Jinchuriki

He wasn't going to let people beat and insult him without harboring resentment, and the idea that he'd always be sunny and full of righteous passion was even more ridiculous.

If he had a grudge, he'd settle it on the spot. There was no need to endure it or bottle it up.

After all, he was a Jinchuriki! Konoha's strategic nuclear weapon. Forget beating people up—even if he killed someone or set something on fire, as long as he didn't cross that line, Konoha would have to protect him.

At most, they'd lock him up for a while.

What? Someone wasn't happy about it?

They could keep it to themselves.

What? They wanted to replace him?

Sure. They could go ahead and find someone suitable.

Not just anyone could be a Jinchuriki. At this point, Konoha couldn't find anyone else who could take his place.

There was no helping it. With all that "favoritism," Naruto had no qualms about hurling stones at the rabble. He threw them hard, aiming to do real damage, and didn't care if things got out of hand.

The rabble, unaware of the concept of a Jinchuriki, naturally fought back. Whenever they caught Naruto, they gave him a vicious beating.

Strangely enough, the Anbu on duty at the time didn't step in to stop them.

That was completely unexpected.

Were they blind? Couldn't they see their nuclear weapon getting beaten up?

In the end, the incident concluded with a nuclear weapon leak—Naruto unleashed the Nine-Tails Chakra and turned the tables, sparking chaos in Konoha.

The Anbu on duty were severely punished, the rabble who had beaten Naruto were sent to prison, and Naruto received a stern lecture from the Third Hokage.

Sorry, but he'd do it again.

Naruto carried on as he pleased. If someone dared to insult him, he dared to throw stones.

The new Anbu didn't dare slack off, not with the previous case serving as a warning.

They helped block anyone or anything that might hurt Naruto, making sure he didn't suffer so much as a scratch.

As a result, Naruto was the only one dishing out beatings, while the rabble were the only ones taking them.

Over time, the rabble learned their lesson.

They gave him looks full of "kindness" to his face and badmouthed him behind his back. As for picking a fight... that wasn't happening. Were they eager to die?

"I went to all that trouble to prepare this bag of stones for nothing."

Naruto walked all the way to the market, but not a single member of the rabble came out to get beaten. He was disappointed.

Don't be cowards... you little brats!

He casually tossed the bag of pebbles into a roadside trash can and walked into the market.

Seeing that, the Anbu hiding nearby breathed a sigh of relief. At last, they could take a break.

The Third Hokage, who had been watching Naruto through the Crystal Ball, also breathed a sigh of relief. At least he wouldn't have to clean up another mess.

The market was packed with people.

Naruto discovered an awkward truth: most of the vendors had already been pelted with his stones and refused to sell him anything.

The rest had heard of his terrible reputation and refused to sell to him, too.

Only one greedy vendor pointed at a pumpkin that was half rotten and about to be thrown away, then grinned. "Hey, kid, one price: three hundred ryo, and it's yours!"

That was more than ten times the going price.

Naruto scowled. "Is the rind made of gold, or the seeds?"

"Neither, but I'm the only one here willing to sell to you."

Damn, I threw the stones away too soon.

Naruto looked around at the ground, but couldn't find any stones. Then his gaze fell on the pumpkin.

Seeing Naruto reluctantly pick it up, the vendor smiled happily and held out his hand. "Pay up. Three hundred ryo..."

Thump!

The shit-yellow pumpkin struck the vendor square in the face. Naruto said coldly, "Eat shit, you bastard."

With that, he turned and walked away.

The vendor wiped his face and watched Naruto leave, his expression shifting between anger and uncertainty.

"Damn it, if it weren't for..."

He was afraid the Anbu would haul him in for a chat, and afraid the Demon Fox would go on a killing spree. Otherwise, how could he let the kid get away with acting so high and mighty?

He clenched his fists, but in the end, he didn't dare make a move. He just stood there cursing.

Back at a shop on the street, Naruto got much the same answer as he had at the market.

"You're not welcome here."

"Give it up. I'd rather throw everything away than sell it to you."

"We're closed today. I'm shutting up shop."

"Demon Fox... Ah!"

This time, Naruto had prepared stones. The moment someone insulted him, he threw one at them.

"Get out!!!"

With a huge bump on his head, the shopkeeper coldly shoved Naruto out of the store.

Bang!

He slammed the door shut.

Naruto stood looking at the bakery for a while, said nothing, then turned and headed to another shop.

The result was the same, except one shop said it had some expired milk to get rid of.

If he wanted it, they could sell it to him at a higher price.

That's right... even though the milk was expired, they were charging extra.

It was the same excuse as the vendor who had tried to sell him the pumpkin at the market.

Only then did Naruto finally understand why the "him" in the original story had drunk expired milk and gone hungry for lack of money.

He drank expired milk because that was all they had for sale.

He went hungry because his living allowance was already meager, barely enough to get by, and crooked merchants had swindled him out of what little he had. Of course he'd go hungry.

On the street, Naruto stopped a squad from the Uchiha Police Force.

"I want to report a crooked merchant for selling expired milk, harming consumers, and bringing shame on Konoha..."

That kid... he looked like... the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

Relations between the Uchiha and Konoha were more strained than ever. A chance encounter was one thing, but if they spent too long together, who knew how much trouble it might cause?

The Uchiha captain was from the dove faction. Thinking it was better to avoid trouble, he opened his mouth to refuse.

Just then, an Uchiha suddenly spoke up in righteous indignation. "That's awful! They're even ripping off a child. No, I can't stand by and watch..."

"Tekka! Mind your place. Don't go looking for trouble."

"Captain, our job is the Police Force. Dealing with this kind of thing is our duty... Come on, little guy, show me the way. I'll get justice for you."

Don't call yourself my uncle. My uncle's dead. Who are you calling your nephew?

Naruto's face remained expressionless. He didn't resist as Uchiha Tekka led him away.

With the Anbu around, he wasn't worried about his safety.

"Should we stop them?"

The Anbu watching Naruto turned to his companion.

The other Anbu replied, "No. There are more of the Uchiha, so we'd be at a disadvantage if it came to blows... Let's keep watching. As long as the Uchiha don't take things any further, we won't intervene."

"Right. But this has to be reported to Lord Hokage."

"Of course."

The Anbu were professionals when it came to reporting on others.

The Third Hokage, watching the live feed through the Crystal Ball, already knew everything. After pondering for a moment, he sent an Anbu to summon Fugaku Uchiha.

They chatted about unimportant things for a while, then quickly got to the point.

"Fugaku, does your Uchiha clan have designs on the Nine-Tails?"

Of course, he didn't put it so bluntly, but that was what he meant.

"Lord Hokage, what makes you say that?!"

Fugaku was shocked and hurried to explain.

My Uchiha clan is Konoha's most loyal clan. We have no subversive intentions whatsoever.

The Third Hokage said meaningfully, "Oh, it seems I misunderstood. Sorry. Don't take it to heart."

How could I not take it to heart?!

As he walked out of the Hokage Building, a cold gust of wind blew by, and sweat covered Fugaku's forehead.

This was unbelievable. Seizing the Nine-Tails and staging a coup had always been one of his ideas, but he'd never told anyone! How had the Third Hokage found out?