Naruto stepped out of his hiding place and looked at the sky.
Dawn had just broken. It was probably seven or eight in the morning.
He headed toward home. After a few steps, he felt he was moving too slowly, so he leaped into a tree. After several consecutive jumps, he vanished in a flicker.
Meanwhile.
The Anbu responsible for protecting Naruto were dumbfounded.
"Sparrow, did you see that?"
"I did."
"That was..."
"Not the Third Hokage. Although it was almost impossible to tell apart, when I handed over my shift this morning, the Third Hokage was still in his office."
"Then what do we do?"
"You continue following and protecting him. I'll inform Lord Hokage."
"Yes."
Swoosh—
Swoosh—
The two shadows swiftly split apart and disappeared again after several leaps.
Location: Hokage Building, Hokage's Office.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was buried under a mountain of work. The wars with the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning generated huge amounts of intelligence and affairs every day, leaving him too busy to cope.
Now, he had received news that both surprised and delighted him.
"Is this information confirmed? Naruto transformed into my appearance?"
"Confirmed."
Looking at Sparrow once more, Hiruzen Sarutobi remembered that he was a veteran Anbu, someone he trusted.
Hiruzen Sarutobi found it strange. Naruto had only started learning to refine Chakra three days ago. Had he already learned the Transformation Jutsu so quickly?
That Transformation Jutsu had nearly fooled even the Anbu.
A genius?
Very likely. After all, he was Minato's child.
Hiruzen Sarutobi took a puff from his pipe and said, "It seems I'll have to make a trip there myself."
On the other side, Naruto's experience was rather astonishing.
"Good morning, Lord Hokage."
"Good morning. Ahem, good morning." Naruto tried his best to make his voice sound deeper.
"Good morning, Third Hokage."
"Mhm, good morning."
Ever since entering the village, greetings like these had never stopped.
Everyone he met—every single person—wore a heartfelt smile and greeted him warmly.
The respect in their eyes was practically overflowing.
The children even affectionately called him Hokage Grandpa. They chased after him for a lap before returning home at their parents' calls, being told not to disturb Lord Hokage's work.
It was an incredibly novel feeling. Naruto, who had been a wage slave in his previous life, had never experienced the feeling of being respected, admired, and loved by so many people.
Even the world's richest man probably wasn't this popular, right?
But those forms of address...
Lord Hokage, Hokage Grandpa, Third Hokage.
Naruto looked up and noticed the faces on Hokage Rock. He froze.
Wait, wasn't that a lonely old man? How was he the Third Hokage?
Looking again at the bald stone statue, something was off. There was quite a gap between the statue and the real person. If he had not seen the real man, he would never have dared connect that statue with the old man from last night.
However, Naruto also realized that he had caused trouble.
He was a little annoyed.
Out of all the people he could have transformed into, that little old man had actually been the Third Hokage.
Was this Hokage that bored?
Why had he accompanied him for dinner in the middle of the night?
Naruto did not dare stroll around so openly anymore. He slipped into an empty alley and released the Transformation Jutsu.
"That was a little reckless. Hopefully no one noticed."
At that moment, a notification popped up.
[You have completed a Prank Mission. This prank received a score of 9.5.] [You have obtained: 1 Skill Point, Prank Novice Badge] [You have unlocked: Prank Star Quest Chain. Please check the mission interface for details.]
"What was this? A prank?"
Naruto took a look at the mission interface.
So it was a side quest. According to the game's design, the game had a high degree of freedom. Aside from the mandatory main quests, players could explore freely and trigger many side quests.
This was one of them.
Naruto looked at the reward. One Skill Point?
No, this was one Skill Point? An unrestricted Skill Point.
It could directly turn 90(1/10)→91(1/10), rather than 90(1/10)→90(2/10).
Then he looked at the Prank Novice Badge.
[Prank Novice: +0.2% Chakra Recovery Description: Pranks bring joy, and joy increases recovery.]
Naruto tried equipping it to see the effect.
(Recovery 1.2%(Young)×(1+200%+2000%)×2= 55.2%/hour)
It had previously been 46%. An increase of 9.2% was a noticeable effect.
The Novice badge was already this powerful. Wouldn't the later badges be absurdly strong?
"I like pranks!"
Naruto exclaimed from the bottom of his heart.
After closing the interface, he swept his gaze around. It seemed no one had noticed him.
Only then did Naruto breathe a sigh of relief before jumping up.
Swoosh, swoosh—
After several leaps, he returned to his front door.
He took the key from his backpack. As soon as he entered, Naruto saw a figure and thought a thief had broken in. When he saw who it was, he realized it was the Third Hokage.
"Hokage Grandpa."
This man was the Hokage, the biggest boss in the village, so Naruto called him Grandpa with genuine feeling.
If this Hokage were on Earth, would he be the president of a country? Or something else?
In any case, if this old man had his back, would he still need to fear being killed by the people in the village?
"Little Naruto, you're back." Hiruzen Sarutobi revealed a kind smile.
He could tell that Naruto already knew his identity.
He reached out, smiling as he patted Naruto's head, and asked, "Why did I hear that someone in the village was impersonating me?"
"Fake news. It was all fake news."
Seeing Naruto say that, Hiruzen Sarutobi did not press the matter. He cautioned, "Naruto, I know you did not do it on purpose, but don't transform into other people in the village. Otherwise, you might be arrested as a spy."
"Mhm, I understand."
Thinking of what he had just experienced, Naruto could not help asking, "Hokage Grandpa, how did you become Hokage?"
The Third Hokage became nostalgic. "As for me, the Second Hokage appointed me. I had been prepared to sacrifice myself for my comrades, but I never expected the Second Hokage to appoint me as Hokage..."
Naruto was not interested in such secrets. He only wanted to know how to become Hokage.
Naruto had really liked the feeling of that walk just now. Everyone had respected him along the way, and each person he met had greeted him enthusiastically. Even children respectfully called him Hokage Grandpa.
That feeling was kind of nice.
But that had been the Third Hokage.
What about him, Naruto? Whenever he went outside, everyone he encountered either ignored him, if they were nicer, or glared at him with hatred, if they were worse.
Forget greetings. It would be good enough if they did not throw rotten eggs at him.
What if he did not go outside?
No.
Why should he, Uzumaki Naruto, be unable to go outside?
If he became Hokage, would everything change?
"Hokage Grandpa, how can I become Hokage?"
What effort did becoming Hokage require?
Did becoming the strongest person mean he could become Hokage?
Naruto was curious.
Hearing this, the Third Hokage felt deeply gratified and immensely satisfied.
He had guided Naruto onto the right path. His teaching that night had indeed not been wrong.
Feeling Naruto's Will of Fire burn, Hiruzen Sarutobi taught him once more, "A Hokage needs great strength, extraordinary patience and perseverance, and most importantly, the recognition of comrades and everyone else.
Great strength requires you to keep growing and learning, improving your abilities every day.
Extraordinary patience and perseverance require..."
At that moment, Naruto felt an especially intense headache.
Maybe staying indoors was not such a problem after all.
So what if the villagers gave him the Byakugan?
He just had to avoid them.
He was not thin-skinned, and his skin was incredibly thick anyway. They could stare all they wanted. He could not control other people's gazes, but he could manage his own mindset.
At worst, he would fight them.
That would be perfect. He had only just learned ninjutsu!
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