Naruto woke from the hammock and saw that it was already late. He waved at the four little green shoots he had just taken in.
"Come on, I'll treat you to ramen."
"Okay!"
Another chorus of cheers rang out as the four little green shoots followed behind him, their faces full of excitement as they headed for the nearby Ichiraku Ramen.
Lifting the noren curtain, Teuchi Ichiraku was just about to say welcome when he looked up and saw Naruto entering with four filthy children.
Teuchi Ichiraku froze for a moment, then his expression returned to normal as he asked warmly.
"What would you customers like to eat?"
Naruto did not actually like ramen that much. After eating it a few times, he had started to get tired of it. Fortunately, he was not a picky eater, and besides, he wanted to get close to Teuchi Ichiraku.
Maybe this ramen-selling uncle's real surname was Otsutsuki. After all, any ninja who had never eaten Ichiraku Ramen was bound to die.
Because of that, Naruto approached ramen with the mindset of a pilgrim every time he ate it.
The four children seemed somewhat restrained. They stood behind Naruto without daring to speak, only sneaking timid glances at the price list posted on the wall.
Although Konoha's orphans generally received subsidies, those subsidies came in different tiers. In any case, the four before him were not doing well. They were probably just barely able to fill their stomachs.
Even Ichiraku Ramen was an unattainable delicacy to them.
"I'll have tonkotsu ramen," Naruto said. "Give my four friends the same first."
"Sure, please wait a moment." Teuchi Ichiraku smiled and headed into the kitchen.
Under the lights, the four sat waiting uneasily while Naruto yawned and chatted with them out of boredom.
"Have you eaten tonkotsu ramen before?"
"No." The four shook their heads in unison.
"Then come eat it every day from now on. Stop when you eat so much you want to throw up," Naruto said casually, as though he were saying something insignificant.
He did not even know their names. Naruto had not asked, and they had not told him.
"How could that be possible?"
It really was possible, because what Naruto lacked least right now was money, and he had nowhere to spend it. He did not have the habit of living extravagantly by himself, nor did he have any reason to spend money recklessly.
"You'll find out later," Naruto said. "Anyway, meet me at the usual place again tomorrow. There'll be ice cream and ramen tomorrow too."
"Got it, boss!" The four brightened and answered together.
He was truly bored, which was why he did things that seemed so boring. But before he finished those twenty D-rank Missions, he might not even be able to take the Chunin Exams.
If that happened, Naruto could only waste the boring months of August and September alone.
Watching the four eat with delight, Naruto yawned again, with no appetite at all. When would these boring days end? Let the Chunin Exams come sooner.
Late at night, Naruto parted ways with the four.
This scene happened to be seen by Ino, who had just finished training. She found it strange that Naruto was hanging around with those children.
But seeing them separate, Ino did not think too deeply about it and headed toward the Yamanaka Flower Shop.
She did not know how to face Naruto now, nor did she want to make their relationship more complicated, so she thought it would be best to calm down for a while.
But before she had gone far, she brushed past a strange white-haired old man. He was tall and broad, wearing a fishnet undershirt beneath a training outfit, covered by a red coat, with a forehead protector bearing the character for "oil" on his head.
When had someone like that come to the village? Ino turned back and stared at him for a long time, but ultimately did not follow him.
Perhaps it had something to do with Konoha holding the Chunin Exams soon. Quite a few people had come from other villages, so it made sense when she thought about it that way.
Naruto also spotted Jiraiya from afar, but he did not approach him. Instead, he headed straight home in his own direction.
If he got tangled up with Jiraiya, life would definitely become troublesome afterward.
He had no desire at all to inherit the title of Child of Prophecy. To be honest, Naruto really had no way of believing what a toad said.
Now he was also the God of Shinobi. Though this thing was merely a puppet, it had the advantage of broadcasting the gospel. It might not be of much use, but spreading dark jokes through Konoha and disrupting public order was not a bad thing either.
Unfortunately, Naruto had to make sure he was not caught. No one besides him could know that he was that God of Shinobi who loved to complain.
After returning home, Naruto went to sleep as usual.
At midnight, his body clock made Naruto abruptly open his eyes. He brought up the panel and updated a God of Shinobi post right on time.
"August 17: The Will of Fire is trash in the ninja world."
After sending it, Naruto dropped back into bed and went to sleep.
The next day, Konoha collectively held a lecture promoting the Will of Fire. Ninjas handing out Will of Fire pamphlets could be seen everywhere in the streets, and many slogans had been posted on the walls.
Kakashi even told Naruto to remember to attend the Ninja Academy's Will of Fire refresher course, and to take the classes for Sasuke and Sakura from Team Seven while he was at it.
"That won't work, I still have D-rank Missions to do," Naruto complained.
"If you hadn't mentioned it, I would've nearly forgotten." Kakashi crouched on Naruto's windowsill and scratched his head. "How about this? Use the Transformation Jutsu to attend class in place of Sasuke and Sakura, and the D-rank Missions will be waived."
"Deal."
"Oh, right." Just before leaving, Kakashi suddenly remembered something. "Tomorrow, the three of you should go to the Ninja Academy together to submit your Chunin Exams applications. I've already put all your names down."
"Got it."
After giving those instructions, Kakashi vanished directly.
"Ah." Naruto sluggishly got up and washed up, then suddenly remembered his agreement with the four children, so he skipped class outright.
At the entrance of the convenience store, the five of them squatted in a row with Naruto at the lead, holding Ice Cream Assassins and licking them in sync while the blazing sun hung several meters away.
"So, boss, you don't have to pick up trash today?" one of the boys asked, sounding a little disappointed.
"Yeah, not for now. I have other things to do." Naruto swallowed the ice cream in one bite, casually tossed aside the stick, and stood up.
"Wait around here for me. Around noon, we'll go eat barbecue together."
"Um." The only girl among the four raised her head and looked at Naruto through her messy, thick long hair.
"Why are you so nice to us?"
"There's no reason." Naruto looked back at the four of them. "If I don't hang out with you guys, I don't know what else I'd do, so."
"Anyway, just wait here obediently."
Leaving those words behind, Naruto walked away without looking back.
Once his figure disappeared into the distance, one of the four boys, a somewhat thinner one, suddenly spoke. Yet his voice had changed into that of a drake, clearly the voice of a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old in puberty.
"Tayuya, isn't this Nine-Tails Jinchuriki way too easy to fool?"
The girl called Tayuya glared at the speaker and said.
"Shut up. Say that again, and I'll kill you!"
Note: Dear readers, the next two chapters involve the little horn plot. If you don't like it, you can skim through them quickly. Skipping them will affect a tiny bit of the plot; they are groundwork for later chapters.
You can also skip them directly.
For reference: Chapter 36, One-Tail
Before you continue