Konoha's Friendship Left Li Yao Intoxicated

He wasn't used to eating sashimi sushi, but the previous owner of this body, Kimura Yao, was. In fact, he even liked it.

As Kimura Yao's friend, Minato naturally knew Kimura Yao's eating habits. The food in the lunchbox he had brought was all Kimura Yao's favorite.

If Li Yao suddenly stopped liking sashimi sushi, or even threw up after eating it, that would definitely be suspicious.

So Li Yao forced himself to swallow it, even deliberately licking the corner of his lips. But after doing so, he suddenly realized, Huh? His body did not seem to feel nauseated or like vomiting at all. Instead, he felt an inexplicable urge stirring within him.

The nausea and discomfort from earlier seemed... no, they had been entirely psychological.

This body had actually long been accustomed to sashimi sushi. Eating it would not make it sick.

It was merely Li Yao's eating habits from his previous life resisting it.

That resistance had more of an effect on his mind; physically, it did not manifest.

Good. This means I can inherit many of Kimura Yao's habits.

Li Yao secretly breathed a sigh of relief. From now on, he truly was Kimura Yao.

"Yao!"

While Li Yao was thinking this, Minato's heart jolted.

Every supposedly concealed shift in Li Yao's expression had been clearly observed under Minato's constant watch.

Minato had sensed that flash of disgust.

Outwardly, Minato remained calm. He ate sushi and rice balls with Li Yao in a desultory manner, while his mind raced.

First, there had been changes in Chakra temperature.

Then, changes in the speed and duration of Chakra refinement.

Finally, a change in his tastes.

Especially the moment "Yao" had eaten the sashimi sushi. He had clearly wanted to vomit, yet forcibly held it down and swallowed it. The implication of deception, lies, and disguise was far too obvious.

This meant that the current "Yao" did not like sashimi sushi. He might even loathe it.

But Yao had clearly loved sashimi sushi.

Therefore, there was only one truth.

Yao was no longer the Yao he had once been.

At this very moment, Minato could be certain that the "friend" before him was no longer his friend.

Or rather, his friend had been secretly controlled.

Considering that the enemy controlling his friend might be in Konoha—or at the very least, within a range where they could sense and control his friend—

That range could not be far.

If he rashly left to report this, the hidden enemy might notice and decide to kill his friend before fleeing.

Minato still did not act rashly. As he ate rice balls and sushi, he activated his Chakra temperature perception, trying to find the enemy secretly controlling his friend.

"Phew... I'm so full!"

Before long, after eating half the sushi in the lunchbox, Li Yao instinctively patted his stomach and leaned back comfortably against the desk behind him.

In the seven days since he had transmigrated into the world of Naruto, he had not had a single decent meal. It had been instant noodles or boiled eggs, and he had eaten every meal with anxious caution.

In fact, if his home had not been nearly out of food, he might not even have come to school today.

Now that the issue of his identity possibly being exposed had been resolved—

After putting his mind at ease, not only had he gained Minato's friendship, he had also gotten to enjoy a wonderful lunch. It felt incredible.

It was quite miraculous.

Li Yao had originally felt deeply disgusted by sashimi sushi, yet after eating it, he did not feel nauseated at all.

It was like someone who did not eat spicy food. The first time they tried it, the heat could nearly kill them.

But once they got used to it, the spiciness of chili peppers would only stimulate their taste buds, giving them a sense of pleasure.

Li Yao was the same now. The stimulation brought by sashimi sushi delighted this body, and that delight was then transmitted to his mind, making him happy as well.

As a result, he no longer hated sashimi or vinegar at all.

It had to be said that the body and mind influenced each other.

Physical pleasure would be conveyed to the mind.

Mental pleasure would likewise be conveyed to the body.

Thus, some of Li Yao's unconscious habits from his previous life would also be passed on to this body.

For example, after finishing a meal, Li Yao would instinctively pat his stomach.

This habit was so ordinary that Li Yao did not care about it at all.

But while he did not care, someone else did.

In Minato's eyes, his friend had never had the habit of patting his stomach after eating. At least, Minato had never seen it even once.

Seeing this, Minato's gaze sharpened again. Another piece of evidence had been added to his certainty that his friend was being controlled.

Then, as Minato packed up the lunchbox, he smiled and suggested, "Let's eat lunch together from now on."

"Sure." Li Yao's eyes lit up, and he sat up straight. He had been worrying about how to get money in the future, and now that Minato was willing to support him, he was more than happy to accept. However, considering Kimura Yao's established character, he promptly added, "But don't worry, Minato. Once I become a powerful ninja, I'll repay you double."

Konoha's relief payments were simply too low.

Still, anyone who knew Konoha's welfare system understood it. Even Naruto, the Hokage's son, had to drink expired milk and often went hungry. As the son of an ordinary Chunin, Li Yao's relief money was even more pitiful.

If the house had not been bought by the previous owner's parents, giving him a place to stay, Li Yao figured he would have been sent to an orphanage by now.

So being able to mooch off Minato's lunch every day at noon was simply perfect.

They were friends, after all. There was no need to be overly polite with a friend.

