Naruto clenched his fist and turned his bright blue eyes toward the wooden table in front of him.
He gently placed one hand against it.
Crack!
With a crisp snapping sound, Naruto broke off one corner of the table using nothing but his bare hand.
He looked at the piece of wood in his grasp and smiled.
Although the table was old and rotten, being able to break it apart with one hand was still proof of how much his strength had increased.
“This is incredible…”
“For me, Taijutsu Training is every bit as valuable as a kekkei genkai…”
“If the results are this good, I might as well purchase another one!”
Naruto still had thirteen thousand two hundred and thirty ryō, so he decided to indulge in the pleasure of spending like a wealthy man.
Another month’s worth of hellish training memories surged into his mind.
This training regimen was even more inhuman than the previous one.
Two thousand push-ups!
Two thousand sit-ups!
Two thousand pull-ups!
Fifty full-speed laps around Konohagakure!
And much more.
Naruto intended to purchase another round of training, but then he noticed the words displayed inside the system.
[Exclusive Customer: Naruto Uzumaki]
[Assets: 3,230 ryō]
“The second Taijutsu Training cost me an entire ten thousand ryō?”
Naruto counted his coins.
After examining them carefully, he discovered that ten of his coins had disappeared.
All that remained were three one-thousand-ryō coins, two two-hundred-ryō coins, and three ten-ryō coins.
Naruto frowned and looked toward the Taijutsu Mode listing.
[Taijutsu Mode: 50,000 ryō]
“The price increased that much?
I need to find a way to make money…”
Naruto exhaled slowly.
Out on the street, Naruto wandered aimlessly while examining the surrounding businesses.
A weapons shop!
This shop belonged to Tenten’s family, but they had no intention of hiring anyone at the moment.
A barbecue restaurant!
This place belonged to Nakamura Taji.
The last time Naruto bought meat from him, the man had sold him rotten meat.
Ichiraku Ramen!
Uncle Teuchi had always treated Naruto well, but unfortunately, he wasn’t hiring anyone either.
A bento shop!
The last time Naruto bought a bento there, the owners had mixed plenty of dirt and ash into his food.
An izakaya!
This establishment…
Naruto had only just stopped outside when an enraged shout erupted from inside.
“Damn you, Naruto Uzumaki!”
“What did you do to my son?”
A thickset middle-aged woman, as fat as a sow, stormed out of the izakaya with a broom in her hand.
Naruto froze briefly.
She was the izakaya’s proprietress.
Why was she looking for him?
The woman glared furiously at Naruto and pointed toward one of the crying brats inside the building.
“Naruto Uzumaki, were you the one who beat my child?”
“Do you have a death wish?
My son has been crying ever since he came home, and he still hasn’t stopped!
Go inside and apologize to him immediately!”
Naruto’s expression returned to normal, but a trace of coldness entered his eyes.
“Oh, so you’re his mother.”
“No.”
Naruto refused without the slightest hesitation.
“I won’t apologize to him.
He bullied Hinata, so I taught him a lesson.”
The middle-aged woman flew into a rage and swung her broom at Naruto.
The surrounding villagers immediately became interested and turned to watch.
When they saw that Naruto was the one being attacked, they were delighted.
Malicious shouts rang out from the crowd.
“Teach that monstrous brat a lesson!
He already dares to hit people at his age.
Is he going to start murdering people when he grows up?”
“Exactly!
Give him a proper beating so he’ll never dare raise his hand against anyone again!”
“Allowing him to remain in Konoha is already a gift, yet he still dares attack people!
What an ungrateful little monster!”
“Hmph!
A monster like him would be better off beaten to death…”
“…”
Naruto’s eyes remained cold.
In the past, he would have had no choice but to endure the beating obediently.
After all, he hadn’t possessed enough strength to resist an adult.
But now…
“Heh.”
Naruto sneered and shot out his hand like a gust of wind, catching the end of the broom in a firm grip.
Smack!
The middle-aged woman froze before attempting to pull the broom back, but Naruto held it tightly in place.
“Damn brat!
Let go!”
The woman continued shrieking abuse in an unbearably grating voice.
The corners of Naruto’s lips curved into a subtle smile.
“Fine.”
Before the woman could react, the resistance suddenly disappeared from her hands.
She fell backward and landed heavily on her backside.
“Aaargh!”
The pain nearly sent the woman leaping three feet into the air.
Clutching her rear, she glared resentfully at Naruto.
“You damned monster!
Who told you to let go?
Did you do that deliberately to get revenge on me?”
Naruto almost laughed.
She was trying to hit him, yet she thought he wasn’t permitted to resist?
Not only was this woman as fat as a sow, but even her brain seemed to be filled with fat.
She was nothing more than a shrewish idiot.
Naruto couldn’t be bothered arguing with her.
A tiny spark appeared at the tip of his right index finger.
He flicked it forward.
The spark landed precisely in the alcohol stored inside the izakaya.
Naruto spoke softly.
“Scorch Release: Raging Flames!”
The following second—
FWOOM!
The spark exploded.
An almost imperceptible flame ignited the alcohol, and with the liquor feeding it, the fire spread like a dragon devouring every corner of the izakaya.
Before the middle-aged woman could collect herself, she felt scorching heat surging from behind her.
She turned around.
The fat on her face trembled, and her voice became unbearably shrill.
“Fire!
Help!
Someone put out the fire!
All my family’s money is inside!
Hurry and save it!”
The pedestrians descended into chaos.
Some people hurried over carrying buckets of water, but their efforts were useless against the inferno consuming the izakaya.
They could only watch helplessly as the raging flames swallowed the entire establishment, reducing it to scorched ruins and ash.
The middle-aged woman collapsed onto the ground and began wailing like a spoiled child throwing a tantrum.
“This is all that damned monster’s fault!
If it weren’t for him, how could my izakaya possibly have caught fire?”
“Help me!
It’s all because of that monster!
If I hadn’t gone outside to beat him, I would have been watching the building!”
“Lord Hokage has to compensate me!
All my money was inside!
Aaargh!”
Naruto smiled faintly, slipped both hands into his pockets, and walked away.
Repay hatred with kindness?
Heh!
Naruto would repay hatred with hatred.
After leaving Konoha’s prosperous main street, Naruto entered a secluded side road.
He stopped outside a particular establishment and stared hesitantly at its sign.
[Paradise Bookstore]
[The Latest Edition of Icha Icha Paradise Is Back in Stock]
The store’s name sounded perfectly ordinary, but the pink lights decorating its sign proved that this was no ordinary bookstore.
Despite that, a surprising number of customers were coming and going.