Flowers and Spring (3/3)

"!!!"

After hearing Naruto Uzumaki's words, Inuzuka Hana immediately exploded. Her eyes widened, and regardless of how uncomfortable the ropes binding her were, she began struggling outright.

"Bakayaro, if you dare eat Haimaru and the others, I will never let you off!"

Of course, Naruto had no intention of eating Haimaru and his two brothers. He did not consider himself a good person, but he was not vile enough to eat someone else's beloved pets.

He had said that purely to provoke Inuzuka Hana's anger.

Sure enough, Inuzuka Hana, a dog lover, was immediately triggered. "If you dare touch even a single hair on them, I'll fight you to the death for the rest of my life!"

"Oh~!" Naruto Uzumaki immediately grinned and picked up one of the ninja dogs, weighing it in his hand. "Then I'd like to see exactly how you'll fight me to the death."

"Y-you-you bastard, stop that!" Inuzuka Hana shouted furiously.

"Hana, stop cursing at him!" Izumi Uchiha was still rational enough to shout at Inuzuka Hana.

Inuzuka Hana snapped, "He's going to eat Haimaru and the others! Why shouldn't I curse at him?"

"Be reasonable." Izumi Uchiha took a deep breath and loudly drowned out Inuzuka Hana's voice. "The harsher you curse him, the more likely he is to really eat them. Do you want to get Haimaru and the others killed?"

At those words,

Naruto Uzumaki turned his attention to Izumi Uchiha.

(Izumi Uchiha)

Izumi Uchiha, who would soon graduate from the Ninja Academy this year, had long straight black hair, a beauty mark beneath the corner of her eye, and a petite, budding figure. Though still young, she already displayed extraordinary charm. Her skin was snowy white and delicate, her face exquisite and beautiful. Although the system had judged her talent average and her strength poor, she possessed a calmness and wisdom that Inuzuka Hana, her peer, could not hope to match.

That was truly rare!

[She was practically a smart mom bestowed by the heavens!]

[Slurp~!]

[Slurp~!]

The system was acting up again, but Naruto ignored it. At that moment, he gave Izumi Uchiha an approving look before continuing to watch Inuzuka Hana, who was gradually calming down because of Izumi's words.

She took a deep breath, suppressed her anger, lowered her head, and asked in a trembling voice, "What will it take for you to let Haimaru and the others go?"

"Since you asked so sincerely,"

"I shall mercifully answer you."

"To prevent the world from being destroyed, to protect the peace of the world."

Naruto Uzumaki cleared his throat and answered solemnly, "I need a ninja dog."

Huh?!

Inuzuka Hana's mind went blank for a moment. So Naruto Uzumaki had gone through all that just because he wanted to ask me for a ninja dog?

What was that about?!

(Ninja Academy Inuzuka Hana)

(Ninja Inuzuka Hana)

Izumi Uchiha also let out a sigh of relief. "That's great!"

The Inuzuka family specialized in raising ninja dogs and fighting alongside them. If their family had ever produced a Hokage, they would probably have wanted to order everyone in the village to keep a ninja dog.

Now that Naruto Uzumaki had suddenly made such a request, not only did it dispel Inuzuka Hana's anger, it even gave her the slightest bit of goodwill toward him.

She said, "I can satisfy whatever kind of ninja dog you want, but let me make this clear first: not one that already has an owner. It's best to choose an ownerless puppy and raise it by your side. That way, it will be closest to you."

Naruto responded, "The ninja dog I want is right here."

"I already said you can't choose one with an owner." Inuzuka Hana said with dissatisfaction, "Those three are mine. I'm very close to them, so I can't give them to you."

"I'm not talking about them." Naruto Uzumaki suddenly said.

Not them?

Then were there any other ninja dogs here?

Inuzuka Hana looked around, and when she noticed Izumi Uchiha's awkward expression, she seemed to understand something.

When she looked back at Naruto Uzumaki, she saw him staring at her with a grin.

Inuzuka Hana's heart skipped a beat, and a terrible premonition rose from within.

"The... ninja dog... you're talking about... couldn't possibly be..."

"Yeah, it's you!"

"..."

The lush trees rustled beneath the fierce wind.

White clouds drifted leisurely across the blue sky.

Uzuki Yugao, hiding in the shadows, let out a sigh of relief. She had thought Naruto was going to claim another mom again.

But it was only a ninja dog?

Hm?

A ninja dog?

That somehow did not seem right either!

"Y-you-you despicable bastard, what kind of nonsense are you talking about..." Inuzuka Hana roared in disbelief.

Something like this...

Something like this...

But Haimaru and the others were still in his hands. Damn it!

"Don't be in such a hurry. I won't make you suffer for nothing. How about this: if you defeat me someday, I won't make you be my ninja dog anymore. Instead, I'll be your ninja dog. How's that?"

"Damn it!" Inuzuka Hana ground her teeth, battle intent blazing in her eyes as though she wanted nothing more than to break free and fight Naruto Uzumaki to the death.

But at that moment, Naruto said again, "If you still feel wronged, then I'll take an even bigger loss. Starting today, I'll be your master, and you'll be my mom. We'll each take advantage of the other, so neither of us loses out!"

