My morning began with the news that Itachi had left the village.
And I learned this…
directly from Itachi himself, who was currently sitting on my windowsill.
“Why?” I asked quietly.
“I’m tired.
Just…
tired,” he said.
“It wasn’t enough that I was buried in missions and that my head was an absolute mess—now everything is chaotic again.
I don’t feel the same reverence for the village or the clan anymore.
The village has already paid me back in full, and I settled my debt to the clan completely yesterday, especially when I stood against that one-eyed man.
So now, the only person I have a mountain of debt to is you.
But we’ll settle up somehow.
I’ll drop by occasionally to check on my brother, and just to visit the family in general.
Other than that, I’m taking a certain someone and we’re going to lay low in the middle of nowhere.
No intrigues, no missions, no murders.” The Uchiha actually closed his eyes dreamily.
“I’m honestly kind of jealous,” I admitted.
“No, it’s too early for you, same as my brother.
Finish the Academy first so you actually know how to do something.
Better yet, make it to Chunin, and then decide,” Itachi chuckled.
“Alright, good luck to you,” I replied in the same tone.
“Oh, and my father wanted to see you.
My aunt, too.
So drop by and visit them when you can; they want to thank you properly.
You saved them and then just fell asleep…
you’ve got nerves of steel.” Itachi smirked, a deeply ironic expression that utterly shattered his canon image.
I fell back onto my bed.
Man, this was all just so sudden.
“And hello to you too, you shotacon pervert,” he tossed over his shoulder, glancing toward the door, his three-tomoe Sharingan spinning lazily.
I cast a sideways glance at the closed door, then gave Itachi a questioning look.
He made a gesture indicating a weapon.
Right, Tsuru was standing guard.
Honestly, she scared me sometimes.
I snapped out of my thoughts to find the window empty.
Alright, what was my payout for those quests and completing them?
Oh, part eleven of the Novice Rescuer bush-saga!
That was just cruel!
But first, let’s look at the main event from last night.
[Quest Complete!] “Saving an Endangered Species” You have a chance to affect canon—what could be better?
This!
What if a whole clan (or what’s left of it) owes you a debt?
Or at least, a small part of it.
The smallest part.
Objective: Save Saya and Aya Uchiha.
(Complete) Sub-objective: Save Maya Uchiha.
(Complete) Side-objective: Save as many Uchiha as possible.
(Complete) Bonus Objective: Fix Itachi’s brain.
(Complete) Reward: Automatic relationship level-up with the first three targets.
The clan has been saved from extinction: +500 EXP, +7500 Reputation with the Uchiha Clan.
In total, 48 clan members survived (one-quarter of the clan); for each survivor, you are awarded an additional +100 EXP and +10 Reputation.
Waking the Kyuubi and forcefully flushing his chakra through your coils has fully opened your chakra pathways: +150 to Chakra Control (you can now feel your chakra, manipulating it is another story…), +1500 to MP (Chakra) capacity.
Partial transformation and One-Tailed Cloak (5 min.) unlocked.
“Jinchuriki” trait upgraded to “Jinchuriki v.2”.
You saved the most highly explosive clan (in every sense of the word) with true Will of Fire: +35% to Fire Affinity.
You have earned the respect of every single clan member, without exception.
A certain someone is practically praying to you (Sasuke).
Bonus Reward: You have acquired a powerful ally outside the village.
If you ever ask for his help, he will not refuse.
Even if you ask for his Sharingan.
He also left you some technique scrolls (claimable from the head of the Uchiha Clan).
You accomplished all of this without killing anyone!
[Class changed to “Paladin”!] Alright, what’s going on with my reputation?
Yeah, clan rep definitely skyrocketed, and…
oh.
Saya and Aya now had two fully colored hearts, and their third was at 90%.
Meaning they only had one event left—or rather, a final event from their side.
And their mother had one full heart and 50% on her second.
Not bad, but I was definitely a bit too young for that.
Yeah, and even if I wasn’t…
I’d still have to wait.
Girls my own age weren’t for me, and the older ones…
If they actually started looking at me with interest, I’d need to run far away from those perverts.
But I couldn’t exactly wait until I was sixteen, either.
The main goal was to survive until graduation, and then I’d see.
In the absolute worst-case scenario, if things got truly unbearable, there was always the Henge no Jutsu and a sprint to the Red Light District.
