New Friends

When Naruto woke up, it was already the next morning.

"Mm, what time is it? Only six?" Naruto woke from his dream and checked the time.

"My body? It feels like it's gotten a lot stronger again." Naruto quietly sensed the changes in his body.

With his powerful sensory abilities, he was naturally extremely sensitive to changes in himself.

The Uchiha Clan bloodline had already perfectly fused with his body.

Naruto's physical abilities were now at least comparable to Rock Lee from the original story after extensive training, without opening the Eight Gates.

And that was purely his natural physical talent, without any training.

"As expected, in the world of Naruto, bloodlines are the most important thing. People with strong bloodlines can grow stronger even lying down." Naruto carefully felt through the changes in his body from beginning to end.

"My eyes feel a little itchy? Don't tell me I'm about to awaken them?" Naruto secretly activated Kagura's Mind's Eye. Seeing that Kakashi wasn't nearby and that it was still early, with only a few ANBU around who seemed to be slacking off, he relaxed.

Then he could rest easy.

He got up and walked over to the mirror, looking at his reflection.

He gently rubbed his itchy eyes. His eyes had originally been blue, but they were now slowly turning red.

Naruto splashed some water on his face, then suddenly discovered in surprise that the reflection in the mirror—his eyes! They had awakened!

A single tomoe slowly rotated within each eye.

His eyesight seemed to have improved, and his powers of observation had greatly increased as well.

"But if someone finds out, my identity will really become suspicious."

Minato's child, with the Nine-Tails sealed inside him, yet possessing the Sharingan—did that make any sense?

After fumbling around on his own, Naruto finally figured out how to deactivate the Sharingan.

Fortunately, he had awakened the Sharingan after obtaining the Uchiha Clan bloodline, so he could freely activate and deactivate it.

Poor Kakashi, on the other hand, wasn't a member of the Uchiha Clan. The Sharingan wasn't very compatible with his physique, so keeping it active for long periods had instead become a burden. Not only could he not use it for extended periods—

It had even become deadweight that restricted the growth of his strength.

It also left Kakashi constantly short on chakra.

Seeing his eyes return to blue, Naruto finally relaxed.

Damn it, the ANBU were still watching him!

Could restricted freedom even be called freedom?

If only he could learn a Transformation Technique that wouldn't get discovered. Then he could find a suitable opportunity to use the Shadow Clone Technique, leave behind a shadow clone to deal with the ANBU—

And go out to train himself.

"Staying home all day won't make a ninjutsu fall from the sky. I should go out for a walk."

Naruto's awkward situation now was that he knew a B-rank ninjutsu, the Shadow Clone Technique, yet had nowhere to use it.

The moment he used it, the ANBU would immediately notice. Once he learned the Transformation Technique, this situation could improve somewhat.

As he wandered aimlessly through the streets, a voice called out from behind him.

"Hey, Naruto! Naruto!" It was Kiba's voice.

"Woof woof woof!" That was Akamaru's voice.

Naruto turned to look at Kiba. Sure enough, it was Kiba and Akamaru.

"Naruto, I said last time that I'd bring you to play with my friends. Come on!" Kiba casually threw an arm around Naruto's shoulders.

Akamaru also naturally jumped into Naruto's arms.

Petting Akamaru in his arms, Naruto said worriedly, "But Kiba, you know my reputation in the village isn't very good. They might not want to play with me."

Kiba paused, then said, "Probably not. It's fine, I'll vouch for you. Everyone will definitely play with you for my sake. Once they get to know you and understand what kind of person you are, they definitely won't reject you like that anymore!"

"Then... all right." Naruto didn't really care what others thought of him. He just cared about how his friends felt. He didn't want them to receive the same treatment he did.

"Hey, everyone, I'm back!" With an arm around Naruto, Kiba brought him to a small park.

There were familiar faces among them, as well as people Naruto didn't recognize.

"Hey, isn't that Naruto? So you're the friend Kiba mentioned. Want some chips?"

The first person to speak to Naruto was Choji Akimichi. So they had already been friends for a long time. No wonder the group got along so well in the original story—they had known each other since before.

