Got cuckolded?

Once Naruto found his own ninja way!

He began to take the initiative, unafraid of the strange looks from others, and started his journey into the underworld.

The target—every shop that refused to sell him goods.

The end of the year, Konoha 54.

Konoha.

In the forest, a gray rabbit was fleeing rapidly, with Naruto in hot pursuit, javelin in hand.

During this time, Naruto had earned quite a bit of money, several tens of thousands of ryo, enough for him to live comfortably for a while.

But he couldn't control his spending, and after buying a set of tools specifically for carving, he was instantly back to square one.

Although he wasn't exactly starving, he still had to go out frequently to fish and hunt to supplement his household expenses.

For the most part, he was catching fish.

Because for a little radish of only three years old, hunting was simply too difficult.

Just like right now, the rabbit was running further and further away, and it was about to disappear.

Naruto felt a surge of anxiety, and without caring whether he could hit the target or not, he threw the javelin with all his might.

Whoosh!

A moment later, a scream echoed from deep within the forest, followed by an angry male voice shouting, "Damn it, which bastard ambushed me?"

Oh no, he was done for; he had hit someone.

Shrinking his neck, Naruto silently turned around and was just about to run away when...

The man who had been accidentally injured had already charged over.

"Kid, was it you?"

The man was wearing a black mask, and a wound had been gouged into the top of his thigh.

He held the blood-stained javelin in his hand, blocking Naruto's path with a fierce and menacing expression.

"Who are you?"

Naruto looked closely and noticed that the man was carrying a little girl about his own age on his back.

She looked quite familiar, and if Naruto wasn't mistaken, it was Hinata Hyuga.

Naruto realized, "You Cloud Ninja are here to kidnap little girls from Konoha again."

First Kushina, now Hinata; one was his mother, the other his fated wife.

Both were women close to Naruto, so the Cloud Village clearly had a deep-seated grudge against him.

He decided...

If he ever became the Azure Emperor in the future, he would definitely grind the Cloud Village into the dirt.

Naruto secretly made a vow.

The Cloud Ninja was named Takayama, a member of the Cloud Village delegation that had arrived in Konoha the day before yesterday for negotiations, and he was currently carrying out the mission of kidnapping a little girl.

The operation had been going smoothly.

But disaster struck from the sky; a javelin flew out of nowhere, and caught off guard, he had almost lost his ability to be a man.

With such a deep grudge, Takayama was furious and charged over regardless of the consequences.

Hearing Naruto identify his identity so easily, Takayama's malice grew, and he sneered, "Kid, didn't your elders tell you that knowing too much is bad for you?"

Naruto said calmly, "My elders told me that men who kidnap little girls deserve to die."

As he finished speaking, two Anbu appeared, blocking the path in front of Naruto.

The Anbu wearing the Ox Mask said in a deep voice, "Moon, take Naruto away immediately, leave this to me!"

The Anbu wearing the Dog Mask, Moon, nodded, picked up Naruto, and turned to run.

Feeling the softness against the Anbu's chest, Naruto realized that this must be a female ninja.

And a very beautiful female ninja at that...

As for why Naruto knew the female ninja was beautiful...

He was just guessing, of course.

Men are all like that, liking to imagine women whose faces they haven't seen clearly in the best possible light.

But the beautiful female ninja wasn't important right now.

What was important was that Naruto didn't want to leave; he wanted to see a real ninja battle.

Naruto struggled, "Let's stay and help."

"Behave yourself!"

"What help could a brat like you possibly provide? It'll be enough if you don't just get in the way."

Takayama did not stop his pace, his arms tensing as he held Naruto even tighter.

Immersed in the soft, bouncy sensation, Naruto felt his head spinning...

"The Anbu's mission is to ensure your safety; we cannot take a single risk, and the senior is incredibly powerful..."

Bang!

A figure flew backward, crashing into the ground—it was that very same powerful Anbu senior.

The Anbu senior was unable to get back up, only managing to offer a weak warning: "Cough, cough, Takayama, run! The opponent is a Jonin."

Jonin were the elite forces of a ninja village, few in number; even Konoha could not afford the luxury of using a Jonin to protect Naruto.

Both Anbu were merely Chunin; even together they couldn't defeat a Jonin, let alone fighting one alone—it was practically throwing their lives away.

Takayama intercepted the fleeing Takayama, looked at the Naruto in her arms, licked his lips, and laughed smugly: "It seems I've stumbled upon a big fish... hand him over, and I'll spare your life."

Clang!

The answer to Takayama was a drawn sword. Takayama set Naruto down, her gaze never leaving Takayama as she spoke to Naruto with grave seriousness.

"Go! Run toward the village yourself, don't look back, someone will come to save you."

"I..."

"Now!"

"...Understood."

Without a shred of power, staying behind would be useless, and he would only be a burden.

For the first time in his life, Naruto clearly felt the importance of power in the dangerous world of ninjas.

Power, oh power, I want power too.

As he fled, Naruto clenched his fists and thought.

"Dance of the Crescent Moon!"

A cold, feminine voice drifted from behind, followed by the sound of clashing metal.

A minute later, Naruto looked at the disheveled Takayama standing before him, holding a blood-stained kunai, and helplessly stopped his running.

Takayama said gloomily: "Kid, what exactly is your background? Why would a Konoha Anbu risk her life to stop me?"

Risk her life?

Thinking of a certain possibility, Naruto's expression darkened.

"It doesn't matter if you don't say it; I'll find out once I drag you back for interrogation, hehe..."

As he spoke, Takayama closed in on Naruto step by step.

Naruto wanted to stall for time: "Wait, I'll talk."

Takayama didn't give him the chance: "No waiting. I've already wasted too much time. I'm taking you now, surrender!"

You motherf...

Naruto took a deep breath and stepped back, cursing the bunch of idiots in Konoha in his heart for not arriving yet, while feigning anger: "Are you Cloud Village people trying to start a war?"

Huh, why does that sound so familiar...

Oh, right, that's what we Cloud Ninja often say to Konoha.

Takayama looked strange: "Just because of you... you think you can start a war?"

Naruto puffed out his chest proudly: "Of course. You know the Third Hokage, right? He calls me his grandson."

"Kid, are you messing with me!"

"Sorry, slip of the tongue. I call the Third Hokage Grandpa."

"You're the Third Hokage's grandson?"

Takayama sized Naruto up: little yellow hair, blue eyes, and the distinctive six whiskers on his cheeks.

He thought to himself that this wasn't right; he had seen the Third Hokage, and he didn't look like this.

Could it be that the Third's son was cheated on, or perhaps, the Third himself was cheated on...

"Forget it, who cares who cheated on whom. I'll just grab him first... anyway, Konoha is just a bunch of cowards. Even if we in the Cloud Village kidnapped the Third Hokage's grandfather, Konoha would probably just pretend nothing happened."

Thinking with such impunity, Takayama ignored Naruto's threats and reached out his devilish claws toward Naruto with unwavering resolve.