So, what was the memory CG I got with them?
Just in case there was something I missed.
I looked at it and instantly felt awkward.
For all three of them, the image was the same: the dead of night, the mother standing protectively in front, the girls behind her, and Itachi facing them down.
But positioned directly between them and their would-be “killer” was me—down on all fours, illuminated by a sinister demonic glow, sporting a single chakra tail.
And the angle was perfectly chosen for maximum drama.
Yeah, that felt incredibly awkward.
Alright, what was the deal with this Paladin class?
[Paladin] You are no longer an acolyte; you are a creature of light in more than just spirit.
You are surrounded by a warm aura that causes mosquitoes to drop dead and gives the undead a migraine.
Reputation with the Scourge -10,000.
Reputation with the Paladin Alliance +2500.
It is now highly unadvisable to bite you, otherwise the biter will suffer from Light Poisoning and a week of incurable indigestion.
INT Leveling Speed -2% (Good must have fists, but doesn’t need to be particularly smart).
VIT Leveling Speed +2% (Who said, “We’re not afraid of the Paladin”?).
Chance to impress a girl with your radiant image: 3%.
Brutal.
Well, farewell to the suicidal mosquitoes.
Has the day finally come where they stop bothering me?
And now for the second event.
[Quest Complete: “Novice Rescuer, Part XI”!] Reputation with the Uchiha Clan +3000.
Reputation with Itachi Uchiha +6000 (Gratitude).
Due to the completion of a chain of ten rescues plus one bonus rescue, the legendary twelfth is now available!
The title “Novice Rescuer” has been replaced with “Experienced Rescuer”!
20% chance to reincarnate as a Baywatch lifeguard in your next life!
Your actions have left an indelible impression on the clans.
And even on clanless shinobi: +1000 Reputation with all Konohagakure factions.
In recognition of your heroic actions and the completion of the bonus objective, the System is upgrading your previously selected trait “Novice Li Shuwen” to “Apprentice Li Shuwen,” granting you access to an additional profile skill and +15 AGI.
Delicious, absolutely delicious.
But I was absolutely not triggering that legendary rank; I valued my life too much.
Knowing my luck, I’d run into Orochimaru behind those bushes next, and that would be the end of my song.
Let’s see how my stats were looking now.
[Status] Name: Naruto Uzumaki Title: — Class: Paladin Level: 18 (EXP: 1160 / 1800) HP: 2140 / 2140 MP (Chakra): 3691 / 3691 Chakra Control: -59 STR: 129 VIT: 100 INT: 39 WIS: — AGI: 82 LUK: — [Unallocated Points: 135] [Traits: Demon, Jinchuriki v.2, Uzumaki, Orphan, Experienced Rescuer, Apprentice Li Shuwen, I Am Wood, Strongman I, Resilient I, Gamer+] [Passive Skills: Stealth (Lv.
99), Butler (Lv.
23), Masochist (Lv.
79), Cold Gaze (Lv.
21), Iron Fists (Lv.
74), Observe (Lv.
21)] [Active Skills: Singing (Lv.
99), Talk no Jutsu (Lv.
19), Rhetoric (Lv.
24), Sphere Boundary, No Second Strike – Two Strikes Are Not Needed, Secret Martian Style Technique: Series of Endless Slaps] [Trait: Jinchuriki v.2] The Nine-Tailed Fox is sealed within your body.
Effect: Grants the “Demon” trait, Chakra Control -150.
You are feared!
STR +15.
HP x2.
MP (Chakra) x2.
Chakra Regeneration x2.
HP Regeneration x2.
Unlocks “Chakra Cloak – One Tail (5 min.)”.
Unlocks partial bestial transformation when demonic chakra is channeled (during transformation: AGI +50, VIT +50, STR +15, INT -10).
Unlocks the “Friend of the Bijuu” evolution branch.
Unlocks the “The Idiot is a Friend to the Fox” evolution branch.
Yeah, I could only describe that as “I get savage, but I get stupid.” A very mixed bag of a trait.
Whatever, I could study the rest later.
Right now, I needed to get up, pretend nothing had happened, stretch, and go make breakfast.
I also needed to remember to read the logs.
I was curious what kind of event had triggered between me and Hitomi.
But not curious enough to dig into it right this second.
It could wait until I was at the Academy; I had checked the most important stuff.
Although, something was still nagging at me, like I had forgotten something…