Naruto: The Shadow Lord of the Nara Clan

—Commanding the Shadows…

As Lu Ying stared at those four words, memories of the Shadow Monarch involuntarily surfaced in her mind.

A powerful profession in a phenomenal Korean comic, possessing two classic and overpowered skills: [Shadow Extraction] and [Shadow Storage].

The former is the ability to extract shadows from corpses and use them as shadow soldiers.

The latter is an extension of the former, and has the effect of permanently retaining the shadow soldiers.

In some ways, it's similar to a necromancer.

After a moment's thought, Lu Ying figured out the meaning of the job mission.

—Commanding five shadow soldiers.

This task is not difficult.

You can kill five criminals or rogue ninjas at will, or even secretly assassinate five civilian scumbags.

But he doesn't intend to do that.

"When quantity is scarce, prioritizing quality is the best choice."

As he murmured to himself, the names of powerful ninjas kept flashing through Shikakage's mind.

A few minutes later, a figure emerged from the depths of the ocean of memories.

Uchiha... Shisui!

A renowned genius of the Uchiha clan, he single-handedly earned the title of "Shisui of the Body Flicker" on the battlefield of the Third Shinobi World War.

At a young age, he became an elite Jonin, not to mention he also possessed the Mangekyou Sharingan—"Kotoamatsukami"!

From any perspective, he is an excellent candidate for the Shadow Soldier.

The thought of having a shadow soldier with the power of "Kotoamatsukami" filled Lu Ying with an irrepressible, burning excitement.

The only problem is that, with Shikakage's current strength, he is definitely no match for Uchiha Shisui.

but!

He absolutely did not need to go on stage himself!

Because he has his own scoundrels helping him.

He only needs to pick up the bodies at specific times and places!

As for saving Shisui's life, that's a joke. He doesn't have that kind of power right now.

Thinking of this, Lu Ying took a deep breath to calm her excitement and began to devise a plan to pick up the corpse.

Uchiha Shisui is still alive, but judging from recent events, the conflict between the Uchiha clan and the upper echelons of Konoha has intensified.

This means that Danzo is probably about to make his move.

Lu Ying didn't know the exact time, only that it was probably around nighttime.

Secondly, he also knew the location where Shisui committed suicide—the Namaka River!

The approximate time and area have been determined; now all that's left is to wait patiently.

Opportunity favors the prepared mind.

So while I'm waiting, I can't just do nothing.

First, you must familiarize yourself with the environment for "picking up corpses" and go to the vicinity of the Namaka River to scout out the terrain every day.

—Forget it, I'll just stay in the Nakagawa Forest.

The "corpse-picking" plan is crucial to his start-up capital, so he must ensure there are no unexpected events!

"Go back and get a set of camping gear first."

Having made up his mind, Shikakage walked towards the Nara family's residence.

As he passed by the ninja academy, he glanced over and saw dozens of short figures doing physical training in unison on the training ground in the distance.

As Lu Ying glanced at those familiar, youthful faces, a slight smile involuntarily crept onto her lips.

To be honest, he enjoyed his time as a substitute teacher at the Ninja Academy, interacting with the first-year students.

Seemingly noticing Lu Ying's figure, first a child pointed at him, and then more and more first-year students turned their attention to him.

Naruto was the most excited, jumping around and shouting.

Sasuke stood to the side, relatively reserved, but also happily waving at him.

Shikamaru crossed his arms, looking both helpless and proud.

Ino, Sakura, and the other girls huddled together, their eyes sparkling as they chattered excitedly about something.

"Kids have it so easy..."

After a moment of reflection, Lu Ying waved to the first-year students who were paying attention to her, and then continued walking towards home.

"Unfortunately, I'm no longer a child."

"It wasn't from the moment it was born."

Against the backdrop of dusk, the deer's shadow appeared exceptionally dark and sharp.

……

Looking at the large courtyard filled with Japanese style, Lu Ying casually pushed open the gate and walked straight towards the main house.

After passing through the stone corridor and along the side, open the sliding door and step into the earthen space.

As Lu Ying changed into her indoor shoes, she called out into the house:

"Mom, has Dad gotten off work yet?"

Nara Yoshino, who was cleaning the room, answered without turning her head:

"In the study."

"Oh, by the way, to celebrate you becoming a ninja academy teacher, we're having tonkatsu tonight."

"understood."

After finishing her chat with her mother, Lu Ying went to the study and pushed the door open without saying hello.

Nara Shikaku, who was pondering the chessboard, seemed to have long been accustomed to his son's "rudeness." While playing chess, he asked:

"What were the evaluation results?"

"With your abilities, it shouldn't be a problem, right?"

"No, I quit."

Lu Ying walked to the other side of the chessboard and plopped down on it:

"I choose to join the Dark Side."

As soon as he finished speaking, Nara Shikaku's chess piece landed on the board with a thud.

He frowned and looked at Lu Ying seriously, saying:

"Are you serious?"

As the head of the Nara clan, Nara Shikaku knew very well that the world was not as peaceful as it appeared in Konoha Village.

There are constant behind-the-scenes conflicts between various countries and ninja villages, not to mention the numerous criminal organizations operating outside.

Those who confront these dark forces hidden beneath the surface of peace are the Konoha Assassination Tactics Special Forces, or simply the Anbu.

It is an extremely dangerous institution where one can easily lose their life if they are not careful.

He naturally didn't want his son to be sent on a dangerous mission with a near-certain death chance right after graduation.

"Hmm." Lu Ying nodded casually, looking directly into Lu Jiu's eyes and said:

"I'm not going. From now on, Shikamaru will go."

"I'd rather go myself than let him go."

Upon hearing this, Shikaku fell silent.

He understood perfectly what Lu Ying meant.

As the center of the Ino-Shika-Cho triad alliance, the Nara clan wields immense influence within Konoha Village.

Not to mention that he also holds important political positions such as Hokage's advisor and Jonin representative.

If he were an only son, that would be one thing, but he has two sons, and both of them are very outstanding!

If this arouses the suspicion of the Third Hokage and the upper echelons of Konoha, it will inevitably have terrible consequences for the Nara family.

Although he believed that Hiruzen Sarutobi wouldn't do that, what if he did?

Moreover, there's Danzo...

Therefore, it was especially important to send one of the Nara clan's sons to the Anbu as a "hostage" for Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Thinking of the current political infighting in Konoha, Shikaku sighed helplessly.

His gaze toward Lu Ying was unusually complicated. He had thought the kid was already quite clever, but he hadn't expected him to be this clever.

The more outstanding Lu Ying was, the more bitter he felt.

"Feel sorry."

"It's okay, just give me more money."

Lu Ying grinned in a nonsensical way:

"I plan to go wilderness survival for a while."

"Consider it as a training exercise before joining the Dark Division."

Seeing how sensible her son was, Lu Jiu took another deep breath.

Since he couldn't prevent Lu Ying from joining the Dark Division, he would do his best to provide him with "living expenses"!

"Don't worry, I fully support you in this!"

As the Hokage's advisor, he still had some money in his treasury.

That evening, upon learning that her son was about to join the Anbu, Nara Yoshino was very worried and dissatisfied, but she also chose to accept it helplessly.

only……

"You don't have much money in your little stash, don't make my Lu Ying suffer!"

"Bring out all the clan property of your Nara clan!"

"I know how rich your cousins ​​are!"