Dodging Debt

The Third Hokage walked in slowly, chuckling amiably.

"I heard from Asuma that the scratch-off tickets you sell here can win all sorts of curious things?"

Wu Di gave a light laugh, speaking modestly.

"They're just ordinary things, nothing special. If the Third Hokage is curious, why not give it a try?"

"Just what I was thinking!" The Third Hokage laughed heartily. "I hear your most expensive ones are a million per ticket?"

Wu Di's eyes lit up, and his service attitude improved by three notches.

"I didn't expect the Third Hokage to know so much about my shop. That's right, a million per ticket."

"Would you like to try one, Third Hokage?"

The Third Hokage rolled up his sleeves, pulled a silver note from his pouch, and slapped it on the counter.

With great boldness, he said, "Give me one for a hundred thousand."

Wu Di immediately stumbled, cursing the Third Hokage's breath-holding antics in his heart.

Still, a hundred-thousand ticket wasn't cheap either—earning a hundred thousand was still a hundred thousand.

He reached back and pulled out a hundred-thousand scratch-off ticket, placed it before the Third Hokage, and carefully explained the rules of the game.

The Third Hokage took a coin, his eyes gleaming with bright light.

Seeing this, the passersby outside gradually gathered around.

This was the Third Hokage, a figure rarely glimpsed even on ordinary days, and today he was inside a scratch-off shop.

What's more, they'd vaguely heard him say he was going to scratch a hundred-thousand ryo ticket.

A hundred-thousand ryo scratch-off—they'd never even seen one before!

Listening to the "scrape, scrape" sound, everyone's hearts rose to their throats.

Suddenly, a flash of golden light appeared, and a cyan ancient tome slowly floated out.

The Third Hokage was overjoyed, and Wu Di's expression grew even brighter.

On the cover of the cyan ancient tome, five golden characters shimmered like flowing light: Heaven and Earth Great Shift.

This secret manual was a legendary masterpiece created by Master Jin from the real world.

It was the dream of countless youths who harbored martial arts fantasies in their younger days.

Back then, Wu Di had also fantasized about possessing this divine skill, unbeatable under heaven.

Now, the divine skill had appeared. As the Third Hokage obtained Heaven and Earth Great Shift, he also received a copy.

Suppressing his excitement, he explained with a smile.

"Third Hokage, this ancient tome is one of the secret texts passed down in my homeland."

"Once this skill is cultivated to its peak, one can shift the objects of the heavens and earth—moving mountains and overturning seas is no difficult feat!"

The surrounding crowd was astonished, never expecting that a hundred-thousand silver note could yield something so formidable.

Even the Third Hokage couldn't help but tremble.

Looking back at all the ninjas in history, only two had ever achieved the power to move mountains and overturn seas!

One was Senju Hashirama, the other Uchiha Madara.

Most crucially, those two had kicked the bucket many years ago.

If this book was as miraculous as the shopkeeper claimed, wouldn't he become the third peerless powerhouse after them?

The Third Hokage's heart swelled with anticipation, his gaze lingering on Heaven and Earth Great Shift as he said.

"Then I'll head back and practice. You keep running your shop well."

"I have high hopes for you!"

With that, he turned and walked out the door, heading toward the Hokage Building.

The onlookers were all stirred up, their mouths dry with excitement.

If what Wu Di said was true, wouldn't the Third Hokage's strength rise to an even higher level?

By then, looking across the entire world, who would dare provoke Konoha?

They could already see Konoha dominating the world.

But they overlooked one thing.

Wu Di had said that this book required a long time to cultivate. In the early stages, even if its power manifested, it wouldn't be too strong.

Still, that was only relative to the Third Hokage.

As for himself, from the moment Heaven and Earth Great Shift was scratched out, he had already mastered it completely!

He tidied up the counter, dirtied from the scratching, and prepared to welcome the next batch of customers.

Just then, a familiar shout came from afar.

"Boss, we're back! First, give me five hundred-ryo scratch-offs!"

That voice... it's Uzumaki Naruto!

Wu Di frowned, counting on his fingers.

"The timing's off too. Normally, following the original story's pace, they should just be encountering Zabuza for the second time now."

"Could it be..."

He remembered that both Kakashi and Naruto had items from his shop on them, and relaxed a bit.

"Maybe they used those items to speed things up!"

After muttering under his breath, he quickly wiped the counter clean and pulled out five hundred-ryo scratch-off tickets from behind him.

Soon, Naruto and Kakashi's group entered the small shop together.

Naruto clutched coins in his hand and sat down excitedly.

But before he could even start scratching, a shout came from the Ichiraku Ramen Shop across the street—Uncle Ichiraku's voice.

"Naruto, pay up now!"

Naruto shuddered instantly, the image of a furious Uncle Ichiraku flashing through his mind. He swallowed hard.

He tucked the five scratch-off tickets away, glanced left and right, and lowered his voice.

"Boss, does your shop have a back door?"

Wu Di's face darkened.

This kid—who taught him to borrow money and not pay it back!

That kind of habit couldn't be indulged.

"This shop has never had a back door."

Naruto slapped his forehead, his tone dropping low.

"What do I do then? I don't have any extra money to pay right now!"

After a sigh, he reluctantly reached into his pocket.

"Looks like I'll have to return these five scratch-off tickets first."

Wu Di's expression shifted sharply.

"How can that be? This shop has never had a return or exchange policy!"

Then he cleared his throat lightly and pointed at the window beside him.

"That's the only way to sneak out of this little shop!"

Naruto shot up, cupped his hands in thanks.

With a light leap, he slipped right out the window.

Kakashi and the others wanted to stop him, but Wu Di deliberately slapped over a dozen scratch-off tickets on the counter right then.

Distracting them completely from Naruto.

No sooner had Naruto fled than Uncle Ichiraku burst in, brandishing a ladle: "Naruto, pay up—"

Before his voice even settled, he suddenly realized there was no sign of Naruto in the room.

Kakashi and the others were all fumbling for coins in their pockets.

He looked up at Wu Di and asked, "Boss, where's Naruto?"

Wu Di tilted his head and jutted his chin toward the swaying window.

"Naruto, don't run!"

Uncle Ichiraku raised his ladle high and charged out with the force of a sweeping army.

Outside, Naruto had barely gotten far when he heard that life-or-death call. Every hair on his body stood on end, and he leaped straight onto a rooftop.

Ichiraku wasn't a ninja after all—he only chased a short distance before losing him completely.

Furious, he threw his ladle to the ground and stomped his foot repeatedly. "Naruto, you'll never eat Ichiraku Ramen again as long as you live!"

After escaping a good distance, Naruto saw that Ichiraku hadn't followed and let out a long breath.

The silver notes he'd earn from this mission were barely under a thousand ryo.

After deducting the five hundred for the scratch-off tickets, what remained was just enough to scrape by.

He pulled the scratch-off tickets from his chest, both eyes gleaming with golden light.

With a soft chuckle, he ducked straight into the nearby woods.