Naruto: Naruto's Uchiha girlfriend is too tsundere

This... is what they call a "hidden stronghold"?

Just now, Menma used the Flying Thunder God Technique to send himself and Kakuzu back to the Land of Hot Springs and back to their hotel room. However, this time he did not call Hizashi, but instead took Kakuzu to the base of the [Jin] organization that Hizashi had spent a year building.

The result is……

Menma's gaze swept from the exquisite arched bridge over the artificial pond, past the meticulously trimmed pines and cypresses, and finally settled on the majestic main hall. The seven-story Japanese palace gleamed with the expensive luster of wood in the sunlight, and the wind chimes hanging from the eaves tinkled in the breeze.

This doesn't look like a terrorist organization's base at all; it's clearly the palace of some powerful lord!

"Heh..." Kakuzu's laughter came from beneath his mask as he glanced at the obviously expensive building materials. "It seems our organization's finances are quite good."

Menma silently adjusted his mask. Although he knew Hizashi possessed exceptional business acumen, this was still too much...

Does that guy have some kind of misunderstanding about the word "concealment"?!

“So…” Kakuzu’s voice carried a hint of sarcasm, “this is the headquarters of the [Ember] organization, which strikes fear into the hearts of the Five Great Nations? I must say… quite the taste.”

Menma took a deep breath and decided to skip the topic. "...Come with me."

------

"Please wait a moment, Mr. Tanuma will be here to see you both shortly."

The maid, dressed in an elegant kimono, bowed respectfully and withdrew. Menma silently watched this scene through her disguised eyes—was this the kind of person a terrorist organization would recruit?

But to maintain his aloof and dignified image, he merely nodded slightly. A moment later, the Japanese-style sliding door was suddenly pulled open.

Appearing at the door were two ordinary-looking people: a middle-aged man dressed in a simple brown kimono, and a little girl with round-framed glasses beside him. They had no distinguishing features and looked no different from any other ordinary resident on the street.

As their chakra fluctuated, their transformation techniques gradually faded. Hizashi returned to his original appearance, while the "ordinary girl" transformed back into Karin with red hair and red eyes. She excitedly widened her eyes, her lips slightly parted as if she wanted to say something, but she held back under Hizashi's stern gaze and simply bowed respectfully.

Menma also removed his second layer of disguise, revealing his signature fox mask.

"Lord Menma, I apologize for keeping you waiting." Hizashi bowed respectfully.

at this time.

【Ding! 】

[Congratulations, host! You have established a level 4 bond with the original character "Karin"!]

Points earned: 400!

Menma wasn't surprised by the system points he received; it seemed Hizashi had indeed taken good care of Karin. He was about to introduce Kakuzu's situation before discussing the base issue with Hizashi when Hizashi spoke first.

"Lord Menma, this must be the organization's newly recruited member, right?" Hizashi turned his gaze to Kakuzu, who was wearing a cloak, standing next to Menma.

"Yes. Kakuzu, the immortal ninja, possesses the strength to serve as a 'Kage' of the Five Great Nations. From this day forward, he is a member of [Jin]."

He briefly explained Kakuzu's background, but deliberately omitted his battle with the First Hokage. When the squire heard that Kakuzu was over ninety years old, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes, but he quickly regained his composure.

Kakuzu only spoke one sentence coldly throughout. "I originally thought joining [Jin] would allow me to take on more high-value bounties... but judging from the organization's finances, it's clearly not about making money that way. As for the source of funding... tell me in detail later."

When Kakuzu expressed his desire to study business management, Hizashi cautiously looked at Menma for permission. Menma knew that Kakuzu liked making and saving money but disliked spending it, so she nodded in agreement to his request.

Kakuzu's life can be summarized as "he died before he spent all his money." In the long story, he painstakingly accumulated wealth over several decades, which he practically never touched, only to have it all squandered overnight by a spendthrift woman.

Then, just as Naruto was about to question Hizashi about the connection between this magnificent palace and the word "hidden," Hizashi seemed to have anticipated this and spoke first.

“Lord Menma, you must have many questions about this place.” Hizashi respectfully gestured for him to follow. “But please come with me first.”

Passing through the main hall's ornate corridors, the group arrived at a spacious backyard. Here stood only a few unassuming work huts, a stark contrast to the opulence of the front. The squire led them into one of them, pushing open the tool cabinets on either side—

With a soft click, the wide staircase hidden beneath the floor was revealed.

Naruto realized something... In other words... the magnificent building outside was just a decoy?

Descending the stairs, the scene gradually became familiar. A spacious underground space, cold stone walls, and intricate passageways—it resembled the secret base of the "Root" organization from an anime. Hizashi provided a detailed explanation from the side.

"This place was actually only recently completed. The basic structures of facilities such as the training grounds, laboratories, and archives are finished, but the equipment is still being installed. I will complete it as soon as possible."

He continued, “I’ve also set up multiple secret entrances throughout the town, all encrypted with specific sealing techniques, accessible only to members of the organization…”

Faced with such meticulous arrangements, what could Naruto say?

