Start with Naruto Awakening - Awesome!

　Kushina opened her eyes and muttered to herself, "Failed again!"

　"To activate the bloodline ability of Uzumaki Ichigo, one must have a clear mind, Kushina."

　A kind and gentle woman's voice came from the side.

　Kushina looked up and saw her grandmother, Mito Uzumaki, standing in front of her. She was also Hashirama Senju's wife.

　Mito Uzumaki wore a classic white kimono, and her red hair, styled in a bun, highlighted her Uzumaki clan identity.

　Although she is old, she cannot hide the beauty and grace she once possessed in her youth.

　She looked at Kushina with a mixture of doting and helplessness in her eyes.

　"Grandma, I'm sorry. I've disappointed you." Kushina stood up, her head bowed, looking very guilty.

　"Is it because of that boy?" Mito Uzumaki said, a smile on her face.

　"No, no." Kushina blushed, as if her thoughts had been read.

　"hehe."

　“That child is indeed a good child,” said Mito Uzumaki. Although she had always stayed at the Chisui family’s house and had never left, she had heard about most of what was happening in the village.

　She was, after all, the wife of the First Hokage, and even the current Third Hokage had to give her face.

　"Does Grandma also think Ye Chen is a good person?" Kushina looked at Mito Uzumaki with expectant eyes.

　“Yes.” Mito Uzumaki nodded.

　"But this idiot is like a block of wood, he doesn't understand people's feelings at all, and he always has a cold face. Lately, I haven't heard from him at all," Kushina Uzumaki said angrily.

　Mito Uzumaki, being an experienced woman, saw right through her granddaughter's thoughts and said:

　"Not necessarily, child. Some things are not as simple as they seem on the surface. According to reports from our Uzumaki family's secret guards, this child has secretly followed you all the way to your doorstep several times before leaving."

　"What? How come I didn't know about this? Grandma, you're not lying to me?" Kushina said, her voice rising slightly.

　“Of course, seeing that you’ve been so unsettled lately, I have no choice but to tell you this secret,” Mito Uzumaki said.

　"That's it!"

　Kushina felt a warmth in her heart upon hearing this. This guy must be worried that she would be bullied, so he secretly followed her.

　But he doesn't tell himself that, which is really hypocritical!

　In an instant, Ye Chen's image grew taller in Kushina's mind, and a silly smile appeared on her little face.

　“He’s a genius from the Ninja Academy, kid. If you want to achieve what you desire, you have to become excellent yourself,” Mito Uzumaki patiently advised.

　"Okay, Grandma. I will definitely practice the sealing techniques of the Uzumaki clan to activate our bloodline power." Kushina replied confidently.

　"What a foolish child!"

　(1/3)

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　Mito Uzumaki looked at Kushina as if she were seeing her former self, when she first met Hashirama, the man hailed as a god in the ninja world.

　Women are attracted to outstanding and warm-hearted men.

　Since Hashirama Senju passed away, Mito Uzumaki has not had much attachment to this world. It is only because she has the Nine-Tails sealed inside her that she has responsibilities and burdens to bear, which is why she has lived until now.

　During this time, her health deteriorated rapidly, and with little time left, she knew her time was up and she had to quickly find a successor to take her place.

　It's really tough on Kushina, who is so young, to have to bear all this. If someone could offer her warmth when she's in darkness, it would be much better!

　……

　Hokage's office.

　After the ninja from the mission office left, Hiruzen Sarutobi, pipe in hand, took a puff, exhaling smoke, and looked at the person in front of him, saying:

　"Sakumo, what's your opinion on this matter?"

　Sakumo Hatake smiled and said, "Hokage-sama, a genius who doesn't experience blood and fire isn't a true genius, and can't grow up. Let him be."

　Clearly, they already knew about Ye Chen and Might Guy taking on the mission!

　Danger lurks everywhere in this world. How can one grow into a soaring eagle if one always hides under protection?

　Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded with a sigh, took another puff of his pipe, and said, "Yes, and besides, Yoru is no less capable than any Chunin. He should have no problem carrying out this mission. In the end, we have to walk our own path."

　"And I've always thought that the genin Might Guy is not simple!" Sakumo Hatake said seriously.

　“Might Guy? Sakumo, even you say he’s not simple, so he must have something special.” Hiruzen Sarutobi laughed.

　Hatake Sakumo nodded; he had an eye for judging a ninja's talent.

　Although Might Guy was ridiculed by his fellow villagers for being a perennial genin, he didn't see it that way.

　This person is practicing the most difficult forbidden technique, the Eight Gates Formation developed by the second generation to unleash the potential of the human body!