"Whoa, Choji, you know Naruto? And you're even willing to share your chips with him? Did you get a fever in your brain? You usually treasure those chips like crazy and won't even share the tiniest bit with us."

Kiba looked at Choji in surprise.

"Of course! Naruto is a friend who competed with me and even treated me to ramen. Of course I'm willing to share my chips with him. Here, Naruto!" Choji had already held out the chips.

Naruto was curious what chips from the world of Naruto tasted like. He reached in, took one, and popped it into his mouth.

Mm, very authentic original flavor—no flavor at all!

Besides Choji, Naruto curiously looked at the others. There were three more people: one boy and two girls.

The boy had a pineapple-shaped ponytail and a thoroughly impatient expression, muttering something about how troublesome it was, how troublesome it was, having to meet new friends again.

But he looked quite intelligent.

Wasn't this the "Shika" of the new generation of Ino–Shika–Cho, Shikamaru Nara? In the original story, he was a genius strategist said to have an IQ over two hundred, and one of Naruto's future right-hand men. After Naruto became Hokage, he would specifically help Naruto deal with everyday government affairs.

There were also two girls.

One of them had blonde hair tied into a ponytail. She looked beautiful and adorable.

Naruto naturally recognized her too: the "Ino" of the new generation of Ino–Shika–Cho, Ino Yamanaka, who specialized in the Mind Body Switch Technique in the original story.

Ino–Shika–Cho were family friends, so it was perfectly normal for them to be encouraged to play together from childhood and build a strong relationship.

After all, they were basically predetermined to become teammates in a ninja squad someday. Their coordination would naturally far surpass that of other teams.

As for the last girl, Naruto's feelings were somewhat complicated.

In the original story, she was a ninja often cursed by readers: Sakura Haruno.

At this point, Sakura Haruno's forehead was indeed a little broad, but she wore a red ribbon in her pink hair, which really was quite beautiful.

However, this Sakura Haruno was not the Sakura Haruno from the original story. If she was the same as in the original story, Naruto would naturally dislike her immensely.

But if her personality could be more normal, Naruto wouldn't mind becoming friends with her.

After all, compared to the other rookies, Sakura's talent was somewhat stronger. She could at least contribute a little during the Ninja World War.

It was just that she lacked self-awareness. "Lady Tsunade, I think I've caught up to them a little!"

That was just your imagination, child!

"Hello, everyone. I'm Naruto Uzumaki, the man who will become Hokage in the future!" Naruto politely greeted them.

As the saying went, you didn't slap a smiling face. Even Shikamaru, who looked utterly impatient, saw Naruto's bright smile and awkwardly said, "Hello. I'm Shikamaru Nara. I hate trouble and don't like making friends, but if it's you, I suppose it wouldn't be impossible."

Great, another hopeless tsundere!

Sakura and Ino looked at Naruto's gentle smile and felt their hearts flutter.

Naruto's whiskers had now completely disappeared. After obtaining the complete Uzumaki Clan physique and the Uchiha Clan bloodline, Asura's chakra had also begun to awaken a little.

The feeling he gave off was incredibly warm, making people want to get close to him.

"Hello, I'm Ino Yamanaka. My family owns a flower shop, so you're welcome to come buy flowers from us!" Ino was open and graceful as she stared directly at Naruto.

"H-hello, I'm Sakura Haruno. I'm Ino's friend, and this is my first time coming here to play too." Sakura was actually so shy as a child, completely unlike the fierce and aggressive person she would become later.

Could his arrival, or perhaps the system, have caused some changes in this world?

If Sakura was like this, then he could interact with her without worry in the future.

"Hello, then what are you all playing here?" Naruto asked openly.

Although he could secretly sense several people watching them, they weren't the ANBU who had been monitoring Naruto before.

It seemed these children from major clans naturally had people protecting them too.

But Naruto still pretended not to know anything.

"Let's play ninja!"

Kiba loudly suggested.

"Okay, okay!" Everyone agreed. At this age, they loved the profession of ninja most of all.

Being able to use all kinds of ninjutsu that dazzled the eye was simply amazing.

"Then I'll be the Hokage!" Kiba was the first to speak.

"Ding! System mission issued. Please become Hokage during the ninja game!"

System, system, you're assigning missions even for playing a game? But I like it!

