Chapter 63: “Naruto, I Caught a Snake”

When Uchiha Izumi felt the Mangekyō Sharingan in her eyes automatically deactivate, she told Naruto.

Naruto then removed the bandages covering her eyes.

This wasn’t the first time he had done so over the past few days.

He would unwrap them once in the morning so she could wash her face, and once at night so she could wash her hair. She simply never opened her eyes during those times.

Now that she could feel the fusion had been completed, Uchiha Izumi slowly opened her eyes after Naruto removed the bandages.

Her eyes had returned to their standard Uchiha black.

Seeing this, Naruto nodded inwardly.

The Mangekyō Sharingan had deactivated on its own, which meant the fusion really was complete.

Naruto didn’t rush her. He first let her adjust to the light.

Uchiha Izumi moved her eyes around for a moment before closing them.

Then she suddenly opened them again.

A pair of scarlet Mangekyō Sharingan appeared, and a faint glint flashed through them.

Naruto nodded.

That was a sign of the immense ocular power within them.

Looking carefully, he noticed that the pattern of her Mangekyō Sharingan had also changed.

The original pattern consisted of six flower petals with black outlines and red centers.

Now, in the middle, there was an additional miniature six-petaled black plum blossom.

The reduced black pattern in the center somewhat resembled a six-pointed star.

Seeing the smile on Uchiha Izumi’s face, Naruto asked with concern,

"How do you feel?"

"I feel great. Thank you, Naruto!"

Uchiha Izumi immediately gave Naruto a big hug.

Naruto had taken care of her tirelessly over the past few days. He had worked hard as well.

Although Izumi’s mother was here, she had only been concerned about her daughter’s condition.

Once she knew Izumi was fine, she stopped interfering.

At most, she would prepare their meals.

Her daughter had a man taking care of her. She would have to be an idiot to interfere.

Although her daughter would never say anything, deep down, she probably preferred having Naruto take care of her.

Izumi’s mother had been young once too. She understood this kind of maiden’s heart all too well.

She had seen everything over the past few days.

Whenever her daughter needed something, she would casually say things like,

"Naruto, I’m thirsty."

And Naruto would respond with a helpless expression before obediently going to get her some water.

Every time Izumi’s mother saw it, she wanted to laugh.

That afternoon, Naruto and Uchiha Izumi had dinner with her mother.

After night fell, they returned to Naruto’s home in Konoha.

Naruto merged the two clones he had created using the Spore Technique back into his main body.

After receiving their memories, he nodded inwardly.

The clones had spent the past few days attending classes when they were supposed to, and carrying out D-rank missions when necessary.

Uchiha Izumi didn’t have many friends to begin with, and during these few days, she hadn’t been summoned by the Third Hokage either.

Overall, everything was normal.

Sasuke, on the other hand, had been relocated to a house near Naruto’s after the Uchiha clan compound was burned down by Uchiha Itachi.

And he was actually living in the building right across from Naruto’s!

Naruto’s heart stirred.

Could the Third Hokage be trying to save on ANBU manpower?

With that thought in mind, Naruto activated Kagura’s Mind’s Eye.

Sure enough!

There was only one ANBU nearby.

And it was the same ANBU responsible for monitoring Naruto.

After thinking about it for a moment, Naruto understood.

ANBU manpower was scarce.

During the previous Uchiha massacre, Naruto had killed several of them.

In fact, he had killed more than a dozen, most of them from Root, which was why there were only a few ANBU left.

Anyway, Naruto and Sasuke now happened to walk to school together during the day and return home along the same route at night.

One ANBU could monitor both of them during the day and three people at night.

Efficient.

After all these years, the Third Hokage was already fairly confident in Naruto.

As for Uchiha Izumi, he had become completely reassured about her.

Previously, he had been worried that the Uchiha clan might use Izumi to make contact with Naruto, which was why he had monitored her.

Now that the Uchiha clan had been wiped out, the Third Hokage naturally wouldn’t waste ANBU manpower watching Izumi anymore.

Konoha was a huge village.

The Hokage and the ANBU were extremely busy. It was impossible for them to keep an eye on just a handful of people.

As long as they kept their attention on the key target—Naruto—it was enough.

