Expressions Gradually Turning Ferocious

"Ha ha ha..."

Back in the Learning Space, Naruto laughed so hard he rolled around on the floor.

Thinking back on every little moment he had spent with Big Fox that night, Naruto found himself unable to stop laughing.

It was too funny. He had never expected Big Fox to be such a tsundere.

He could not help thinking of the classic tsundere characters from the works he had read recently, each of them saying no with their mouths while their bodies were incomparably honest.

And Big Fox even had that "true fragrance" trait.

It was remarkably similar to the person named Wang Jingze from a variety show called X-Change that Naruto had watched not long ago.

That gave Naruto plenty of confidence.

Based on experience, when dealing with a tsundere character like this, he first had to use his sincerity to break through the other party's aloof side. Then, as long as he did not touch their Bottom Line, he could do whatever he wanted.

And clearly, his method today had been very effective.

All he needed to do next was keep carrying out this method until he succeeded!

After laughing enough, Naruto quickly composed himself and began studying.

He had already wasted a great deal of time tonight, so he could not keep squandering it.

Although winning over Big Fox and making it stop causing trouble in the future was important, learning more knowledge and increasing his wisdom was equally important. He could not neglect either.

Soon, the night passed.

When dawn came, Naruto woke up on time.

After washing up and eating breakfast, Naruto did not, for once, stay at home and enter the Learning Space under the pretense of spacing out. Instead, he picked up the prepared lunchbox and the book Shuriken Throwing from Beginner to Mastery and left early.

More than a year had passed since the last time he had gone out during the day.

Yet the people of Konoha were still as "warm" toward Naruto as ever, their gazes along the way filled with coldness, disgust, hatred, and killing intent.

Facing those looks, Naruto felt a tightness in his chest.

But he said nothing. Those people who took out their anger on him did not care what he thought, nor did they need his explanation. They merely needed a punching bag to vent their frustrations.

Moving quickly all the way, Naruto crossed half the village and arrived at a quiet, deserted forest at its edge.

In the end, Naruto stopped in an open area near a stream.

He then set the lunchbox he had brought aside.

After that, Naruto first followed the methods he had learned yesterday and performed a series of physical strengthening exercises in the broad clearing until he was completely exhausted.

Then, while resting against a large tree, Naruto took out Shuriken Throwing from Beginner to Mastery and began reading it.

The book described how to throw common ninja tools such as Kunai, Shuriken, and Senbon, focusing on how to exert force with each tool to achieve maximum power.

It explained how to calculate where one's Kunai would land in order to hit an enemy more accurately.

It also explained how to respond to ninja tools thrown by enemies.

Either by blocking them or dodging them.

After reading for a while, Naruto recovered his strength and resumed his physical strengthening exercises.

Whenever he got tired, he continued reading.

He repeated this cycle over and over. Apart from taking a brief rest while eating his lunch around noon, he never stopped.

By the time the sky gradually darkened, Naruto had finally finished reading Shuriken Throwing from Beginner to Mastery from beginning to end.

He used pebbles as Shuriken to briefly get a feel for them. Once his energy had been completely drained and his body was covered in sweat and dust from training, Naruto did not remain there any longer and chose to go home.

This was the liveliest time of day in Konoha.

People who had worked all day had finished for the day and begun living their own lives.

As expected, Naruto once again received a great many disgusted stares.

But this time, perhaps because of the morning's preparation, they could no longer stir even the slightest ripple in Naruto's heart.

When one no longer held hope, one naturally would not feel disappointment.

After returning home, Naruto dragged his exhausted body into the bath and changed into clean clothes. Then, he had no inclination to cook.

He casually reheated the food left over from that morning and made do with it for dinner.

Not long after eating, before his usual bedtime had even arrived, Naruto was already lying in bed and had fallen asleep.

After arriving in the Learning Space, Naruto's mind, exhausted from a full day of physical training, became lively again after being freed from the influence of his body.

Yet he lay lazily on the sofa, unwilling to move.

That coldness, that hatred...

In the end, he still could not let them go.

"Run forward, facing cold stares and ridicule. How could one feel the vastness of life without enduring hardship? Fate cannot make us kneel and beg for mercy..."

At some point, music began playing in the Learning Space.

Listening quietly, two streams of tears unknowingly slid down from Naruto's eyes.

Yet Naruto did not feel sad. The emotions that had built up in his heart gradually dispersed along with the song.

What remained was confusion.

"When Heaven is about to confer a great responsibility upon a person, it must first torment his mind, exhaust his muscles and bones, make him suffer hunger, impoverish his body, and frustrate his every action. By this, it stirs his heart, toughens his nature, and increases his abilities beyond what he possessed."

When Heaven was about to entrust a great responsibility to someone, it would first make him suffer in his heart, wear out his muscles and bones, make him endure hunger, leave his body empty and weak, and make everything he did go against his wishes. In this way, it would inspire his will, make his temperament resilient, and increase abilities he did not possess.

A copy of Mencius appeared before Naruto, reciting these words over and over.

Gradually, the confusion in his heart dissipated.

"I will definitely become a powerful ninja and make those people never dare look at me that way again."

For the first time, a clear goal appeared in Naruto's heart.

Wiping away his tears, Naruto appeared in the Sealing Space with a brilliant smile on his face. "Yo, Big Fox. Good evening. Want to watch a TV drama together again tonight?"

Without waiting for Nine-Tails to answer, Naruto ran to the television and inserted the memory card.

Is this brat all right?

Seeing Naruto's smiling face, this thought could not help flashing through Nine-Tails' mind.

It had paid some attention to what happened during the day out of boredom, and it knew that he had not been very happy today.

A brat who normally ate every meal properly had suddenly made do with dinner today. It was too easy to understand.

But in the next instant, Nine-Tails tossed the thought aside. It could not sense any negative emotions from the brat, so he really was fine.

"Ah, after feeling miserable all day, I can finally watch Investiture of the Gods. I'll finally find out what happens next."

Just as Nine-Tails was thinking this, its expression turned ferocious.

Because what was playing on the television was not Investiture of the Gods, which it wanted to watch.

Instead, it was an animated show called Calabash Brothers...