Mask Shop Owner, Naruto's Counterattack

He had taken care of the fishing equipment.

Next came balanced nutrition.

Fish alone would not do. He needed vegetables too, and of course, seasonings were essential.

Otherwise... the fishy smell could make someone vomit.

That night, there were far fewer people on the streets, and Naruto went out again.

The Anbu Ninja hiding in the shadows and watching him showed a hint of impatience beneath his disgusted gaze.

"You're here?"

"Here, the things you asked me to buy."

"Put it on my tab? No! Not unless the daily interest is three percent. Otherwise, no way."

Naruto felt awkward.

One Thousand Ryo... buying some seasonings and vegetable seeds had cost him one thousand three hundred ryo.

Although Naruto knew the actual cost definitely did not exceed one thousand ryo.

But what could he do? There was the errand fee, after all.

Besides, he would have a reliable older sister to work with in the future.

That was right, Kotentent was one year older than him.

"Big sis~"

"Please~ I'll bring you more fish in the future."

"Hm, since you called me big sister, fine. But this is the last time, remember that. Big sister won't charge you three percent interest per day either. Let's make it... ten percent interest per month."

Shark.

Fucking shark.

Seeing Naruto's completely clueless expression, Kotentent hesitated.

Her little mouth curled. "Hmph, you wouldn't understand even if I told you. Stupid little brother."

"I won't charge you interest this time."

After saying that, she put on an old-fashioned air and rubbed Naruto's little head.

Her eyes instantly curved into crescents. She had finally gotten to touch it. It felt so good.

After getting the items, Naruto picked up several bags on his way home.

On the first day, all One Thousand Ryo had been spent.

The Anbu Ninja monitoring him sneered.

He lowered his head and silently recorded every single thing Naruto had done that day.

The night passed without incident.

Early the next morning, Naruto took the bags downstairs to fill them with soil.

After shaping the soil with water, he placed them on the balcony and planted the vegetable seeds...

At noon, he ate instant noodles from the fridge that had mysteriously appeared and were close to expiring.

Naruto was not at all surprised by the appearance of the instant noodles.

Sarutobi Hiruzen would not let him starve to death.

His only concern now was whether someone would destroy the vegetables once they grew.

By now, quite a few residents had gradually moved away from the buildings near his home.

While Naruto was happy for the peace and quiet, he also knew that the Villagers' attitude toward him had risen to the highest level of disgust.

If he did not do bad things like in the original story, they could not find a reasonable excuse to vent their anger...

He ate a cup of instant noodles for lunch.

It was nearly tasteless. Fortunately, he had soy sauce now.

He still ate it, then used his Devil Fruit ability to absorb the Nutrients.

But there were pitifully few Nutrients. Perhaps... none at all.

In the original story, Naruto could not possibly buy things right from the start.

Even if he held One Thousand Ryo in his hand, he would not have been able to spend it.

So these instant noodles, which had little nutrition and could only fill his stomach at best, should appear at fixed times every day.

There were fewer people around at noon, so Naruto chose that time to go out.

Konoha had one of the best geographical locations in the entire Ninja World.

There were mountains and water.

It was easy for Naruto to find a fishing spot in the forest.

After that, he only needed to slowly move closer to the Uchiha Clan Compound.

After the Nine-Tails' Rampage, the Uchiha Clan had been driven out of the central area, and their former compound had been taken over by the F4 clan members.

Naruto's current home was also on the outskirts.

He had the geographical advantage.

Two and a half years were enough for him to make proper plans.

Moreover, with the Woods-Woods Fruit ability and knowledge of the future, he would definitely be able to obtain Uchiha Shisui's corpse in two and a half years.

He had timing, terrain, and people on his side.

A small figure hurried along the street.

The Villagers immediately noticed him.

After his identity had been "exposed" yesterday, many people regretted not arriving in time. Now that the ban had been issued, they needed a reason to vent their anger.

Countless venomous gazes fixed on him.

Naruto's expression grew colder and colder. This feeling was extremely unpleasant.

Suddenly, a mask fell in front of him.

A familiar feeling welled up in his heart.

He chose to walk around it.

But when nothing unexpected was supposed to happen, something unexpected happened.

Bang!

Naruto landed hard on his backside.

His nose took a heavy blow, and his eye sockets reddened at a visible speed.

He had already chosen to avoid them, but a figure suddenly blocked his way.

Or rather, had deliberately bumped into him.

"Don't you watch where you're going?!"

The Mask Shop Owner roared angrily at him.

"You stepped on and broke my mask. Can you afford to pay for it?"

Naruto raised his head expressionlessly and looked at him with icy eyes.

No frightened expression?

The venom in the Mask Shop Owner's eyes was completely undisguised. He raised his hand, about to bring it down in a slap.

Naruto was furious.

He could not change things, but was it not enough that he had tried to avoid him?

No.

He immediately got to his feet. Taking the slap head-on, he brought his foot down hard.

Crack—

The mask on the ground was crushed beneath Naruto's furious stomp.

At the same time, his little face was struck by a slap.

His ears rang, and his vision went dark.

Yet he forced himself onward, staggering toward the mask shop.

The Mask Shop Owner regretted it the instant he hit Naruto.

"Damn it! Lord Hokage only issued the ban yesterday..."

For a moment, he did not react.

Naruto rushed past him.

Entering the mask shop, Naruto did not say a word before shoving over the wooden rack holding the masks.

Then he jumped onto it and began stomping wildly.

The sound of masks shattering rang out without end.

The Mask Shop Owner came to his senses and stepped forward, shoving Naruto away.

"You damn brat, are you asking for a beating?!"

Then he saw the shattered masks all over the floor, and his heart bled.

Naruto fell to the ground without even letting out a muffled grunt.

He merely stared at the Mask Shop Owner with an increasingly cold and sinister gaze.

"My masks... Pay me back for them!"

Seeing Naruto look at him that way made the Mask Shop Owner's heart quiver, but his anger overtook it in an instant.

He stepped forward. This time, he used his foot.

Whoosh—

At that moment, a figure suddenly appeared in front of Naruto and blocked the kick.

The newcomer was naturally the Anbu Ninja who had been watching from the shadows.

He looked at the Mask Shop Owner and said coldly:

"This ends here."

The instant he saw the Anbu Ninja, the Mask Shop Owner felt guilty.

Naruto said nothing. He merely stood up, patted the dirt off his pants, and walked silently out of the mask shop.

He picked up his fishing gear and left beneath countless venomous stares.

The crowd quickly dispersed.

The Anbu Ninja impatiently grabbed the Mask Shop Owner's hand.

"Come on. You're coming with me to see Lord Hokage. The ban was only issued yesterday, and you violated it the very next day... You're the first."

The Mask Shop Owner's face instantly turned pale.

But no matter how he begged, the Anbu Ninja ignored him and dragged him away.

At that moment, another Anbu Ninja hiding in the shadows continued following Naruto.

No one noticed that a girl had watched the entire incident from beginning to end.

"Why does everyone treat him like that?"

"That child did nothing wrong."

"That owner clearly bumped into him himself, and he was the one who hit first!"

"He... is so pitiful..."