Outside Naruto’s apartment, Hiruzen and Kakashi stood before the front door with their brows tightly furrowed.
“Is Naruto Uzumaki not home?”
Hiruzen murmured to himself.
After listening carefully, however, he heard footsteps inside.
Someone was clearly there.
Following a brief silence, Hiruzen ordered, “Kakashi, open the door.”
Kakashi respectfully acknowledged the command and stepped forward.
No one knew what method he used, but the door opened with a soft click.
“Go to hell!”
Naruto roared from inside and hurled the basin’s contents through the doorway.
Splash!
The two men outside were drenched from head to toe.
Hiruzen fell silent.
Kakashi fell silent.
Naruto hurriedly retreated two steps to prevent the liquid from splashing onto his own clothes.
He had still underestimated the power of this “biological weapon.”
The basin of fermented instant-noodle broth possessed all the unstoppable might of a mop dipped in shit.
The smell alone was enough to make someone lose consciousness.
Naruto looked toward the doorway and pretended to be astonished.
“Huh?”
“Lord Hokage?
Sir Kakashi?
What are you doing here?”
Hiruzen remained silent.
Kakashi remained silent.
The two men stared blankly at the rancid broth covering their bodies.
Mixed throughout it were scraps of instant noodles, insect corpses, and several unidentified bubbles.
“Urgh!”
Kakashi couldn’t endure it any longer.
Gripping the doorframe with one hand, he began vomiting on the spot.
“Naruto!”
Hiruzen released an enraged roar.
Without another word, the elderly Hokage charged into Naruto’s bathroom like a gust of wind, moving at what seemed like eighty miles an hour.
Naruto sat on a chair with a gentle smile, his bright blue eyes repeatedly drifting toward the bathroom door.
A long while later, two men emerged with furious expressions.
Their bodies were bright red, as though they had scrubbed away an entire layer of skin.
Hiruzen and Kakashi’s faces couldn’t have been darker. New chapters come out on g.com first.
They had nearly rubbed their skin raw, yet that foul stench still clung to them.
What kind of terrifying biological weapon was this?
“Naruto Uzumaki!”
“Don’t you think you owe us an explanation?”
Hiruzen glared at Naruto through gritted teeth.
When the door opened, he had sensed Naruto throwing something toward them.
However, because Naruto was only a small child, Hiruzen assumed that whatever he threw couldn’t possibly cause any harm.
Consequently…
Hiruzen nearly wanted to kill someone.
That damned instant-noodle broth had to have been fermenting for at least half a year!
Naruto spoke apologetically.
“I’m terribly sorry, Lord Hokage.
I thought you were people coming to beat me.
I was frightened, so I accidentally got you dirty.”
Hiruzen and Kakashi’s expressions darkened further.
So they had suffered on someone else’s behalf?
Somehow, that felt even worse than if Naruto had deliberately targeted them.
“Phew!”
Hiruzen inhaled deeply and forcibly suppressed his nearly uncontrollable anger.
He then adopted a kindly expression.
“Forget it.
This isn’t a serious matter.”
“However…”
“Naruto Uzumaki!”
Hiruzen’s expression became stern.
“Kakashi told me that you fought some other children and took their money.
Is that true?”
Naruto nodded slightly.
“Yes.
I fought them because I was protecting Hinata.”
Hiruzen frowned.
“Naruto, why did you take their money?
They were wrong to attack someone, but taking their money was also wrong.”
“Your goal is to become the Fifth Hokage.
A Hokage should protect the weak.
How could you bully them instead?”
His piercing gaze remained fixed on Naruto.
Naruto displayed acting skills worthy of an award-winning performer.
His expression dimmed slightly.
He clenched his fists and answered in an aggrieved voice:
“I… didn’t have enough to eat.”
Hiruzen and Kakashi froze simultaneously.
They had expected Naruto to offer some elaborate excuse, but neither had imagined that he would provide such a simple reason.
He didn’t have enough to eat!
Those were such plain and honest words.
Hiruzen couldn’t help asking, “Doesn’t the village provide you with a monthly living allowance?”
Kakashi nodded as well.
Naruto lowered his head despondently.
“It isn’t enough.
Most people refuse to sell me anything.
The rice I buy is mixed with sand, and the vegetables they give me are rotten.
I can only eat at Ichiraku Ramen.”
“I eat ramen for all three meals, and I still have to purchase basic necessities… There isn’t enough money.”
Hiruzen’s elderly face turned crimson.
He wished he could find a crack in the ground and crawl inside.
He had deliberately limited Naruto’s allowance to ten thousand ryō so the boy would live miserably.
Hiruzen could then present himself as Naruto’s savior and cultivate the boy’s gratitude toward him.
But hearing Naruto expose the situation so bluntly—especially with Kakashi present—made Hiruzen want to disappear.
After forcibly calming himself, Hiruzen took another deep breath and asked kindly, “Naruto, what basic necessities are you purchasing?”
Naruto answered in an aggrieved voice, “Replacement windows, tape, bandages, gauze, disinfectant…”
Hiruzen and Kakashi listened in utter confusion.
“Those are basic necessities?”
Naruto’s expression darkened.
“People smash my windows at night.
When I walk through the streets, people throw stones at me.
That’s when I need the tape and bandages…”
Naruto wasn’t worried about anyone exposing this as a lie.
After all, this was his everyday life in Konoha.
People despised him, and even dogs avoided him.
He lived like a hated street rat, hounded and attacked by everyone who saw him.