　The difficulty here doesn't refer to the academic level, but rather to the physical techniques themselves. Very few people can persevere, and even the Second Hokage, the creator of ninjutsu, did not succeed in mastering it!

　But his intuition told him that this forbidden technique would shine brightly on Might Guy!

　……

　The Fire Country, one of the five great nations, has a relatively flat and open terrain, mostly consisting of plains.

　The area is rich in real estate resources, all because Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju casually created vast forests and rivers using Wood Release and Water Release techniques.

　As time went on, the gap between the Land of Fire and the other four countries widened.

　The fact that he was able to defeat four opponents single-handedly during the Third Shinobi World War was not solely due to the exceptional talent of the Sannin and Minato Namikaze, who were unparalleled in their era.

　The most important reason is that their resources and foundation are far superior to those of other ninja villages.

　Ye Chen and Might Guy continued forward. They had been away from Konoha for half a day, and the places they passed through were mostly dense, endless forests.

　It wasn't until we gradually moved away from the area of ​​Konoha Village that the scenery changed slightly, with some mountains and rivers appearing, but even so, forests still dominated the majority of the landscape.

　It's so much better than those cities with harsh environments like Iwagakure in the Land of Earth or Sunagakure in the Land of Wind.

　……

　Dear readers

　(2/3)

　Dear Sir/Madam, please cast your ratings and flowers to show your support. The data is truly appalling... (3/3)

Chapter 39 Looking down on Konoha genin? (Seeking flowers and favorites)

　Dense forests, towering ancient trees reaching into the clouds.

　It is estimated that no other country has a giant tree as large as the Land of Fire, and such a towering tree also gives the Konoha ninja a huge natural advantage.

　For example, concealing one's presence, assassination, tracking...

　Ye Chen and Matt Dai leaped through the forest and tracked down their mission target in less than a day.

　An ordinary caravan doing business on the border of the Land of Fire, consisting of about twenty or thirty people, is considered medium-sized. In such a turbulent era, a caravan of this size is quite rare.

　"This is just a C-rank mission, not difficult at all, don't you think, Nightfall-kun?" Might Guy said, sitting behind a big tree.

　He had thought this mission was special and might involve a battle, but it turned out to be just monitoring a suspicious caravan. It was so easy, and the reward was good. He wished there were more missions like this so that he wouldn't have to worry about making a living after his son was born and could focus on enjoying his youth with him.

　"Don't be careless, Dai," Ye Chen said. He possessed Observation Haki and could sense that this caravan was very strange with just a slight perception. Although they hadn't revealed any strange aura, Observation Haki was never wrong.

　In particular, his level 3 Observation Haki endowed him with extraordinary sensory abilities!

　"Ye Chen-jun, you don't need to worry too much. As long as we don't expose ourselves, we'll be fine," Might Guy said with a smile, revealing gleaming teeth and exuding confidence and optimism.

　Upon hearing this, Ye Chen said no more and secretly continued to observe this promising caravan.

　Finally, on the fourth day, he couldn't help but speak up: "Dai, have you noticed anything unusual?"

　“What’s wrong?” Matt Day asked.

　Ye Chen realized he had overestimated Might Guy. This guy might have extraordinary skills in physical combat, but he was incredibly crude in reconnaissance. So he said directly:

　"First of all, this is a medium-sized caravan. In these turbulent times, they could easily hire a few ninjas for protection, but we haven't seen any trace of them."

　Secondly, based on the routes the caravan has taken these past few days, they've mostly been along side roads, not main roads. Side roads are often infested with bandits, while main roads are guarded by the Fire Kingdom's guards—isn't that safer?

　Before he could finish speaking, Matt Day nodded in deep agreement and said:

　"If that's what you're saying, Lord Ye, this caravan is indeed suspicious. Could they be spies?"

　Ye Chen remained silent, his expression grave. He said, "There's one last point, and the most important one. I initially calculated the caravan to have twenty-five people, but now it's twenty-one. Where do you think the remaining four went?"

　Might Guy belatedly realized what was happening, broke out in a cold sweat, and exclaimed in shock:

　"Oh no, we've been exposed!"

　"Whoosh!"

　As soon as he finished speaking, three dark figures suddenly appeared from the bushes nearby. They were all dressed as ninjas, wearing headbands from Kirigakure on their foreheads, holding kunai, and thrusting at him with murderous intent.

　"hide!"

　Ye Chen roared and used the Navy's Six Styles, Shave, to teleport to the ground, creating a distance of twenty meters. He activated his Observation Haki and sensed that a caravan not far away had suddenly unleashed a powerful burst of chakra and was rushing towards him.

　Because Might Guy didn't activate the Eight Gates, he could only awkwardly dodge by jumping to the ground and rolling around like a lazy donkey, luckily avoiding the assassination attempt.