18. Collaboration

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...

Having little choice, Kenzo revealed to Naruto many important pieces of information about the black market, his connections with these people, and where he could find them. There were too many things to say at once, so naturally, he didn't disclose everything and kept some hidden from Naruto. They didn't fully trust each other, but revealing only that data showed he wanted to cooperate with Naruto. He also didn't feel as tense anymore and conversed more calmly with Naruto.

There were still a few hours until sunrise, but Naruto left Kenzo's apartment after gaining a significant amount of new information. He even arranged another meeting with him in a few days.

"He really wants my help..." Kenzo sighed finally, moments after Naruto left. Now he was one hundred percent sure of that. "The future could be really interesting...! But now I need to find a way to deal with those people who are hunting me. Maybe even he can help me with that..." he pondered deeply.

Naruto opened the door to his house with a spare key and quietly closed it behind him. The first room in the Namikaze family home was a small foyer, followed by a living room connected to the kitchen. There, he saw Kushina sleeping at the table, her head resting on her arm. As soon as he stepped into the living room, her sleeping eyes fluttered open lightly, and she blinked.

"Welcome home, Naru-chan...!" she greeted him, smiling affectionately.

It was still dark, but a lamp illuminated a large part of the living room.

Naruto looked at his Ka-chan with a sad look. "I've told you before, Ka-chan, don't wait up for me too late, you need to rest too...!" he scolded her, but he made sure not to raise his voice too high to avoid waking anyone else.

"It's okay, dear, I was just worried..." she replied calmly and stroked her son's cheek as he approached her. "Besides, I used to be a shinobi once, it's not a problem for me to skip one or two nights," she said confidently, while Naruto remained silent.

Since his health significantly improved, he often left home for long hours. All the tests showed that he was healthy enough to function independently, without the help of others. So, he went out alone for training with Shizune or to the Research and Development Department to deepen his knowledge. He hardly ever came home for lunch, and he usually skipped breakfast. He either came back in the evening for dinner or late at night, or even worse, the next morning.

Kushina was worried about all this; after all, Naruto was only nine years old, and just recently, he wasn't even able to walk! She changed his diet and meal times, also the amount of sleep, he even drank coffee! According to her, it should be unacceptable for children! She felt guilty all the time, blaming herself for making him lose his childhood by dealing with so many important matters. However, she couldn't forbid him; after all, it was about his health, and Naruto aimed to heal his body! How could she forbid him?! She would be the worst mother in the world...!

Sometimes she worried so much about her eldest son that she couldn't even sleep when he didn't come home in the evening. She regretted deeply that Naruto couldn't peacefully and happily spend his childhood like other children his age.

"Sit down, I'll make you something to eat, you must be hungry...!" she said, but Naruto shook his head.

"I'm sorry, I don't eat anything before bed..." he apologized.

"Oh... No, I should apologize, I forgot about that"

"...But some time ago, I ate your bento, I didn't have time earlier, so I finished it a bit late, it was really delicious!" he praised sincerely. She cooked the best in the world, and he never got tired of it! He always wanted to remind her of that, praising her meals at every opportunity.

Kushina smiled cheerfully; it was nice to hear someone praise your work. Naruto was always very detailed and expressed his gratitude in many ways.

"Ka-chan, by the way..." Naruto began in a quieter voice. "In four days, I have an appointment with a friend, and I'll stay overnight or a little longer, we're conducting some research, and I need to be present, so don't wait up for me," he explained half-truth, thinking about meeting Kenzo and discussing some matters with him.

Hearing this, Kushina's expression saddened slightly, but she nodded understandingly. She would be happy if it were just a friendly meeting, but it was about work.

"I understand, thank you for informing me in advance"

"Ka-chan, I...," Naruto scratched his face awkwardly. "Actually, I'll have less and less time now, and I thought... maybe we could spend the whole day together tomorrow...?" he proposed slightly embarrassed.

Kushina's eyes lit up. "Really...?!" she exclaimed a bit too loudly for the current time. "That's wonderful...!" she hugged her son tightly. She couldn't wait!

...

Six months passed...

Life in the Namikaze family continued. Minato was a wonderful Hokage, and with each passing year, he strengthened his position as the leader of the village. Menma was in the first class of the Shinobi Academy, and in a few months, the summer break would begin. He studied well and had excellent exam results; he was definitely the best in his class. Himiko was very excited because she would also start attending the academy soon. She even asked her older brothers to start teaching her material from the first year, but after a few days, it turned out that she had no talent for it, and all her desires vanished. She preferred physical training to learning material, which she quickly deemed stupid.

Naruto suspected that due to her huge chakra reserves caused by the Kyuubi, she couldn't sit still. She had so much chakra, and her Uzumaki Clan genes caused her to have too much energy and couldn't focus on doing just one thing at a time. It was admirable, but also sad because it somewhat hindered her development, according to Naruto.

Knowledge was also necessary; physical training alone was not enough if one wanted to reach their full potential. Everything needed to be mixed, knowledge combined with practice and physical exercises, which would result in better results.