"...Well done."

Chapter 73 Timeline Convergence

With the matter settled, Menma's shadow clone was about to dissipate. Before disappearing, Menma made a special trip to see Uzumaki Misaki—a pitiful woman whose name was never mentioned in the original work and who was ultimately bitten to death by the Grass Ninja.

Now she lives a peaceful and prosperous life in the underground base of the [Jin] organization. When she saw Menma again, this woman, who had once been full of vigilance, had completely let down her guard. Facing Menma, who had brought her out of Kusagakure, tears welled up in her eyes. She thanked him repeatedly and even tried to perform a deep bow, but Menma stopped her in time, as he had never liked such formal expressions of gratitude.

The system notification tone arrived as expected.

【Ding! 】

[Congratulations, host! You have established a level 5 bond with the original character "Uzumaki Misaki"!]

Points earned: 50!

...That's a bit too little.

Naruto sighed inwardly, but quickly came to terms with it. After all, in the original work, this woman's existence was merely to highlight Karin's tragic past. Being able to change such a tragic fate brought him far more satisfaction than gaining any number of points.

As the memories of his shadow clones returned, Naruto's consciousness refocused on his classroom at the Konoha Ninja Academy. The cherry blossoms outside the window bloomed and faded, and the days passed peacefully by.

In the absence of major plot events, Naruto lives an enviable, fulfilling life, training daily with his childhood friend Satsuki and spending time with children from various clans. The Ino-Shika-Cho trio, Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame... they have all become his close friends.

But behind this seemingly leisurely daily life lies near-frenzied training. Compared to a "hard-working cheat" who simply relies on the system, Naruto is now more like a "desperate cheat".

After receiving the four chakra natures granted by the system, he also cultivated the wind nature on his own. He was only a matter of time before he became a perfect five-element ninja.

His training in the Vajra Sealing Technique never ceased. With the massive chakra boost from the system's rewards, the golden chains extending from his body could now make the Nine-Tails within the sealed space shiver involuntarily.

One evening, after finishing his taijutsu training with Naruto, Might Guy wiped the sweat from his brow, his eyes gleaming with excitement, and said, "Naruto, I recently met a very special student!"

"Although that child has absolutely no talent for ninjutsu, I'm certain—he will become a powerful ninja in the future!"

Naruto smiled slightly upon hearing this, understanding dawning on him. It seemed that Guy-sensei had already met Rock Lee.

Rock Lee—the boy with arguably the lowest talent in the entire Naruto series. His ninjutsu talent is a tragic 0, and he can't even perform the most basic Three Body Technique.

He firmly believed that "hard work can surpass genius," but he didn't know that he was surrounded not by ordinary geniuses, but by cheaters.

Later in the original story, when the gap in combat power became too large... Rock Lee proved that hard work can never catch up with a cheater, while Guy proved with his life that at least hard work can lead to mutual destruction with a cheater.

Meanwhile, Naruto's companions are also growing rapidly. Shikamaru and Choji have begun to study the clan's secret ninjutsu—after all, with the school's most dazzling genius in their class, it's impossible not to feel pressured spending all their time with Naruto, this "cheater." Even the usually lazy Shikamaru has recently started seriously studying the clan's advanced Shadow Imitation Technique.

Kiba Inuzuka began training in beast mimicry ninjutsu early on, spending his days rampaging through the training grounds with Akamaru, taking the "when in doubt, use your teeth" tactic to its extreme.

Satsuki, Naruto's childhood friend, has become increasingly strict with him when it comes to training. Even though Naruto is training like crazy, she's still not satisfied and always frowns as she demands extra practice.

Naruto didn't understand the reason behind it—Satsuki was actually worried about the power gap after the Sharingan awakened. She felt that she was also approaching the age to awaken the Sharingan, and as a member of the Uchiha clan, her strength would experience a qualitative leap after activating her bloodline limit.

The seemingly evenly matched sparring sessions between Naruto and Sasuke are merely Naruto deliberately holding back. However, Sasuke worries that if the awakening of his Sharingan leads to a significant power gap between them in the future... what if his father no longer approves of Naruto?

To this end, Satsuki almost obsessively urged Naruto to train, while her own Fire Release ninjutsu hand seals became faster and faster, the power of her Lightning Release ninjutsu grew stronger day by day, and her shurikenjutsu became dazzlingly varied. Recently, she has even begun to dabble in genjutsu and body flickering techniques.

Training, spending time with friends, receiving guidance from Iruka and Might Guy... two years passed in the blink of an eye, filled with these ordinary yet fulfilling days. Just as Naruto was silently calculating the approaching Uchiha clan massacre and preparing to use all his system points to act as Menma—

【Ding! 】

The system notification sounded suddenly at night, causing Naruto, who was lying in bed, to sit up abruptly.

[Discovered major event from the original work: Triggered the main quest "Uchiha Clan Massacre"]

[Mission Objective: Based on the location clues, rescue Uchiha Shisui who is attempting suicide and change the fate of the Uchiha clan's annihilation]

[Mission Reward: Obtain the Stand ability "Gold Experience"]

Chapter 74 Farewell

Night fell in the forest surrounding Konoha. Cold moonlight filtered through the trees, casting dappled shadows on the cliff edge. Below, a stream murmured, its sound exceptionally clear in the stillness of the night.

