In the cozy little room, Uchiha Kurohane and Uchiha Mikoto sat together, sharing a large grilled fish.
Uchiha Mikoto really was a skilled woman, with a knack for all kinds of things around the house.
The large fish she'd prepared was delicious.
Although Uchiha Kurohane had already eaten his fill at Kushina's house, he still couldn't stop eating.
Seeing how much Uchiha Kurohane was enjoying the meal made Uchiha Mikoto happy too.
She was a clever woman and knew that the way to a man's heart was through his stomach.
After learning Uchiha Kurohane's true strength, she'd become even more determined to recruit him as her subordinate.
Uchiha Mikoto believed that as long as she won Uchiha Kurohane over, the Hokage Position would be hers and hers alone!
She imagined herself as the first Hokage in the Uchiha Clan's history, and beamed with delight.
Unable to resist, she picked up a piece of fish and held it right up to Uchiha Kurohane's mouth.
Wanting to grow closer to Uchiha Kurohane, the girl decided to feed him herself.
Uchiha Kurohane looked at the fair, delicate hand in front of his mouth and took a bite without hesitation.
Delicious!
This tender, white fish was so good!
The meat was tender, and the flavor was sweet and fresh. It was impossible to stop eating.
He ate too quickly and accidentally took Mikoto's jade finger into his mouth as well.
Uchiha Mikoto looked at the index finger now covered in Uchiha Kurohane's saliva. Her heart began to race, and her cheeks turned faintly red.
But, unexpectedly, she didn't feel repulsed.
She just smiled and said nothing, then continued eating with Uchiha Kurohane.
But the fish was far too large for two children to finish. In the end, Mikoto left Uchiha Kurohane's house carrying half of it, smiling as if she'd found a treasure.
Because of this unexpected turn of events, Uchiha Kurohane once again had no time to do his homework.
It wasn't that he didn't want to. He really was just too busy!
The next morning was bright and sunny, and birds chirped endlessly outside the window.
After enjoying a delicious meal prepared by a beautiful girl the night before, Uchiha Kurohane had slept wonderfully.
He woke up early that morning and, after washing up, decided to walk to the woods behind Kushina's house instead of using the Yatagarasu Substitute.
Instantly teleporting everywhere was too lazy. Every now and then, he needed to exercise and breathe in the fresh morning air.
He could treat it as a warm-up before training with Kushina.
As Uchiha Kurohane walked down a street in the Uchiha Clan's district, he heard a cheerful voice.
"Kurohane, come over here! Grandma's got something tasty for you~"
A plump old woman in black stepped out of the rice cracker shop in the distance, smiling as she waved to Uchiha Kurohane.
"My crackers just came out of the oven, and they're piping hot. Come take some."
The old woman was named Uchiha Uruchi. She was an elder of the Uchiha Clan and ran a rice cracker shop with her husband, Uchiha Teyaki.
Although the two were members of the Uchiha Clan, they weren't ninja and had never awakened the Sharingan. They were ordinary civilians.
They appeared in the original story, where they were just as friendly when they offered rice crackers to Sasuke Uchiha.
Later, on the night of the massacre, Uchiha Itachi killed them.
Remembering that event filled Uchiha Kurohane with intense indignation.
Killing civilians who couldn't fight back was murder, slaughter, and a crime against humanity.
Wiping out every member of a clan was, at its core, genocide.
Uchiha Itachi had killed ninja, which was bad enough, but he'd also murdered elderly civilians and children. He was utterly inhuman.
What enraged Uchiha Kurohane most was this:
Uchiha Itachi claimed he had the strength of character to kill the Uchiha Clan for Konoha and for peace.
But he didn't kill Sasuke Uchiha.
Uchiha Kurohane couldn't tolerate such blatant hypocrisy.
What, was Sasuke Uchiha not part of the Uchiha Clan?
If Uchiha Itachi had killed Sasuke too, then he really would have been acting for the greater good.
His morals would still have been twisted, but at least he would have been a ruthless man who selflessly put Konoha first.
Instead, he killed everyone else and protected his own younger brother.
What kind of strength of character was that?
Was his idea of strength of character just looking after his foolish little brother?
Uchiha Kurohane thought that was the most disgusting thing about Uchiha Itachi: he was hypocritical, shameless, and had it both ways.
