Impersonating the Hokage

Naruto emerged from his hiding spot and checked the sky.

It was just before dawn, around seven or eight o'clock.

He started walking towards home. After a few steps, he felt he was moving too slowly, so he leaped onto a tree. With a few more jumps, he vanished in a flash.

Meanwhile.

The Anbu responsible for protecting Naruto were dumbfounded.

"Sparrow, did you see that?"

"I saw it."

"That was..."

"It wasn't the Third Hokage. Although it was incredibly realistic, the Third Hokage was in his office when I handed over my shift this morning."

"So, what do we do?"

"You continue to track and protect him. I'll go inform the Hokage."

"Understood."

Whoosh~

Whoosh~

The two figures quickly separated and disappeared again after a few leaps.

Location: Hokage Building, Hokage's Office.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was swamped with a mountain of work. The war with the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning generated a massive amount of intelligence and administrative tasks daily, leaving him no time to spare.

Now, he received news that was both unexpected and somewhat delightful.

"Is the information confirmed? Naruto transformed into my likeness?"

"Confirmed."

Hiruzen glanced at Sparrow again, recalling that he was a veteran Anbu, someone he could trust.

Hiruzen found it strange. Naruto had only started learning to refine Chakra three days ago. Had he already mastered the Transformation Jutsu so quickly?

This Transformation Jutsu had almost fooled even the Anbu.

A genius?

Highly probable, considering he was Minato's child.

Hiruzen took a drag from his pipe and said, "It seems I'll have to go take a look myself."

On the other side, Naruto's experience was astonishing.

"Good morning, Hokage-sama."

"Good mor— cough —morning." Naruto tried his best to deepen his voice.

"Good morning, Third Hokage."

"Mmm, good morning."

Ever since entering the village, the greetings hadn't stopped.

Everyone he met, every single one, offered a genuine smile and greeted him warmly.

The respect in their eyes was almost overflowing.

The children even affectionately called him Hokage Grandpa, chasing him for a bit before returning home at their parents' call, with instructions not to disturb the Hokage's affairs.

This feeling was entirely novel. This feeling of being respected, of being respected and loved by so many, was something Naruto, who had lived like a beast of burden in his past life, had never experienced.

This level of popularity, even the world's richest person couldn't compare, right?

However, these titles.

Hokage-sama, Hokage Grandpa, Third Hokage.

Naruto looked up and noticed the faces carved into the Hokage Rock. He froze.

Wait, wasn't that the lonely old man? How could it be the Third Hokage?

He looked again at the bare stone statue. This wasn't right. The statue looked quite different from the actual person. If he hadn't met the old man last night, he would never have connected the statue to him.

Still, Naruto realized he had caused trouble.

He was a little annoyed.

He casually transformed into someone, and it turned out to be this old man, the Third Hokage.

Was this Hokage that bored?

Accompanying him for dinner late at night?

Naruto no longer dared to wander around brazenly. He slipped into an empty alley and dispelled the Transformation Jutsu.

"A bit reckless. I hope no one noticed."

Just then, a prompt popped up.

[You have completed a Prank Mission, receiving a score of 9.5 for this prank.]

[You have obtained: 1 Skill Point, Prank Novice Badge]

[You have unlocked: Prank Star Quest Chain. Please check the quest interface for details.]

"What's this? Prank?"

Naruto glanced at the quest interface.

So this was a side quest. According to the game's design, the game had a high degree of freedom. Aside from the main quests that had to be completed, players could freely explore and trigger numerous side quests.

This was one of them.

Naruto looked at the reward, 1 Skill Point?

No, it was 1 Skill Point? An unrestricted 1 Skill Point.

It could directly change 90 (1/10) to 91 (1/10), not 90 (1/10) to 90 (2/10).

He looked again at the Prank Novice Badge.

[Prank Novice:

+0.2% Chakra Recovery

Evaluation: 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 was 46% before, an increase of 9.2%, the effect was obvious.

If the Novice badge was this powerful, wouldn't the later badges be even more amazing?

"I love pranks!"

Naruto exclaimed from the bottom of his heart.

Closing the interface, he scanned his surroundings. It seemed no one had noticed him.

Naruto finally breathed a sigh of relief and then leaped up.

Swish, swish~

With a few jumps, he was back at his doorstep.

Taking out his key from his Inventory, he just entered when he saw a figure. He thought his house had been burgled, but upon seeing the person clearly, it was the Third Hokage.

"Hokage Grandpa."

This was the Hokage, the biggest BOSS in the village, so he called him Grandpa with genuine sincerity.

If this Hokage were on Earth, would he be like a president of a country? Or what?

In short, if he had this old man watching his back, would he still be afraid of being killed by people in the village?

"Little Naruto, you're back." Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled kindly.

He could tell Naruto already knew his identity.

He reached out, smiling, and patted Naruto's head, asking, "How did I hear that someone in the village was impersonating me?"

"Fake news, it's all fake news."

Seeing Naruto say that, Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't press the matter. He cautioned, "Naruto, I know you didn't do it on purpose, but don't transform into someone else in the village, or you'll be mistaken for a spy and arrested."

"Okay, I understand."

Thinking about his recent experience, Naruto couldn't help but ask, "Hokage Grandpa, how did you become Hokage?"

The Third Hokage reminisced, "I was designated by the Second Hokage. I was prepared to sacrifice myself for my comrades, but I never expected the Second Hokage to designate me as Hokage..."

Naruto wasn't interested in these secrets. He just wanted to know how to become Hokage.

He really liked the feeling he had on the way just now. As he walked, everyone respected him, and everyone greeted him enthusiastically. Even children respectfully called him 'Hokage Grandpa'.

That feeling was quite exhilarating.

But that was for the Third Hokage.

As for him, Naruto, once he went out, everyone he met either ignored him at best or glared at him with hostility at worst.

Let alone greetings, it would be good if they didn't throw rotten eggs at him.

What if he didn't go out?

No.

Why couldn't he, Uzumaki Naruto, go out?

Would everything change if he became Hokage?

"Hokage Grandpa, how can I become Hokage?"

What effort was needed to become Hokage?

Could he become Hokage just by becoming the strongest person?

Naruto was curious.

Hearing this, the Third Hokage felt deeply gratified and satisfied.

This was guiding Naruto onto the right path; his teachings that night had indeed been correct.

Sensing Naruto's burning Will of Fire, Hiruzen Sarutobi taught him again, "A Hokage needs immense strength, superhuman patience and perseverance, and most importantly, the recognition of comrades and everyone else.

Immense strength requires your continuous growth and learning, improving your abilities every day.

Superhuman patience and perseverance requires..."

At this moment, Naruto felt an exceptional headache coming on.

It seemed like it would be fine even if he didn't go out.

What about the villagers' judgmental stares?

He could just avoid them.

He wasn't fragile; he had an incredibly thick skin. If they looked, they looked. He couldn't control their gaze, but he could manage his own mindset.

At worst, he could fight.

That would be great, he had just learned new Ninjutsu!

Seeking collections and recommendation tickets for the new book.