Konoha Ninja School.
"Ino, what's with your..."
"Is it really that ugly?"
Only eight years old, Ino lowered her head, covering half her face with her hands, and asked the pink-haired girl beside her.
She had secretly used her mother's makeup, hoping to impress the boys in her class and attract someone's attention, but the effect seemed less than ideal.
"It's a bit... too much. You're wearing too much makeup."
Although Sakura was trying her best to hide it, she couldn't help but shudder, her small shoulders shaking slightly.
"Is it that bad? I clearly followed my mother's steps."
Although Ino had noticed the strange looks she was getting on the way to school, she didn't pay attention until now, when faced with her best friend's laughter. Now, Ino was finally sure, she had failed miserably with her makeup.
"You put on too much lip gloss! You look even more like a pig than usual..."
The eyelashes were also drawn too long, making her look strange.
"Don't call me that nickname... I'll get you for that!"
Seeing Sakura laughing a little too hard, Ino quickly lowered her hands from her face and started tickling her.
"Ah, Kage-san is here!"
But Sakura only needed one sentence to make Ino drop her defenses.
"I... I'm going to the restroom to wash my makeup off!"
Covering her cheeks again with both hands, Ino quickly ran towards the sinks in the girls' restroom.
But to her dismay, the tap water didn't remove the makeup very well, instead turning her into a clown.
This is it, it's all over…
Class was about to start, and not only Kage, but all the other students would see her smeared face.
She was going to lose face and die of embarrassment!
"I knew I shouldn't have stolen my mother's things..."
Desperately washing her face with tap water, Ino looked at her still-smeared reflection in the mirror and couldn't help but feel like crying.
However, at that moment, several more figures suddenly appeared in the mirror.
"Yo, isn't this our Cosmos Miss?"
"Hiding in the restroom because you're too afraid to see people?"
"So she turned into an ugly monster!"
"You... I'm not an ugly monster!"
Ino immediately recognized them as the girls who had bullied Sakura before.
It seemed they held a grudge against her for sticking up for Sakura.
This is bad. They're definitely going to spread rumors about how I look now…
Thinking this, Ino couldn't help but take a step back in fear.
"You definitely don't dare to leave the restroom looking like that, do you? Ugly monster!"
Seeing the fear on Ino's face, the girls instantly grew bolder.
"I'm not ug..."
Splash!
Not sure where they got it from, one of the girls threw a bucket of water and the iron bucket directly at her.
"Oops, now you're a drowned rat."
"You!"
Ino wiped the water droplets from her face, and was about to retaliate, but just as she raised her fist, the three girls had already run outside the restroom door.
The corridor was filled with sunlight, and the voices of other students could be heard from time to time.
No, I can't go out like this!
Ino, clenching her trembling little fists, retreated back into the restroom.
"Let's go, this ugly monster can't move. Let's go find Uchiha Kage and show him her!"
Thinking of a better way to bully Ino, the girls hurried away.
"No, don't, you..."
Ino quickly tried to chase after them to stop them, but as soon as she stepped out of the restroom, she ran into other students who were there to use the restroom. Helpless, she could only retreat back into the restroom.
Then, to avoid being discovered by anyone else, especially Uchiha Kage, she locked herself in one of the stalls.
As long as I don't open the door and wait until school is over to go out, there definitely won't be anyone around…
Except…
Drip.
Cold water droplets were still dripping all over her body.
Ino, drenched in cold water, hugged herself and shivered.
"It's so cold today..."
Those three are dead tomorrow!
Tap, tap.
However, just as Ino was praying in her heart that she could get through today without being discovered, and cursing those three girls, she heard a series of footsteps, accompanied by the school bell, that immediately made her nervous.
"Those three really are playing a prank."
Uchiha Kage, who came to the restroom, didn't see anyone.
But just as he shook his head and prepared to return to the classroom, he noticed the overturned bucket by the sink and the damp footprints that stretched all the way to one of the stalls in the girls' restroom.
"Crap! It's Kage's voice..."
Hearing the familiar voice, Ino, hiding in the restroom stall, nervously closed her eyes.
However, after waiting for a while and not hearing any other sounds, Ino breathed a slight sigh of relief.
That's right, I'm in a stall in the girls' restroom. There's no way Kage would come looking for me…
"Why are you hiding in here?"
The sudden voice right next to her startled the girl.
"Ugh!"
Sitting on the toilet, Ino suddenly looked up and was incredibly surprised to see Uchiha Kage appearing above the partition, revealing half his body, looking down at her.
"How did you... Ugh!"
Just as Ino was about to ask Uchiha Kage how he knew she was hiding in this stall, she realized something and quickly covered her smeared face with her hands.
