I'm going to report you to the Hokage

Eiji was completely unaware of all this.

He sat in the Security Division's break room, yawning nonstop.

They say that after starting work, everyone feels like dying—Eiji was no exception.

Every day was filled with a mess of troublesome crap that never seemed to run out.

Today, he finally managed to carve out some time to properly sort out the current situation.

The main mission involving Naruto was slowly progressing, and as the two grew closer, Eiji had also received some rewards.

But then came the problem: Eiji had run into Naruto again during patrol.

That little blondie had pulled a box of limited-edition instant noodles from his backpack and handed it to Eiji.

This meant Naruto truly saw Eiji as a good buddy.

Yet the progress bar hadn't budged.

Eiji opened the panel again.

[Mission: Help the Jinchuriki Uzumaki Naruto master the power of the Nine-Tails and guide him onto the right path]

"Tch, it can't be that I have to become Naruto's teacher, right? That's way too intense."

Eiji understood that his various actions had managed to fool the Hokage and the others into being completely baffled.

For now, they were willing to believe he shared the same will as Kagami.

But the Jinchuriki was a matter of great importance—unless he accomplished something concrete, the Hokage definitely wouldn't entrust Naruto to him.

And on top of that!

That troublemaker Danzo would have to come out and stir things up.

Eiji grabbed at his eye-catching white hair, thinking that sooner or later he'd kill Danzo.

After silently venting, Eiji stroked his chin and started pondering how to fool those few clueless old farts in the upper echelons.

Just then, a stream of cursing came from the hallway.

"You've been holding me here illegally for so long—I'm going to complain to the Hokage!"

Inaho gritted his teeth in fury. Damn it, if this weren't in the village, he'd have stabbed the guy twice by now.

"Hurry up and go. If the clan head hadn't spoken up, you'd still be locked up for another half a month."

Knowing that Fugaku had let him go, the Fishing Shop Owner suddenly grew inexplicably bold.

Scared, they must be scared.

What Konoha's greatest clan? Nothing special.

"What's the rush? You locked me up for half a month—don't you owe me compensation for my losses?"

He counted on his fingers, "Look, I earn five thousand ryo a day, so half a month is seventy-five thousand ryo, plus mental damages."

While the boss was still counting, the break room door opened.

Eiji walked over slowly, carrying Xiao Er.

"Get lost, now."

The boss glanced at Eiji and broke out in a cold sweat.

He remembered this guy—this white hair was the one who had arrested him.

"Just you wait. I'm going to find the Hokage right now and report you. I'll have the Hokage arrest every single one of you!"

After his outburst, the boss scrambled out on his hands and knees.

Acting tough was one thing, but he was genuinely afraid Eiji would beat him up.

"Eiji," Inaho lowered his voice, "what do we do?"

By now, Inaho had complete trust in Eiji.

In the half-month since Eiji joined the Security Division, he had fully demonstrated his abilities.

So now, whenever something came up, Inaho wanted to ask Eiji how to handle it.

Eiji patted Inaho on the shoulder, signaling him not to worry.

Then he stepped outside. "Summoning Jutsu."

When the smoke cleared, a jet-black eagle appeared on the scroll.

"Little Black, go."

Little Black nodded and vanished before everyone's eyes with a whoosh.

"That speed is incredible!"

Alright, Eiji clapped his hands.

"Earlier, I sold off all that guy's stuff and made some money. Today, I'm sharing it with everyone."

"It's not much, but you all can buy yourselves a bottle of wine tonight."

On the other side, the Fishing Shop Owner had just returned to his shop when he discovered all his fishing gear had vanished without a trace.

"Ahhhh! Which bastard stole my stuff!"

He felt his heart bleeding.

By convention, a theft should be handled by the Security Division.

But he had no intention of dealing with them at all, and instead headed straight toward the Hokage Building.

As he walked, he shouted, "Hokage, please grant me justice!"

