Uchiha Nagi had no idea that Naruto, due to a slight interaction with his group, had a portion of spacetime memories flood into his mind.
Time travel is difficult to explain clearly, whether it's the chicken laying the egg or the egg hatching the chicken.
After resting for one night, Uchiha Nagi took Kimimaro to a barbecue restaurant, an Akimichi Clan establishment. Their barbecue restaurant did good business because it was not only delicious but also affordable.
"Mmm~ The barbecue here is much tastier than in the Land of Wind, so tender and delicious, and not as greasy..." Yukihime's little belly was round and full; she really couldn't eat anymore, so she could only watch Kimimaro enviously.
Uchiha Nagi had eaten a few plates and couldn't eat anymore. Finally, the two quietly watched Kimimaro feast.
"Um..." Kimimaro felt a little embarrassed and shy from being watched.
"Boss, ten more plates of barbecue..." Uchiha Nagi called out.
"Alright, customer, coming right up~" The one who answered Uchiha Nagi was a Fat Man, not a member of Akimichi Choji's family, apparently a hired worker.
It's impossible for every member of a Ninja clan to have the potential to become a Ninja, so even within the Akimichi Clan, there are many ordinary people, just like the Uchiha Clan.
Unfortunately, Sandaime and Danzo were very ruthless; they didn't even spare unarmed ordinary people... Uchiha Nagi sighed, looking at the familiar Konoha Village with a bit of nostalgia and remembrance... "Mama, I want to eat meat..."
"Wait a moment, Kenta, the meat isn't cooked yet..."
A familiar voice came. Uchiha Nagi looked up to see a new mother with her two or three-year-old child, happily eating barbecue. And this woman... her name was Yuriko, one of the girls who had actively pursued him before he became a rogue Ninja. Now she was a woman.
Alas, time is like a knife, but Uchiha Nagi didn't regret it. If he had accepted any girl's pursuit back then, with Danzo's ruthlessness, the outcome would have just been another corpse to be buried with.
"Sigh..." Uchiha Nagi sighed.
Hmm?! Yukihime glanced at Uchiha Nagi, then at the mother and son, her big eyes darting around. Could there be something going on?
Yukihime gently nudged Kimimaro with her foot. Kimimaro, with a large piece of meat in his mouth, looked up in confusion. Yukihime pursed her lips in the direction of the mother and son, signaling, 'Your teacher seems to have something going on...' Hmm?! Insider info about the teacher? Kimimaro looked over curiously... Watching Yukihime's little brain constantly concocting various inappropriate scenarios, Uchiha Nagi directly flicked his finger—
"Ow, that hurts~" Yukihime covered the red mark on her forehead, her eyes watering.
"Hehe..." Kimimaro watched this scene, feeling warm inside, and chuckled foolishly.
"Let's go once we're full. We'll set off for the Land of Iron early to see if I can get the weapons I want forged there..."
The Land of Iron, a country of Samurai, where all are Samurai, a type of soldier discarded from an older era.
But that doesn't mean Samurai are weak. The fact that they maintained neutrality during several Shinobi World Wars isn't because they love peace, but because their combat power is off the charts.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that everyone is a soldier. Before the emergence of the Ninja profession, the Ninja World was the domain of Samurai. In a world without Chakra, they possessed physical energy, and most of them used swordsmanship.
Besides that, only a small number of people, like Pandas, could use natural energy, but with the rise of Ninja, Samurai could only reluctantly withdraw from the stage of history.
Because high-attack, low-defense Samurai, no matter how powerful their swordsmanship, couldn't withstand a few Ninjutsu. Except for Samurai at the peak of swordsmanship, lower and middle-tier individuals couldn't cut Ninjutsu with their swords.
But there are pros and cons. Everyone in the Land of Iron practices physical energy, so they are all Samurai. Those who possess Chakra integrate it into their swordsmanship. Coupled with the Land of Iron's geographical location, which isn't a rich land, no one bothered to touch it during the Shinobi World Wars.
In simple terms, the Land of Iron is a tough nut to crack; there's no real benefit in attacking it, and you'd likely chip a few teeth.
Being a country of Samurai, of course, there are many weapons forged there. Perhaps some might say, there's also the Land of Craftsmen; doesn't its name suggest it's more suited for weapon forging?
However, in reality, it's not. The Land of Craftsmen is a country that mass-produces Kunai and shuriken like a factory; in essence, it's focused on wartime output.
It's specifically for supplying large-scale orders of Ninja tools to various Ninja Villages. While the quality is good, this kind of mass-produced Ninja-specific gear definitely can't compare to the handcrafted quality found in the Land of Iron.
To forge a personal, exclusive, and extremely high-quality weapon, one must go to a country like the Land of Iron, where items are handcrafted.
After finishing the famous Akimichi Clan barbecue, Uchiha Nagi had no lingering attachments. There were no bonds belonging to him in Konoha Village, so he set off with Kimimaro and Yukihime.
The three led their horses out of Konoha Village's main gate. Before leaving, Uchiha Nagi expressionlessly looked at the several faces on the Hokage Rock. He figured the Exploding Tag traps buried there, capable of blowing up Konoha Village, must have been dismantled by now... "Hey~ Uncle... Wait... Wait..."
Hmm?!
Uchiha Nagi, who had just walked out of Konoha Village's gate, stopped in confusion. As soon as he stopped, he saw a little blond boy breathlessly catching up.
"Um, so you guys are here. I've been looking for you for ages, Uncle. Here, this frog is for you. Thanks for treating me to ramen yesterday."
Naruto shoved a frog-shaped coin purse into Uchiha Nagi's hand. "Even though you look cold, I know you're actually a good person—"
"Are you done?" Uchiha Nagi sensed that four people were secretly following behind the little blond boy.
