Framed

Although Zhang Miao kept muttering things like "Kakashi, this unfilial brat" in his heart, it was just a way to vent his dissatisfaction with the lottery results.

Because he knew very well that the lottery results had little to do with Kakashi; it was simply his own bad luck.

Zhang Miao had been sticking close to Kakashi these past few days, and after all that effort, he had only managed to collect twenty of Kakashi's Ninja Fragments. It had taken a lot of scheming.

He had originally planned to save up four hundred, then use a super summon to get his own ninja and boost his strength, but now he couldn't resist and used half of them for the lottery.

Using half for the lottery was one thing, but the fact that less than half of what he got was actually valuable—that was what Zhang Miao couldn't accept.

In Zhang Miao's view, the Kakashi Ninja Fragments he used for the lottery were five-star, but among the items he drew this time, only four were seven-star Ninja Fragments; the rest were all losses.

Especially those two copies of Icha Icha Paradise and that one hundred Land of Fire Currency bill—they were a complete loss!

What could one hundred Land of Fire Currency buy in Konoha? Just one large bowl of Char Siu Rib Ramen!

And he didn't even like reading Icha Icha Paradise—if that wasn't a loss, what was?

At this point, Zhang Miao was almost grateful for the system's once-a-day lottery limit, because if it weren't for that restriction, his stubbornness would have made him use the remaining ten Kakashi Ninja Fragments for the lottery too!

"Gambling mentality is a no-go!" Thinking this, Zhang Miao couldn't help but sigh again. "Sigh, from now on, I'll just stick to saving Ninja Fragments to recruit ninjas. That's the real way to go!"

After making that decision, Zhang Miao suddenly felt much lighter. He threw off the covers, lifted his head to glance at Naruto sleeping soundly nearby, and then grinned.

"Heh! This guy sure sleeps well. Oh well, it's getting late. I'll sleep too!"

With that, Zhang Miao yawned, then crawled back under the covers and went to sleep.

The next day, Zhang Miao was woken up by the sound of a baby crying. He looked up and saw that the sun outside the window was already high in the sky.

"It's already this late!"

Zhang Miao was the type who found it hard to fall back asleep once he woke up, so he simply pulled back the covers, jumped out of bed, ran over to Naruto's crib, picked him up, and while soothing him, shouted toward the door.

"Uncle Cat Face at the door, come in and feed the baby!"

As soon as Zhang Miao's words fell, the door to the room slammed open with a bang, and a burly Anbu with a Cat Face Mask walked in.

At that moment, if he weren't wearing his mask, Zhang Miao would definitely have seen his twitching, darkened face!

What did he mean by "Uncle Cat Face, come in and feed the baby"? Did he have that kind of function?

But after seeing the wailing Naruto in Zhang Miao's arms, he still nodded to another Anbu at the door.

"Nightingale, go heat up two bottles of milk!"

"Yes, senior!"

Nightingale was the female Anbu who had recruited Zhang Miao and Naruto. When she heard the Cat Face Anbu's order, she immediately turned to head to the kitchen to heat up the milk powder.

Seeing this, Zhang Miao quickly called out to her.

"Hey... Sister Nightingale, just one bottle is enough!"

Hearing Zhang Miao's words, Nightingale stopped in her tracks and looked back at the Cat Face Anbu, who nodded.

"Then just one bottle!"

"Yes!"

Nightingale acknowledged and turned to head to the kitchen to heat up the milk. Watching her retreating figure, the Cat Face Anbu couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

"Sigh..."

The Cat Face Anbu felt pretty bitter inside. Here he was, an elite Anbu, assigned to take care of children—what kind of nonsense was this?

But as a direct subordinate of the Hokage, the Hokage's orders were absolute, so he could only carry out the childcare task seriously while silently praying in his heart.

"Let this month end quickly. Next month, someone else can take over. Compared to babysitting, I'd rather go to the border and fight those Iwagakure bastards!"

At this time, the Third Shinobi World War had just ended. The Land of Wind was too exhausted to fight, the Land of Lightning was busy hoarding jutsu for an arms race, and the Fourth Mizukage of the Land of Water was under Madara Uchiha's control, closing off the country and turning Kirigakure into the "Bloody Mist Village."