His cries drew the attention of many, including Senior Kakashi, who was on duty.

For something like this, Kakashi was hardly surprised.

If a few days passed without a handful of complaints, he'd almost feel something was missing.

The Hokage had also told him not to stop them, saying it was important to listen to the villagers' voices.

Since the Hokage had spoken, Kakashi naturally wasn't going to stick his nose where it didn't belong out of sheer boredom.

After all, it wasn't his job to carry out the punishment anyway.

So he simply watched as the boss got closer and closer to the Hokage Building.

Suddenly, a sharp cry rang out from midair.

Kakashi looked up and saw an eagle, appearing from who knows where.

It dove straight toward the boss, its powerful talons easily lifting the somewhat plump man.

Then it turned in midair and flew off toward the Back Mountain.

"Damn it."

Kakashi quickly formed hand seals. "Summoning Jutsu."

As the smoke cleared, Pakkun appeared before Kakashi.

"Find that man."

"Yes, Kakashi-sama."

Pakkun sniffed the air, then bolted off in a certain direction.

Kakashi followed right behind, a hint of worry in his heart.

Please don't drop him in the river and drown him.

By the time Kakashi caught up, the boss had already been tossed onto a tall tree by Xiao Hei.

"Help! I'm afraid of heights!"

Kakashi shook his head helplessly and rescued the boss from the tree.

"Go on back now. Don't go out for a few days."

Seeing the cat-shaped mask, the boss guessed his identity.

"Yes, ninja-sama."

The fat boss scrambled out of the dense forest, his first priority being to buy a new pair of pants.

"Kakashi-sama, that eagle is nearby."

"Mm."

Kakashi nodded slightly and followed Pakkun forward.

Sure enough, deep in the forest, he spotted the eagle from earlier.

And beside it, Eiji was barbecuing.

Kakashi was a little speechless. Why did it have to be this kid again?

"Eiji?"

Eiji looked up, saw the man and the dog, and gave a sincere invitation.

"Want some barbecue? This is fresh beef delivered just today."

"No thanks, I'm on duty."

Eiji shrugged. "That's a real shame."

"Eiji," Kakashi said, his tone hardening, "you shouldn't do that to the villagers. It goes against the village's rules."

"I just don't want these annoying people bothering the Hokage while he's working, Senior Kakashi. You know how hard the Hokage works every day."

"I don't want to hear your strange excuses. No matter what, we shouldn't lay hands on the villagers."

Eiji waved his hand. "Alright, alright, I get it."

Kakashi sighed beneath his mask and was about to leave when little Naruto popped out from some corner.

"I'm here, Big Brother Eiji! It smells so good... Holy crap!"

Naruto was startled by Kuro—this bird was even bigger than him.

"Can I pet it? Its feathers look really pretty."

Big Brother Eiji glanced at Kuro, and only after feeding it a piece of raw meat did it condescendingly agree.

Naruto reached out and carefully touched Kuro's wing.

Then Kuro's head.

Let's just say, you see plenty of people petting cats and dogs, but this was the first time seeing someone pet a hawk.

Eventually, Kuro couldn't take it anymore, let out a sharp cry, and flew up into the air.

"Hahaha!" Naruto doubled over, laughing with pure joy.

Not far away, Senior Kakashi watched Naruto, a strange feeling welling up in his heart.

After watching for a while, Kakashi finally spoke up to advise Eiji.

"Eiji, be careful. You know what I mean."

"I understand. Thank you, Senior Kakashi."

Eiji knew what Kakashi meant—even if the current Hokage was relatively at ease with Eiji.

But in the tense atmosphere of constant friction between the Uchiha and Konoha, it was hard to say when something might go wrong.

Besides, there was still Danzo and the two advisors, who had always held hostility toward the Uchiha.

Naruto studied the mysterious ninja in front of him closely, then suddenly slapped his forehead.

"I know who you are! I saw you by the river last time! You're the one who tried to take Big Brother Eiji away!"

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