"Huh? No, I'm not done..."
"Oh, thank you for the frog. Goodbye!" Uchiha Nagi waved his hand and left.
Naruto scratched his head, suddenly remembering something, and shouted, "Oh, by the way, Uncle, what's your name?"
Uchiha Nagi replied without looking back, "If you don't call me 'Uncle' and call me 'Handsome,' I might tell you..."
"Don't call me 'Uncle,' call me 'Handsome'..."
Naruto stood still, stunned, as strange images once again flooded his mind.
The Anbu around him also relaxed. Being assigned to Naruto was essentially a retirement mode; as long as Naruto didn't leave the Village, nothing unexpected ever happened. However, when he interacted with strangers, the Anbu would still pay attention.
Whoosh—
"Hmm? It seems someone passed by?" Naruto was startled awake.
Two youthful and beautiful figures ran past Naruto. Their direction was exactly where Uchiha Nagi had gone.
These two were Anko Mitarashi and Kurenai Yuhi. After obtaining information from Konoha Village's guards and confirming the person after a long search, they had been secretly following Uchiha Nagi's group of three. However, Anko Mitarashi wasn't a Root Ninja; she wouldn't just arbitrarily arrest someone without evidence. So, to avoid making a mistake and being ridiculed, she had asked Kurenai Yuhi to accompany her secretly. They planned to have Yuhi use her Genjutsu to test the three after they left Konoha Village.
Yuhi, like her, was a Jonin, but Yuhi specialized in Genjutsu. If she were to hypnotize an enemy for interrogation, she could do it without anyone knowing.
Granny Chiyo once said that if a Genjutsu specialist Ninja is in a one-on-one fight, the only option is to run; there's no other way.
If it's one-on-two, you can flank them. One-on-three offers an even greater advantage. But in summary, it all boils down to one point: Genjutsu specialist Ninja are more suited for small-scale battles.
In large-scale battles, Genjutsu is useless; piloting a Gundam is the way to go. Like Madara and the First Hokage, a clap of their hands and a mountain-sized Gundam would fall to the ground, rolling over and crushing a large number of people... Anko Mitarashi and Kurenai Yuhi are both Jonin, and Anko Mitarashi was trained by Orochimaru. Orochimaru's Ninjutsu is comprehensive, so she and Kurenai Yuhi form a complete team with no weaknesses. Even if the opponent is a Jonin, they can handle it.
"Are you sure? It's the girl in that group ahead." The red-haired, red-eyed Kurenai Yuhi asked Anko Mitarashi.
Anko Mitarashi narrowed her eyes and pulled out a snake. "Nine times out of ten, I'm not wrong. My snake can't sense the girl ahead at all. She's really special, like a rock, a big tree; I can't sense her at all. It seems my collision with her the day before yesterday wasn't an accident."
"The other two, one adult and one child, also seem to possess Chakra; they're not ordinary people. But Little Red Ball told me their strength doesn't seem to be very strong."
Yuhi nodded, "Then let's find an opportunity to test them. If they're not spies sent by the enemy, we'll let them go."
Uchiha Nagi walked in front, occasionally frowning. Someone was following him?
He initially thought it was Anbu who had seen him interact with the little blond boy, but after walking for a while, he realized it wasn't. If they were Anbu, they could openly come forward to question him or arrest his group for interrogation.
This was Konoha Village's territory; it was their turf, and they called the shots. Even if they deliberately messed with him, he would have to grit his teeth and bear it.
But the two people behind seemed to be constantly following, not coming forward. What did that mean?
After a while, the two seemed to have made a decision and directly took a detour to get ahead of his group, as if they were setting a trap?!
As his group approached the target, two figures suddenly jumped out.
"Stop, Konoha Anbu! Please cooperate with us for some investigation—"
Anko Mitarashi, after jumping down, brazenly reached out to stop them. Claiming to be Anbu without even wearing a mask, this pot didn't even have a lid... Uchiha Nagi asked, "We are just ordinary tourists, and we have followed Konoha Village's rules all along, not going anywhere we shouldn't. May I ask why you are suddenly stopping us?"
"Sorry, we want to question that girl—" Yuhi said.
"Me?!" Yukihime pointed to herself, looking bewildered... Uchiha Nagi quickly thought it through in his mind and instantly understood. They probably, like the Fourth Kazekage, had discovered her uniqueness.
Never mind... Uchiha Nagi's lips suddenly curved upwards, and he looked up, smiling at Kurenai Yuhi.
"Long time no see, Kurenai Yuhi. Do you have a boyfriend yet...?"
Both Anko Mitarashi and Kurenai Yuhi are Jonin. Being a Jonin isn't just about meeting combat power standards; it also requires various comprehensive abilities, one of which is combat experience.
The two quickly grabbed their Kunai and Exploding Tags, ready for battle at any moment. Yuhi asked, confused, "Who are you??"
Uchiha Nagi smiled, "I haven't changed my voice. Can't you even recognize my voice? Then, like this, you should recognize me."
His eyes narrowed, and the next second they opened, already transformed into a three-tomoe Sharingan—
"Sharingan?" Anko Mitarashi exclaimed.
"You're... Uchiha Nagi?!" Kurenai Yuhi was incredulous.
Kurenai Yuhi remembered. The Uchiha Clan survivor, and the man for whom she once had a fleeting moment of infatuation.
But—
The first rule of a Ninja is ruthlessness. No matter how good their past relationship with that person was, once they become a rogue Ninja, absolutely no mercy can be shown, otherwise, it will be oneself who dies.
"Genjutsu: Tree Binding Death—"
Kurenai Yuhi mercilessly used her signature technique, Genjutsu...