An Invitation with Ulterior Motives
Naruto's quick wit once again surprised Lin Yan.
Hearing him say that, Lin Yan smiled and stood up, "In that case, let's find another place to continue practicing. We still have plenty of time."
As she spoke, Lin Yan prepared to leave with Naruto.
But at that moment, Itachi called out to him again.
"Wait a minute!"
"Hmm? Is there anything else?"
Lin Yan turned around and looked at the other person curiously.
Meanwhile, Naruto, standing beside him, looked a little angry.
This older brother is really strange. Even though Uncle Lin has no problems, he just keeps asking questions relentlessly.
Naruto glared at Itachi with displeasure, but remained silent.
Itachi looked at Lin Yan and said, "Your lease agreement states that you are just an ordinary person from the Land of Sea, and do not belong to any ninja village."
"But your performance just now was unlike that of an ordinary person; you possess a very unique ability."
"Ah... even an ordinary person who doesn't belong to any ninja village needs to have some self-defense skills to travel around."
"After all, when traveling alone, any unexpected situation could arise, right?"
Lin Yan turned around and answered with a smile.
But this answer clearly did not dispel Uchiha's doubts.
At this moment, Itachi asked again, "What's the name of your taijutsu technique?"
Naruto finally couldn't hold back any longer and rushed to answer for Lin Yan, "Uncle Lin's taijutsu is called the Six Powers!"
"Six Powers?"
Itachi looked at Lin Yan in surprise.
I thought to myself, "It really is some kind of martial art..."
At this moment, Lin Yan patiently explained, "In our country, this kind of martial art is very popular; almost everyone knows a few moves."
"The Land of Sea? I've never heard of that country."
Itachi remained expressionless and continued speaking in an interrogative tone.
"Overseas, far away from here."
"It took me more than a year to get here from my hometown by boat."
Lin Yan was just spouting nonsense.
Even he couldn't help but laugh after saying that.
However, a hint of suspicion flashed across Itachi's eyes after hearing this.
The Ninja World itself is quite large.
There are many places he has yet to visit.
Their understanding of those places, countries, and ninja villages was limited to textbook content.
As for overseas, I've never been there.
As far as Itachi knows, the only countries outside the ocean besides the Land of Waves are the Water Country.
As for whether there were other islands and countries beyond the Water Country, in the vast ocean, he knew nothing.
Therefore, at this moment, Itachi had no way of knowing whether what Lin Yan said was true or false.
In order to gather more information about the man before him, Itachi suddenly said, "I have never been to the Land of Sea, nor have I ever heard of such a place."
"However, I believe you are telling the truth. As I said before, Konoha welcomes all friends who have friendly intentions to visit us."
After reiterating his position, Itachi suggested, "Your Six Powers look quite interesting."
"Could we invite you to train with us?"
"My brother and I sometimes come here to practice. If you don't mind, we can have a sparring partner together in the future."
Lin Yan's heart stirred slightly upon hearing these words.
That's a good option.
It is now around the 54th year of Konoha, which means that in two years Uchiha will launch the massacre of his clan, killing his parents and the rest of his family.
He will then defect from Konoha and join the Akatsuki.
In other words, his identity as a member of the Akatsuki would eventually be discovered by them.
Since that's the case, we might as well work on building good relationships now.
To avoid an awkward meeting later.
Lin Yan was well aware that Itachi's suggestion was clearly a ploy to use the pretext of training together to secretly monitor her.
He definitely doesn't trust himself deep down.
But none of that matters.
Lin Yan didn't bother to explain anything.
Thinking of this, he nodded in agreement. "That's no problem. We thought it might disturb your training, so we were planning to find another place."
"No."
Itachi shook his head.
"This training ground is so big that it can accommodate hundreds of people training here at the same time."
"You shall continue your cultivation here from now on."
After saying that, he looked down at Naruto.
At this moment, the hostility in Naruto's eyes had vanished, and the dissatisfaction on his face had completely disappeared.
He is still young, and although he is smart, he doesn't think deeply enough.
Therefore, at this time, they did not realize that Uchiha's purpose in inviting Lin Yan to train together was not pure.
I felt a sense of goodwill just from hearing Itachi tell them to stay here.
His name is Naruto Uzumaki.
Lin Yan noticed Itachi watching Naruto and introduced him.
My younger brother is about your age; you two could perhaps become friends.
Itachi didn't react much, only saying it somewhat indifferently.
Because almost all the villagers regarded him as the incarnation of Nine-Tails fox, this child has been subjected to all sorts of cold words and deliberate alienation and exclusion from the village for the past few years.
No one wanted to be his friend or even have contact with him.
The Uchiha Clan was no exception.
In particular, they were suspected by the village's higher-ups because of the Nine-Tails' Attack.
Later, even ordinary villagers said that the Nine-Tails' Attack was caused by their Uchiha Clan, who used their Sharingan to control the Nine-Tails and attack the village.
For this reason, the Uchiha Clan endured endless humiliation and had to relocate their clan's territory from the heart of the village to its outskirts to avoid suspicion.
Under such circumstances, the Uchiha Clan was naturally even less willing to have contact with Naruto was being treated as the Nine-Tails Fox.
Itachi is only saying this now because he needs to make it easier to monitor Lin Yan.
If you only interact with this child in the training field.
As long as no one outside knows and Sasuke keeps it a secret, there shouldn't be any major problems.
"Your younger brother?"
Naruto turned his head curiously to look at Sasuke in the distance.
At that moment, Itachi waved to Sasuke, who immediately trotted over to him.
Sasuke noticed Naruto staring at him, and he returned the look with a curious gaze.
"Sasuke, from today onwards, we will share this training ground together."
Let's all get to know each other first.
"This is Naruto, and this uncle's name is... Lin Yan."
Itachi looked up and glanced at Lin Yan.
Hearing him call her "uncle, "Lin Yan's lips twitched.
Well, that's undeniable.
Whether in front of Naruto, Sasuke, or Sasuke, I've already reached the age where I should be called "uncle"...