Crap, he definitely saw me when I looked up!
"The footprints gave you away. Tracking footprints is a ninja's basic skill, right?"
Looking at the drenched Ino, Uchiha Kage was slightly surprised.
Wasn't she usually like a bossy older sister? How did she end up getting bullied like this today?
----
Anyway, after understanding the whole truth, Uchiha Kage finally managed to successfully get the hesitant girl out of the restroom.
"Am I very ugly right now..."
Cautiously pulling on the hem of the boy's clothes with one hand and covering her cheeks with the other, Ino dejectedly followed behind Uchiha Kage.
"What do kids know about beauty, anyway?"
Looking at the tears that were about to spill out of the little girl's eyes, Uchiha Kage changed his words.
"Honestly, even without makeup, you're the prettiest girl in this Ninja Academy, both in heart and appearance."
Uchiha Kage had personally witnessed Ino protecting Sakura.
As for the little cat-faced Ino now, he only found her cute.
So, what do kids know about beauty anyway…
"R-really?"
Ino slowly moved her hand away from her cheek. Seeing that Uchiha Kage didn't laugh like Sakura, nor did he show a strange expression like the others, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Then, what followed was a sense of happiness from being praised.
Kage-san said I'm the prettiest girl in the school?
"Okay, this is your house, right?"
"Mm..."
So he wasn't taking me to class, but taking me home…
Only then did Ino look up and realize that she was standing in front of her house.
"I've already asked Iruka-sensei for leave for you. You can change your clothes and then come to class."
Looking at the girl who was shivering because she was soaked, Uchiha Kage felt that bullying really shouldn't exist.
"Thank you..."
"Ino! How dare you ruin my makeup! I see you don't want to live anymore!"
Before Ino could finish thanking him, her mother, who looked like a demon, appeared in front of her, along with that familiar Feather Duster.
----
Yamanaka House.
"Ah!"
Startled awake by her mother's Feather Duster, Ino sat up from her bed and patted her small chest, which had developed quite a bit.
"It was a dream after all."
A beautiful memory dream made Ino smile comfortably.
He clearly saw my ugliest side, but still praised me as the prettiest girl…
Ah... as expected of Kage, as expected of the Kage I like!
I like him so, so much!
Hugging her soft, long pillow like a pervert, Ino rolled around on the bed twice before gradually recovering from her infatuation.
"Also, what happened before was a dream too, right?"
Traveling to the Land of Rain during the Second Shinobi World War, then meeting the God of Death and the Sage of Six Paths…
And helping a Blue-haired Girl find a safe Village.
Even playing the savior, stopping Ninja Armies from harassing Ordinary Villages.
It was too fantastical. How could that be real?
"But it would be nice if it were real. At least the Kage in my dream was very gentle."
Stretching, she lifted the covers, moved her snow-white legs from the bed to the side, and stepped into her little cotton slippers with bare feet. Ino skillfully tied up her beautiful blonde hair in the mirror with a hair tie.
"Eh? What's this..."
However, while looking for a comb, she unexpectedly found something she had only seen in her dream yesterday on her Room's desk - a specially made Flying Thunder God Kunai.
It was what Uchiha Kage gave her in the "dream" last night.
That's strange. It was clearly a dream…
Curiously picking up the Kunai on the desk, Ino examined it carefully for a long time, finally confirming that it was the Kunai from her dream last night.
Oh well, I can just ask Kage if it was a dream or not…
Carefully putting the Kunai into her ninja pouch, the girl who was thinking of Uchiha Kage hurriedly ran downstairs.
"Ino! Help Mama at the flower shop today!"
After eating breakfast in large mouthfuls, Ino realized that her mother had been staring at her from the side for a while.
"There are a lot of customers today. I'll let you go out when there are fewer customers."
"Yes…"
Ino replied weakly.
"A Blue-haired Girl came to the store earlier. She was really beautiful, bought a lot and a lot of flowers, and was generous enough to let me keep the change. She's really beautiful and kind..."
After pulling her somewhat unwilling daughter into the flower shop, Yamanaka Rino began another day of nagging.
Although Konoha and Sunagakure were currently at war, at least for now, Konoha's surface was still peaceful.
----
"Hagoromo is giving you trouble again?"
Dream Space.
The Goddess of the Moon, with her graceful figure, leaned on the bed, repeatedly looking back at the boy sitting on her back, giving her a massage.
She couldn't help but make suppressed noises.
"You should say I'm the one causing him trouble. After all, I'm a bad person."
A bad person who wants to turn the world into a paradise.
Uchiha Kage patted her back, and the woman obediently turned over.
