. I don't need him to look after me."

Uzumaki Mito's eyes shifted as if she'd thought of something.

"Don't call me Grandma. Do I really look that old? Follow Kurohane's example and call me Auntie from now on."

"..."

Uzumaki Kushina felt speechless and grumbled to herself.

You may not look old, but that's because of that Strength of a Hundred Technique, right?

How old are you really?

And you still want to pretend you're young?

Wait, how old is Grandma anyway?

Uzumaki Kushina only knew Mito was much older than her mother. She had no idea exactly how old she was.

Uzumaki Kushina was a blunt woman. When the question occurred to her, she didn't hesitate to ask.

"Grandma—no, Auntie, how old are you?"

Uchiha Kurohane immediately perked up his ears at the question.

Although he was a Naruto fan, the timeline before the Third Shinobi World War was extremely muddled.

The order of many events was unclear, and some accounts even contradicted one another.

Uchiha Kurohane didn't know exactly how old Uzumaki Mito was now, either.

Uzumaki Mito narrowed her eyes and gave them a kind, amiable smile.

"Twenty-eight."

"..."

Uzumaki Kushina looked doubtful. Her own mother was already older than twenty-eight.

She didn't believe Mito, but she was worried about making her angry and didn't dare argue.

Uzumaki Mito noticed Kushina's displeasure and added with a smile, "I'm twenty-eight forever."

Japanese women liked to say they were forever eighteen.

This was the first time Uchiha Kurohane had heard someone claim to be forever twenty-eight.

But objectively speaking, thanks to the Strength of a Hundred Technique, Uzumaki Mito's appearance would remain at twenty-eight forever.

She wasn't wrong.

Uzumaki Mito seemed to realize neither child believed her, so she awkwardly explained again.

"All right, I was joking. But you can think of me as thirty-eight. I have the Strength of a Hundred Technique, so I'll never age. I'm forever thirty-eight."

Only then did Uchiha Kurohane realize what the real issue was.

Uzumaki Mito had learned the Strength of a Hundred Technique. She was basically a second Tsunade.

There were two Tsunades in this world!

And given Uzumaki Mito's experience, perhaps the person who became the Fifth Hokage in the future wouldn't be Tsunade, but Uzumaki Mito.

Looking at Mito's exceptionally full, mature figure, Uchiha Kurohane had a bad feeling.

If Uzumaki Mito really became Hokage, how could he become the man of the Five Kage?

Uzumaki Mito was beautiful, with a curvaceous figure and an elegant air. She looked like the classic ideal wife and mother.

But she belonged to the previous generation, and there was a huge generation gap between her and Uchiha Kurohane...

At that moment, Uzumaki Kushina steered the conversation back to the matter at hand.

"Grand—Auntie, what's dangerous about the Multi-Shadow Clone Technique? Why can't Kurohane learn it?"

Uzumaki Mito flicked Uzumaki Kushina on the forehead with her index finger.

"Did you forget what I told you last night already?"

"When you create Shadow Clones, your chakra is forcibly divided equally among them. If you create too many, the original body will be left with too little chakra."

"At best, the user's body will grow weak and they'll be unable to fight. At worst, they'll die."

"You have Uzumaki Clan blood, so you have far more chakra than an ordinary shinobi and can learn it. But even you have to use it sparingly. He definitely can't."

Uchiha Kurohane was very unhappy with that last remark.

How could he, as a man, be unable to handle it?

"Auntie Mito, I have Uchiha blood. I should be able to do it."

Uzumaki Mito glanced at him and smiled.

"The Uchiha bloodline is powerful, but chakra reserves aren't its strong suit. Our Uzumaki Clan is different. We're born with strong bodies and enormous chakra reserves. Different shinobi clans simply have different strengths."

Though Uzumaki Mito had put it politely, she still sounded rather haughty.

It was as if she were saying, You little runt from the Uchiha, you're nowhere near the Uzumaki Clan.

Uzumaki Mito's attitude was a little rude, but she had reason to look down on the Uchiha's chakra reserves.

In the battle at the Valley of the End, Madara Uchiha fought Senju Hashirama with the Nine-Tails on his side and still lost. That showed just how great the difference between them was.

There was a whole Nine-Tails' worth of difference between them!

Uchiha Kurohane's chakra reserves had indeed been small to begin with, but he had obtained Kushina Uzumaki's chakra Entry. Now he had even more chakra than Kushina Uzumaki.

He wasn't a runt. He was a fat dog... no, a tyrannosaurus!

He was the Black Tyrannosaurus of Konoha!

He'd make Auntie Mito feel the powerful chakra inside him...