"Hinata Hyūga's affection for you has reached the level of unwavering devotion. You have obtained the Byakugan, a kekkei genkai. This pair of Byakugan has purity comparable to that of the Ōtsutsuki clan. If you collect a few more pairs, there may be additional effects."
Inside the Uzushio Village office, Naruto—who had been slacking off—suddenly heard the system's long-absent notification.
After clearly hearing the prompt, Naruto smiled and glanced in the direction of the Land of Fire. He couldn't help but miss that soft, gentle Hinata.
After all, back when he was treated like a demon fox, only Hinata had been able to set aside her prejudice and approach him for help.
If not for that, he wouldn't have given her the Shikotsumyaku—an almost extinct kekkei genkai.
After sighing with emotion, Naruto didn't immediately claim the high-purity Byakugan. He even ignored the follow-up prompts and had no intention of collecting more Byakugan for now.
As a transmigrator, he knew that the Byakugan, like the Sharingan, could evolve.
The evolution of the Sharingan relied on emotional stimulation. After evolving into the Mangekyō Sharingan, and then fusing with another pair from a close relative, it could reach its final form—the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
The evolution of the Byakugan, on the other hand, was much more crude and straightforward.
Gather enough Byakugan together, and they could fuse into the Tenseigan—a powerful dōjutsu comparable to the Rinnegan, but more focused on destruction.
Collecting Byakugan wasn't difficult for Naruto.
The problem was—he had no idea how to fuse them.
It was unclear whether the Hyūga clan's Byakugan, restricted by the Caged Bird Seal, could even be fused. The only reliable way to obtain the Tenseigan might be to go to the moon.
If the opportunity arose in the future, he might make that trip.
But for now, he needed to steadily build his strength.
Although he had already mastered Sage Mode combined with Kurama's power, there was still room for growth in his physical abilities. In terms of overall strength, he was still inferior to Naruto from the Boruto era—far from invincible in the ninja world.
Shaking off his wandering thoughts, Naruto looked at the Flying Thunder God kunai on the table, along with the intelligence report sent by Kakashi.
The contents of the report weren't particularly important to him.
Even though he knew the plot, he wouldn't blindly trust it. At best, it served as a rough reference to predict future developments in the ninja world.
What mattered more was Kakashi's behavior.
It was clear that Kakashi wasn't satisfied with the current state of Konoha—and had been maintaining frequent contact with him.
After burning the letter, Naruto glanced at the pile of documents on his desk.
Break time was over.
It was time to return to his busy and fulfilling life as the village secretary.
...
Time flew, and in the blink of an eye, two years had passed.
Naruto welcomed his thirteenth birthday.
Thirteen was a very special age.
At that age, Obito had launched the Nine-Tails' attack and killed his own teacher and his teacher's wife.
At that age, Uchiha Itachi had slaughtered his entire clan, leaving only Sasuke alive.
And Naruto?
He could only sit quietly in Uzushio Village, working as a secretary, commanding a force of just a few hundred ninja.
Over the past two years, Naruto had frequently contacted the Fifth Hokage, Jiraiya, under the identity of Uzushio Village's leader.
Through economic and trade cooperation, they had transformed the once-impoverished Land of Waves into a thriving port city.
As for the Land of Uzumaki, Naruto had turned it into a sanctuary for cultivation.
Using the power of the Dragon Veins and Curse Seals, he promoted the practice of natural energy. A significant number of ninja had mastered the power of Curse Seals, reaching the level of jōnin.
All of this was thanks to Orochimaru's technology—and the research team led by Uzumaki Ashina.
Otherwise, relying on his half-baked scientific knowledge, he probably wouldn't have been able to develop a Curse Seal system compatible with the Dragon Veins.
In addition to managing Uzushio Village, Naruto kept a close eye on both Amegakure under Nagato and Konoha—the central stage of the ninja world.
After experiencing parallel time-space travel, Nagato seemed to have completely abandoned his plan to collect tailed beasts.
Instead, he began imitating Uzumaki Village's reforms.
While rapidly developing Amegakure's economy, he also expanded influence into surrounding small nations. The Akatsuki—originally formed to capture tailed beasts—had now become a weapon for Amegakure's external expansion.
Overall, the region remained relatively stable.
There were occasional border frictions, and even small-scale clashes with Iwagakure—but nothing major.
As for Konoha…
Naruto paid special attention to the "Konoha Twelve" and their respective instructors.
They were the protagonists of this era. Every move they made could influence the entire ninja world.
The only difference?
Sai had taken Naruto's place among them.
And unlike the original storyline, Team Kakashi's first mission wasn't in the Land of Waves.
Instead, they were sent to some obscure small country.
During that mission, Kakashi encountered a ninja named Shinnō.
This rogue ninja was a remnant of the Sky Ninja Village. He had mastered the technology to create the Zero-Tails and even possessed a chakra-powered aerial battleship.
If Kakashi hadn't learned the Flying Thunder God Technique, he might have suffered a serious setback.
In the end, the battleship was intercepted by Naruto and brought back to Uzumaki Village, where it became a transport vessel for the village's rapid-response forces.
Of course, the most important gain wasn't the battleship.
It was the rewards Naruto received from the Uzumaki ninja after earning their recognition.
Individually, the rewards weren't much.
But combined, they were astonishing—allowing him to nearly master most basic ninjutsu in the ninja world, making him more of a "Professor of Ninjutsu" than even the so-called experts.
Sitting atop the roof of the Uzumaki Shrine, Naruto silently looked down at the entire village.
At that moment, Uchiha Shisui approached with Uchiha Izumi.
Shisui was now one of Uzushio Village's advisors, while Izumi had grown into a powerful elite jōnin.
Seeing them approach, Naruto jumped down from the roof.
"Did something happen at the border?"
Shisui nodded and handed him an invitation.
"Lord Mianma, this is a letter from Konoha. Please take a look."
Naruto opened the letter, a playful smile forming on his face.
"Shisui… the Fifth Hokage is inviting us to participate in the Chūnin Exams hosted by Konoha."
Shisui and Izumi froze for a moment, their expressions turning a little strange.
Uzushio Village was, in theory, founded by Konoha defectors.
And now Jiraiya was inviting them to take part in the Chūnin Exams?
Wasn't he worried that the truth about Konoha missing-nin hiding in Uzushio Village would be exposed?
Moreover, although Danzō—the one who had targeted the Uchiha—was dead, the clan still held deep resentment toward Konoha.
The fact that they hadn't retaliated was already the result of great restraint.
Still…
Both Shisui and Izumi felt a trace of nostalgia at the thought of returning.
But in the end, the decision rested entirely with Naruto.
Only he could decide whether or not they would participate in the Chūnin Exams.
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