Any Publicity Is Good Publicity

"Then let's go to another shop, my treat."

Who asked you to treat? Just leave already! I want to be alone with my brother.

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Sasuke glared at Shisui with a face full of displeasure.

"Kid, stop sitting here, it's useless! The longer you sit here, the more money they make and the happier they get. You aren't achieving any kind of revenge..."

A shadow suddenly blocked Naruto's sunlight.

Naruto put down his work and looked up to see a girl with purple hair, brown eyes, and a fishnet outfit standing before him.

She was eating dango while seemingly saying something.

Beside the girl, a beautiful woman with curly black hair and red eyes looked at the purple-haired girl with a helpless expression, occasionally glancing at Naruto with curiosity.

Judging by their appearance, these two women seem to be... Anko Mitarashi and Kurenai Yuhi.

Why are they looking for me? Aren't they afraid of being invited for tea by the Anbu?

"Who are you?"

Taking off his earplugs, Naruto asked, pretending not to know.

Seeing this, Anko's dango-eating motion paused. So she hadn't heard a single word I just said! Great, it was all for nothing.

"Don't worry about who I am for now."

Anko ate a skewer of dango in annoyance and began to advise, "Anyway, just listen to me and go sit in front of another dango shop. You'll definitely make the owner of this shop suffer deeply."

Not far away, the owner of the dango shop couldn't sit still anymore upon hearing this. He walked over and said in a deep voice, "Miss, you've been a loyal customer of my shop for years, how could you do something like this?"

Anko bit down hard on a skewer of dango and said indignantly, "You know I'm a loyal customer? If you knew that, you wouldn't have made me wait in line for so long. It usually only takes ten minutes, but this time I waited for over an hour."

Owner: "..."

So? Is this a story of love turning into hate?

Kurenai Yuhi couldn't help but want to laugh.

"Miss, let's go over there to talk."

There were too many people nearby, and the owner wanted to lead Anko to a quieter place to negotiate.

"You're only thinking of bribing me now... unfortunately, it's too late!"

Anko continued to urge Naruto to change his post, while the owner grew anxious, frequently signaling to Naruto with his eyes.

Wait! Something's wrong!

Kurenai Yuhi's eyes narrowed; she realized things might not be as simple as they seemed.

Naruto stood up, looked around at the customers casting their gazes toward him, and spoke to Anko with a firm, resonant voice.

"I know what you're saying is right, but I refuse. Just because something is right doesn't mean it must be done. For the sake of the pride in my heart, even if it's wrong, I will keep clashing with them to the end to show my determination to never surrender."

On the way back.

Anko held her favorite dango, but she had no mood to taste them.

With a complex expression, she said, "Kurenai, do you think that kid is stupid? Knowing full well it's wrong..."

She had to admit that Anko was shocked by Naruto's unyielding determination, to the point where she felt a faint sense of admiration for him.

After all, if it were her, she definitely couldn't do it.

Recalling the scene of the eye contact between Naruto and the dango shop owner, Kurenai Yuhi said with a strange expression, "He's not stupid, he should be..."

You're the stupid one!

Anko said with longing, "Steadfast! Never giving up!"

It's over, what do I do if my best friend has been tricked into being a fool?

Just let it be!

Kurenai Yuhi didn't reveal the truth she had discovered; she was worried that Naruto might get beaten up, and also worried that Anko might end up in prison.

In the evening, the sun sank in the west, and golden radiance spilled across the earth.

The customers finally dispersed, the dango shop closed its doors, and Naruto carried his stool home.

Fifteen minutes later, Naruto changed his clothes, put on a fox mask, and arrived at the back door of the dango shop.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

The back door opened, and the dango shop owner from earlier poked his head out to look left and right. Seeing no one else around, he hurriedly let Naruto inside.

Without a word, he handed over the money first.

"This is this week's pay, count it."

A full five thousand ryo, equivalent to ten months of living expenses for Naruto Uzumaki.

Naruto Uzumaki said, "That's too much. The previous three weeks were four thousand ryo."

The shopkeeper laughed, "Business has been good this week."

Naruto Uzumaki didn't believe him, but he didn't call him out either; he stuffed the money into his pocket and prepared to leave.

The shopkeeper tried to keep him, "Wait, I have a favor to ask. Could you renew the contract for another month? I can pay more—six thousand ryo per week."

I knew it, Naruto Uzumaki thought, turning back, "Next month is already booked. How about a different time?"

"When will you be free?"

"In a year."

"You're that busy?!"

"Of course I'm busy. Just think about your shop's business this month and you'll understand."

Bad publicity is still publicity!

Thanks to the negative traffic brought by Naruto Uzumaki, business at the dumpling shop had skyrocketed more than tenfold this month.

Even after deducting the wages paid to Naruto Uzumaki, the dumpling shop had made a killing.

Discerning merchants were naturally green with envy and wanted to sign brand endorsements with Naruto Uzumaki.

Like the dumpling shop owner, they loved making money. Their boycott of Naruto Uzumaki had just been following the crowd; in essence, they had no deep-seated hatred for him, and none of their friends or family had died in the Nine-Tails Incident, so there were no psychological barriers to working with him.

Although there was a risk of social suicide if it were exposed... but as long as I keep it a secret, who would know?

Besides, fortune favors the bold. Since I want to make money... taking a little risk is worth it.

But making money comes at a price, and the price Naruto Uzumaki paid was an increasingly outrageous reputation, reaching the point where his name alone could stop children from crying.

However, it's fine; Naruto Uzumaki didn't care about his reputation because it was useless.

The only slight inconvenience was that every time he wanted to buy daily necessities, he had to wear a mask, otherwise, he wouldn't be able to buy anything.

It was very annoying, making it seem like he couldn't show his face in public.

But excluding this minor unpleasantness, Naruto Uzumaki's wallet was getting fatter and fatter.

He carefully selected merchants who had no grudge against him but were rivals to his enemies, and they reached secret agreements.

Then the money came pouring in, and he no longer had to be frugal with his food and clothing, even buying a few kunai and shuriken.

Not wanting to see the strange looks from the ignorant masses, Naruto Uzumaki switched to training in the forest.

With a kunai in his left hand and a shuriken in his right, he ran wild through the forest, chasing after wild chickens, rabbits, and other small animals to shoot at.

He was exercising his body while also practicing his projectile weapon skills.

In reality, he was just throwing them blindly. Without professional training, the accuracy of his projectiles was worse than a javelin; his movements were either crooked or he couldn't control his strength. After practicing for half a day, he only ended up drenched in sweat without finding any real direction.

It wasn't until later, when Naruto Uzumaki took the opportunity to ask the Third Hokage for advice during a visit, that he finally started to look like he was doing it properly.

However, as time passed, Naruto Uzumaki, nourished by the Nine-Tails' yang chakra, saw his physical fitness grow stronger by the day, and his original training intensity was no longer enough for him.

So, he decided to add a new training project for himself—chopping down trees!