The entire training ground fell into a long silence once more.

Both Inuzuka Hana and Izumi Uchiha were completely dumbfounded, utterly unable to understand what Naruto Uzumaki was saying.

Did this world really exist?

Could this be someone's genjutsu?!

"Still haven't made your choice? Then I'll just have to painfully..." Naruto said as he picked up Haimaru.

Seeing that, Inuzuka Hana hurriedly shouted, "I agree! I agree! I agree to everything you said! I'll call you Master, and you'll call me Mom. Is that enough now?!"

"Mm!" Naruto Uzumaki nodded in satisfaction. "Mom is so well-behaved!"

[Mom mom mom mom mom mom mom mom mom.]

The Valorant System shouted excitedly.

[Praise the host! You successfully found a lively, fiery, wild-type mom! Congratulations, congratulations, Coca-Cola!]

[Assessment complete. Inuzuka Hana is now a B-rank mom.]

[Mother's Protection +1.]

[Current remaining Mother's Protection: 10 layers.]

[Mom Coins +10.]

[Current Mom Coins remaining: 26.]

[Maintain this relationship. As long as the relationship remains unbroken, you can still receive 1 Mom Coin every day!]

[All current moms combined can provide the host with 10 Mom Coins per day!]

At last, he had achieved his goal. As he watched emotions such as "confusion," "bewilderment," "humiliation," and "anger" fill the fan-shaped chart in Inuzuka Hana's eyes,

Naruto Uzumaki curled his lips slightly. The reason he wanted to establish this dual identity was not because he was a pervert.

It was because his wisdom was laying the groundwork for the future!

There were several reasons for this.

First, it would increase Inuzuka Hana's motivation to defeat him. In the original timeline, her eventual achievements had been ordinary. Now that she had his urging, Naruto refused to believe she would not strive to improve.

As a direct descendant of the Inuzuka clan, Inuzuka Hana had the potential to advance to an A-rank mom.

Naruto wanted to fleece her as thoroughly as possible.

[So many excuses. Naruto Uzumaki is just a pervert.]

Shut up!

You're the pervert! Pervert, super pervert!

Naruto Uzumaki angrily snapped back at the system that had suddenly appeared, then turned his gaze toward the other person present.

The second reason he had toyed with Inuzuka Hana for so long was so that she would stand on the same side as him next and turn their attention toward Izumi Uchiha.

The moment she was targeted by Naruto Uzumaki...

Izumi Uchiha also suddenly felt a bad premonition. She immediately refused, "I absolutely won't agree to anything you ask of me."

What master...

What mom...

It was far too embarrassing, okay?!

"Hehe!" Naruto Uzumaki laughed, stepped forward to untie Inuzuka Hana's ropes, then said, "Mom, it seems someone here isn't willing to join us. Do you have any ideas?"

"Don't even think about it! Hana would never betray me!" Izumi Uchiha shouted.

However...

She received no affirmative response from Inuzuka Hana.

"Izumi..."

"Hana, I'm here!"

"We're good sisters who share hardships and happiness together, right?"

What kind of statement was that?

Izumi Uchiha's hairs instantly stood on end. From Inuzuka Hana's tone, was she really going to drag her down too?

Inuzuka Hana took a deep breath and looked at her with a profound gaze.

"Hana, I know what you're worried about. Don't worry, I absolutely won't tell anyone about this. I promise!"

[Oh, innocent Izumi Uchiha, when it comes to secrets, you can't trust anyone. They're like the wind—one gentle gust, and they pass through the entire forest.]

[Unless...]

[You share the same secret.]

[Evil Naruto Uzumaki whispered, hehehe, fall into hell, Izumi Uchiha!]

"Izumi... I know you're most afraid of being tickled!"

Inuzuka Hana took a deep breath and slowly walked toward Izumi Uchiha.

"Stop it!!!"

Ten minutes later, as peals of laughter echoed through the entire forest, Izumi Uchiha, who had declared that she would never submit, lowered her snowy white neck amid shrill laughter.

"I understand! I agree! I agree, okay?!"

Seeing that Inuzuka Hana still had not stopped, Izumi Uchiha looked at Naruto Uzumaki with difficulty and forced out two words. "Master~!"

"Mom's here!" Naruto Uzumaki immediately replied.

[Praise the host! You found two moms in a single day. You now qualify to block bridges.]

[Assessment complete. Izumi Uchiha is now a B-rank mom.]

[Mother's Protection +1.]

[Current remaining Mother's Protection: 11 layers.]

[Mom Coins +10.]

[Current Mom Coins remaining: 36.]

[Maintain this relationship. As long as the relationship remains unbroken, you can still receive 1 Mom Coin every day!]

[All current moms combined can provide the host with 11 Mom Coins per day!]

The wind—!

Blew for a long time!

Uzuki Yugao looked up at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle.

She sighed and thought, I knew things would turn out like this.

That brat Naruto clearly wanted to get along with them, yet he insisted on doing it this way.

She still remembered Naruto saying that the best kind of relationship was a parent-child relationship.

"Haah~!"

"Perhaps in a few more years, he'll finally grow up!"

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PS: Dear handsome, suave, charming readers, this little author begs for your votes~!

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