In Konoha, Naruto lies down

"Luckily, no one else is here. If you looked like this, I wonder if I'd done something to you."

She lay on her side, huddled in a thick blanket. The temperature on the island was unusually low after nightfall. A basin of water placed outside the tent had a thin layer of ice chips visible in the middle of the night.

Tiantian's face was small, her eyes were rolling around, and she looked like a fat silkworm wrapped in a quilt. She giggled at Naruto's words and said.

"What can you do to me? Anyway, I can't let you take risks alone."

"Yes, yes, I understand." Naruto sighed.

He knew Tiantian was reluctant to take risks, and he wanted to dissuade him from doing so. But then again, since he was already here, why not do anything?

He couldn't tell Tian Tian about the twists and turns of the Whirlpool Kingdom's underground. It was impossible to sneak down and see, and it wouldn't be worth it to come back next time.

Who knows when the next time will be? Is it really certain that it will be the next time?

Two years ago, the Snow Country mission required going out to sea.

Hongdou formed a temporary team with Naruto and Sakura to accept the commission, which was to lead Fenghua and Koyuki back to the Snow Country to film a movie, but the ship wrecked at sea.

The four of them relied on Naruto's raft to drift on the sea for nearly a month, and finally crossed one-third of the ocean and landed on the island of Whirlpool Country.

While waiting for rescue after contacting Konoha, Naruto and Anko stumbled upon a cave filled with statues of gods, exactly twenty-seven in number.

At that time, he discovered a gap inside the cave, but due to the tight time schedule and heavy workload, Naruto was not sure he could escape the unknown danger unscathed, so he gave up after careful consideration.

But two years later, Naruto had the capital to explore. One of his goals was to find out the secrets buried under the island of Whirlpool Country.

Secondly, there might be the door he wants hidden underneath.

It was a coincidence that after learning that Jiraiya and his companions were safe, Naruto simply took this opportunity to finish the unfinished business.

Because of their special relationship, Anko naturally kept the island's affairs a secret from him. But now... Naruto looked at Tenten and fell into deep thought.

"What's wrong with you?" Tiantian saw that he didn't say anything, just stared at herself.

"Can you keep this a secret for me?" Naruto asked.

"Keep it secret?"

"Well, I don't want anyone to know about where I'm going tomorrow." Naruto nodded. "The original inhabitants of Whirlpool Country were the Uzumaki clan, so..."

"The Whirlpool Country was once feared by all sides. Although that is now a thing of the past, there are still some things I don't want too many people to know."

"Oh, I see." Tiantian nodded to show his understanding.

Perhaps Tenten was touched by Naruto's honesty in telling her such a thing, so she immediately promised that she would never tell anyone what she had seen.

Hearing this, Naruto felt relieved. Tenten was innocent and kind-hearted. Since she had made a promise, she would not break it. So, in a good mood, he simply took a bath.

As soon as we stepped into the tent, the atmosphere suddenly became strange.

He couldn't help but look down at himself as everyone stared at him. The look in his eyes made him lose confidence. If he hadn't seen that he was still wearing all his clothes, Naruto would have thought he was naked.

"Why are you staring at me?"

"I have something to ask you, Naruto, come here." Tiantian actually sat up directly, and the quilt was stood up together.

"Oh, okay." He responded and lit the fire with a click.

As he spoke, he opened a gap in the corner of the tent to allow for ventilation, to prevent him from getting poisoned if he fell asleep at night. Finally, he walked towards Tiantian and sat next to her.

"what happened?"

"I...um, I want to ask you...you..." Tiantian looked so conflicted that it made Naruto's teeth ache.

"Just tell me what you want to say. There's no need to do this." He took out a dry towel and said soothingly while tilting his head to wipe his hair.

"Okay, here I say," Tenten hesitated for a moment before looking up and asking, "Naruto, you're close to the Hyuga clan, so do you know the person Neji married?"

"Ningji?" Naruto looked Tenten up and down, making him feel a little uncomfortable.

"Why are you...looking at me?" she asked, her face slightly red, just like the slightly red face after being steamed by hot water after a bath.

"Tiantian, you're not trying to steal someone's bride, are you?" he asked with a strange look on his face.