Besides, he would repay all of this in the future.

With the series of talent changes brought by his mutated consciousness, Li Yao was confident that before Nine-Tails' Rampage arrived, he could gain the strength to stop Obito and save Minato and his wife.

He would repay the favor of a lunch with the favor of saving a life.

Minato was not losing out on this deal.

"Mm."

Looking at the face of his friend and hearing words that only his friend would naturally say to him, Minato wanted nothing more than to immediately drag out and kill the bastard secretly controlling his friend.

But he could only think that inwardly. On his face, he nodded in response with a happy smile.

It was not time yet.

Minato remained composed and did not turn hostile.

He maintained their usual manner of interaction with Li Yao while focusing intently on sensing the Chakra within Li Yao, trying to find the Chakra of the enemy secretly controlling his friend.

Unfortunately, there was no hidden enemy. Minato never found any Chakra temperature from the same source.

Li Yao knew nothing of what Minato was doing in secret.

He still thought he had completely integrated into this world and had truly become Kimura Yao.

Little did he know that danger was quietly drawing near.

"See you tomorrow, Minato."

"See you tomorrow, Yao."

"See you tomorrow, Yao and Minato."

At five in the afternoon, outside the Ninja Academy, a group of classmates waved goodbye to Li Yao and Minato. Li Yao waved back.

"See you tomorrow, Yao."

After the classmates left, Minato looked at Li Yao and waved. Their homes lay directly opposite each other, one to the north and one to the south. They were not on the same route, so they usually said goodbye at the school entrance after classes ended.

"See you tomorrow."

Li Yao smiled and waved. The smile on his face looked far more relaxed than it had that morning.

The two turned and headed toward their respective homes.

Along the way, everyone who had known the previous owner greeted Li Yao. It was not just classmates, but adults he knew along the streets as well. Li Yao responded to each of them.

It had to be said that when it came to the everyday friendliness of villagers, Konoha crushed the other four great ninja villages.

His experience at school today had been quite good as well. There had been none of the campus bullying Li Yao had imagined. Everyone had treated him warmly and sincerely.

That morning, people had been cautious of Li Yao's mental state, so they had not spoken to him much.

But by the afternoon's Ninja Tools practical class, they saw that Li Yao seemed to have moved past his parents' deaths. The other children in the class began talking and interacting with him one after another. They did not ostracize him because he was an orphan.

This greatly increased Li Yao's sense of belonging to Konoha.

It was different from all the theories about Konoha's darkness he had seen on Douyin in his previous life.

In this world's Konoha, the villagers—especially the children in the Ninja Academy—were still loving and united.

To put it plainly, they had a strong sense of identification with being from Konoha, much like Li Yao had strongly identified with his own nationality in his previous life.

With that strong national identity, people tended to be more tolerant and caring toward those who shared that identity but were in hardship.

That was why Konoha's people were kind to Li Yao as well.

Thinking of this, Li Yao could not help but sigh.

The Will of Fire might be brainwashing, but it was genuinely useful.

Thanks to the Will of Fire's brainwashing, the students at school identified with being Konoha Ninja and treated Li Yao with such care.

At the very least, what had happened to Naruto and Kushina would not happen to him.

And Naruto had been treated that way because of propaganda about the Nine-Tails demon fox.

Kushina, meanwhile, had been treated that way because she was an outsider.

The ninja world was actually very xenophobic.

Because many outsiders played the role of spies, it was only natural that they were unwelcome.

Furthermore, the Will of Fire existed to protect Konoha, so naturally it had to use the evil of outsiders to highlight its own greatness.

Those indoctrinated in this way becoming xenophobic was perfectly normal.

And the Nine-Tails and Kushina happened to be people the villagers refused to accept as one of their own, which was why they had been ostracized.

But someone like Kimura Yao, who had been born and raised in Konoha and whose parents had both died as ninja for Konoha, would not only avoid being ostracized—people would instead treat him kindly and look after him.

"So!"

"This Konoha is really quite good!"

"At least, it's good right now."

"Such a good Konoha... I'll protect it in the future."

Just then, as he happened to pass the Hokage Building, Li Yao stopped and looked up at the two large characters reading "Hokage" on the building. A faint smile appeared on his face, followed by a resolute one, before he continued onward.

At that moment, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was standing before the window of the Hokage's office, happened to see this scene.

"Wonderful. Another good child who has inherited the Will of Fire."

The Third Hokage had a smoking pipe between his lips, puffing out smoke as he watched the road leading from the Ninja Academy.

Seeing Li Yao stop and gaze longingly at the Hokage Building, the Third Hokage revealed a gratified smile. He thought that the number of inheritors of the Will of Fire had increased by one—and, at the same time, so had the number of his supporters.

What?

Supporting the Will of Fire did not mean supporting him?

How could that be?

He, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was the embodiment of the Will of Fire.

Supporting the Will of Fire meant supporting him.

Watching child after child who had inherited the Will of Fire pass by the Hokage Building, the Third Hokage felt extremely content.

That was why, at this time every day, he liked to stand by the window and watch the children returning home from the Ninja Academy.