Money That Won't Be Spent

Jiraiya looked at Naruto's empty refrigerator once more.

He asked curiously, "Naruto, since you have money, why don't you go buy some fresh vegetables?"

Hearing Jiraiya's words, Naruto lowered his head and stammered, "Because... I can't spend it."

"Can't spend it?" Jiraiya didn't understand.

How could there be anyone in this world who would turn away business knocking at their door?

Naruto explained, "Everyone calls me the Demon Fox for no reason. Most shopkeepers see me and say they'd rather pour their milk down the drain than sell it to me."

"Only an old woman at a grocery store on the edge of the village is willing to secretly sell me some cheap milk, and she always tells me to drink it quickly."

"Ichiraku Ramen is also willing to serve me, but whenever I go there, no one else wants to come in to eat, so eventually, I felt too bad to go anymore."

Jiraiya fell silent for a long time after hearing Naruto's words.

He suddenly felt that the Konoha he had been protecting made him feel sick.

Naruto was the child of a hero.

At that moment, Naruto walked up to Jiraiya, tugged gently on his sleeve, and asked, "Pervy Sage, why does everyone treat me like this? What did I do wrong?"

"Also, what kind of people were my mom and dad? Do you know them?"

Jiraiya felt a lump in his throat at Naruto's questions.

He lowered his head and remained silent for a long time before replying, "Your father and mother were truly remarkable ninjas."

Naruto's eyes lit up. "Really? Pervy Sage?"

Jiraiya forced a smile, reached out to ruffle his hair, and said, "Yes. Get some rest now; I'll treat you to barbecue tomorrow."

Naruto looked at Jiraiya in disbelief. "Pervy Sage, really?"

Jiraiya nodded.

Afterward, he helped Naruto fix the window and told him to get a good night's sleep.

Jiraiya had already made up his mind; he planned to take Naruto and leave the village tomorrow.

The actions of this village had disappointed him far too much.

At the entrance of the Konoha Military Police Force.

Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu arrived with their confidants.

Just as Utatane Koharu was about to walk straight inside, she was blocked by a member of the Uchiha clan.

"Unauthorized personnel are not allowed to enter."

"Unauthorized personnel?" Utatane Koharu pointed at herself, speaking in disbelief.

She laughed in fury. "Say that again? I'm unauthorized personnel? Can you not see who I am?"

The Uchiha clansman didn't even lift his eyelids as he said indifferently, "Apologies, unauthorized personnel are prohibited from entering the Konoha Military Police Force."

Utatane Koharu pointed at the Uchiha clansman and said, "You will regret what you've done today!"

The Uchiha clansman slowly looked up, his hand resting on the long sword at his waist.

A flash of crimson crossed his eyes, and he stared at her expressionlessly with his Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

That gaze made Utatane Koharu, who had long lived a life of luxury, shiver.

As a cold breeze blew by, Utatane Koharu muttered to herself, "The weather... it's really cold."

As she spoke, she retreated on her own accord.

Seeing that the hard approach didn't work, Mitokado Homura quickly stepped in to play the peacemaker.

He walked over and said in a gentle tone, "It's like this: we have some business with Clan Leader Uchiha Fugaku. Is he here?"

The Uchiha clansman glanced at him sideways and nodded. "That's right, Uchiha Fugaku is indeed here."

Mitokado Homura immediately said politely, "Could you please trouble yourself to announce our arrival?"

"No problem. Wait here." The Uchiha clansman agreed quite readily.

Although Mitokado Homura was a bit surprised, he still gave his old partner a smug look.

Utatane Koharu understood what he meant.

See? The Uchiha clan only responds to soft tactics, not hard ones.

However, they would soon realize how foolish they were.

Half an hour later.

The two advisors, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu, were still waiting outside.

Meanwhile, in the office of the Konoha Military Police Force.

Uchiha Fugaku sat with his legs crossed, sipping a cup of hot tea.

The Uchiha clansman beside him asked cautiously, "Patriarch, is it really okay to leave those two advisors out in the cold?"

"Okay?" Uchiha Fugaku glanced at him and said indifferently, "Without the Third Hokage, those two are at best the patriarchs of two small clans, ordinary Jonin. They want to see me with just a word? What a joke."

"They're people who can't even see reality. Let them wait another half hour."

"If you can wait, wait. If you can't, get lost."

The thought of the two advisors' sarcastic remarks during the previous Konoha high-level meeting, coupled with the sight of them shivering below, filled Uchiha Fugaku with a sense of satisfaction.

Utatane Koharu leaned over to Mitokado Homura and whispered, "What exactly is going on?"

Mitokado Homura rubbed his hands and soothed, "Just wait a little longer, just a little longer."

In fact, Mitokado Homura had wanted to leave long ago, but they had already waited for an unknown amount of time. The cost of their silence forced them to continue waiting.

Half an hour later, Uchiha Fugaku said to the subordinate beside him, "Let them come up."

"Yes."

Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu were already numb from the cold.

A Uchiha clansman came down this time and said to the two, "Come in."

Hearing his words, the two quickly walked in.

At this moment, their confidants wanted to come in as well, but were directly stopped by the Uchiha clansman.

"Patriarch Fugaku only said to let you in. You are not allowed to enter."

When had their confidants ever suffered such humiliation?

One of them, who was at the forefront, was about to point at the Uchiha clansman and speak.

When he saw a group of Sharingan looking at them.

Recognizing reality in an instant, the advisors' confidants could only lower their hands, "Thank you for the reminder. We apologize for our rudeness just now."

Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu, suppressing their legs that were almost numb from the cold, stepped onto the stairs of the Konoha Military Police Force building.

The bright lights in the corridor made the two feel a little dizzy.

Creak.

As the office door was pushed open, a wave of warm air rushed towards them.

Uchiha Fugaku was sitting leisurely behind his large desk, holding a cup of steaming tea.

Seeing the two enter, Fugaku didn't even move from his seat. He slowly put down his teacup, a hypocritical, formulaic smile hanging on his lips:

"Oh my, aren't these the two advisors? What a rare visit. My subordinates below were ignorant and the notification was late, causing you both to wait. Please, sit down. Someone, pour the two advisors a cup of hot tea."

As soon as Utatane Koharu felt the warm air, her tense nerves immediately relaxed, and then endless humiliation and anger surged into her heart.

Although her lips were bruised from the cold, she still maintained her previous sharp and arrogant demeanor. She slammed her hand on Fugaku's desk:

"Uchiha Fugaku! Don't put on airs as the patriarch here! Do you know who we are? We are Konoha's advisors!

Even if Hiruzen is gone now, it's not your place as a captain of the Military Police Force to control us! You deliberately left us out in the cold, it's a public provocation to the village! Do you still have Konoha in your eyes, or the higher-ups!"