Chapter 3: The Evil Gardenia Project
As soon as Yuchuan finished training, Yuuhi Kurenai couldn't help but crowd him, her ruby eyes wide with disbelief.
"It was my first time," Yuchuan blinked innocently.
"Ugh! Unfair!"
Kurenai clenched her tiny fists, puffing her cheeks. "But don't think you'll surpass me so easily!"
"I'll do my best," Yuchuan replied with a smile.
"You… don't have to try that hard," Kurenai mumbled, momentarily dazed by his pretty-boy radiance.
Proof that looks warp perception.
With Yuchuan's delicate features, he could charm older women and little girls alike.
"Yuchuan."
Yuuhi Shinku emerged from the house, handing him an enrollment letter.
Yuchuan skimmed it—a simple notice admitting him to Ninja Academy Class 1-A after "passing an evaluation."
Which never happened.
Clearly, Sarutobi Hiruzen had pulled strings.
"Kurenai, take him to meet your homeroom teacher tomorrow," Shinku instructed.
"Roger that!" Kurenai snapped a playful salute, her earlier pout forgotten.
"I'll buy Yuchuan's daily necessities." Shinku paused. "Anything else you two want?"
"Three-colored dango!" Kurenai demanded instantly.
"And you?" Shinku eyed Yuchuan. "We're family now. No need to hold back."
"Same for me," Yuchuan said casually.
Three-colored dango—a Konoha specialty beloved by Uchiha Itachi and Mitarashi Anko.
Now was his chance to try it.
"Ask Kurenai if you have training questions," Shinku said, waving as he left.
"Hmph!"
Kurenai crossed her arms, tilting her chin up proudly—her entire demeanor screaming "Beg me for help!"
Yuchuan burst out laughing.
"What's so funny?!" Kurenai's cheeks ballooned like a squirrel's.
"Just… a happy thought," Yuchuan coughed into his fist.
"What thought?!" She narrowed her eyes, sensing mockery.
"When's your birthday?" Yuchuan suddenly asked.
"June 11th," Kurenai frowned. "Why?"
"Then I'm older." Yuchuan smirked. "Call me big brother."
"NO!" Kurenai recoiled as if scalded. "I'm the big sister here!"
"But age says otherwise," Yuchuan lied smoothly.
As a war orphan, he had no real birth records.
"Age doesn't matter!" Kurenai stomped her foot. "Strength does!"
"So if I beat you, you'll call me niisan?" Yuchuan arched a brow.
Kurenai opened her mouth to retort—then hesitated, remembering his monstrous chakra control.
"…Only if you win," she muttered, cheeks flushing.
Yuchuan's grin widened.
Teasing cute lolis was fun.
Not that he was a lolicon—he preferred mature women.
Footsteps interrupted them.
"Back already?" Yuchuan turned—then froze.
Not Yuuhi Shinku.
A woman both familiar and foreign: Yakushi Nonō.
But her usual gentleness was gone, replaced by a heavy grimness.
No need to guess why.
Shimura Danzō clearly hadn't given up.
"Director," Yuchuan excused himself to approach her.
In the original story, Nonō was a tragic side character.
Too kind for Root, she'd quit—only for Danzō to blackmail her using the orphanage.
Her eventual fate? Forced to fight her own adopted son, Yakushi Kabuto, in a duel orchestrated by Danzō.
"Yuchuan, I'm glad you're safe." Nonō patted his head softly.
"Thank you for your concern," Yuchuan said, noting her hesitation. "Is something wrong?"
"..."
Nonō stayed silent.
Danzō had visited earlier, demanding she convince Yuchuan to join Root willingly—something even Hiruzen couldn't refuse.
"What did the Hokage arrange for you?" she finally asked.
"He enrolled me in the academy," Yuchuan replied.
Nonō's eyes lit up with strategy.
As the legendary "Wandering Nun", her intellect was Danzō's prized weapon.
The academy meant time.
"Yuchuan," she said gravely, "no matter what, you must graduate properly."
"Understood."
Yuchuan read between the lines:
At school, Danzō's hands were tied—for now.
But the "Dark Hokage" wouldn't stay patient forever.
Join Root to survive?
Bad idea.
Danzō didn't just want loyalty—he rewired brains.
Plus, switching sides again would make him a three-timer…
He'd rather be spoiled by a rich 36D milf than some scheming old man.
(Though if Danzō were Tsunade… well, assets could justify debts.)
Yuchuan recalled that Kabuto wasn't at the orphanage yet.
At least ten years until that plotline.
Time to launch the "Gardenia Plan"—not evil, but righteous!
Three years for power.
Three more for influence.
Ten to save Nonō.
Doable.
Even if his orphan status was a Kumo spy cover, Nonō had genuinely cared for him.
"Visit the orphanage when you can," Nonō smiled warmly.
"I will," Yuchuan nodded firmly.
She ruffled his hair once more before leaving.
Yuchuan resisted the urge to sigh.
Two head-pats in one day?
"Kurenai," he turned abruptly, "teach me shurikenjutsu."
Danzō's threat lit a fire under him—he needed progress.
The "Prodigy Genin" trait required [E-Rank: Weapon Throwing].
The system didn't explain triggers, but past patterns suggested hands-on practice.
"Hah! Finally asking for my help?" Kurenai smirked. "Lucky for you, I'm great at shuriken!"