A river flowed down through the northeastern part of Konoha.
The water was neither deep nor swift. Even for a six-year-old child of Yecheng's height, it posed little danger.
He came here to fish and solve his food problem.
Yecheng had entered Konoha as an orphaned refugee and had originally been raised by the orphanage, so Yakushi Nonō should have covered his living expenses.
But Yecheng also knew that the orphanage's budget was tight. Supporting him as he became a ninja was even less realistic, so he might as well fend for himself.
With two lifetimes of experience and now the aid of the Six Eyes, feeding himself was no problem.
Yecheng casually tied a hemp string to a stick, attached an earthworm to the end, then sat on the bank and began fishing.
For someone with the Six Eyes, fishing was a trivial matter. No movement underwater could escape his eyes.
In just half an hour, he caught seven or eight fish weighing over ten kilograms altogether, enough to feed him for several days.
"If this were my previous life and I posted a video online, the comments would be full of anglers asking for the spot."
Yecheng chuckled, built a campfire, cleaned the scales and guts from the fish, and began grilling them.
Little fish, don't blame me for damaging your scales. Otherwise, my stomach would really suffer.
Too bad I don't have salt, cumin, or any other barbecue seasonings. Otherwise, fishing and camping by the river would be quite enjoyable.
While Yecheng was grilling the fish, he suddenly noticed a figure sneaking toward him.
Although he had not looked up, the Six Eyes' blind-spot-free vision spotted him immediately.
The boy had a head of blond hair and hid behind a tree, poking his head out to reveal the whisker marks on his face. He was drooling as he stared over with shining eyes.
His stare was so intense that Yecheng suspected he would have noticed him immediately even without the Six Eyes.
Naruto Uzumaki...
I didn't expect to meet this world's protagonist so soon.
But recalling Naruto's miserable childhood in the original story, then seeing his pitiful appearance now, Yecheng could not help sighing inwardly. This ninja village really had no decency.
They even bullied a six-year-old child. There was not a shred of human kindness.
"Stop hiding. I've already seen you. Come over."
Yecheng spoke as he turned a fish over.
Naruto Uzumaki was startled by his words at first, but then stepped openly out from behind the tree.
"Your grilled fish smells so good."
As he spoke, his eyes remained fixed on the grilled fish, and his stomach happened to growl.
"I caught a few extra today. Come and have some."
Yecheng smiled casually.
This river was almost untouched and unpolluted, with plenty of fish. There was no shortage of food.
"Huh! Can I?"
At those words, Naruto Uzumaki immediately widened his eyes and pointed at himself.
"Aren't you scared of me?"
"Why would I be scared of you?"
Yecheng asked in return, handing over the fish he had just finished grilling. "Would you hurt me?"
"Of course not!"
Naruto hurriedly said, "But everyone in the village is scared of me and hates me..."
As he spoke, his spirits visibly sank.
Although Naruto always pretended nothing was wrong, the truth was that he had been enduring the malice of almost the entire village.
It was comparable to being relentlessly harassed online for years.
Hearing his words, Yecheng smiled casually.
"What's that got to do with me? Here, take it. I don't have any salt right now, so it won't taste good once it gets cold."
Naruto froze for a moment. Apart from Grandpa Third, this was the first time anyone had shown him kindness.
"Hot!"
Naruto took the grilled fish and bit into it, immediately burning himself on the flesh.
Watching his clumsy behavior, Yecheng could not help saying helplessly, "Eat slowly. Blow on it first."
"Huff-huff-"
"It's delicious!"
Naruto stared wide-eyed at the grilled fish in his hands and exclaimed in delight, "How does your grilled fish taste so good? And it doesn't have any scales!"
Yecheng asked doubtfully, "You've eaten fish with the scales on?"
"Yeah. All the fish I catch have scales."
Naruto spoke indistinctly as he ate.
"..."
Yecheng fell silent. No one had taught him that fish needed to be scaled and gutted before grilling, so he had always grilled them whole.
There was no way that would taste good.
"Watch carefully. Do it like this next time, and yours will taste good too."
Right in front of him, Yecheng took a fresh fish from the bucket, killed it with a stone, removed its gills, slit its belly and took out the guts, then scraped off its scales...
"So grilling fish is this much trouble."
Naruto watched eagerly, his eyes shining.
Yecheng smiled. "It's easy. Just do it like this next time, and it won't taste bad."
"Yeah! Thank you... Ah, I still don't know your name."
Only then did Naruto remember that they had not exchanged names. He hurriedly said, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and my dream is to become Hokage!"
"Yecheng."
He smiled. "Here, try doing it yourself."
Yecheng handed him the small knife and guided Naruto through preparing the fish step by step.
But in the end, he had underestimated Naruto's carelessness. Even with his patient, step-by-step guidance, Naruto still failed at grilling the fish and ended up with something resembling a lump of charcoal.
"..."
Yecheng laughed in exasperation and said helplessly, "How about this? Come back tomorrow. I'll be fishing here for a while yet."
"Yeah! Thank you, Yecheng! You're such a good person!"
At those words, the dejected little blond boy immediately perked up.
[Successfully befriended the child of destiny, "Naruto Uzumaki." Favorability increased. Fate points +18] [Current fate points: 20] [Current lifespan: 15]
He might have called me a good person, but these fate points are the real deal.
Still, Yecheng reflected that he had yet to master the Six Eyes and had barely even begun developing them. There was no rush to draw a new card.
Besides, he really wanted to save up and see what good things he could get from a ten-pull.
According to the system, a ten-pull guaranteed a purple card!
Single pulls could work miracles, but they could not produce gold every time.
After parting with Naruto, Yecheng carried the remaining fish in his bucket to a restaurant in the village and sold them all for well below market price, earning 30 ryō.
It was not much, but at least dinner was taken care of.
This was because the timing was wrong. Generally, fish needed to be sold at the market before dawn, when they fetched a much higher price than at this hour.
But Yecheng did not care much. Selling fish was only a stopgap to earn enough for a meal.
With memories of his previous life, there were all too many ways to make money in this age of ninjas.
For now, he only needed to keep building a good relationship with Naruto and wait for the Ninja Academy to start in a little while.
This year's students were no ordinary bunch. The heirs of Konoha's prominent ninja clans were all in this year's intake, studying alongside Naruto.
Getting along with them should earn me quite a few fate points, right?
Before you continue