On the cliff, two figures stood silently facing each other.

The two were dressed in the standard vests of Konoha's Anbu, with a short sword on their backs. The boy standing in front had a handsome face, and his round nose added to his childishness, but at this moment, his expression was frighteningly solemn.

Uchiha Shisui.

His right eye was tightly closed, blood streaming down his cheek, while his left eye, unstained by blood, revealed a deep weariness and determination.

Standing opposite him was a girl with black hair and black eyes.

Uchiha Itachi.

The girl had delicate features, and her eyes held a calmness far beyond her years. The only thing that detracted from this beauty were the two tear troughs that ran from the corners of her eyes to her chin, giving her an imposing and dignified air even when she was expressionless.

"Shisui...your eyes..."

Itachi's voice was very soft, yet it seemed frozen by the night wind as she stared intently at Shisui's tightly closed right eye.

Shisui gave a bitter smile. "Itachi... I originally wanted to use Kotoamatsukami to stop the Uchiha hawks' plan. But I failed completely."

"Danzo doesn't trust me at all."

“He took one of my eyes, but he won’t stop there.” Shisui raised his hand, his fingertips gently touching his tightly closed right eye. “Before he does anything… I want to entrust my last remaining eye to you.”

The night wind suddenly stopped, and the air seemed to freeze.

“Please…” Shisui’s voice was almost pleading, “You must stop the hawks’ plan.”

His gaze passed over Itachi and landed on the lights of Konoha in the distance, a faint glimmer of hope appearing in his eyes.

"As long as you wait for your sister... and the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki to grow up... then the fate of the Uchiha in Konoha... will be rewritten."

Uchiha Itachi stared at his best friend's empty right eye, blood still slowly dripping down, staining his clothes red. His knuckles clenched unconsciously, his nails digging deep into his palms.

why?

The Uchiha clan already had a chance to prove their trust. Satsuki, their own younger sister, was now inseparable from Konoha's Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

If we just wait a few more years until they grow up, the Uchiha's status in Konoha will inevitably change. This is how Clan Chief Fugaku reassured the radicals—that the future of the Uchiha would be completely rewritten by the next generation.

But... those hawkish clansmen weren't even willing to wait that little bit of time.

When they learned that the clan leader's daughter was so close to Konoha's "ultimate weapon," they were not pleased at all. Instead, they secretly brewed an even more insane plan—since Satsuki could get close to the Jinchuriki... why not take advantage of that?

Normally, the Konoha leadership would never allow an Uchiha clansman to approach the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. Yet now, Sasuke is able to be so close to Naruto right under Konoha's noses. Given this…

The plan is to lure Sasuke into taking Naruto back to the Uchiha clan's territory, and then use the Sharingan to control the Nine-Tails.

With the power of the Nine-Tails, the Uchiha coup will face no further obstacles. Why wait for a vague and uncertain future? We can seize the Hokage position now!

This idea is quietly spreading among the hawks.

The night wind howled, and the loose rocks on the cliff edge shifted at Zhi Shui's feet, rolling into the dark abyss, where a faint echo lingered for a long time.

Uchiha Shisui stared at Itachi with his only remaining left eye—the girl who had followed him in training since childhood, now capable of standing on her own.

His gaze lingered on her face for a moment, a barely perceptible hint of reluctance flashing deep in his eyes, but that tenderness was quickly replaced by resolute determination.

He slowly raised his hand and touched his left eye with his fingertips.

"I can only... ask you for help."

Blood seeped through his fingers, but he didn't even flinch. With a very soft tearing sound, he removed his last remaining Mangekyou Sharingan and handed it to Itachi.

"Protect the village, and the name of the Uchiha. We must never... let them get close to the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki."

A night wind suddenly rose, swirling up a few withered leaves. Just then, a jet-black raven silently swept across the night sky and landed steadily on Itachi's shoulder—it was her summoning beast. The raven's blood-red eyes rolled, silently watching the bloodstained Mangekyou Sharingan in Shisui's palm, then gently bent down and picked it up with its beak.

The next second, the crow's body suddenly disintegrated, turning into countless feathers that vanished into the night with the wind.

"I accept it." Her voice was calm, almost icy. "So... what do you plan to do next?"

Shisui did not answer immediately, but instead took two steps back.

His heels were already hanging over the edge of the cliff, with loose rocks falling down.

"If I die... maybe it can buy me some more time."

"I must be made to appear as if I am missing... I must not let my clansmen know that Danzo was the one who attacked me."

The night wind ruffled his clothes. "Otherwise... more of my people will support that insane plan."

Itachi's pupils suddenly contracted. What was he saying?

The mask of composure she maintained finally cracked, and panic surged into her eyes like a tidal wave.

"Wait! Shisui—!"

She took a sudden step forward and reached out to grab him.