"But he's already dead. I'm only dealing with his Chakra. You shouldn't feel sorry for him, right?"
The Sage of Six Paths' portion of Chakra had been carefully sealed by Uchiha Kage.
Although he couldn't absorb it for the time being, it also had a good side.
That was that the consciousness left in the remaining Chakra of his that was left elsewhere didn't know of his existence yet.
"I only feel sorry for you, you bad... person."
Although her expressions were as scarce as ever, after countless interactions, Kaguya had been taught by Uchiha Kage to say many things she would have been ashamed to say before.
The once reserved, conservative, and abstinent Goddess of the Moon was now completely molded in Uchiha Kage's image.
As for a certain rebellious child born from Chakra and the Divine Tree, she had long forgotten about him.
"Ugh..."
Unsuppressed cries.
Kaguya's tense legs slowly relaxed, and her jade-like toes returned from their previously curled state to their original shape.
The boy's massage was too strong.
She really couldn't resist it.
"I wonder when I'll be able to..."
Gently holding the woman, whose skin was so white it was dazzling, in his arms, Uchiha Kage kissed the hair behind her head while thinking like a sage about when he could let Kaguya leave this small bamboo house and meet his other two wives.
After this Instance ended, he not only gained more Ninja fragments and Souls, but Uchiha Kage also fully acquired the God of Death's abilities.
His Action Points also rose to ten.
The power of his Mangekyo Sharingan seemed to have increased again.
But he still couldn't bring Kaguya out of here.
Also, he still couldn't bring Kushina and Mikoto back to reality from the Dream Space…
Did he need to gather the Ten-Tails to get the Rinnegan, or complete some more Instances?
"Not moving... anymore?"
Having seemingly recovered from the afterglow of the previous moment, Kaguya, noticing that Uchiha Kage seemed to be preoccupied, shook her body slightly but subtly.
"Okay, then today I'll show you my prime!"
"Ooh-eeh..."
Amidst Kaguya's exclamations, Uchiha Kage wrapped his arms around her knees and lifted the slender and voluptuous Goddess in his arms like a child.
----
"Orochimaru, you actually came back to the Village! But why would the Old Man send you to the front lines?"
The Battlefield between Konoha and Sunagakure on the Border of the Land of Wind.
Jiraiya didn't wait for the Konoha delegation responsible for negotiating and accepting Sunagakure's surrender, but instead waited for Orochimaru, who was leading an elite group of Konoha Ninja to reinforce the front lines.
Orochimaru, who had always been restless, what was the Old Man thinking by sending him here…
But Sunagakure had already surrendered. What else was there to do?
"It's just like you think. You've probably already guessed the Old Man's meaning, right?"
Orochimaru looked at Jiraiya in front of him and felt for a brief moment that he had returned to the past.
Returned to the past when he, Jiraiya, and Tsunade fought side by side.
But unfortunately, the whirlwind that was sweeping from Konoha wouldn't stop, and he wouldn't look back at his former self.
"Orochimaru, Sunagakure has alrea..."
"Jiraiya, the Third Hokage has appointed me as the Commander of the front lines. Now everyone has to listen to me."
Orochimaru ignored Jiraiya's explanation and looked seriously at the other Ninja troop captains inside the war tent.
"I order everyone to immediately organize their troops and attack the Land of Wind!"
"Orochimaru, Sunagakure has surrendered!"
"Until we see Sunagakure open its doors to us, no one is allowed to accept the so-called surrender!"
Orochimaru handed the Hokage decree scroll that Sarutobi Hiruzen had given him to the other subordinates inside the war tent.
"Carry out the orders!"
"Yes!"
Although they had some reservations about the fact that Orochimaru, who had once defected from the Village, had become the Commander again, the troop leaders in the war tent had no choice but to accept this fact after seeing the Third Hokage's Hokage scroll.
"Orochimaru, you can't do this!"
Watching the others start running off to carry out the order to attack the Land of Wind, Jiraiya grabbed Orochimaru's shoulder, somewhat emotionally.
"This is a meaningless war!"
"Jiraiya, I'm the Commander now!"
Orochimaru shook off Jiraiya's arm and strode away.
"Orochimaru, you'll regret this!"
Looking at the empty tent and Orochimaru's departing figure, Jiraiya, knowing that he couldn't stop what was happening, could only angrily punch the ground.
Damn it!
What is the Old Man thinking? The other side has already surrendered, but he still wants to continue fighting?
*
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[T/N:
Latest Chapter translated on Patreon - Chapter Access up to Ch 136
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-> Naruto Paradise: An Evil Uchiha's Rise
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]