Dodging Debts

The Third Hokage slowly walked in, smiling.

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

Wu Di smiled softly and replied modestly.

"They're all ordinary items, nothing rare. If Lord Third Hokage is curious, why not try your hand at a couple?"

"That was exactly my intention!" The Third Hokage laughed heartily. "I heard your most expensive ones cost a million each?"

Wu Di's eyes lit up, and his service attitude improved by several degrees.

"I didn't expect the Third Hokage to know this shop so well. That's right, they're one million each."

"Would the Third Hokage like to try one?"

The Third Hokage rolled up his sleeves, pulled out a silver note from his bag, and slapped it onto the counter.

Then he said generously, "Give me a hundred-thousand one."

Wu Di nearly stumbled, silently cursing the Third Hokage for dragging out the suspense.

Still, a hundred thousand each was no small sum. Ten thousand earned was still ten thousand earned.

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

The Third Hokage held a coin, his eyes shining brightly.

Seeing this, passersby outside began gathering around.

This was the Third Hokage, someone they normally rarely even caught a glimpse of, yet he had actually appeared inside a scratch-off ticket shop today.

And they had vaguely heard him say that he wanted to scratch a ticket worth a hundred thousand ryo.

They had never even seen a hundred-thousand-ryo scratch-off ticket before!

As the scraping sound rang out, everyone's hearts rose into their throats.

Suddenly, golden light flashed, and an ancient cyan tome slowly floated out.

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

Five gilded characters gleamed across the cyan tome's cover: Heaven and Earth Great Shift.

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

It had been the dream of countless youths who carried dreams of martial arts.

Back then, Wu Di had also imagined possessing such divine skills and becoming invincible throughout the world.

Now that the divine skill had appeared, the Third Hokage received Heaven and Earth Great Shift, while Wu Di received a copy as well.

Suppressing his excitement, he explained with a smile.

"Lord Third Hokage, this ancient tome is one of my hometown's secret inherited texts."

"Once this art is cultivated to great mastery, one can shift all things beneath the heavens. Moving mountains and overturning seas would not be difficult!"

The people around them were stunned. They had not expected something so overbearing to come from a hundred-thousand silver note.

Even the Third Hokage himself could not help trembling.

Looking across all the ninjas who had appeared throughout history, perhaps only two had ever been capable of moving mountains and overturning seas!

One was Senju Hashirama, and the other was Uchiha Madara.

Most importantly, those two had been dead for many years already.

If this book really was as miraculous as the shop owner claimed, would he not become the third peerless powerhouse after them?

Filled with anticipation, the Third Hokage gazed eagerly at Heaven and Earth Great Shift.

"Then I'll head back and begin practicing. Keep running your shop well."

"I think very highly of you!"

With that, he turned and left, heading toward the Hokage Building.

The onlookers were so excited their mouths had gone dry.

If things were truly as Wu Di had said, would the Third Hokage's strength not rise to an even higher level?

At that point, looking across the entire world, who would dare provoke Konoha?

They could practically see Konoha dominating the entire world.

However, they had overlooked one point.

Wu Di had said that this book required a long period of cultivation. Even if it showed its power in the early stages, it would not be too strong.

But that was only true for the Third Hokage.

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

He tidied up the table dirtied during the scratching and prepared to welcome the next batch of customers.

Just then, a familiar shout came from the distance.

"Boss, we're back! Give me five hundred-ryo scratch-off tickets first!"

That voice... it was Uzumaki Naruto!

Wu Di frowned and counted on his fingers.

"The timing is wrong. Normally, based on the original story's pace, they should only be encountering Zabuza for the second time right now."

"Could it be..."

He remembered that Kakashi and Naruto both had items from his shop, and felt much more relieved.

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

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

Before long, Naruto entered the little shop together with Kakashi and the others.

Naruto gripped a coin in his hand and sat down excitedly.

But before he could start scratching, a roar came from the Ichiraku Ramen Shop across the way. It was the owner, Otsutsuki Ikkaku.

"Naruto, pay back the money already!"

Naruto instantly shuddered. Uncle Ichiaku's furious face appeared in his mind, and he swallowed hard.

He put away the five scratch-off tickets, glanced around, and asked quietly.

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

Wu Di's face darkened.

Who had taught this brat to borrow money and refuse to repay it?

He could not indulge that kind of bad habit.

"This shop has never had a back door."

Naruto slapped his forehead, his voice low.

"Then what am I supposed to do? I don't have any extra money to pay him back right now!"

After sighing, he hesitantly reached into his pocket.

"Looks like I can only return these five scratch-off tickets first."

Wu Di's expression changed abruptly.

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

He then coughed lightly and pointed toward the window beside them.

"This is the only place in the shop where you can sneak away."

Naruto sprang to his feet and clasped his fists in thanks.

With a nimble leap, he vaulted through the window and slipped away.

Kakashi and the others had originally wanted to stop him, but Wu Di happened to slap down more than a dozen scratch-off tickets at that moment.

They were immediately too distracted to pay Naruto any attention.

No sooner had Naruto fled than Uncle Ichiaku charged in with a ladle in hand. "Naruto, pay back the money..."

Before his voice had even faded, he suddenly realized that Naruto was nowhere to be seen inside.

Kakashi and the others were all searching their pockets for coins.

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

Wu Di tilted his head and gestured with his lips toward the swaying window.

"Naruto, don't run!"

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

Outside, Naruto had not run far when he heard that life-threatening call. Every hair on his body stood on end, and he immediately leaped onto a rooftop.

Uncle Ichiaku was not a ninja, after all. After chasing for only a short distance, he completely lost Naruto.

Furious, he threw the ladle to the ground and stamped his feet repeatedly.

"Naruto, don't even think about eating Ichiraku Ramen again for the rest of your life!"

After escaping some distance, Naruto saw that Uncle Ichiaku had not caught up and let out a long breath.

The silver notes he could earn from this mission amounted to less than a thousand ryo.

After deducting the five hundred ryo spent on scratch-off tickets, the remainder was barely enough to keep him going.

He pulled out the scratch-off tickets from his clothes, golden light constantly flashing in his eyes.

After chuckling softly, he slipped directly into the nearby forest.