"What do you mean by robbing a bride? That's a mess, what are you talking about!" Tiantian's face flushed as he retorted, "I was just asking casually, out of curiosity."

"Ningji and I are companions. He got married without saying a word. Being curious is no big deal, right?"

"That's a reasonable reason, alright." Naruto put the towel away and glanced at Tenten again, "I don't know that person. I've only met him once."

So, Naruto simply recounted the recent events of the Hyuga clan. Of course, he was very clever in completely removing himself from the story.

"So, you're saying that Neji got married in order to stabilize the Hyuga clan?" Tenten was a little dumbfounded.

"Not really. He will get married sooner or later anyway. He will be chosen from within the Hyuga clan anyway, so it would be better to have an alliance and play a role." Naruto said.

"But this...Does Neji like her?" Tenten asked again.

"This? It's hard to say, but that person is pretty." Naruto said, "I don't know if Neji likes her, but he shouldn't hate her."

"Besides, the Hyuga main family also needs a reassurance. They can't figure out Neji's intentions, and now that the caged bird has been released, the branch family has more people than the main family."

"If this goes on for too long, I'm sure they won't be able to sleep peacefully. It's also good news for them that Neji is willing to marry a girl from the main family."

After he finished speaking, there was silence in the tent for a while.

Tenten lowered her head, unsure of what to say. A flood of emotions washed over her as she looked up at Naruto, tears welling in her eyes.

"Naruto, I feel so bad."

"Alas, this kind of thing...it's better to think it through." Although Naruto is not a good person, he is still very sincere to his friends. He patted Tiantian's quilt.

"In the ninja world, emotions are beyond your control."

"Nonsense! You're obviously not forced to do anything!" Tenten suddenly retorted, catching Naruto off guard.

"Huh?" He was stunned.

"Aren't you and Ino and... and Hinata..." Tenten stopped talking halfway, his face flushed red, as if he would burn red if he continued.

"Well... the most important thing is that you and I are both willing. I'm not married." Naruto spread his hands. "When it comes to love, it's really beyond your control."

"I used to be very painful to like two people, but then I figured it out. Since I can't choose, then I won't choose. Anyway, we don't bother others, right?"

Zhang San once said that as long as he didn't get a marriage certificate, it wouldn't be illegal to marry 18 wives and hold weddings at the same time.

day by day:"........"

She closed her eyes and spoke weakly.

"You're right, this is your private matter. I'm sorry. I was too impulsive. I... I just feel a little uncomfortable. Woo woo woo, I'm sorry."

"It's okay, it's okay." Naruto comforted.

"I've always... I've always considered Neji a partner and I've always admired him." Tenten couldn't hold back her emotions anymore and burst into tears.

"From his hard... training, to... learning the secrets of the Hyuga clan. So... many years have passed. It's really hard for me to be happy. He has escaped the caged bird, and he will never... escape the caged bird again."

Naruto listened without saying anything, just shook his head, thinking to himself what a bad fate.

"Actually, I'm also very happy for Neji. After all, he has finally entered a new stage in his life." Tenten wiped away her tears and her tone gradually returned to normal.

"Don't you like him?" Naruto asked.

"I like him. Neji is very caring and reliable, just like a brother." Tenten sobbed, "Little Lee is actually quite good too, and takes good care of me, but he's a little silly."

"Hmm?" Naruto looked at Tenten, "I always feel like something is weird, but it's okay as long as you think about it."

He didn't know what kind of love Tenten was referring to, but it sounded more like dependence. However, Neji really didn't have any other feelings for Tenten, as the people in Team 3 were all relatively simple-minded.

In fact, among the four classes, except for Sakura who openly liked Sasuke, the members of other classes did not seem to have feelings for their partners.

After all, ninjas aren't playing house. A group of three can be male or female. If a ninja develops emotional ties, they're bound to become irrational when carrying out their missions.

If a partner or lover dies, it is easy to get over it and become crazy.

For example, Obito is willing to destroy the world for Nohara Rin, and another example... there are too many examples, and team members rarely involve personal feelings.

Team 7 is a completely unique team, most likely chosen by the Sandaime. After all, Naruto liked Sakura, and Sakura liked Sasuke.

Under certain circumstances, the two orphans used Sakura as a medium and a bond of love was established. This idea is not bad, but it's a pity that the yellow-haired man has been replaced.

