I stood there, motionless, in the dark room, watching my brother. Everything around me seemed frozen in heavy silence. At his question, I froze. I could only stare at him. Closing my eyes, I regained my composure and then asked:
"You don't recognize me?"
"No. Should I?"
"Do you know who Narume is?"
"No, but who are you, kid?"
"I am Narume. But it's okay if you don't recognize me. You can just see me as some kind of secret admirer."
"Sorry, I'm not interested in kids."
His remark left me momentarily speechless. "In this situation, that's all you're thinking about?" I asked him. He shrugged. "I only sense goodwill coming from you."
His answer made me frown. So he could sense emotions? Perhaps noticing my unease, he quickly added, "Normally, I can't do it this easily, but yours is too directly focused on me."
That sounded a bit suspicious, but remembering the situation, I raised my hand and cast my second-level spell.
Silence.
This spell isolates a certain area, preventing sound from entering or leaving. After that, I asked him:
"Can we talk, please?"
At my question, he nodded and led me to a small living room. At that moment, I received a warning from the dog. My shell had been found and taken away. Fortunately, it was civilians who found the puppet and not a ninja. Without my spells, it only looked like a simple humanoid structure and would soon collapse. However, I didn't want to leave just yet. If possible, I would teleport back to the cave in the forest. It was well hidden.
With this decided, I made my resolution and followed Naruto into the living room…
This apartment was far better than the one we used to live in. As soon as our conversation began, I hit him with a cocktail of spells: Soft Bliss, Ecstasy, Sleepy Mood. I had decided to proceed this way despite the system's quest.
[Choice Quest:Choice 1: Force Naruto to accept your identity.Reward: A tenth-level spell. Kunivella's Legacy +10%
Choice 2: Say nothing and teleport away.Reward: An epic piece of equipment + Kunivella's Legacy +5%
Choice 3: Gather additional information from Naruto.Reward: Kunivella's Legacy +10%; Follow-up Quest.]
No person with common sense would abandon what matters most to them for mere rewards, and right now, Naruto's situation was my biggest concern.
The effects of my spells began to take hold.
After a few minutes of conversation, the effects grew heavier on him. He kept yawning, blinking repeatedly.
I gently pulled him into my arms. He had no defenses at that moment, even though I was theoretically a stranger.
I attributed it to the spells, but it was still strange. According to Kunivella's memories, I had cast them with just enough power to put a non-mage adult man to sleep, taking into account his status as a Jinchūriki.
As I held him in my arms, he made a comment about how cold my body was.
I deliberately ignored it, and he eventually fell asleep on my lap.
I carried him to his bed, turned off the lights, but left the living room one on to give the impression that he had been asleep for a longer time.
After cleaning up any traces I had left, I took one last look at his room.
At best, he would forget this encounter.
At worst, he would think it was a dream.
To reinforce that idea, I had taken the time to completely undress him before leaving him on the bed.
I had gathered enough information, but I was still missing a lot.
I ordered the dog to go to a secluded area before undoing my spell and letting it truly die.
Then, I teleported into the forest. I had managed to collect quite a bit of information.
To begin with, according to Naruto, he had lived alone after leaving the orphanage. The villagers used to hate him, but because of his efforts to be acknowledged, on his sixth birthday, he received a gift—one he couldn't remember.
From that point on, the villagers' behavior worsened before gradually starting to soften, leading to the current situation. The children were finally accepting him, although some still didn't.
He remembered a white-haired man he had met who had taken him out for barbecue. After that, he never saw him again.
Other than that and the villagers' behavior, most things remained the same as in my memories, with Naruto himself being less rowdy.
As I replayed his stories in my mind, I bit down on my shirt in frustration, remembering how much he had talked about Sasuke. But that emotion quickly faded.
The Uchiha massacre had already happened, and if everything went well, Naruto would graduate in just over a year.
To fill in the gaps in the story, I planned to talk to a villager tomorrow.
For now, I was about to assimilate the new knowledge I had gained from Kunivella's Legacy. It was now at 65%.
As for the follow-up quest:
[Follow-up Quest: Discover the TruthCurrent Progress: 45%Reward: Kunivella's Legacy +15%]
It was easy to understand that uncovering the reason behind Naruto's memory loss would be enough to complete it. I had received fifth- and sixth-level spells from Kunivella, as well as a seventh-level spell.
This had drastically increased my power and versatility.
It was lucky that Kunivella had been human and not originally a lich. Otherwise, she might have been a pure necromancer.
I felt the first rays of sunlight. And I began making my plans for the next night.
Some of the spells I had gained would be useful for gathering more information.
I would take the opportunity to visit an old acquaintance.