“Naruto, why are you back already?
Don’t you have afternoon classes?”
After Naruto returned home and finished lunch, there was a knock at the door.
When he opened it, he found the Third Hokage standing there, smiling kindly.
“Oh, Third Grandpa.
I came home for lunch.
What brings you here?” Naruto asked.
“I happened to be passing by and noticed someone was inside your house, so I came over to take a look.
I didn’t expect it to really be you,” the Third said.
“Who else would it be?
My place is so poor that even thieves wouldn’t bother with it,” Naruto replied.
The Third simply laughed, avoiding the subject of poverty altogether.
“So, how was school?
Did you make any friends?”
“Yeah!
I made one friend already,” Naruto answered with an excited expression.
As if I can’t tell you’ve been spying on me with your crystal ball this whole time…
he sneered inwardly.
Now that Naruto had mastered nature transformation, he had become capable of sensing the Third Hokage’s surveillance.
________________
“Oh?
You made a friend that quickly?
What’s his name?” the Third asked warmly, genuinely looking delighted.
Not bad acting, Naruto thought.
“His name is Nara Shikamaru.”
“Shikamaru?”
The Third smiled.
“So you know him, Third Grandpa?” Naruto asked in surprise.
“Of course.
The Nara Clan serves as Konoha’s great thinkers.
Shikamaru is still young, but with the Nara bloodline, he’ll certainly grow into an intelligent person.”
“Wow!
Shikamaru’s amazing!”
The Third chuckled.
“You’re amazing too, Naruto.
Your very first friend turned out to be someone like Shikamaru.”
“Really?
Am I that amazing?”
Naruto deliberately sounded doubtful while beaming with pride.
________________
“As long as you continue pursuing your goal without giving up,” the Third said encouragingly, “it’s not impossible for you to become Hokage someday.”
As always, every sentence subtly guided Naruto toward that dream.
Just like every meeting over the past three years.
Naruto declared proudly,
“I’ll work hard!
One day my face will be carved onto Hokage Rock just like yours!”
“Excellent!”
The Third looked even happier.
“That’s the spirit.
I believe in you, Naruto.
Don’t disappoint my expectations.”
“I won’t, Third Grandpa!”
Naruto clenched his fists enthusiastically.
________________
“Alright, your home isn’t far from the Academy.
Head back and get some rest.”
“As for me, I need to return to the Hokage’s office.
Being Hokage keeps me very busy.
There’s still plenty of work waiting this afternoon.”
“Okay!
Goodbye, Third Grandpa!”
Naruto waved.
“Goodbye, Naruto.”
The Third waved back before leaving.
________________
The moment he disappeared, Naruto’s expression instantly became cold.
Ever since he started attending the Ninja Academy, he had clearly noticed that the surveillance on him had relaxed.
Apart from the occasional observation through the Third Hokage’s crystal ball…
…the ANBU monitoring him now stayed at roughly twice the previous distance.
That meant Naruto could finally relax and show his real expression whenever nobody was nearby.
He locked the door and headed back toward the Academy.
Once inside the school grounds…
…he couldn’t sense anyone watching him at all.
Apparently, it was an unwritten rule that Academy students weren’t monitored.
Of course, if a genuine threat appeared, that unwritten rule would immediately cease to exist.
That was precisely why it remained merely an unwritten rule.
________________
The entire afternoon was still devoted to chakra extraction practice.
Naruto and Shikamaru simply slept through the whole lesson.
Naruto had spent the last three years constantly working and training.
Now that he finally had nothing to do, his child’s natural sleepiness caught up with him.
He slept soundly until the dismissal bell.
________________
“Today, two students successfully extracted chakra,” Iruka announced.
“Everyone else, don’t be discouraged.
Practice again tonight after you get home.
Eat well, get enough rest, and continue tomorrow morning.”
“Class dismissed.”
Iruka left the classroom.
Naruto was the second student to leave.
________________
Rather than going straight home, Naruto headed toward the forest outside Konoha.
Over the past three years…
As his strength increased—and after growing tired of eating fish every day—his range of activities had gradually expanded into the surrounding woods.
He had set numerous traps throughout the forest.
Now it was time to check them and reset the traps.
________________
Although his monthly allowance remained only 1,000 ryō, Naruto’s quality of life had visibly improved over the years.
At the very least…
…he no longer had to scrape leftover meat off butcher blocks just to have something to eat.
Of course, hunting wasn’t the real reason his life had improved.
The animals he caught couldn’t be sold.
No villager would buy anything from him.
His income hadn’t increased at all.
The real reason was that he’d discovered stores selling food that was close to its expiration date.
These nearly expired products cost only one-tenth of the normal price.
The shopkeepers there also treated him much better than ordinary villagers.
Even if they disliked him, they still acted polite.
After all…
People who ran shops selling nearly expired food were themselves looked down upon by the rest of the village.
They weren’t exactly respected members of society either.
Unlike the Naruto from the original story, however…
…this Naruto refused to eat expired food.
Every purchase was carefully checked to make sure it hadn’t passed its expiration date.
It was troublesome.
He often had to visit the shop every other day.
But that was still far better than eating spoiled food.
Naruto guessed that the original Naruto simply didn’t want the hassle and bought food in bulk.
As a result…
…his apartment became filled with expired groceries, some of them over a month past expiration, yet he ate them anyway.
Naruto often found himself marveling at just how unbelievably tough the original Naruto had been.
Like a cockroach that simply refused to die.
________________
Soon, Naruto reached the forest.
He checked several trap locations.
His luck was good today.
He had caught two rabbits and one pheasant.
Satisfied, he reset all the traps along the rabbit and pheasant trails before heading home.
Tonight…
…there would be another delicious meat dinner.
________________
Living alone for three years had dramatically improved Naruto’s cooking skills.
Especially after he once found a cookbook discarded near Shueisha’s offices.
Since then, his cooking had reached the level of a professional chef.
If Konoha’s villagers hadn’t hated and rejected everything he did…
Naruto honestly believed he could make a fortune simply running a barbecue stand.
Unfortunately…
…the only person who got to enjoy his cooking was himself.
Their loss.
They simply had no luck tasting it.
ADD TO COLLECTION.