Jinchuriki

He was not the type to take a beating or verbal abuse without harboring resentment, and as for being eternally sunny and hot-blooded, that simply did not exist.

If he had a grudge, he would settle it on the spot; there was no need to endure it, and no reason to bottle it up.

After all, he was the Jinchuriki! Konoha's strategic nuclear weapon. Forget about hitting people—as long as he didn't cross that red line, Konoha would have to cover for him even if he committed arson or murder.

At most, he would just be grounded.

What? Others aren't satisfied?

If they aren't satisfied, they can bottle it up.

What? They want to replace him?

Sure, go ahead and find a suitable candidate then.

Being a Jinchuriki wasn't something just anyone could do, and at this stage, Konoha couldn't find anyone else besides him.

There was no helping it; he was emboldened by this "favoritism." When Naruto pelted the unruly villagers with stones, he threw them with all his might, aiming to kill, never once fearing that things might get out of hand.

As for the villagers, who had no concept of what a Jinchuriki was, they naturally fought back, catching Naruto and giving him a sound beating.

The bizarre thing was that the Anbu on duty at the time did not step in to stop it.

This was completely beyond Naruto's expectations.

Are you blind? Can't you see your nuclear weapon is currently getting beaten up?

In the end, the incident concluded with a leak of the nuclear weapon—Naruto erupted with Nine-Tails Chakra to counter-attack, triggering a riot in Konoha.

The Anbu on duty were severely punished, the villagers who beat Naruto were thrown into prison, and Naruto received a lecture from the Third Hokage.

I'm sorry, but I'll do it again next time.

Naruto remained as headstrong as ever; if they dared to curse him, he dared to pelt them.

The newly assigned Anbu dared not slack off, as the previous example was still fresh in their minds.

The Anbu helped block anyone or anything that might hurt Naruto, ensuring he didn't lose a single hair.

In this way, it created a situation where Naruto was unilaterally committing violence, while the villagers were unilaterally taking a beating.

As time passed, the villagers learned their lesson.

To his face, they used "kindly" gazes, but behind his back, they spoke ill of him. As for laying a hand on him... that was out of the question; they weren't tired of living.

"This bag of stones was a waste of preparation."

Walking all the way to the vegetable market, not a single villager jumped out to get beaten, and Naruto expressed his disappointment.

Don't be cowards... you bastards!

Casually tossing the bag of stones into a trash can by the side of the road, Naruto strode into the vegetable market.

Seeing this, the hidden Anbu breathed a sigh of relief, finally able to rest for a moment.

The Third Hokage, observing Naruto through his Crystal Ball, also breathed a sigh of relief, finally not having to clean up his mess.

The vegetable market was bustling with noise and excitement.

Naruto discovered an awkward fact: most of the merchants had been greeted by his stones and refused to sell him anything.

The remaining minority had heard of his notoriety and also refused to sell to him.

Only one greedy merchant pointed at a pumpkin that was half-rotten and about to be thrown away as trash, grinning as he said, "Kid, one price: 300 ryo, take it or leave it!"

The price had been inflated more than tenfold.

Naruto's face darkened as he said, "Is the skin of this melon made of gold, or are the seeds made of gold?"

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

Damn it, I threw those stones too early.

Naruto lowered his head to scan the ground, but couldn't find any stones, so his gaze fell upon the pumpkin.

Seeing Naruto "reluctantly" pick up the pumpkin, the merchant smiled happily, reaching out his hand and saying, "Pay up, three hundred ryo..."

Bam!

The mushy, yellow pumpkin hit the merchant square in the face. Naruto said coldly, "Eat shit, you dead loser."

With that, he turned and walked away.

The merchant wiped his face, staring at Naruto's departing back, his expression shifting between anger and uncertainty.

"You bastard, if it weren't for..."

If he wasn't worried about the Anbu inviting him for tea, or the Demon Fox going berserk and killing people, how could he allow such arrogance?

He clenched his fists, but in the end, he didn't dare to act, only standing in place and cursing incessantly.

Returning to the shops along the street, Naruto received an answer similar to the one at the vegetable market.

"You are not welcome here."

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

"I'm not open for business today. I'm closing up."

"Demon Fox... ah!"

This time, Naruto Uzumaki was ready with a stone. Seeing someone curse at him, he immediately threw it at the person.

"Get out!!!"

The shopkeeper, nursing a large bump on his head, shoved Naruto Uzumaki out of the shop with a cold face.

Bang!

He slammed the shop door shut.

Staring at the bakery for a moment, Naruto Uzumaki said nothing, turned around, and headed to other shops.

The result remained unchanged, save for one shop that mentioned they had expired milk that needed to be dealt with.

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

Yes, that's right... even though the milk was expired, they were charging extra for it.

The reason was the same as the one given by the pumpkin seller at the vegetable market.

Only then did Naruto Uzumaki finally understand why "he" in the original story drank expired milk and went hungry due to a lack of money.

He drank expired milk because only expired milk was available for sale.

He went hungry due to a lack of money because his living expenses were already meager, barely enough to survive, and then he was being swindled by unscrupulous merchants—it would be a miracle if he didn't go hungry.

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

"I want to report this. Unscrupulous merchants are selling expired milk, swindling consumers, and corrupting the atmosphere of Konoha..."

This brat, he seems to be... the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

Nowadays, the relationship between the Uchiha and Konoha is unprecedentedly tense. A chance encounter is one thing, but if they were to interact for too long, who knows what kind of trouble it might stir up.

The Uchiha captain leading the squad was a dove; thinking that it was better to avoid unnecessary trouble, he opened his mouth to refuse.

Just then, one of the Uchiha suddenly said indignantly, "How detestable, swindling even a child. No, I can't just stand by and watch this..."

"Tekka! Mind your position. Don't do anything unnecessary."

"Captain, our duty is the Police Force; handling these matters is our responsibility... Come on, kid, lead the way. Uncle will stand up for you."

Uncle your grandfather. My uncle died long ago; whose uncle are you supposed to be...

Naruto Uzumaki remained expressionless and did not resist, allowing Tekka to pull him along.

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

"Are we not going to stop them?"

The Anbu monitoring Naruto Uzumaki turned to look at his companion.

The other Anbu replied, "No. There are many Uchiha; if a fight breaks out, we'll be at a disadvantage... Let's just watch for now. As long as the Uchiha don't make any further moves, we won't intervene."

"Understood. However, this matter must be reported to Lord Hokage."

"That goes without saying."

When it came to snitching, the Anbu were professionals.

The Third Hokage, who had already learned everything through the live feed of the Crystal Ball, pondered for a moment and sent an Anbu to summon Fugaku Uchiha.

They started by chatting about mundane daily life for a while, but soon moved on to the main topic.

Fugaku, do you Uchiha have any thoughts regarding the Nine-Tails...

Of course, the words weren't that blunt, but that was the implication.

"Lord Hokage, why would you say such a thing?!"

Fugaku was shocked and hurriedly defended himself.

I, the Uchiha, am the most loyal subject of Konoha; I have absolutely no ulterior motives.

The Third Hokage said meaningfully, "Oh, it seems I misunderstood. My apologies, don't take it to heart."

How could I not take it to heart!

Walking out of the Hokage Building, a cold wind blew past, and Fugaku's forehead was covered in cold sweat.

What the hell is going on? Hijacking the Nine-Tails to launch a coup was a thought he had always kept in his heart, but he had never told anyone about it! How did the Third Hokage know about this?