The Storm Approaches

Setting off on Monday, the weekend arrived in the blink of an eye.

Dull time always passes by incredibly quickly.

Between daily training and routine classes, Hui would occasionally borrow the Magic Cube to return to the small town.

Hui would recount his daily life to Yuki, even though Yuki could not hear any of it for the time being.

This weekend, Hui intended to fulfill the promise he had made to Naruto.

And so, acting all mysterious, he brought the two of them to the highest point in all of Konoha—the Hokage Rock.

The three of them gazed out over the village of Konoha below.

Hui was the first to speak.

"Naruto, your dream isn't actually to become the Hokage, is it?"

"Huh? How is that possible? I'm going to become the Hokage! I'll make everyone acknowledge me!"

Naruto replied with excitement.

"Naruto, do you know? Becoming the Hokage doesn't mean you have gained the acknowledgment of others."

Naruto looked down at the familiar yet strange village of Konoha beneath his feet; he had thought about coming here before, but had never actually done so.

The three of them stood atop the head of the last statue carved into the mountain—the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.

"What... does that mean?"

Naruto's small head could not comprehend it.

His past experiences had driven him to train his ninjutsu until he forgot to eat and sleep.

When Hui was not around, Naruto would practice together with Sasuke.

Recently, Naruto had finally found the trick to releasing the Fire Ball Technique.

Although the surrounding neighbors still harbored malice toward Naruto, they no longer displayed it in front of him.

Naruto could now purchase items normally and eat at other restaurants without issue, though his favorite remained Ichiraku Ramen.

On the contrary, quite a few of his classmates in class had sought him out to challenge him.

But the current Naruto, bolstered by his massive chakra and having practiced with Sasuke for such a long time, managed to knock them all down with just a few punches.

Naruto did not dislike this kind of life.

Suddenly hearing Hui's statement, Naruto was very confused.

"The villagers only fear the power of a ninja, and your classmates never really held much resentment toward you to begin with."

Hui continued to look at the village below, his voice calm yet forceful.

"Naruto, your dream is actually very simple; you just want to gain everyone's acknowledgment, right?"

Sasuke, standing to the side, wanted to say something but held back.

Naruto's expression froze; he... could not refute it.

The current Naruto's dream of becoming the Hokage was only skin-deep.

It was more of a grand promise painted for him by the Third Hokage.

A promise that becoming the Hokage would lead to acknowledgment. The Third Hokage used this method to guide Naruto.

After all, Hui was not Sasuke; Naruto usually accepted the things Hui said.

Moreover, this was the original dream buried deep within his heart.

Most of what people do when they are young actually revolves around one core purpose—not letting their parents down.

Just like Naruto's original dream, most of what people do when they are young is a craving for their parents' acknowledgment.

"Since this is your true dream, let's start realizing it today! This is much simpler than becoming the Hokage."

Hui's voice seemed to become more cheerful.

A smile slowly reappeared on Naruto's face.

Naruto nodded heavily: "Yeah! Hui, do you have any good ideas?"

Sasuke took the tools with a face full of black lines; why did he have to follow these two idiots today to do something like this?

He could have been happily training ninjutsu with his brother at the training ground.

Instead, he was now picking up trash with these two idiots.

Picking up trash? That bastard Hui really knew how to come up with such things.

Naruto, having taken the tools, was also a bit stunned.

Could this really make him gain acknowledgment?

"Start with small things and give everyone a good impression; only then can you make them acknowledge you from the bottom of their hearts."

"I heard from Father... from a senior, that there was once a hero in the Uchiha clan named Obito Uchiha."

"He was kind-hearted; he would even help elderly ladies on the side of the road cross the street."

"Although he was a dead-last, no one ever looked down on him."

Listening to this example, Naruto Uzumaki felt as if he had found the path forward.

"Oh! Sasuke, Hui, let's clean up all the trash in the entire village today!"

"Hmph, how could the three of us possibly finish that?"

"Stupid Sasuke, we can use ninjutsu! Watch this."

"Multi Shadow Clone Technique! Everyone, let's go! We'll finish all the tasks before the sun sets today."

"Yeah!"

With Naruto's army of clones leaving Hui and Sasuke dumbfounded, they finished the cleaning work in Konoha by four in the afternoon.

At the general store.

A middle-aged man sat bored in his chair, covering his face with the hat on his head while humming an unknown tune.

His name was Miki, an ordinary general store owner.

Hearing a sound at the door, he quickly stood up.

"Demon... Naruto-kun, is it? There's so much! Did you collect all of this by yourself?"

Miki had originally wanted to chase this "Demon Fox" away, but the higher-ups had recently issued a warning.

He had no choice but to adjust his attitude.

However, looking at the dense pile of dozens of sacks of trash in front of him, Miki felt quite annoyed.

