At this time, cooking smoke curled up everywhere in Konoha.
It was mealtime, and the fragrance of rice drifted from every home.
But the ANBU monitoring Naruto could only hide in corners and fill their stomachs with dry rations.
As ANBU, they normally could not eat strongly flavored food. If they did not eat dry rations, they could only go hungry.
But they would be changing shifts tomorrow.
No matter how dedicated the ANBU were, with nothing unusual happening at Naruto's home for two consecutive years, they had completely slackened off.
One group stood in the trees outside Naruto's room, chatting idly:
"Hey, when will these days ever end?"
"The Police Force doesn't keep watch after Naruto gets home anymore, so why do we have to stay here?"
Ono of the ANBU grumbled unhappily.
Kazuki beside him added, "They used to often have people from the Hyuga Clan come over to see what Naruto was doing in his room."
"But all he does is cook, eat, and sleep. Now no one else is willing to come."
Their captain stuffed a dry biscuit into his mouth while gulping down water.
"Don't take it so seriously. Just think of it as a vacation."
"Other than the bad food, this job is at least not dangerous."
Ono and Kazuki nodded. "When you put it that way, that's true."
Meanwhile, after dinner, Naruto sat cross-legged on his bed, trying to refine Chakra.
Beginners had not yet developed instinctive control over their meridians and spiritual energy.
Mixing Chakra this way would be more effective.
But his body was like a funnel. His mind desperately tried to draw in physical energy, yet the moment it fused, it was emptied out.
Naruto scratched at his head in frustration, unable to figure out why.
Clatter, clatter.
As