Chapter 041: Inheriting the Estate

“Lord Naruto, you’ve finally returned.”
As Naruto came home, Uchiha Qing hurried to greet him:
“What happened in the village? When I came back, everyone looked tense. Where’s Sasuke? I saw something strange on the clan’s side…”
Naruto recounted everything that had happened to Uchiha Qing, from the longstanding strife between the Leaf Village and the Uchiha clan, to the events that unfolded that night.
He spoke of Uchiha Obito’s betrayal and the devastating blow dealt to the Uchiha clan.
He described his own battle with Obito, the traitor’s hateful and desperate retreat.
When Qing heard that Obito had slaughtered the Uchiha clan, her eyes rolled back and she collapsed.
“Granny Qinshi, Granny Otoba, and Aunt Xiangling…”
Qing murmured these names, tears streaming down her face.
Naruto recognized the names; these were among the few warm memories the young woman possessed in her life.
Qing was an orphan, without notable talent, unable to become a ninja.
Though the Uchiha clan hadn’t abandoned her, their care went no further.
Ninjas, especially those from ninja clans, valued strength above all. For a civilian orphan like Uchiha Qing, incapable even of basic ninja skills, the clan showed little kindness.
Having been bullied by peers and lacking anyone to stand up for her, Qing kept her distance from others, especially her clan.
The names she recited belonged to the rare few who had shown her tender kindness.
Whenever the girl spoke of these people, she wore an unguarded, gentle smile.
Now, faced with the massacre in the clan’s territory, Qing was overcome with emotion.
“I swear! I’ll make that traitor—make Uchiha Obito pay for what he’s done!”
Blood and tears ran down Qing’s cheeks. When she lifted her head once more, her eyes were blazing red, two tomoe spinning in each pupil.
The emotional shock was so intense that it awakened her Sharingan!
Naruto had meant to say that those kind women had probably been evacuated to the Land of Fields before the disaster, but seeing Qing’s agitation, he couldn’t bring himself to speak.
What surprised Naruto most was that Qing had awakened the Sharingan—something the Uchiha clan had always considered impossible for her.
In this world, the human body’s one hundred thirty trillion cells generate physical and mental energy, which combine to form a person’s stamina.
Stamina is the force needed to perform taijutsu.

Chakra, however, is a special power that emerges only after stamina is refined through special means.
Qing’s mental energy was strong, even stronger than her peers’. But she was frail, her stamina barely enough to survive—certainly not enough to refine into chakra.
Yet Naruto recalled that since Qing became his apprentice, she’d had plenty to eat and a place to stay; her body was no longer gaunt.
She worked with him on machines, performed physical labor, and trained in spirit machinery, strengthening both body and mind.
Combined with the emotional upheaval of the day, it seemed awakening the Sharingan was not impossible after all.
“Lord Naruto! Please grant me strength!”
Qing knelt before Naruto, pleading loudly:
“I must avenge Granny and the others! Obito must pay for his betrayal!”
“No matter the cost, I must gain power!”
“If I had been strong yesterday, I could have helped you capture him!”
“I know my request is shameless, but I have no other choice! I beg you!”
…………
“Naruto! Please teach me how to become stronger!”
The next day, when Naruto met Sasuke again, Sasuke’s first words were the same.
“I know my request is shameless, but I have no other way! I beg you!”
“I must avenge my clan, my brother! I must find my parents and the missing clan members!”
“I no longer want to be a burden to you! If I’d had strength yesterday, you wouldn’t have been put in danger!”
Sasuke prostrated himself before Naruto, bowing to the ground.
Naruto’s expression twisted with amusement.
The Uchiha clan really were cut from the same cloth: their posture, their words, even the angle at which they bowed were identical when begging Naruto.
Teaching one or two made no difference; Naruto had trained countless apprentices and recruits—Hinata was among them—so adding two more wouldn’t matter.
But training could not start immediately; Naruto needed to devise a plan.
He had to tailor a perfect training regimen for the two of them; so far, he’d only taught them the basics.
For example, methods for training spirit machinery energy, and some introductory mechanical knowledge.
In recent days, the village’s protection and surveillance over Naruto had grown stricter, perhaps a result of the Uchiha massacre.
However, Sarutobi Hiruzen no longer interfered with Naruto’s interactions with Sasuke and Qing—perhaps because the only remaining Uchiha were these two novices.

Naruto simply told Hiruzen that these two would one day surprise him.
Fugaku and the other Uchiha ninjas hadn’t returned, but they had sent Naruto a message via Dragon Creation Society’s spies in the village.
The letter contained only a few points.
First, the Uchiha clan did not intend to return to the Leaf. They had allied with the Dragon Creation Society.
They planned to develop in secret in the Land of Fields, and when the time was right, act in the ninja world as Uchiha survivors.
This cautious approach was likely due to the threat of Obito, the “resurrected avenger.”
He had slaughtered so many adult Uchiha ninjas in a single night; those who survived by chance had to keep a low profile.
Second, Sasuke was entrusted to Naruto’s care.
As payment, part of the Uchiha clan’s inheritance was left for Naruto to use as he wished.
This inheritance was not the property on display in the clan’s district, but a secret cache hidden in a chamber beneath Naka Shrine.
That chamber, dating back to the Warring States era, contained a trove of records collected by the Uchiha clan—observations, training insights, ninjutsu, even ancient secrets.
There was also a stone tablet, sealed with a special technique, whose contents could only be read by members of the Uchiha clan.
The third matter was remarkable: it was a message from the Uzumaki clan, passed to Naruto via Fugaku.
An elderly Uzumaki had written to Naruto, urging him to visit Uzushio Village in the Land of Whirlpools when possible.
The letter contained cryptic clues and a seal.
The clues pointed to a certain location in Uzushio Village.
The letter stated that once Naruto’s sealing techniques reached a certain level, he would be able to break the seal.
Beneath the seal lay further clues to the detailed location.
Either by breaking the seal or by using his intelligence, Naruto would need sufficient strength before heading there.
There, the Uzumaki clan’s most precious legacy was hidden.