“You!”
Provoked by Naruto’s actions, the mask shop owner immediately flew into a rage.
His eyes bulged as he viciously kicked at Naruto.
However—
Whoosh!
An ANBU ninja appeared in front of him in an instant and caught his leg.
“Stop. This matter ends here!”
Cold sweat immediately poured down the mask shop owner’s face.
Anyone capable of running a business naturally was not an idiot.
He could resent the Jinchūriki, but he could not casually attack him.
Because doing so could be regarded as betrayal!
“Hmph!”
Seeing this, Naruto could not be bothered to say anything more.
He merely snorted coldly, turned around, and left.
The ANBU ninja nodded toward another ANBU nearby.
That ninja immediately followed Naruto and resumed monitoring him.
The remaining ANBU turned to the mask shop owner.
“Come with me to see the Third Hokage.”
With that, he took away the mask shop owner, whose legs had already gone weak.
Before long, the two arrived at the Hokage’s office.
After hearing what had happened, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, spoke gently to the trembling shop owner.
“Shopkeeper Ishigami, I apologize to you on Naruto’s behalf. I hope you can forgive him. The village will cover any losses Naruto caused. Go back and calculate the damage, and the village will compensate you afterward.”
“N-No, that won’t be necessary! This was only a misunderstanding. Besides, I was the one at fault first. I insulted Naruto-kun before anything happened. I was too impulsive. I wouldn’t dare ask the village for compensation,” the mask shop owner hurriedly replied, clearly knowing when to yield.
“Well… all right. Since you put it that way, I won’t insist. But don’t force yourself to absorb the loss. If there really was any damage, make sure to report it,” Hiruzen Sarutobi said.
“Thank you, Lord Hokage, but there truly wasn’t any loss,” the shop owner quickly replied.
“I see. Then you may return,” Hiruzen Sarutobi said.
“Yes, Lord Hokage. I’ll take my leave.”
The mask shop owner finally breathed a long sigh of relief before respectfully departing.
“Shinnosuke.”
After the shop owner left, Hiruzen Sarutobi called out.
“Lord Hokage.”
A figure appeared with the Body Flicker Technique.
It was Sarutobi Shinnosuke, Konohamaru’s father, who was still alive at this point.
“Issue another prohibition. Merchants are forbidden from refusing to sell goods to Naruto,” Hiruzen Sarutobi ordered.
“Yes!”
Shinnosuke nodded and left.
“Let’s go. It’s about time I met Naruto.”
Hiruzen Sarutobi stood and shook his head toward the ANBU who had come to report the incident.
These people were all his trusted subordinates.
Naturally, there was no need to conceal everything so tightly from them.
As for outsiders, however, the truth remained very well hidden.
The Will of Fire could not be profaned.
At this moment, Naruto had already returned home and was frowning deeply.
Although knocking over the mask shop owner’s display had certainly allowed him to vent some anger, there was no doubt that such behavior would attract Hiruzen Sarutobi’s attention.
I still lost my temper too easily.
Naruto felt somewhat helpless.
But what was done was done.
Regret was useless.
Besides, Naruto did not think he needed to worry too much.
After all, he was still only three years old.
Wasn’t it perfectly normal for a three-year-old to be somewhat temperamental?
And isn’t the whole point of treating me like this to drive me into darkness so that Hiruzen Sarutobi can become the only ray of light in my life?
Once Naruto looked at it that way, he immediately relaxed
I’ll keep fishing.
With that, Naruto casually picked up his fishing rod and two wooden buckets, one large and one small, and headed outside.
Meanwhile—
“Hiruzen!”
After learning that Naruto had suddenly lashed out, Shimura Danzō, who wanted to bring the Jin chūriki under his control, unsurprisingly intercepted Hiruzen Sarutobi outside the Hokage’s office once again.
“You saw it, didn’t you? The Jin chūriki is completely uncontrollable. Only by handing him over to Root can we truly control him,” Shimura Danzō said.
“How exactly is the Jin chūriki uncontrollable, Danzō? Did the Nine-Tails’ chakra emerge?” Hiruzen Sarutobi asked in return.
“By the time the Nine-Tails’ chakra emerges, it will already be too late. With a temperament that makes him explode merely because someone insulted him, sooner or later the Nine-Tails’ chakra will seep out,” Shimura Danzō said coldly.
“This was nothing more than a child throwing a tantrum. In fact, this is the perfect opportunity to instill the Will of Fire in him,” Hiruzen Sarutobi replied.
“Hiruzen, you will regret this,” Shimura Danzō said.
“Danzō, I am the Hokage.”
Once again, Shimura Danzō left empty-handed.
By then, Naruto had already arrived at the river.
He lay on the bank and began gathering river snails.
Knowing how dangerous the water could be, Naruto certainly did not dare enter it himself.
After collecting roughly two or three Jin of river snails nearby, Naruto started a fire and picked out some of the smaller ones.
He roasted them and used them as bait before beginning to fish.
When it came to fishing, one either relied on skill…
Or luck.
Whether in his previous life or this one, Naruto had never been an avid fisherman, so naturally he had no particular skill.
But as Naruto Uzumaki, the protagonist himself, he possessed extraordinary luck.
For example, in Tanzaku Town, he had once turned a single coin into tens of thousands.
And now, it seemed to be the same.
Naruto’s fishing gear and bait could hardly have been more crude.
His bait was nothing more than casually roasted river snails.
Yet before long, he had already caught two or three Jin of fish.
That immediately put Naruto in high spirits.
And now, there was another bite.
Naruto instantly pulled up his fishing rod.
But this time, he could not lift it at all.
Instead, the enormous force of the fish yanked Naruto forward, causing him to stumble and nearly fall straight into the river.
“Careful!”
At that moment, a kindly voice rang out.
An elderly man immediately reached out and caught Naruto.
Naruto had no attention to spare for anything else.
He simply gripped the fishing rod tightly.
After struggling for a while, he finally hauled the fish out of the river.
It was an enormous fish weighing three or four Jin .
“Phew… Thank you, Grandpa.”
Watching the large fish flop around on the riverbank, Naruto finally breathed a sigh of relief and thanked the old man who had saved him.
Naruto recognized him at first glance.
Without question, this was Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage.
“You actually managed to catch such a big fish. You’re quite impressive,” the Third Hokage praised.
“It was just luck,” Naruto replied with a smile.
“There must be another two or three Jin of fish in this bucket too. That’s quite a haul,” the Third Hokage said, glancing into Naruto’s bucket.
“Mm. Tonight’s dinner and tomorrow’s breakfast are taken care of.”
Naruto smiled happily as well.
At the same time, he picked up the large fish weighing three or four Jin and put it into the bucket.
“Fish caught from this river must be especially fresh and tender. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a bowl of fresh fish soup,” the Third Hokage sighed.
“I’ve never made fish soup before. If you know how to cook it, I can treat you to some,” Naruto said with complete sincerity on the surface.
In truth, he meant it.
If the Third Hokage was willing to cook for him, what harm was there in treating the old man to a meal?
As for the fact that Hiruzen had completely ignored Naruto saying that these fish were meant to cover both his dinner and breakfast…
Naruto could not be bothered to point it out.
After all, he was living under someone else’s roof.
“Hahaha! Then I’ll impose on you. My cooking skills are actually quite good.”
As expected, Hiruzen Sarutobi readily accepted the invitation.