The Third Hokage, as usual, returned to his office to handle the day’s official business after delivering the monthly living expenses to Naruto.
The Anbu also promptly reported the intelligence that Naruto had gone to buy food after receiving the money.
However, unexpectedly, as soon as the Anbu left, they returned to report that Naruto had gone out again to buy things and had gotten into a conflict with the shop owner.
The Third Hokage hurriedly arrived at the scene.
“Hokage-sama!” The owner, as if seeing a savior, immediately pointed at Naruto to complain, “This monster…
this brat, he insists on buying things at my store.
I told him to go elsewhere, but he refuses to leave!”
The Third Hokage looked at the money on the table, then at Naruto, and asked: “Naruto, are you here to buy things?”
“Yes, Hokage-sama.” Naruto nodded, his tone calm, “I brought money and wanted to buy some food, but the owner refuses to sell to me.”
The Third Hokage asked in confusion: “Naruto, didn’t you just buy some food a short while ago?”
“Those were near their expiration date; they aren’t good for my health.” Naruto replied.
At the same time, he was inwardly surprised.
How did the Third Hokage know that he had bought food a short while ago?
Was he monitoring him?
Knowing his every move at all times?
“This…” The Third Hokage frowned and turned to the owner, “Since he has brought money, just sell it to him.”
The owner opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but upon seeing the Third Hokage’s gaze, he begrudgingly took the money and casually grabbed some fresh food from the shelf and shoved it at Naruto.
“Go away, go away.”
Naruto took the items, said nothing more, and turned to leave.
The Third Hokage watched his back, thoughtful, then quickly followed Naruto’s footsteps.
…
Naruto returned home with the items, put the food away, then sat on the bed and began to organize his thoughts.
First, time in Konoha Village did not seem to have passed.
Or rather, it had passed very little.
His body had not grown either; he was still three years old.
But his consciousness, knowledge, and experiences had genuinely passed for nine years.
Second, the Magic World was real.
The staff was in his hand.
The magic power inside his body could also be sensed.
So the question arose.
How did he travel there?
And why did he return?
Naruto closed his eyes, trying to sense the magic power in his body.
Just like when he was practicing by the cliff, he could clearly perceive the magic power flowing within him.
When Naruto tried to condense the magic power, that invisible presence that had prevented him from controlling the magic smoothly seemed to have disappeared.
Recalling the words of that Nine-Tailed Beast earlier: ‘You don’t need to fear my Chakra, and I will no longer interfere with anything of yours.’
Grandma Frieren’s voice also echoed: ‘Perhaps my deduction was wrong; it’s not that you have no talent, but that there is something in your body blocking you from controlling magic.’
Naruto opened his eyes and looked down at the seal on his stomach.
Could it be this?
He thought for a moment and decided not to delve into it for now.
The most important thing now was to find a way to go to the Magic World again.
Heiter’s health was getting worse.
Sister Fern must be having a hard time alone.
Grandma Frieren, although cold in her words, must be worried in her heart.
And…
Naruto gripped the staff in his hand.
He still hadn’t said thank you to Heiter in person.
Thank you for taking me in.
Thank you for teaching me knowledge and principles.
Thank you for letting me know that there are people in the world willing to be kind to me.
Thinking of this, Naruto stood up and took a deep breath.
“Knock!
Knock!
Knock!”
A slight knocking sound came from outside the door.
Naruto was a bit confused; besides the Third Hokage, no one else seemed to take the initiative to come find him, so he quickly walked to the door and pulled it open.
The Third Hokage stood outside the door, puffing on his pipe, his face wearing his habitual kindly smile.
“Hokage-sama?” Naruto was somewhat surprised.
The Third Hokage nodded, said nothing more, and walked straight into the room.
Neither of them spoke for a moment.
Naruto closed the door and stood in place, his mind racing on how to start.
There were too many things about him that couldn’t be explained.
Time travel, magic, Heiter, Nine-Tailed…
If he said these things out loud, would Hokage-sama believe him?
On the other side, the Third Hokage looked around the room, but his heart was stirred.
The Anbu had clearly reported that Naruto had gone out to buy things after receiving his living expenses, and it had been no more than a few hours.
But now, this room…
Although it couldn’t be considered very clean, compared to the dirty and messy state it was in before, it was like a different place.
Things were arranged neatly, and the trash had been cleaned up.
What concerned the Third Hokage even more was Naruto himself.
The child who had been keeping his head down and not daring to look at anyone a few hours ago now stood there looking like a different person.
The Third Hokage quickly flashed through various possibilities in his mind.
Naruto had not been in contact with anyone else.
The Anbu had been watching him the whole time.
Then…
Was it the Nine-Tailed?
Or had Minato left behind some contingency?