Kushina felt somewhat lonely at the thought that in a few months, all her children would be gone from home for most of the day. Naruto spent time in the Research and Development Department, Menma attended the Academy, and soon Himiko would do the same. At Naruto's urging, Kushina renewed old friendships with friends from the Academy and her old team when she was still a Genin. Most of her time in recent years had been spent at home taking care of the children or maintaining the house in perfect condition, so she didn't have free time to spend with her friends.

As for Naruto himself, it seemed like he was doing the same thing as before, studying, working, and wanting to heal his body. And it was true, but no one in the Namikaze family or in the Leaf Village suspected that there was something darker in all of this than they might think.

Over the last six months, Naruto has completed several of his plans and implemented several more that are still in progress. Thanks to information from Kenzo, he has eliminated and taken over 10% of the black market, overthrowing many smaller and larger forces that existed there. He also helped Kenzo defeat his enemies who were threatening his life.

The question arises: why does Naruto need Kenzo? What are his plans for him? Well, we'll have to go back a bit in the past and remember who Kenzo Nara really was. Besides being a scientist and a doctor, he was also one of Orochimaru's many subordinates, the legendary Sanin who fled Leaf Village years ago. As one of his subordinates, Kenzo had vast scientific and practical knowledge. Naruto is certain that he participated in many mysterious experiments conducted by Orochimaru and knew some of his secret hideouts. But most importantly, Kenzo has a different morality from everyone else; he doesn't hesitate to do something that an ordinary person would call madness or something similar.

In one of Orochimaru's hideouts, hidden deep underground on Red Lantern Street, Kenzo conducted secret experiments for years after leaving the Research and Science Division. It had basic research equipment and for several years after Orochimaru's departure, it was financed by him. However, the funds ran out, and Kenzo had to find another source of income, which led to selling organs on the black market.

The laboratory was solely run by Kenzo, but most of his research was halted due to lack of funds and materials for experiments. There was also a shortage of hands to work, so Naruto found many people associated with Orochimaru or his direct subordinates. However, most of them were useless individuals, but he managed to find four quite interesting people who caught his attention.

After Orochimaru left, many of his subordinates mysteriously disappeared. And those who remained either forcibly joined Danzo's Root Anbu or hid somewhere in the village. Many laboratories and facilities under Orochimaru's command collapsed after his departure due to lack of funds or other reasons. It also turned out that Orochimaru ran many secret facilities across the continent, and most of them had not yet been discovered, causing headaches for the Hokage.

The four individuals whom Naruto offered employment accepted it when Naruto revealed part of his plans to them. However, if they had refused, Naruto would have killed them on the spot without hesitation to prevent them from revealing anything and interfering with his further plans. They were all talented scientists with vast knowledge and a desire to uncover all the mysteries of this world, so they perfectly fit Naruto's goals.

After taking over 10% of the black market, many forces were under his control, allowing him to acquire significant amounts of funds. It wasn't enough to buy the latest equipment for his laboratory, but it was enough to continue his research.

Currently, Naruto sat in his room, intensely reviewing certain documents. It was evening, and the whole family had just finished dinner; as usual, Naruto apologized to them and was the first to leave the table.

The documents he had with him were precisely two-dimensional images of Chakra Circulatory Systems of various animals and humans. There were piles of them on his desk and a few more on the floor, taking up quite a bit of space in his room.

He had to persuade Tsunade for a long time to allow him to use the latest equipment in Konoha's main hospital to gather so much data. Additionally, with her and the Hokage's permission, he commissioned a mission to the Fire Tower to take pictures of the Chakra System of many willing individuals.

Naruto divided the images of the animals' Chakra Systems into two classes: those with a better-developed Chakra Circulatory System, due to more frequent use of Chakra or some mutation in their Chakra Systems. He divided the two-dimensional images of humans into a few more classes: newborns, children, teenagers, adults, elderly individuals, Shinobi classes, elderly former Shinobi, individuals with Chakra System mutations, or those with damaged Chakra Systems. These were roughly the images of Chakra Systems of people who used Chakra and those who didn't.

He analyzed them in detail, hoping to come across something that everyone else had missed. He was sure that something was hidden here, something that seemed unclear at first glance. He knew it because of two things: his intuition told him so, and whenever he previously analyzed his own Chakra System, something didn't seem right.

He spent a lot of money, practically all his savings, to pay all these people who undertook his mission to take pictures of their Chakra Systems. He didn't believe in any gods, but now he prayed that this money wouldn't go to waste because there was really a lot of it.

At some point, he heard a knock on the door, and after a moment, Kushina's voice "Naru-chan...! You have a guest!" — called out, and Naruto was slightly annoyed; he didn't like it when someone disturbed him in such an important task.

"Let them in...!" — he replied, continuing to review the documents.

The door opened, and Itachi entered, looking at the mess in his friend's room.

"Am I not disturbing...?" — he asked, and Naruto was surprised to hear his voice at that moment. He didn't use his sensory sense to avoid distractions, so he hadn't detected him earlier.

"Itachi? What are you doing here?" — he left the documents alone and turned towards him.

"I came to seek... advice..." — he replied, and Naruto saw grim emotions in his eyes.

It was... strange. Itachi never behaved like this. Although it was a small detail, Naruto didn't miss it.

He squinted at him and after a moment asked, guessing what it might be about "Is it about your Clan...?"