Ichiraku Ramen.
Today, Naruto was full after just five bowls of ramen.
Unlike last time, when his first chakra training session had required a huge amount of energy, and his mind had remained in the Sealing Space the entire time, leaving him ravenous when he came out.
This time, he wasn't nearly as hungry, so five bowls were enough.
After eating his fill, Naruto took the meal voucher out of his pocket and handed it to Teuchi.
"Hey, mister... can I save the remaining five bowls on this voucher for next time?"
Teuchi smiled when he saw the voucher. "Of course! Speaking of which... where did you get this? I only sold it this afternoon, and you're already using it tonight!"
His words made Naruto pause. Then he asked, "Who bought this voucher?"
"A masked ninja bought it this afternoon! We didn't actually have a ten-bowl voucher, but he paid for ten bowls up front, so I made this one specially. It's the only one."
Hearing that, Naruto immediately understood what had happened.
Was it because of the laptop?
I bet it'll already be gone when I get home!
Naruto had anticipated that his laptop would be taken. Apart from games, it only contained some unimportant files, and he had deleted all the Naruto-related games well in advance.
At that thought, something suddenly occurred to him...
He didn't seem to have deleted those several terabytes of torrents...
Naruto shook his head hard, thinking, They probably took my laptop because of those games. The Third Hokage is probably just looking at the games I usually play.
As Naruto muttered to himself, he also prayed that the Third Hokage wouldn't open his "study materials."
For an old pervert like the Third Hokage, that stuff was practically a potent drug.
One look, and he might never tear himself away.
If the Third Hokage really became addicted to those videos... he would probably retire early from excessive blood loss or malnutrition, long before Orochimaru's Konoha Crush.
Naruto stopped dwelling on all that nonsense.
With a full belly, he strolled leisurely toward home.
While he was still some distance from his house, he heard several familiar voices.
"Hey, everyone, look! Her eyes are white!"
"White-eyed freak..."
"Let's throw snowballs at her..."
Naruto knew those voices well. They belonged to the little brats whose heads he had bloodied last time with rocks hidden inside snowballs.
Looking toward the voices, Naruto saw that it was indeed those same brats.
Two of them had shaved heads, and the scabbed wounds on their scalps were clearly visible.
The girl they were bullying was another familiar face: Hinata Hyuga.
Naturally, Naruto couldn't stand by while little Hinata was bullied.
"You lot, stop right there!" Naruto shouted at the brats.
Hearing his shout, the brats turned toward him. When they saw Naruto, they cried out, "Demon Fox!" and backed away, snowballs poised in their hands, ready to attack him at any moment.
Naruto gave an unconcerned sneer and walked over to Hinata.
Seeing the snow on her head, he reached out to straighten her hair and asked, "Are you okay?"
"I... I'm... I'm okay."
Hinata lowered her head and answered shyly.
Seeing her like that, Naruto inwardly exclaimed, So cute...
Just as Naruto was about to say something else, a snowball struck the back of his head.
He turned around in irritation and saw one of the little bald boys watching him smugly.
At the sight of that bald head, Naruto considered using his old trick again, then realized he might not need violence this time...
Pointing at the boy who had thrown the snowball, Naruto said coolly, "Hey, baldy. You and your friends had better get your families ready to collect your bodies!"
The brats froze at his words, unsure what he meant.
"Is the Demon Fox going to go berserk and kill us all?"
"What do we do...? I don't want to die!"
"Hmph! Don't worry. We have Lord Third Hokage in the village. Even if the Demon Fox transforms, he'll take him down!"
Meanwhile, the Third Hokage, in whom those brats had placed their hopes, was watching a video with a deathly pale face and a hand clamped over his nose.
Question: why did the Third Hokage keep watching when he was already this drained?
Answer: he was working to overcome his weakness.
A ninja endured what ordinary people could not, bearing every hardship and overcoming every obstacle to complete a mission.
A little nosebleed was nothing to the distinguished Third Hokage of Konoha.
The Third Hokage successfully finished the first film, then clicked on the second with a trembling finger.
Less than two minutes into the film, blood spurted from his nose again.
This film opened with a particularly steamy scene... catching the unprepared Third Hokage off guard.
Back to Naruto.
Listening to the brats, Naruto curled his lip in disdain.
"Do you really think I'd need to lift a finger to get rid of you?"
As he spoke, Naruto pointed at Hinata behind him and asked, "Do you know who she is?"
The ringleader asked, "Who is she?"
"Heh..." Naruto sneered. "She's the princess of the Hyuga Clan, one of Konoha's most prestigious clans."
"And those beautiful eyes of hers are the hallmark of the Hyuga Clan-the Byakugan!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Hinata blushed behind him because he had called her eyes beautiful.
Naruto didn't notice her bashful expression and continued scaring them.
"Not only did you bully her, you called her a white-eyed freak. That's an insult to the entire Hyuga Clan."
"Do you think the Hyuga Clan will let you get away with that?"
Naruto's words sent the brats' hearts pounding.
They were all panicking now. Although they were commoners, they knew there were two prestigious clans in Konoha that must never be provoked: the Uchiha and the Hyuga.
How could they have known that the white-eyed girl was the Hyuga Clan's princess, and that her eyes were the legendary Byakugan?
If they had known, who would have dared bully her? They would have put her on a pedestal instead.
Just as the brats began to panic, Naruto continued.
"The Hyuga Clan will kill you, then drive your families out of Konoha! They'll leave them to fend for themselves out there."
The moment Naruto finished speaking, the brats all burst into tears.
Seeing that, a wicked smile spread across Naruto's lips.
Kindhearted Hinata, however, tugged on his clothes and whispered, "Um... our Hyuga Clan... wouldn't do anything that cruel..."
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