Naruto didn't have any romantic ties in his heart, and wasn't attracted to Sakura. Later, however, he fell in love with Ino and Hinata, and his relationship with Sakura was even more...

Forget it, he is not a real minotaur, it was just an accident.

However, at the moment, he was just trying to comfort Tenten. As for what Tenten meant to Neji, he didn't care. He only cared about the trip to the cave tomorrow.

"Thank you for staying with me, Naruto." Tenten wiped her tears, "I'm much better now, but it makes me feel uncomfortable and a little scared when I think about it."

"Fear? Why?" he asked.

"People change after marriage, and when we grow up, we'll have nothing to talk about." Tiantian said with a choked voice, "I just feel like I'm going to lose another friend I could talk to about anything. I don't know why I'll grow up myself."

"I always feel like I might become more and more lonely in the future. I probably won't be able to get married, and I don't know what to do. Just thinking about it makes me feel very uncomfortable."

"Is that so?" Naruto didn't know what to say for a moment, "It's okay, anyway Xiao Li also..."

He suddenly remembered that Xiao Li would also get married, and his obsession with physical training was not because he disliked women. He could only scratch his head to hide his embarrassment and sighed for a long time.

"You don't have to comfort me, I've figured it out now," she said.

"That's good." Naruto said sadly.

As the fire slowly burned, the temperature inside the tent rose significantly, and Tiantian could no longer wrap herself in the quilt. She threw the quilt aside and sat there fanning herself with her hands.

Her cheeks were slightly red, and her pajamas were covering her body. Naruto took a look and then looked away.

"Go to bed early, you have things to do tomorrow."

"Okay." Tiantian responded.

Silent all night.

The next day.

It seemed that because of the outburst last night, Tenten was more energetic, with a faint smile on her face. Naruto's scalp was tingling under her stare, and he swallowed and said.

"Tiantian, what are you laughing at?"

"No, I'm just in a good mood," she replied.

"Oh, I'm in a good mood." Naruto twitched the corner of his mouth, packed up the tent and went ahead, "Let's go, follow me."

"it is good."

A woman's heart is like a needle in the sea, and Naruto has never tried to guess what a girl is thinking. Although he doesn't know what Tenten figured out last night, at least he's fine.

Looking at Tiantian's happy expression, his eyelids twitched and he muttered softly.

"baffling."

In the morning, the two of them walked from the beach into the heart of the island of Whirlpool Country, one after the other. After spending some time, they finally found the cave that Naruto had mentioned.

"This cave is so deep!" Tiantian leaned over to take a look and couldn't help but sigh.

"Slide down along the side wall. I'll go down first and pick you up below." After Naruto said that, he jumped down skillfully and braked with the help of the power of chakra absorption.

The journey was smooth. Naruto arrived at the bottom of the pit and looked around but found nothing unusual.

"Come down!"

"Okay!" Tiantian also jumped down and escaped danger safely.

The moment she landed, she looked around curiously, but was startled by the twenty-seven statues in the cave. Pointing at the ferocious statues, she asked tremblingly.

"Naruto, those are..."

"I don't know what it is, but it must be unusual to be carved here." Naruto looked up. It was already noon, but there was no sunlight coming in.

"This is an extremely dark place, with no sunlight year-round. Logically speaking, it doesn't make sense to build this altar here."

"It's not an altar? What is it then?" Tiantian shrank his neck. This place was indeed cold and gloomy.

"Good question. I don't know either." Naruto waved his hand, motioning her to follow. "Stop asking so many questions. Curiosity kills the cat."

"Oh good." Tenten hurriedly followed, "Naruto, are you planning on stealing anything from here?"

"What do you mean by stealing? How can you call it stealing when it comes to our clan's affairs?" Naruto turned around and swore, "I just came back to inherit the clan property. Besides, I'm the clan leader."

Chapter 424: This is obviously a trap, pack it up and take it away

After the Ninja World War, the Uzumaki clan suffered many casualties and their country was destroyed. The sealing technique spread to various countries and was learned by ninjas.

Konoha has a sealing technique, and so do all the other ninja villages. Almost every village has the power to seal the tailed beasts. Sealing techniques, what an overwhelming power.