Chapter 3: Kushina Uzumaki (Edited)

Devil fruits, while granting incredible powers to their users, had one major drawback. The users were weakened when exposed to seawater and Kairoseki, a compensation so to speak. In the ninja world, Naito wasn't sure if he was also burdened by that weakness.

Thinking about this, Naito decided to check if he had that weakness first.

After returning home, Naito picked up a wooden barrel which, though crude, was a bathing accessory.

Since he was an outsider, the village only provided the most basic appliances for him, though he didn't mind as long as he had something to use.

After filling the barrel with water, Naito took off his clothes and jumped straight into the barrel, then squatted down and soaked his entire body in water.

One second... Two seconds... Nothing.

A minute later, he still didn't feel weak.

"Indeed, weakness to water does not exist in the ninja world." thought Naito.

Naito stood up, his face clearly filled with relief. Weakness to water did not exist in the ninja world. That is to say, there is no curse when consuming a devil fruit in this world. With his Gura-Gura no Mi power already being a Kekkei Genkai, he was no longer affected by the curse of the devil fruit

"That's great, I won't have to worry about sinking in the water if I get hit with a water Jutsu," Naito said to himself.

Naito then simply began to bathe, washing off all the sweat he had gotten from his training.

After getting out of the barrel and finishing drying off, as he was about to put on his clothes.

Whoosh!

The door to his house opened abruptly.

A small red-haired head peeked out and looked in.

"Naito-kun! Are you in... Eh?"

The girl's voice stopped abruptly.

At that moment, the little girl's eight or nine year old face instantly froze.

"Huh?..." Naito was equally stunned.

Because he wanted to quickly check if she had a weakness to water, he forgot to lock the door.

Of course, that wasn't the main problem, the main problem was that it was already night, how could he know that this girl would suddenly come to his house?

"AHHHHHHHH!"

Finally reacting with a scream, the girl slammed the door shut.

"Naito, you bastard! You mark my words! If you go to the Ninja Academy tomorrow, you're dead!!!"

The sound of the door slamming shut reached the entire neighborhood and some neighbors even poked their heads out to see what was going on.

"Damn, she's the one who breaks into other people's houses and she had the nerve to be angry? My door was almost destroyed for god's sake!" said Naito disgruntled as he picked up his clothes and started to get dressed.

For those who are confused, that was Uzumaki Kushina. She was also an outsider, like Naito, but the difference is that she comes from a village allied with Konoha, called Uzushiogakure (Hidden Whirlpool Village).

When Naito finished dressing, he opened the door with a pained expression and sure enough, Kushina was still standing outside, her face red with anger and embarrassment.

Naito quickly tried to change the subject, "Do you want to say anything else?"

She came looking for him at night, so there must be something wrong.

Naito and Kushina are outsiders to Konoha. The time when they arrived in Konoha was almost at the same time. After Naito discovered that she was the Uzumaki Kushina from the anime, his innate goodwill caused him to approach her, so they quickly became friends.

However, their treatment of each other was very different.

Kushina came to Konoha as the next Jinchuriki of the Kyubi, and came from the Uzumaki clan, which was allied with Konoha.

The current Jinchuriki of the Kyubi is Uzumaki Mito, the wife of the first Hokage, Senju Hashirama.

As a member of the Uzumaki clan, Uzumaki Mito cared for Kushina very naturally, and due to her condition, Kushina even dares to burn the beard of Hiruzen, the Third Hokage of Konoha.

But Naito's situation was more tragic. He has no background and comes from a small untrustworthy village. Even though the small village had been destroyed, the ninja of Konoha still distrust Naito and see him as a foreigner.

When Kushina first came to Konoha, she was alone, without a father or mother, and Naito used to take care of her and help her after getting close to her.

However, because Kushina was not only a foreigner, the relationship between the two gradually changed.

The person who was helped slowly changed from Kushina to Naito.

But even so, Kushina never despised Naito and was still willing to help Naito.

Because when she had just arrived in Konoha, when she was most lonely, Naito let her get rid of her loneliness, gave her warmth and made her cheerful again.

So even if in the eyes of others, Naito was a loser who couldn't even use Ninjutsu, Kushina would never despise him for that.

"I'm afraid you'll be beaten to death tomorrow, so I'm here to give you something in advance," Kushina said with her blushing little face, as she handed him a small bag.

When Naito heard her say that, he remembered that tomorrow there would be a Ninja Academy battle practice test.

Under normal circumstances, one-on-one battles wouldn't be a big deal. The teachers were always monitoring the battles to avoid getting injured.

But it was not the same with Naito.

The teachers at the Ninja Academy don't want to see an outsider with the native students of Konoha. In order to force him to withdraw from the Ninja Academy, his treatment at the Ninja Academy is poor, that is, as long as there are no lethal injuries, everything is allowed. So, in these kinds of battles, he often gets injured.

"Thank you, Kushina," Naito said as he took the bag.

She opened it and checked its contents, Naito saw some healing ointments.

Naito was touched by her gesture, and he really wanted to thank, but he felt strange about the atmosphere and felt his lips tighten.

"Who wants your thanks, you idiot!" said Kushina, her face still flushed.

Seeing her so shy and angry, Naito wanted to laugh, but restrained himself when he detected that Kushina was getting angry.

"Even if you can't use Ninjutsu, I can still protect you. If you can't win tomorrow, don't try to be brave, give up quickly," Kushina said as she extended her fist arrogantly towards Naito, then turned and ran away with a cheeky grin, fading into the darkness of the night.

"..."

Naito looked at Kushina's back as she disappeared into the night. He was quite surprised at what she said, "Surrendering quickly for my own good? Will you always protect me?"

"To hell with that!"

"I won't be protected, I'll stand on my own two feet, damn it!"