I Am the Demon Fox

Chapter 6: 006. I Am the Demon Fox

A month later, Naruto was finally allowed to go out again.

Humming a little tune, Naruto ignored the villagers around him and strolled freely down the street.

Although the old Third Hokage had issued an order forbidding the villagers from mentioning the words "Demon Fox" in front of him, he could not change their opinion of Naruto, nor could he stop them from distancing themselves from him.

In a sense, the old Third Hokage's order had instead widened the gap between Naruto and the villagers.

But none of that mattered to him. He had always believed in treating others as they treated him.

Sensing the waves of hostility radiating from the people around them, Nine-Tails wore a wicked grin.

"Brat, it seems even your Hokage grandpa hasn't been able to change your situation. The hostility these humans are giving off is even stronger than it was a month ago."

"Why not accept this old man's Chakra? I'll slaughter them for you and make them drown in regret."

Naruto ignored Nine-Tails' whisper and continued wandering the streets. He planned to use the living expenses the old Third Hokage had given him to buy some seasonings and improve his bland meals.

As for the remaining money, he would save it to buy books so he could better understand this world.

When he entered a store, Naruto once again saw the unscrupulous merchant who had sold him nearly expired food. The man was busy seeing off his last customer.

The merchant's face immediately turned cold when he saw Naruto. "Brat, why are you here again? Let me tell you, rice prices have gone up this time. You'll have to pay double."

Naruto smiled without warmth.

"I'm not here to hold you accountable for selling nearly expired food. I just came to buy some seasonings and side dishes. If you refuse to sell to me, I'll tell everyone outside that the goods in your shop have been cursed by the Demon Fox and tainted with misfortune."

"The Demon Fox's curse...?"

The merchant realized he had said the wrong thing and quickly covered his mouth. Then he glanced at Naruto, who called himself the Demon Fox, and cursed him several times in his heart.

Naruto was right. If he really spread that rumor, his business would definitely suffer.

After thinking for a moment, the merchant looked around. Seeing that there were few pedestrians nearby, he hurriedly took some seasonings from the shelves, packed them into a bag, and handed it to Naruto.

"My bad luck, running into a brat like you. Get out, hurry up and leave."

Naruto took the bag and placed the money on the counter. Then he stood at the entrance and shouted, "Don't buy anything from this store! It's been cursed by the Demon Fox!"

The merchant's face changed several times. By the time he intended to go out and explain, Naruto had already left.

Carrying the plastic bag, Naruto sprinted down the street. Only after reaching a secluded alley did he stop, clutch his stomach, and rest where he stood.

At that moment, Nine-Tails abruptly said, "Brat, that merchant's hostility toward you wasn't that bad by this village's standards. He only hated that you were disrupting his business."

"I know he's just an unscrupulous merchant. Other people wouldn't even sell me anything. But that doesn't mean it was right for him to sell me nearly expired food at inflated prices."

"I was only getting back at him. His business should drop quite a bit over the next few days."

After recovering, Naruto stood up again and continued strolling through the streets in search of his next target. Unlike the Naruto from the original story, he held grudges.

After repeating the same trick several times, Naruto had accumulated quite a few spoils.

Having witnessed the whole thing, Nine-Tails propped his chin on his hand and said, "Brat, I didn't expect you to be so vindictive. You're using the Hokage's ban to get revenge on these villagers."

In a good mood, Naruto smiled. "I've always believed in repaying kindness with kindness and resentment with fairness."

Nine-Tails never passed up a chance to mock Naruto. He sneered, "Brat, this will only make your image in their eyes even worse. You'll face an even harder situation than before."

Naruto looked at Nine-Tails with a faint smile and asked, "Did they accept me when I started treating them with a smile? Since they can't change, I can only follow my own heart."

Nine-Tails tapped the ground with his claws, apparently plotting something.

After getting revenge on the villagers, Naruto was about to head into the wilderness. Compared to bustling Konoha, he had always preferred the sparsely populated forests.

There were mushrooms and wild vegetables everywhere beneath the trees, while all kinds of fish and shrimp played in the streams.

Aside from his fishing plans, Naruto also intended to gather some red parasol mushrooms and white-stemmed mushrooms to prepare for hosting the old Third Hokage next time. After all, they could not poison someone with an Uzumaki constitution or the strongest Third Hokage. At worst, they would only get a stomachache.

As he passed a park, Naruto suddenly stopped and looked toward its depths.

"Byakugan freak, Byakugan freak, you're a Byakugan freak...!"

Three boys about Naruto's age were surrounding a girl and mocking her. The girl was half-kneeling on the ground, helplessly hugging her head, unsure what to do.

After tiring themselves out from dancing around her, the boys scattered and laughed at the crying Hinata.

"So you're not just a Byakugan freak, you're also a crybaby. No wonder no one plays with you. Besides crying, what else can you do?"

As he spoke, one of the boys grabbed a handful of snow from the ground and walked toward Hinata. "Your eyes are so ugly. What do you think would happen if I stuffed some snow into them? Want to find out?"

Hearing that, Hinata grew even more frightened and slowly curled up as she backed away.

Seeing this, Nine-Tails could not help glancing at Naruto. "Isn't that the girl you helped last time? What, you're not going to help her again?"

Naruto remained standing where he was, seemingly with no intention of stepping forward to help.

This puzzled Nine-Tails, making him even more eager to see what Naruto was thinking and what he would do next.

Just then, the other two boys noticed Naruto and shouted, "Look, it's the Demon Fox! The Demon Fox actually came to save the Byakugan freak! They really are working together, planning to secretly destroy the village!"

Their loud shouts also drew Hinata's and the other boy's attention. The boy lowered the snow in his hand and moved closer to his companions, while hope appeared in Hinata's eyes.

After the three boys gathered together, they seemed to find the courage to confront the Demon Fox and all stepped closer to Naruto.

"The adults are scared of you, Demon Fox, and don't dare deal with you, but we're not afraid! We're going to become ninja and protect the village someday. We can drive monsters like you away right now."

Emboldened by his own words, the leading boy walked up to Naruto and swung his fist.

Then, amid a series of thuds, the leading boy was knocked straight to the ground. Naruto grinned wickedly as he walked toward the other two.

"I heard you called me the Demon Fox and wanted to drive me away?"