Hiruzen Sarutobi had to weigh every word he was about to say, so he didn’t speak directly.
Naruto was thinking about the same thing.
Why did his parents die to protect the Village, yet he had to be treated like this?
Why was he the only one in the whole Village like this?
What exactly was the Jutsu on his stomach?
And that fox with nine tails he saw in the depths of his consciousness, locked in a cage…
What was its relationship to the demon fox that attacked the Village back then?
The two remained silent for a long time.
The only sound in the room was the faint sound of tobacco burning in the Third Hokage’s pipe.
Finally, it was Naruto who spoke first.
“Is there something you need, Hokage-sama?”
The Third Hokage looked at him, revealing that familiar kindly smile.
“Nothing major, just because you had a conflict with the shop owner, I wanted to come and check on you.”
He paused, his gaze sweeping around the room: “However…
it’s only been a few hours, but your room is quite tidy.”
The Third Hokage’s tone was like casual conversation, but his eyes were constantly observing Naruto’s reaction.
Naruto had many questions he wanted to ask in his heart.
About his parents, about the demon fox, about the Jutsu on his stomach.
Every question was on the tip of his tongue.
But he held back.
Heiter had taught him that some things cannot be rushed.
If he asked, and the other party didn’t want to answer, the result would be the same.
Just like before, every time he asked about his parents, Hokage-sama would use the same words to brush him off.
So Naruto changed to a less sensitive question: “Hokage-sama, how many countries are there in this world?”
The Third Hokage was stunned for a moment.
This question came suddenly, and it was strange.
But he still patiently explained.
“Land of Fire, Land of Water, Land of Earth, Land of Lightning, Land of Wind.”
“Besides these, there are some small countries, such as Land of Rain, Land of Waterfall, Land of Bear, Land of Grass…”
Naruto listened very carefully, but his brows furrowed tighter and tighter.
Although he was mentally prepared, hearing these names with his own ears still gave him an indescribable feeling.
There was no Holy Capital.
No Southern Nations, no Central Nations.
And no Mages or heroes.
After the Third Hokage finished speaking, he was about to ask something.
Naruto continued to ask: “Hokage-sama, do you know of a city called the Holy Capital?”
The Third Hokage shook his head.
“And…
do you know about magic?”
The Third Hokage looked at Naruto, his eyes filled with a hint of inquiry.
He felt that Naruto was indeed a bit strange today.
The questions he asked were things he had never mentioned before.
“I have never heard of a place called the Holy Capital.” The Third Hokage said slowly, his tone still calm, “As for magic…
perhaps it only exists in storybooks.”
After listening, Naruto was silent for a while.
Although he had verified it many times, every time he confirmed this, he still felt empty inside.
Land of Fire, Konoha Village, Ninja…
Magic World, Holy Capital, Heiter…
Two worlds, like two completely parallel lines.
The Third Hokage looked at the silent Naruto, about to ask why he was asking these things.
Naruto raised his head first: “Hokage-sama, I want to become stronger.”
“I want to learn more knowledge.”
The Third Hokage looked at those sapphire-like eyes and was slightly stunned.
In those eyes, the timidity and evasion from before were gone.
Replacing them was something he was familiar with.
It was like seeing the shadow of someone.
That man…
The shadow of Minato Namikaze.
The Third Hokage was silent for a moment, then revealed a genuine, relieved smile: “Alright.”
“Naruto, go register for the Ninja Academy tomorrow.”
“You have always lived alone, it is indeed too lonely.”
“If you go to school, you can also meet more friends of your age.”
Naruto listened and nodded gently: “Okay, Hokage-sama.”
The Third Hokage looked at Naruto again, turned, and slowly walked toward the door.
When he reached the door, he stopped again, turned back, and said: “Rest early, I will have someone take you to school tomorrow.”
After speaking, he pushed the door and left.
After the door closed, the room became quiet again.
Naruto stood in place, looking at the closed door.
He was going to the Ninja Academy tomorrow.
Things about the Magic World couldn’t be explained clearly for now.
But at least…
He already had a new direction.
As long as he went to the Ninja Academy to learn new knowledge, understand Chakra, and understand everything about this world.
Maybe he could go back to that warm home…
Note 1: Regarding a famous bug in Naruto, the original work mentioned that Naruto failed the graduation exam three times, but the problem is that Naruto was in the same batch as the other eight rookies from childhood, and they were all the same age, making the three graduation exams completely uninterpretable, so it is considered an unsolved mystery.
But there is no doubt that the enrollment age for the Ninja Academy is 6 years old, so in the setting of this book, the Third Hokage is worried that Naruto keeps asking strange questions and that Naruto is indeed too lonely living alone, so he lets Naruto enter school three years early.