Miki ran a general store, and occasionally collecting recyclables from children was merely his way of contributing to Konoha; he didn't consider it a livelihood at all.

But the exhausted expression on the "Demon Fox" before him made his intention to refuse the goods stall.

"No, no, my friends and I finished it together. Uncle, how much is all this worth?"

Although Naruto was exhausted, his spirits remained high.

He rubbed the back of his head, his eyes crinkling into slits as he smiled.

Whether there was actually any money in Naruto's small wallet was a Schrödinger's question.

But at this point in the timeline, Naruto truly didn't have much.

Naruto also seemed to understand why Hui wanted him to gain recognition in this way.

Naruto Uzumaki, just like this, little by little, you will gain everyone's recognition just like Obito-senpai.

Naruto thought to himself.

Miki handed over a thick stack of banknotes, watching as the "ninja" adults—as he wished—sorted and stored the bags of trash.

Although Miki still harbored resentment toward Naruto, this emotion was no longer as deep as it once was.

"Demon Fox"? A Demon Fox wouldn't treat them like this.

Prejudice in the human heart is a great mountain, and at this moment, the mountain had its first climber.

There were no roads in the world originally; they only became roads once many people walked them.

Hui intended to use the life philosophies he had learned to help Naruto climb this high peak.

Seeing Naruto return, Hui waved his hand from afar and shouted, "How about that? I told you this time would be different."

The exhaustion that had been on Naruto's face vanished, and he waved back from a distance.

Sasuke, who was slumped on a bench nearby, forced himself to sit up straight upon hearing Hui's voice.

Just moments ago, Sasuke had pushed himself to the limit to create six clones, carrying seven times the exhaustion to keep working until now.

That he had managed to persist until now was entirely due to his competitive nature.

As Naruto approached, he divided the payment into three, intending to split it equally among his good friends.

"Haha, no need, no need. Naruto, you did almost all the work just now."

"Right, Sasuke?"

Hui nudged Sasuke with his elbow.

Sasuke didn't want to answer anything right now; he simply nodded.

In truth, Hui wasn't very tired.

Hui understood that his own fatigue could not exceed a certain limit, or it would make his mother worry.

He apologized to his two friends in his heart for keeping his clone count the same as Sasuke's until now.

Receiving Sasuke's response, Hui smiled at Naruto and said, "How about you treat us to a meal, Naruto? That ramen you mentioned last time sounded pretty good."

"As payment, treat us to ramen."

Sasuke struggled to control his voice as he said, "I... me too."

Naruto's hand tightened, the banknotes in his grip crinkling under the pressure.

He understood; neither of his two friends lacked money, nor did they care about it.

Shaking off his chaotic thoughts, Naruto plastered a sun-like smile back onto his face.

"Alright! Then, let's head to Ichiraku Ramen."

"Itadakimasu! *3"

Inside the Ichiraku Ramen shop, the three of them wolfed down their noodles.

For Ichiraku Ramen to stand out among the shops run by clan ninjas, it had to be said that they truly had some skill.

For the past few years, Hui had been eating meals made by Chuanhe, so changing the flavor occasionally wasn't bad at all.

Sasuke was likely starving, as he finished every last drop and ordered several more bowls.

"Sorry, Uncle Teuchi. We're eating a bit too much today."

Naruto pressed his palms together, offering an apology to Teuchi.

"Haha, I'm just happy that everyone enjoys my cooking."

Naruto placed the money on the counter, his movements still unpracticed.

Every time he came here to eat, he kept the kindness Uncle Teuchi showed him firmly in his heart.

Seeing that his two friends were nearly finished, Naruto stood to the side and took a deep breath.

"Hui, I've decided. I'm going to earn everyone's recognition, before I graduate from the Ninja Academy!"

This time, Naruto made his vow with great solemnity.

Hui's hand, holding his chopsticks, paused.

Sasuke also stopped his soup-drinking for a moment.

Though the wish seemed the same as always, it was actually Naruto's most significant change yet.

"Mm! I wish you success!"

"Hmph! If you want to earn recognition, you'll have to get past me first."

"Huh? Sasuke, you guy actually haven't recognized me yet? This is the first I'm hearing of this."

"Shut up, Naruto, you..."

Teuchi watched the laughter and joy unfolding before him, genuinely happy for Naruto.

It's good, you're finally not alone anymore, Naruto.

Ayame and I will be rooting for you too.

Meanwhile, at night, in the Hokage Building.

Shisui Uchiha arrived in a hurry and knocked on the door of the Hokage's office.

Inside the room, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had been debating with Danzo, revealed a strange smile upon seeing that the visitor was Shisui Uchiha.

All this time, Chuanhe had always possessed a mysterious confidence regarding the future.

However, lacking sufficient life experience, he would eventually pay the price for his arrogance.