Sunagakure had a beautiful kunoichi whom everyone had forgotten: Karura, Gaara's mother.
Though Karura had already given birth in the original story and was a married woman,
she was currently a little girl, just like Kushina Uzumaki and Uchiha Mikoto.
She was single now.
On the other hand, Karura would die in childbirth when she gave birth to Gaara.
Keeping her from getting together with Rasa would be the same as saving her life.
But Karura was in Sunagakure, so Uchiha Kurohane couldn't meet her.
He thought he should focus on recruiting someone else: Uchiha Mikoto, Kushina Uzumaki's best friend.
If the Uchiha Clan hadn't been wiped out, and Mikoto hadn't married Fugaku, she might have become Hokage.
Konoha owed the Uchiha a Hokage. Making a spineless coward like Fugaku Hokage would be worse than making Mikoto Hokage.
Still, that was unlikely. More than anything, Uchiha Kurohane wanted to recruit her into the Twelve Guardian Ninja Maidens and make her his personal bodyguard.
Uchiha Mikoto was 14, four years older than Kushina Uzumaki and five years older than Uchiha Kurohane.
She was the Uchiha Clan's young lady, born into a noble family. Uchiha Kurohane had rarely met her before and didn't know much about her.
Uchiha Kurohane needed to find an opportunity to get acquainted with Uchiha Mikoto.
Since he had to attend school from Monday through Friday, and Mikoto had already graduated from the Ninja Academy, he could only meet her on weekends...
After finishing his ramen, Uchiha Kurohane didn't head straight home. Instead, he went to the woods outside the village to test his strength after acquiring the Uzumaki Clan's bloodline.
According to the original story, some delinquent students would soon bring their older brother to take revenge on Kushina Uzumaki.
This was another chance to save Kushina Uzumaki.
But their opponent was a Genin who had already graduated, with a decent level of strength and combat experience.
Crows alone wouldn't scare him off. Uchiha Kurohane needed to quickly improve his combat ability.
After acquiring the Uzumaki Clan's bloodline, he had gained Chakra Enhanced Strength. He wanted to see just how powerful it was.
Uchiha Kurohane stood in front of a tree a meter in diameter, raised his fist, and concentrated chakra in his arm.
Crack—crack—
The veins in his arm bulged, his muscles hardened considerably, and his bones snapped and popped.
He clenched his fist and gathered his strength, then punched the trunk with all his might.
Boom!
Uchiha Kurohane's fist smashed through the trunk like a wrecking ball.
The tremendous force even broke the tree in half.
The entire tree crashed to the ground.
Looking at the fallen tree, Uchiha Kurohane realized his punch was far more powerful than he'd imagined.
Was Kushina Uzumaki's Chakra Enhanced Strength really that terrifying?
No!
What he had now wasn't just Kushina Uzumaki's Chakra Enhanced Strength. It was hers combined with his own strength.
Uchiha Kurohane didn't have any Ninjutsu scrolls, so he'd spent all his time training Taijutsu since childhood. As a result, he'd learned how to use chakra to strengthen his body.
After gaining Kushina Uzumaki's immense chakra, the effect of strengthening his body had improved dramatically, giving him far greater strength than Kushina Uzumaki herself.
He might not be as strong as Tsunade or Sakura, but he was powerful enough to deal with most ninja.
That rookie Genin would be no problem at all.
Clap, clap, clap~
Just as Uchiha Kurohane was feeling at ease, a clear, rhythmic applause sounded behind him.
Someone else was here?
The crows hadn't noticed anyone approaching, which meant this person was a skilled fighter.
Uchiha Kurohane turned to look.
Sitting on a branch above and behind him was a cute girl of about 14.
Her thick, straight black hair fell to her waist. Her delicate face had a hint of handsomeness, and she wore a blue high-collared shirt and white shorts, exactly like Sasuke's.
At first glance, she looked like a female version of Sasuke. But she was actually Sasuke's mother, Uchiha Mikoto.
Uchiha Kurohane had been looking for her, and now she'd come to him on her own.
