Robbing Money

Wu Di looked at the two items in Naruto's hands and spoke softly.

"The meatball in your left hand is called a Futon."

"It is specially used to capture carnivorous animals."

"Once a beast eats the meatball, it will obey your commands completely."

"As for the scroll in your right hand..."

Wu Di examined it carefully and immediately sucked in a sharp breath.

Naruto truly was the protagonist of the Hokage. Even his scratch-offs were overflowing with absurd luck!

"This contains a composite ninjutsu called Wood Style: Thousand Years of Impalement Technique."

"It has both the restraining effect of Wood Style: Impale Technique and the profound essence of the Thousand Years of Death taijutsu. Go back and practice it properly!"

Naruto scratched his head, completely bewildered.

He had heard before of Wood Style's power, but the other ninjutsu in this combination... seemed a little useless!

If it had been combined with some powerful offensive ninjutsu, wouldn't that have made him invincible?

But after thinking it over, he came around.

A scratch-off ticket only cost one hundred ryo. Getting a ninjutsu out of one was already great—what more could he ask for?

He put away the two items and was just about to leave.

When a burly white figure blocked the doorway.

He wore a chef's hat with two large red characters printed on it: Ichiraku!

Naruto instantly sensed trouble.

Just as he was about to turn and escape through the window, someone grabbed him by the collar from behind.

"Naruto—pay me back!"

Uncle Ichiaku roared.

In his panic, Naruto raised two fingers and blindly jabbed behind him. "Sunflower - Acupoint Sealing Technique!"

The next second, he felt Uncle Ichiaku become unable to move. With a little force, he broke free from Uncle Ichiaku's grasp.

Turning around, he grinned with a shameless look on his face.

"Uncle Ichiaku, give me a few more days."

"Once I save up money from missions, I'll definitely pay you back right away!"

Uncle Ichiaku's round eyes bulged. He wanted to curse Naruto out, but he found that he could not open his mouth at all and could only whimper from deep in his throat.

Naruto clapped his hands and swaggered away.

By the time Uncle Ichiaku recovered, Naruto had long since vanished.

Walking down the street, Naruto felt somewhat dejected.

He would have to repay the money he owed Ichiraku Ramen sooner or later, but he also wanted to save the money he earned from missions for scratch-off tickets.

What was he supposed to do?

Just as he hesitated, a ninja wearing black sunglasses and a black headscarf ran past around the street corner.

Naruto chased after him and saw that he was pursuing a five- or six-year-old child.

"Master Konohamaru, come back! The Third Hokage is looking for you!"

"I'm not going back! That old man forcing me to learn ninjutsu is driving me crazy!" Konohamaru shouted.

A sly glint suddenly flashed through Naruto's eyes.

"Right, how could I have forgotten the ultimate secret of the Sunflower - Acupoint Sealing Technique?"

Wearing an expression of pure wickedness, he hurriedly chased after them.

"Teacher Ebisu, leave Konohamaru to me!"

He shouted from behind.

Ebisu stopped and glanced sideways at Naruto, pushing up his glasses.

Naruto was now a genin as well, so as an instructor, Ebisu could naturally leave such a low-level mission to him.

Ebisu folded his arms and nodded. "Go ahead!"

"Got it!"

Naruto revealed a triumphant smile and shouted at Konohamaru, "Konohamaru, stop right there!"

Ebisu crossed his arms, preparing to enjoy the scene that was about to unfold.

But just as Naruto passed him, he suddenly changed direction.

Two fingers shot out.

"Sunflower - Acupoint Sealing Technique!"

The moment the words fell, Ebisu was startled. Then, to his astonishment, he discovered that he could not move!

His eyes widened. He wanted to ask Naruto what he had done to him, but he could not even open his mouth.

"Sorry, Teacher Ebisu!"

Naruto rubbed his palms together as he approached, then reached directly into Ebisu's pocket under his watchful gaze.

"Naruto, what are you doing? I'm warning you, I'm a teacher at the Ninja Academy!"

"You dare do this to me? Aren't you afraid I'll send you back to the Ninja Academy to start over?"

"I'll make you study alongside those four- and five-year-old kids! Ah! Naruto, I'm going to kill you!"

Ebisu looked calm on the surface, but inwardly he had already cursed Naruto thousands upon thousands of times. The corners of his eyes had even grown damp.

He watched Naruto hold his wallet and brazenly pull out silver notes.

That money had originally been meant for buying flowers from the Yamanaka family for the girl he liked...

Naruto pulled out three thousand ryo in silver notes, leaving Ebisu only a few hundred ryo to live on.

"Teacher Ebisu, thanks! Once I'm rich, I'll definitely pay you back!"

Naruto closed the wallet with a grin and directly hooked it onto Ebisu's glasses frame.

Not far away, Konohamaru saw Naruto robbing him and excitedly ran over.

"Hero, please take me as your disciple!"

Naruto ignored him, gave him a glance, and kept walking.

Konohamaru stomped his foot and shouted.

"If you don't take me in, I'll tell Grandpa that you robbed someone in public!"

The moment Naruto heard that, his short temper flared up. He immediately gave Konohamaru a full set of Sunflower - Acupoint Sealing Technique.

Looking at the two people frozen in place and unable to move, Naruto chuckled and left while humming a tune.

A few minutes later, Ebisu's immobilization wore off. Tears streaming down his face, he took the wallet from his glasses and howled at the sky.

"Naruto, I will never rest until one of us is dead!"

Though he shouted loudly over there, Naruto could no longer hear him.

He came out of Ichiraku Ramen, looked at the remaining two hundred ryo in his hand, and let out a long sigh.

Just then, Sakura walked past him.

"Naruto, I saw a D-rank mission in the mission handbook that requires three people to complete."

"I already contacted Sasuke earlier. We're only short one person now. Are you coming?"

Naruto immediately became excited. "Yes, of course I'm coming!"

To receive an invitation from Sakura was an enormous blessing to him. How could he possibly refuse?

"Then let's hurry. Don't make Sasuke wait too long!"

Sakura said with a smile, though a trace of anxiety appeared in her eyes.

Naruto's heart skipped a beat when he saw that, but he still followed behind her as they headed into the forest together.

In the forest, Sasuke fiddled with the Otaku Provocation Stick in his hand, waving it around in every direction.

By sheer coincidence, through a stretch of trees, it pointed at a wild bear consumed by savagery.

A roar immediately tore through the forest.

Outside the forest, Sakura looked toward the source of the roar and said nervously.

"Oh no, that's exactly where our mission area is. Sasuke must have run into danger over there!"

The moment she finished speaking, she leaped up and rushed into the woods.

Naruto followed behind her. Seeing how worried she was about Sasuke made him feel a little uncomfortable.

But he still followed her anyway, despite himself.

In the blink of an eye, they arrived at the mission area.

From afar, they saw a wild bear scorched black all over, with several kunai embedded in its back, roaring up at the sky beneath a tree.

On a thick branch above its head, Sasuke crouched helplessly.

"Sasuke!" Sakura stopped and shouted loudly.