The Mystical Palm Technique truly lived up to its reputation as an A-rank ninjutsu.
There was a saying that injuries to muscles and bones took a hundred days to heal.
Naruto really had suffered fractures.
Yet under the treatment of the Mystical Palm Technique, he was completely healed within ten minutes.
Afterward, the ANBU coldly escorted Naruto back home once again.
Naruto said nothing and simply returned to the streets.
If he wanted to plan for his future, he first needed to understand the environment he would be living in.
The prohibitions had already been issued.
No one threw stones at Naruto anymore.
But the hatred and coldness in their gazes clung tightly to him.
Wherever Naruto went, those were the looks that greeted him.
“That’s right. It’s him. He’s the—”
“Don’t say it out loud. Don’t forget the Hokage just issued a prohibition.”
“Why doesn’t he just die?!”
Cruel words and curses surrounded Naruto.
Pair after pair of icy eyes and face after indifferent face stared fixedly at him.
The oppressive atmosphere was like the depths of the ocean.
Even Naruto, who possessed the mind of an adult, felt almost suffocated by it.
Let alone the Naruto from the original story.
The fact that the original Naruto had managed to grow up while remaining so cheerful was nothing short of a miracle.
Naruto took a deep breath.
The values ingrained in him from his previous life in China immediately swept away all the pent-up frustration.
Having expected this from the beginning, Naruto possessed the particular brand of pride unique to someone born in the post-1990 generation.
I just love seeing you hate me when there’s nothing you can do about it.
Of course, Naruto knew they would undoubtedly place obstacle after obstacle in his path.
But from the moment he stepped out of his home, he had never intended to rely on them in the first place.
Naruto wandered around the area surrounding his home.
In a trash bin outside a fishing-tackle shop, he found a damaged fishing rod, fishing line, and hooks that had been thrown away.
Naruto unceremoniously collected all of them.
Fish would probably become one of his staple foods for a long time to come.
Next, he located Ichiraku Ramen.
It could practically be considered the only ramen shop whose owner did not hate him.
Without a doubt, a large portion of Naruto’s monthly allowance of one thousand ryō would probably end up being spent there.
After that, Naruto found Shūeidō, a place the silver-haired Kakashi frequently visited.
Finally, he found the river leading into the forest.
From now on, Naruto would probably spend a large part of each day fishing beside that river.
As for the forest itself, Naruto had no intention of entering it.
He was not the original Naruto, who was carefree enough to be ignorant of danger.
To Naruto, who possessed the mature judgment of an adult, the forest was still far too dangerous.
By the time he finished exploring the area, the sky had already darkened.
Naruto washed the fishing rod, line, and hooks by the river before bringing them home.
Then he prepared some instant noodles.
To be fair, instant noodles were hardly nutritious.
Yet almost everything the Third Hokage had prepared for Naruto consisted of instant noodles.
So nutritious or not, Naruto had no choice but to eat them.
Fortunately, as the Nine-Tails’ Jin chūriki and a member of the Uzumaki Clan, he possessed tremendous vitality and was not easy to kill.
Otherwise, Naruto seriously doubted whether he would even survive long enough to enter the Ninja Academy.
Still, he already had a plan to improve his living conditions.
Fishing was only part of it.
The other part was what Naruto intended to do after dinner.
Before long, he finished eating.
Taking advantage of the darkness, Naruto left his home once again.
As the strongest hidden village in the shinobi world, Konoha had always possessed a fairly active nightlife.
Sure enough, as Naruto stepped outside, the streets of Konoha were gradually lighting up.
But that was not his destination.
He was heading for the market.
During the day, Naruto had merely walked around its outskirts.
Now, however, he went directly inside.
Although Konoha had quite a large population, it was still a village in the end.
As expected, the market was already deserted by this hour.
Naruto quickly found what he was looking for.
Discarded vegetable leaves that had yet to be cleared away.
And scraps of meat left on the butchers’ chopping boards.
Naruto picked out the vegetable leaves that were still good.
The meat scraps were tiny, but once gathered together, they amounted to a decent portion.
After returning home and washing everything thoroughly, Naruto stored them in the refrigerator.
Then he washed up, went to sleep, and brought the day to an end.
The next morning, Naruto cooked one-third of the meat and vegetables together with his instant noodles.
Compared to plain instant noodles, the meal was both far more nutritious and much tastier.
Then Naruto came up with another plan.
The vegetable-growing instincts ingrained in his Chinese bloodline awakened.
And so Naruto began rummaging through trash bins everywhere, looking for broken buckets that people had discarded.
He carried them up to the rooftop.
Then, taking the bag the Third Hokage had prepared for him to use when he eventually attended the Ninja Academy, Naruto began using it to transport fertile soil mixed with decomposed refuse.
He hauled load after load up to the rooftop and poured the soil into the buckets now covering the entire roof.
After an entire day of work, Naruto finally managed to fill every bucket with soil.
That night, he once again went out to collect discarded vegetable leaves and scrape together meat scraps.
On the third day, Naruto gathered branches and stuck them into the buckets.
Then he began running all over the place in search of seeds.
Sometimes he rummaged through the trash bins outside seed shops.
Other times, he stole a few from other people’s vegetable gardens.
After several days, Naruto finally managed to fill all the buckets on his rooftop with vegetables.
Tomatoes, chili peppers, leafy greens, Chinese cabbage, watermelons…
Naruto planted more than a dozen different kinds of crops.
He had practically everything.
He had even planted watermelons.
And on that very day, the instant noodles prepared for Naruto by the Third Hokage finally ran out.
As it happened, Naruto was also feeling lazy today.
So he took his money and headed to Ichiraku Ramen.
“Mister, one bowl of tonkotsu ramen,” Naruto said after entering the shop.
“Coming right up!” the owner replied cheerfully.
The instant he saw Naruto, the man froze.
Clearly, he had recognized him.
But he quickly smiled again and served Naruto a bowl of tonkotsu ramen.
Naruto did not stand on ceremony and immediately began eating.
When he finished, he prepared to pay.
“You’re a new customer,” the owner said, patting his chest.
“Whenever someone comes to my shop for the first time, their first bowl is on me.”
“Then thank you, Mister.”
Naruto understood the owner’s goodwill and did not refuse, thanking him sincerely instead.
“Haha! Be sure to come again next time!” the owner said happily.
He held no prejudice toward Naruto.
In fact, he saw the situation far more clearly than almost anyone else.
“I definitely will.”
Naruto nodded and, for once, revealed a warm smile.
After leaving Ichiraku Ramen, Naruto felt somewhat tired.
But for the sake of dinner, he forced himself to keep going.
He planned to go fishing and collect some river snails to cook for dinner.
As for lunch…
Starting today, he would probably have to consider eating only two meals a day.
While passing a mask shop, Naruto could not help giving it an extra glance.
If possible, he really wanted to buy a mask to wear.
But Naruto knew the shop owner would never sell one to him.
He had no intention of humiliating himself, much less currying favor with someone who despised him.
So after taking one extra look, he prepared to leave.
Unfortunately, that glance happened to be noticed by the mask-shop owner.
The man immediately roared at Naruto.
“What are you looking at?!”
I’m not even allowed to look now?
Anger instantly surged through Naruto.
He strode over without hesitation.
Crash!
With one shove, Naruto knocked over the entire mask display.
Then he stared coldly at the shop owner.