After their eyes met, Uchiha Mikoto parted her rosy lips and spoke in a clear, melodious voice.
"You're Kurohane, right? My adoptive father said your grades at the Ninja Academy were terrible and that you were the Disgrace of the Uchiha. He told me to stay away from you. So you were hiding your strength all along."
As Mikoto spoke, her slender, fair legs swung gently beneath the branch. The setting sun glinted off them, making them shimmer with golden light.
Uchiha Kurohane stared for a moment, slightly dazed.
But he was more interested in what she'd said.
What did she mean, the Disgrace of the Uchiha?
He had indeed been hiding his strength, and his grades were the worst in the class, but how did that make him the Disgrace of the Uchiha?
Obito had been a dead-last student in the future, too, but no one had called him the Disgrace of the Uchiha.
Though his title had been even more prestigious: the Disgrace of Konoha.
"Who's your adoptive father?"
Uchiha Kurohane was extremely displeased and wanted to know which old bastard had said that about him.
Uchiha Mikoto lifted the hair beside her cheek with her delicate hand and smiled seductively.
"You really don't know? It's Clan Head Setsuna."
Uchiha Setsuna was a hardliner who had inherited Madara's Uchiha Will. He resented the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju's policies for governing the Uchiha Clan.
He incited the Uchiha Clan to stage a coup, hoping to overthrow Konoha's government.
When Senju Tobirama found out, he had Setsuna thrown in prison.
After the Second Shinobi World War began, Konoha needed the Uchiha's strength, so Sarutobi Hiruzen released him.
Because of his history of standing against Senju Tobirama, Uchiha Setsuna had become a hero to the Uchiha Clan. As soon as he was released, he became the clan head.
No wonder Uchiha Mikoto had the air of a young lady about her, like a lofty flower on a high mountain.
She was the clan head's adoptive daughter.
That made things easy. If he won her over, he could win over the entire Uchiha Clan.
Plop~
Uchiha Mikoto jumped down from the branch and landed lightly in front of Uchiha Kurohane.
She leaned forward, bringing her small face close to his. Her beautiful eyes fluttered as she studied his face.
"Hmm, you're pretty cute. You'll definitely be handsome when you grow up."
"I'm satisfied with your strength. I've decided: you're going to follow me from now on and be my underling."
Uchiha Kurohane looked at her flawless, delicate face, feeling a little stunned.
Why did she want to recruit an underling, too?
He recruited underlings because he wanted to become a man among the Five Kage. What did she want to do?
Was she hoping to become a female Hokage, too?
Uchiha Kurohane instinctively wanted to use the same tactic he'd used with Kushina Uzumaki and turn the tables by recruiting Mikoto as his underling.
But Mikoto was four years older than Kushina Uzumaki, and her clear, intelligent eyes made her seem like a clever woman. She definitely wouldn't be fooled by flattery.
After thinking it over for a moment, he changed his approach.
"What if I refuse?"
Uchiha Mikoto curled her lips into a sly smile.
"Heh. You want to refuse my offer?"
Uchiha Mikoto sneered and raised her fair hand. She lifted Uchiha Kurohane's chin with a slender finger, then playfully winked at him.
"You wouldn't want my father to find out you've been hiding your strength, would you?"
Huh?
Madam, why did you steal my line?
I'm supposed to pin you in a corner, lift your chin, and tell you:
"You wouldn't want your husband to find out about you and me, would you?"
You've got everything backward!
You're so forward. Does your son know?
...No, Uchiha Mikoto wasn't a married woman yet. She had no husband or son, so she had no weaknesses.
No wonder she was so bold.
Uchiha Mikoto wasn't done threatening him. She licked her rosy lips and continued,
"This is my father's private land. The tree you knocked down was his property, which makes it mine, too!"
"You'll have to compensate me for my loss~"
Uchiha Mikoto exuded the air of a dominant queen, and Uchiha Kurohane was completely intrigued.
He curled his lips into a sly smile and shot back,
"Sorry, I didn't know this was your tree, Big Sister. Would 100 million be enough to make it up to you?"
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