"No, I want to be Hokage too!" Naruto refused to back down.

Since there were so many people watching, he naturally had to put on a good performance and let them know that his dream was to become Hokage and live harmoniously with the villagers.

That way, the forces behind them could feel at ease letting their children associate with Naruto.

It was also for the system reward.

"Stop arguing. Let's vote. Raise your left hand if you agree that Kiba should be Hokage, and your right hand if you want Naruto to be Hokage."

Shikamaru interrupted their argument and proposed a fair method.

"Three, two, one, hands up!" Everyone except Kiba raised their right hand, including Akamaru.

"Boo hoo hoo, forget the others, but Akamaru, you betrayed me too!" Kiba felt utterly heartbroken.

"It's fine, Kiba. I appoint you my number one general! How about making you a jonin?" Naruto quickly got into character and consoled Kiba.

"Really? Naruto, you're so good to me!" Kiba instantly swept away his earlier sadness and beamed with joy.

"Then I'll be the Hokage's wife!" Ino was incredibly direct, leaving even Naruto a little unable to handle it.

"Ino, the Hokage's wife doesn't seem very useful in our ninja game. Why don't you choose something else?"

Naruto was a little embarrassed. No one had ever expressed their affection for him so openly. Fortunately, Ino was still young and didn't understand what true affection was.

He would just treat it as children playing around.

"Then I'll be the Hokage's secretary. I heard adults say, 'When there's work, the secretary does it; when there's no work, do the secretary.' I don't really understand it, but it sounds very reasonable!"

Oh my god, Inoichi Yamanaka, is that how you taught your child? What do you usually say around her?!

The ninjas monitoring them nearby were also speechless. They could only dismiss it as childish ignorance.

"Very good. Then you'll be this Hokage's secretary. What about you, Shikamaru?" Naruto asked, looking at Shikamaru.

"Too troublesome. I'll be a passerby, preferably the kind who dies as soon as he appears. Then I can lie there as a corpse and get some sleep."

Shikamaru had been afraid of trouble since childhood.

"No, that would be too unfair to you. Then you can be my Hokage advisor. Although I don't know what that does either. I guess it means I ask you whenever something happens."

"N-Naruto, then I'll be an ordinary villager." Sakura lacked confidence. Her family were civilians, and she had only been able to join them because she was close to Ino, so she felt somewhat inferior.

"No, you can be an ordinary chunin. I already have a great general like Kiba, so you'll have to make do with that." Naruto tried to treat everyone fairly, giving Sakura a more impressive role while also praising Kiba.

That left both of them very satisfied.

"What about me? What about me?" Seeing that no role had been assigned to him, Choji became anxious.

"Choji, we're missing someone to play the bad guy, so you'll have to make do."

Among the group, only Choji was strong enough. He was the most suitable choice.

The moment he heard that he had to play the bad guy, Choji was unhappy.

"I don't want to! Naruto, you're playing favorites!" Choji was about to throw a tantrum, but Naruto, knowing Choji's temperament, knew exactly how to deal with him.

"After we're done, I'll treat everyone to ramen. Eat as much as you want, how about it, Choji?"

Hearing that Naruto would treat everyone to ramen, especially all-you-can-eat ramen, Choji immediately became very satisfied.

"Then it's settled. Naruto, you really are my good friend. It's just playing a bad guy, right? I'll do it!"

With the roles assigned, the group of children began playing their childish ninja game.

Once they were tired from playing, Naruto grandly waved his hand and treated everyone to ramen.

Some of them had originally planned to go home for dinner, but Naruto was too enthusiastic, so they could only follow him along.

Seeing Naruto bring such a large group of friends this time, the smile on Uncle Teuchi's face was impossible to hide.

Naruto, this child always thought of me. What a good kid. He was even helping Uncle boost his business.

Everyone ate happily, especially Choji, who ate several bowls and simply couldn't stop.

Finally, beneath the setting sun, everyone said goodbye and returned to their homes.

Everyone had a lot of fun that day.

They all felt fortunate to have made a friend like Naruto.

Naruto was happy too. Not only had he completed the mission, but he had also met the children of the major clans and become friends with them.

It was truly killing two birds with one stone!

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