I Am Wangming Fox

The next day,

Naruto got up early.

In fact, over the past two years, he had already developed the habit of getting up early.

After getting up and washing, Naruto finished breakfast and practiced the Indestructible Body in the yard.

When it was time to go to school, Naruto took a bath, changed out of his sweat-soaked clothes, then returned to his room to get his schoolbag. Seeing Nine-Tails sprawled out on the bed, sleeping soundly, Naruto did not wake it and simply headed to school with his bag.

With the pink schoolbag Grandpa Third had given him on his back, Naruto strode toward the school in the rising sun, humming a children's song about going to school:

"Wake up in the morning, face the sun;"

"East is ahead, west is behind;"

"North is on the left, south is on the right;"

"Know your directions: east, south, west, and north."

There was no longer a trace of loneliness on Naruto. He already had Sasuke as a friend, and in the future, he would have even more friends.

At that thought, one childish face after another flashed through Naruto's mind. They were all his classmates.

I need to hurry.

I need to turn these classmates into my friends too. Then more people can play together.

As he neared the school, Naruto heard someone singing behind him.

"Purple trees, purple flowers;"

"Purple flowers bloom and bear purple melons;"

"The baby puckers his little lips;"

"Mother laughs with delight."

Hearing the song, Naruto turned to look back and saw a chubby boy walking behind him, carrying a huge schoolbag and pulling snacks out from behind it as he walked and ate.

This chubby boy was also Naruto's classmate. His name was Choji Akimichi.

As far as Naruto remembered, this classmate seemed to be eating at every moment.

Then it'll be you. You'll be my second friend.

Naruto remembered the chubby boy and continued on his way. Before long, he arrived at the school gate and spotted Sasuke.

Sasuke had an enormous schoolbag on his back, though it was unclear what was inside. He was already drenched in sweat, clearly exhausted by the bag's weight.

"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted, running over and asking curiously, "Sasuke, what's in your bag?"

"I'm not telling you yet." Sasuke was happy to see Naruto too, but when Naruto asked, he deliberately kept him in suspense.

"Huh? Aren't we good friends? Why can't you tell me?" Naruto scratched his head, confused.

"Yeah, we're good friends. But... anyway, I can't tell you yet." Sasuke wiped the sweat from his face, still refusing to budge.

"Alright." Seeing Sasuke's back hunched over, Naruto said, "Sasuke, let me carry it for you."

"No need. We're already at school." Sasuke waved his hand. If Naruto carried it, he would find out what was inside, and the effect would be greatly diminished.

Seeing how insistent Sasuke was, Naruto could only follow him into the classroom.

When the other students saw Sasuke and Naruto enter the classroom together, they did not find it strange. On the other side of the room, however, Sakura Haruno and Ino looked at each other from afar, each sensing urgency in the other's eyes.

The morning sun slowly climbed into the sky. Its gentle rays slipped through the window into the bedroom, spilling golden sunlight across the bed.

Nine-Tails turned over.

After a while, when the sunlight had gradually warmed up, Nine-Tails rubbed its sleepy eyes and slowly crawled up. It went to the window and saw that the weather outside was clear and pleasant.

It went into the bathroom, squatted on the toilet, took a dump, flushed, and began washing up.

After washing up, Nine-Tails ate breakfast, then lay sprawled on a bench in the yard to bask in the sun. Its whole body became lazily warm, helping it absorb calcium.

After sunning itself for a while, Nine-Tails returned indoors, took Naruto's clothes from the laundry basket, then sat on a little stool in the bathroom and scrubbed them clean.

After washing the clothes, Nine-Tails locked the door and headed to the Breeding Farm.

Once there, Nine-Tails first checked on the pigs. If a pig was not sleeping, then it definitely had worries, and those worries needed to be dealt with. Fortunately, all the pigs in the pen were snoring away.

Next, it checked whether any bulls were slacking off. The herd's growth rested on their shoulders, so they could not be lazy. Only hard work brought prosperity.

Those bulls really were slacking off, completely unmotivated. Nine-Tails had no choice but to cast a genjutsu, making them deeply experience the charm of the cows. They promptly got back to work with renewed vigor.

After dealing with the lazy bulls, Nine-Tails went to the flock of goats and selected one as that morning's ingredient. Naruto now ate one goat per meal.

Parting the grass, Nine-Tails saw the goats grazing. Only one goat seemed especially lonely. Instead of lowering its head to eat, it stared at the sky, who knew what it was thinking in its goat brain.

Such a goat life had no happiness.

Nine-Tails decided to choose it as that morning's ingredient.

Having made up its mind, Nine-Tails quietly approached the goat contemplating its goat life. When it was still several dozen steps away, Nine-Tails leaped forward. Its front paws landed on the goat's back, then it flipped through the air and landed on the ground, already holding the goat in its paws.

"Baa baa baa..."

Its contemplation of goat life was abruptly interrupted, and all four hooves immediately began kicking wildly.

"Baa baa baa..."

The entire flock fell into chaos as well.

Nine-Tails did not care. Holding up the goat, it happily ran toward the wooden house.

Sharpening the knife, boiling water...

It was very familiar with the process. Soon, the mutton was bubbling away in the pot.

Near dismissal time, Nine-Tails had finished cooking. It only needed to wait for Naruto to return so they could eat.

Wearing an apron, Nine-Tails went outside the wooden house. There was a large rock outside, so it squatted on it and waited for Naruto to return from school.

"Ring ring ring..."

The dismissal bell rang...

"Alright, that's all for today's lesson. Goodbye, everyone." At the front of the classroom, Iruka packed up his lesson plans and left.

Sasuke put on his large schoolbag, called Naruto over, and the two left school together.

"Sasuke, what exactly is in your bag? I've been thinking about it all morning. It's driving me crazy..." Naruto stared eagerly at Sasuke's huge schoolbag and asked.

"You'll find out soon. Let's find a patch of grass." Sasuke smiled mysteriously.

Naruto suppressed his guesses as the two came to a small river. Beside it was a lush grassy field.

Sasuke set down the large schoolbag, opened the zipper, took out a piece of cloth, and spread it over the grass. He placed the schoolbag on top of the cloth, took off his shoes, and knelt on the cloth.

"Naruto, come up too."

Naruto did as he said, taking off his shoes and sitting down. His eyes immediately fell on Sasuke's huge schoolbag...

"Ta-da! Naruto, I brought you a lunchbox..." Sasuke took a bento box out of his bag, shaking it as he spoke with a delighted expression.

Nine-Tails squatted on the rock.

Waiting for Naruto to come home for dinner.

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