He was the biggest scumbag in Naruto!
But Uchiha Itachi hadn't been the only one involved in the massacre. Obito Uchiha had taken part too, and he might have been the one who killed the old couple.
Obito Uchiha and Uchiha Itachi were really no different. Obito claimed he wanted to save the Shinobi World, but in reality, he'd simply gone mad after losing the girl he loved and being unable to accept what happened.
One of those bastards had done it for his younger brother, the other for a woman. Both of them were the lowest of the low.
But that brought up a huge plot hole in the massacre.
At the time, Konoha had sent Anbu to surround the Uchiha district, and other Anbu had been watching it through telescopes around the clock.
Why hadn't the Konoha Ninja known about Obito's existence and abilities?
Had all the Anbu in Konoha gone blind?
Had all the sensor ninja gone out of town?
And that was without even mentioning all the Hyuga and Aburame Clan scouts. Even the old Third Hokage could spy on people with his crystal ball.
The plot of Naruto really couldn't stand up to scrutiny. Once you thought about it, you found holes everywhere...
Uchiha Kurohane took the large package of scallion-oil rice crackers and thought about that ridiculous storyline from the original story.
As a righteous ninja, he wouldn't allow such an atrocity to happen.
He would stop it in advance.
Konoha's political struggles were incredibly complex, and the conflict between the Konoha High Command and the Uchiha Clan was difficult to resolve.
But the culprit behind the massacre, Uchiha Itachi, was Uchiha Mikoto's son.
As long as he stopped Mikoto and Fugaku from getting together, that weasel wouldn't be born, and the massacre would never happen.
That was why Uchiha Kurohane had gotten between Mikoto and Fugaku the night before. There was a deeper reason for it.
To put it plainly, he was going to save the Uchiha Clan and Uchiha Mikoto.
To make sure of it, Uchiha Kurohane had no choice but to recruit Mikoto and make her one of his Twelve Guardian Ninja Maidens.
It was all for the Uchiha Clan!
For justice!
Uchiha Kurohane took a bite of the rice cracker. The rich aroma of scallion oil filled his mouth, and he felt utterly satisfied.
Uchiha Uruchi smiled kindly.
"You're growing, so have a little more, okay?"
"That's enough. There'll be something tasty for lunch, so I need to save room."
Uchiha Kurohane had taken it upon himself to consider Kushina Uzumaki's lunch his own. Her meals were lavish, with all kinds of fish and meat.
He needed to save room so he could feast at lunchtime.
Just then, Uchiha Teyaki came out and tried to persuade him again.
"If you don't want them, you can take some to school for your girlfriend. And if you don't have one yet, give them to a girl you like."
Uchiha Kurohane gave a little smile.
What use was a girlfriend, when she'd only be an inconvenience holding him back?
Uchiha Kurohane was a righteous ninja, and the only thing on his mind was the future of the Shinobi World.
He only wanted to make lots of friends. He didn't have time for a girlfriend.
But there was a reason the couple kept urging Uchiha Kurohane to take the rice crackers.
Uchiha Kurohane was an orphan with no parents or source of income. He had to rely on the orphan allowance from Konoha to cover his daily expenses.
And unlike Naruto, his parents hadn't done anything for Konoha, so his allowance was tiny.
It was barely enough to get by, so the Teyakis worried that he didn't have enough money and often gave him rice crackers.
But Uchiha Kurohane had just picked up a pile of valuable Shuriken and befriended the little rich girl Kushina Uzumaki. He wasn't short on money anymore.
The couple didn't know that, though. Even after Uchiha Kurohane kept insisting he didn't have a girlfriend, Uchiha Teyaki still stuffed four more rice crackers into his hands.
Uchiha Kurohane could only leave with two packages of rice crackers.
In the woods near Uzumaki Mito's house.
Beneath the bright spring sunlight, Kushina Uzumaki stood alone in the shade of a tree, waiting.
Her long, brilliant red hair fluttered gently in the breeze, looking beautiful.
There was no doubt that Kushina Uzumaki's red hair was beautiful.
The Konoha students who said her hair was strange were clearly just biased and prejudiced.
Kushina Uzumaki was staring blankly at the lush green woods. When she saw Uchiha Kurohane walking over, she immediately gave him a sweet, adorable smile.
"Good morning, Kurohane~"
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