The only one left was Iwagakure in the Land of Earth. In the Battle of Kannabi Bridge during the Third Shinobi World War, Minato Namikaze had single-handedly killed countless Iwa-nin, destroyed the Land of Earth's vital transport bridge—Kannabi Bridge—and forcibly carved out the name "Yellow Flash."

If Minato Namikaze were still alive, Iwagakure wouldn't dare pull these little tricks. But after news of Minato's death spread, Iwagakure naturally grew restless. Though they didn't dare launch a full-scale invasion, their probing actions were frequent and annoying as hell.

Now, most of Konoha's Combat Power had been sent to the border for defense, just to deal with these opportunists. The Cat Face Ninja felt that if it weren't for the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi's orders, he should have been on border duty by now.

"I wonder how my comrades are doing."

Thinking about his comrades who might be in the middle of battle, the Cat Face Ninja felt a pang of worry.

Just then, footsteps sounded from the doorway. He immediately pulled himself together and looked out warily, only to see a white-haired youth slowly approaching. Who else could it be but Kakashi?

Since they were both direct subordinates of the Hokage's Anbu, the Cat Face Ninja recognized Kakashi. Seeing it was him, his guard dropped, and he turned to shout at Zhang Miao.

"Red-Haired Brat, Kakashi is here to pick you up!"

Kakashi is here?

Hearing the Cat Face Anbu's words, Zhang Miao immediately carried Naruto to the door and looked outside. When he spotted Kakashi's figure, joy surged in his heart, as if he saw Ninja Fragments glowing white flying toward him.

But the Cat Face Ninja's "Red-Haired Brat" remark annoyed Zhang Miao. Just then, Nightingale came out holding a full Milk Bottle. Zhang Miao handed Naruto over to her, and as she turned around, he reached out with lightning speed and gave her firm backside a heavy squeeze!

"Ah!"

Even though Nightingale was an Anbu, that didn't change the fact that she was a woman. After the sudden attack on her sensitive area, she let out a startled cry and spun around.

And then, she saw her colleague wearing the Cat Face Mask behind her, along with a red-haired boy staring at the Cat Face Anbu with a look of utter disdain.

Seeing this scene, Nightingale seemed to understand, and she instantly grew furious.

"Takumu-senpai, you... shameless!"

With that, Nightingale swung her palm and landed a sharp slap, sending the cat-masked Anbu's mask flying off.

Takumu was completely stunned by the slap.

Though he'd long harbored thoughts about Nightingale's shapely rear, he'd never had the guts to act on them. He never expected Zhang Miao to brazenly make a move right under his nose, and even less that he'd end up taking the blame for it.

This was utterly unjust!

Thinking this, he hurriedly tried to explain to Nightingale.

"Listen, Nightingale, it was actually this red-haired brat..."

Takumu wanted to say that Zhang Miao had been the one to act, but before he could finish, Nightingale cut him off furiously.

"Hmph, Takumu-senpai, are you trying to frame Ryunosuke? Ryunosuke is still a baby less than a year old! I misjudged you, Takumu-senpai. I'm going to report this to Lord Hokage!"

With that, she shoved the Milk Bottle—Naruto—into his arms, then vanished from the spot with a shun.

"Nightingale, you..."

Staring at the spot where Nightingale had disappeared, Takumu's unfinished words caught in his throat. When he looked toward the doorway, he saw the culprit of this whole incident already climbing onto Kakashi's back, winking at him with a teasing grin and waving a hand.

That expression clearly said—

Hey! It was me!

At the same time, the Naruto suckling in his arms seemed to choke on some milk and burst into loud wails. The noise was so piercing that even Kakashi, already dozens of steps away with Zhang Miao on his back, raised an eyebrow.

What a set of lungs!

Kakashi hated crying children the most, so he quickened his pace to get away.

Meanwhile, Takumu stood there, holding the bawling Naruto, watching Zhang Miao's retreating figure, and thinking of Nightingale rushing off to the Hokage's Office to tattle. He felt like crying but had no tears.

"I hate kids! I hate them the most!"