Uzumaki Naruto

"Get out, get out! Stop being an eyesore!"

Just as Naruto stood on tiptoe to peek into the sweet shop, he was violently shoved aside by a strong force! He rolled three times with a "grumble" before stopping.

"Owie~~~ What are you doing!"

Naruto patted the dust off himself and looked up, still with a hint of his baby voice in his throat.

The shopkeeper's gaunt face was sharp as an awl, looking like a complete sucker!

Seeing the crowd slowly gathering, Naruto's small eyes darted around.

"Three years old, the prime age for faking an injury! Boss, don't expect me to move for less than a hundred thousand!" He sprawled out like a starfish, adopting the fierce bandit look of "I'm welding myself here today."

"Jinx! I'm not selling anything to you disaster!" The shopkeeper roared, hopping mad, his finger trembling so much it almost poked Naruto's forehead.

"Huh?" Naruto's small brows furrowed.

He tried hard to recall his 'great achievements' over the past three years since transmigrating—he hadn't even left the house a few times!

Jinx? Referring to him? A three-year-old baby?

Impossible, absolutely impossible.

"Open your eyes and look clearly!"

He said with a surprisingly firm baby voice, his small chest heaving. "Who am I? Look closely! Have we met before? And 'jinx'?!"

The surrounding murmurs were like a lake disturbed by pebbles, suddenly rippling.

"It's him. The Nine-Tails!"

"Quick! Don't let him get close!"

"Bad luck. How is he still alive?"

Naruto's ears buzzed.

The onlookers' eyes were cold, hateful... even harboring murderous intent?!

One name, and everyone wanted to beat him down?

"Hear that?! Get out! Or else..." The shopkeeper's voice rose. "Hmph!"

That cold snort sent a chill to the bone.

Heh.

An absurd and cold anger surged, and Naruto almost couldn't suppress his adult-like restraint and laugh out loud.

Just because he's an orphan? Alone?

Fine! Really fine!

He meticulously memorized the shopkeeper's face and the shop's name, recording it in his "Little Grudge Notebook"!

The next second, he suddenly lowered his head, got up without a word, and pushed through the crowd, disappearing.

Naruto kicked pebbles as he walked back, his narcissistic little calculations completely shattered.

He had always felt a prickling sensation on his back, thinking it was because he was too dazzlingly handsome.

Now the mystery was solved: it was the focal point of the entire village's resentment!

The malice was so intense that the "misunderstanding theory" was pure self-deception.

What harm could a little baby like him do?

The burden was too great; it was definitely an "inheritance" left by the previous generation—those divine parents he'd never met.

Naruto sighed deeply.

Parents: Son, your newbie gift package is the "Village's Hatred Halo," surprised?

Naruto: I...

As for his parents' 'great achievements'?

As a transmigrator at the fertilized egg stage, he was truly powerless to help.

As for his infancy?

His brain development was probably equivalent to a goldfish's memory, plus some.

He vaguely remembered that on the day he was born, someone like a god of death had held him in his hand like a potato.

That scene was a horror movie-level opening attack, scaring him so much he blacked out.

When he woke up again, he was an "Honorary Member of the Konoha Orphanage."

Hiss... Too much information!

Naruto gasped for air.

"So, the reason I'm alive and kicking in this hellish instance today is thanks to the villagers showing mercy and not killing me back then?"

Tears welled up, everyone. This starting setup was definitely hell mode!

"Damn! Who wrote this transmigration script? I want a refund for this terrible review!"

Naruto kicked a pebble, a sharp pain in his chest as he remembered his unfinished scientific research (scratch that) grueling life. How could he, just attending a meeting with his mentor, be sent to another world for re-employment by Truck-kun on a Tokyo street?

As for this world?

He was completely clueless.

He only vaguely recalled a classmate mentioning it – a super popular, mundane manga? What was it called…

Legend of the Ninja?

Ninja Mobilization?

Konoha's Good Voice?

The characters? He only remembered two odd names: Ga-something? Naruto?

"Wait… Naruto. Naruto? Me?!"

Naruto skidded to a halt, his CPU almost burning out. "With this naming logic, am I the protagonist? But the protagonist would be this miserable? Hunted by the entire village?"

"Could it be… I'm the final villain, the big boss?!"

Putting himself in his own "hellish start."

The script suddenly made perfect sense.

His blood pressure immediately spiked. "Damn it! Is it too late to restart now?"

Ultimately, his survival instinct trumped everything. "Whatever! Even if I'm the villain, I'll live to the finale before getting the boot!"

He took a deep breath, feeling immense pressure.

'System?' he thought silently.

A semi-transparent panel instantly popped up before his eyes, visible only to him – a golden finger that even the volatile resident within him (Nine-Tails) couldn't sense.

[Initial Mission: Refine Chakra]

[Mission Description: Possessing Chakra = Novice Village Pass.]

Chakra… Chakra?!

"TMD, what the hell is Chakra? Stupid game! Ruining my youth!"

"Grumble~~~"

His stomach protested at the opportune moment.

He reached into his pocket – a few coins lay scattered: a total of 16 taels!

"Huh?"

Naruto was stunned. "Where's the 'huge sum' from the beginning of the month? Was it swallowed?"

Forget relying on this little money to buy food? How naive!

"Let's go to the docks to get some— cough! Into the mountains!"

Naruto decisively changed his strategic objective – the large forest behind the mountain, a natural all-you-can-eat buffet!

He turned and dashed towards home.

A few minutes later, carrying a bulging small bundle (filled with all his valuables and emergency rations), he nimbly locked the door!

Strategic relocation!

He couldn't stay here for now. When he was naive and sweet before, he didn't know any better, but now?

The list of enemies ≈ half the village, no, the entire village!

What if some overly righteous villager wanted to send him off early? Where would he go to cry?

Gamble on his luck?

Naruto shook his head like a rattle drum. "Life is more secure when it's in my own hands!"

He found a hidden, dry spot in the back mountain and painstakingly built a simple "safe house."

This would be his temporary residence for the next few days.

"Shelter, food, clothing, transportation – 'shelter' is taken care of, now for 'food'!"

He immediately entered jungle survival mode.

Picking mushrooms? He knew a little, but not much!

The brightly colored ones, like flowers? Absolutely Say No!

He only picked the ones that looked honest and harmless, the kind whose ancestors for three generations must have been non-toxic.

Better safe than sorry!

Finally, he picked up the second-hand fishing rod he had spent a fortune on and ambled to the riverside.

He bought it purely to pass the time, who would have thought it would be so useful for making a living so soon?

Alas, after his identity was exposed, even a fishing rod would probably become a 'contraband item'.

An hour later—

"The beginner's halo really didn't lie to me!"

Naruto beamed as he looked at his spoils: five plump river fish.

As the last sliver of daylight was swallowed by the shadows of the trees, he nimbly lit a campfire.

"Master Naruto's Little Kitchen is now open!"

Half an hour later

After a busy half-day, Master Naruto finally held up a piece of fish, blackened on the outside and, well, cooked on the inside, and solemnly declared:

"Hmm, edible! For survival in the wilderness, what more could you ask for?"

"Sniff, sniff, sniff."

A strange snuffling sound suddenly broke the silence!

"Holy crap! What kind of monster is this?!"

Naruto was so startled he jumped, almost shoving the grilled fish into the fire—a wrinkled old face suddenly popped out from the grass beside him!

"Don't panic, don't panic~" The face broke into a smile, deepening its wrinkles. "This old man is just... an ordinary traveler who got lost while stargazing!"

New author, new book, please collect, recommend, and invest.