Ignoring the ANBU, Naruto sensed Sasuke’s location.

Sasuke was at home practicing with shuriken.

Naruto shook his head.

With that much time available to practice shuriken, he might as well do a few more push-ups and improve his physical strength!

Other than using shuriken for a feint, could anyone really expect them to kill someone?

Putting the thought aside, Naruto took a shower and returned to his room to rest.

The next day, Naruto once again returned to his daily routine of teasing Hinata, flirting with Ino, and picking fights with Sasuke.

Several months passed peacefully.

One day, Uchiha Izumi returned home carrying a snake as thick as a wrist.

"Naruto, I just caught a snake. How about snake soup for dinner today?"

???

Hearing this, Naruto was initially completely confused.

A snake?

Then he thought of something and immediately asked,

"Where did you catch it?"

"On my way back just now. It had actually crawled all the way into the village. Why?"

Uchiha Izumi was very familiar with Naruto and immediately sensed that something was wrong.

Naruto’s heart stirred as he secretly activated Kagura’s Mind’s Eye.

There was nothing unusual nearby.

There was no one hiding nearby with powerful chakra.

But the snake...

Naruto had already analyzed Minato Namikaze and understood Sage Mode, allowing him to clearly sense a faint trace of natural energy coming from the snake.

Could it be a snake from Ryūchi Cave?

Natural energy wasn’t exclusive to the Three Great Sage Regions.

It was simply much more concentrated in those three places.

So Naruto couldn’t be certain whether a wild snake might also absorb some natural energy.

But judging by the timing...

It had already been several months since the Uchiha massacre.

Orochimaru had probably already had his arms crippled by Uchiha Itachi and defected from Akatsuki.

Afterward, he had developed an interest in the Sharingan.

If so, these snakes were most likely related to Sasuke—or perhaps even Uchiha Izumi.

Thinking this, Naruto glanced at the unconscious snake.

It definitely contained natural energy, but he couldn’t sense any other chakra attached to it.

Naruto asked Minato Namikaze inside the sealing space,

"Father, take a look at this snake. Is it a snake from Ryūchi Cave? I can sense natural energy coming from it."

Minato carefully sensed it for a while before answering,

"It should be."

"Although ordinary snakes living in the wild may also contain a small amount of natural energy, it would be extremely weak and not obvious. It would be very difficult to sense."

"Moreover, the natural energy they absorb has no distinct characteristics."

"But the natural energy of the Three Great Sage Regions has very obvious characteristics."

"The characteristics of the natural energy inside this snake match those of Ryūchi Cave."

"Okay. I understand."

Naruto acknowledged it inwardly before turning to Uchiha Izumi.

"You may have been targeted by Orochimaru."

"Orochimaru?"

Uchiha Izumi blinked in confusion.

She had naturally heard of Orochimaru, one of the Legendary Three Ninja.

But why would he target her?

"He may have his eyes on your Sharingan. Anyway, there’s nothing to worry about. If he really comes after you, just use a genjutsu through your Sharingan and glare at him."

Naruto waved his hand dismissively.

Orochimaru was powerful.

But his soul had been damaged because of the Reanimation Technique.

His weakness was simply too obvious.

Even though Uchiha Itachi hadn’t used Tsukuyomi, he had still managed to restrain Orochimaru with nothing more than a paralysis-type genjutsu.

There was no reason Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan Uchiha Izumi couldn’t do the same.

Naruto wasn’t worried in the slightest.

He was only afraid that Izumi might foolishly try to fight Orochimaru head-on.

Especially if she started using Susanoo in the middle of Konoha.

That would be a headache.

Izumi asked seriously,

"His weakness is genjutsu?"

Naruto corrected her,

"Ordinary genjutsu won’t work. I mean genjutsu used through the Sharingan."

"Okay, I understand."

Uchiha Izumi nodded.

As if remembering something, Naruto continued,

"By the way, if you discover his whereabouts, send chakra into my Flying Thunder God kunai. I want to meet him too."

"Okay."

Izumi nodded again.

Then she gestured toward the snake in her hand.

"What about this snake? Are we still eating it?"

"Of course. Why wouldn’t we?"

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