Naruto: The Shadow Lord of the Nara Clan

late at night.

Moon stars are rare.

But the cold moonlight did not bring Hiruzen Sarutobi a sense of leisurely comfort.

He sat in a chair in the room, eyes closed in deep thought, seemingly worrying about something, waiting for something.

When he opened his eyes again, a figure was kneeling in front of him.

Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced at the figure of the person who had just passed by and looked at the corpse beside him.

"Mizuki?"

"Was it him who lured Naruto?"

As he spoke, Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned, clearly filled with doubt.

Mizuki, a native Konoha ninja, is only at the Genin level in terms of strength.

Although he is hypocritical and cunning, there is no reason for him to do such a thing.

"Lord Hokage, please look here."

Kakashi chose to answer Hiruzen Sarutobi's confusion with action.

He respectfully lifted Shui Mu's sleeve, placing that pale arm under the moonlight.

A strange, dark pattern was clearly visible within it.

"Cursed Seal, Orochimaru!"

When this name was mentioned, Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes showed both anger at Orochimaru's actions and regret for his lack of ambition.

One of the legendary Sannin of Konoha has now become the biggest traitor!

However, all those emotions only lingered in his heart for a moment. Hiruzen Sarutobi quickly composed himself and calmly pondered:

"What does he want to do?"

"Are they banned books?"

After pondering for a long time, Hiruzen Sarutobi still couldn't be sure of his guess.

He knew very well that he wasn't smart, especially as he got older, his thinking often became rigid, making it difficult to keep up with Orochimaru's flexible ideas.

"Fine, let's deal with whatever comes our way."

"well……"

In the end, Hiruzen Sarutobi once again chose to sigh helplessly.

He had lost count of how many times he had sighed.

The massive leaf pressed down on his aged shoulders, and even that was enough to make it hard for him to breathe.

But not being able to breathe doesn't mean you can't breathe at all!

With a swift stroke of his wrinkled hand, the piece of skin with the curse mark etched on Mizuki's arm was sliced ​​off along with the flesh.

Hiruzen Sarutobi tossed the skin to Kakashi and said coldly:

"I'm warning Danzo: if he and Orochimaru only have designs on the forbidden books, then I can turn a blind eye to this operation."

"But what if they have feelings for Naruto..."

"Let him know that I am the Hokage!"

Kakashi bowed his head and replied:

"yes!"

……

early morning.

As the roosters raised by the villagers of Konoha crowed.

Lu Ying, engrossed in the Book of Seals, only then realized that dawn was breaking.

He scanned the dense text on the scroll and exclaimed with genuine emotion:

"It's so awesome to use cheat codes!"

Relying on the [Absolute Learning Ability] granted by the title, Lu Ying almost completely mastered the entire Book of Sealing in just one night, at the theoretical level.

After that, you just need to practice more in real life to be able to fully systematize it.

However, due to time constraints and the fact that other forbidden techniques are not practical for him at the moment, Lu Ying has only fully mastered the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.

Looking at the [Multiple Shadow Clone Technique (lv 0)] in the Ninja Skills section of the system panel, Shikakage smiled with satisfaction.

After storing the Book of Seals in the system warehouse, he stretched and loosened his muscles a bit before heading towards the main house.

He planned to sponge off his parents again and squeeze some more gold coins out of his old man.

Ever since the system store unlocked purchasing privileges, Lu Ying had a premonition that the more money the better.

Anyway, there will be opportunities to use it in the future.

As for whether it's honorable to rely on one's parents for financial support...

Just kidding, he's the eldest son of the Nara family!

What's wrong with taking over the family business ahead of schedule?

In this shameless smugness, Lu Ying arrived at the courtyard corridor. Before even reaching the main house, she heard a noisy commotion.

He was taken aback at first, then suppressed his joy and walked toward the sound of the commotion.

Upon arriving at the open space in the front yard, one could see a boy of about thirteen or fourteen blocking a seven-year-old child, his expression fierce, as if threatening something.

After examining her closely, Lu Ying's gaze turned cold, and she let out a sneer:

"The Hyuga and Uchiha clans are still the best."

……

Narasaki Shiba looked down at the boy in front of him, and seemed to see a familiar shadow in the short figure.

Thinking of the past, he narrowed his eyes and snorted:

"Shikamaru, be more sensible."

"Some things are beyond one's control."

"It is your honor that Lord Danzo has taken a liking to you."

Don't be ungrateful.

Shikamaru had never heard of the existence of "Root," but Danzo's name was already legendary.

As the number one person after the Hokage of Konoha, practically no one can refuse him.

Although young Shikamaru is intelligent, his lack of experience makes it difficult for him to correctly analyze the current situation.

Therefore, when faced with his aggressive cousin, Shikamaru turned pale and broke out in a cold sweat.

"Oh, how come I've never heard of this?"

Upon hearing that clean voice, Narasaki Shiba's expression immediately turned extremely unpleasant.

He was about to turn around when he suddenly found himself completely unable to move.

The next second, a strong feeling of suffocation suddenly struck, and despite struggling, he could only manage to let out a weak scream.

The Shikakage, who had arrived at some unknown time, squatted down in front of Shikamaru, tugged at his little brother's pineapple head, and looked thoughtful.

"Everyone in our family except me seems to have incredibly stiff hair..."

"Big brother..."

"What's wrong?"

"Sakishiba is about to be strangled to death..."

"Oh, sorry, I almost forgot."

Lu Ying smiled awkwardly and casually released the Shadow Head Neck Binding Technique.

The Shadow Hand, having lost the support of chakra, retreated timidly into the shadows.

Narasaki Shiba clutched his neck, gasping for air, the discomfort in his throat causing him to cough violently.

"Ahem!"

Seeing his disheveled appearance, Lu Ying showed no remorse whatsoever. Instead, she greeted him with a light laugh, as if she had bumped into an old friend.

"Long time no see, Sakishiba."

"I haven't seen you much since you graduated last year."

"What's life like as a genin? Which team did you join? How's the salary?"

The three questions from his relatives made Narasaki Shiba blush on the spot.

But he was not blinded by anger.

Firstly, Shikakage's status is undeniable. Even if the Nara clan doesn't have a strong sense of clan identity, Shikakage is still the eldest son of the clan leader.

Secondly, his strength is inferior; even if he were to break off relations, he would still be no match for Lu Ying.

Thinking back to how she was constantly suppressed by Lu Ying during her school days, and Lu Ying's completely unexpected shadow technique just now.

Narasaki Shiba couldn't help but feel a mix of negative emotions, such as apprehension, fear, and jealousy.

If possible, he would never want to provoke Nara Shikakage.

But his father had given him orders and instructions, and even though Narasaki Shiba already had a psychological trauma from Shikakage, he still forced himself to say it:

"Lu Ying, don't be so smug!"

"This is not something that you or I can decide."

"Even if the clan leader comes, Shikamaru must join Root today!"