The fishing gear was ready.Next came banced nutrition.

  It wasn’t enough to just eat fish; vegetables were also necessary, and of course, seasonings were essential.

  Otherwise... the smell of fish alone could make someone gag.

  At night, as the streets emptied, Naruto slipped out again.

  The ANBU operative stationed in the shadows to monitor him narrowed his eyes with barely concealed impatience.

  "You're here?"

  "No, you asked me to buy something for you."

  "Credit? No! Unless the interest is three percent per day, I won’t lend you a single ryo."

  Naruto was speechless.

  One thousand ryo... to buy seasonings and some vegetable seeds, and the final bill came to thirteen hundred.

  Even though Naruto knew the actual cost was likely far less than a thousand, there was nothing he could do. What about the delivery fee?

  Besides, forming a stable connection with another "sister" could be beneficial in the future.

  Yes, TenTen was one year older than him.

  "Sister~"

  "Please~ I'll bring you more fish next time."

  "Well, since you call me sister, fine. I’ll let it slide this time. Remember, I won’t charge you 3% interest per day... I’ll charge you 10% interest per month instead."

  Extortion.

  Absolutely ruthless extortion!

  Seeing Naruto’s clueless expression, TenTen hesitated.

  She pouted and scoffed, "Hmph, you wouldn’t get it even if I expined, stupid little brother."

  "I won’t charge you interest this time."

  After saying that, she put on an exaggerated mature act and ruffled Naruto’s messy blond hair.

  Her eyebrows immediately curved in delight—she finally got to touch it. It felt nice.

  After picking up his things, Naruto grabbed a few more bags on his way back.

  On the first day, the entire thousand ryo was spent.

  The ANBU operative watching him sneered.

  Lowering his head, he silently recorded Naruto’s activities for the day.

  No words were spoken that night.

  The next morning, Naruto went downstairs carrying a bag to collect soil.

  After mixing it with water to shape it properly, he pced it on his balcony and pnted vegetable seeds.

  At noon, he ate some nearly expired instant ramen that had mysteriously appeared in his cupboard.

  Naruto wasn’t surprised at all.

  There was no way the Hokage’s office would allow him to starve to death.

  His only concern now was whether his vegetables would be destroyed once they started growing.

  Many residents in the nearby apartment buildings had already moved out.

  While Naruto enjoyed the newfound peace, he also knew the vilgers’ hatred toward him had reached its peak.

  If he didn’t act out like in the original timeline and they couldn’t find a reason to vent...

  He had another cup of instant ramen at noon.

  It was tasteless, but at least he had soy sauce.

  He ate it anyway and tried using the power of his Mori Mori no Mi to absorb nutrients.

  But the nutrients were barely there—if not outright nonexistent.

  In the original story, Naruto wasn’t even able to buy food at first.

  Even if he had a thousand ryo, he wouldn’t have been allowed to spend it.

  That meant these nearly worthless, nutritionless instant ramen packets must be appearing at his pce regurly.

  There were fewer people outside at noon, so Naruto chose that time to go out.

  Konohagakure had the best geographical location in the entire Shinobi World.

  Mountains, rivers—it had everything.

  It didn’t take long for Naruto to find a fishing spot in the forest.

  From there, he could slowly inch closer to the Uchiha district.

  After the Nine-Tails' attack, the Uchiha had been forced to relocate to the outskirts of the vilge, their original nds now occupied by the Konoha Council’s top brass.

  Naruto’s current apartment was also in the vilge’s outer zone.

  He had the advantage of location.

  Two and a half years would be enough to prepare.

  With the power of the Mori Mori no Mi, he could foresee his success—within two and a half years, he would cim Uchiha Shisui’s body.

  Everything was in pce: the right time, the right pce, and the right people.

  A small figure moved quickly through the streets.

  The vilgers immediately took notice.

  After his identity had been "revealed" yesterday, many regretted not taking action sooner. Now that the decree had been issued, they needed an excuse to sh out.

  Countless resentful eyes bore down on him.

  Naruto’s expression grew colder. This feeling was suffocating.

  Suddenly, a mask dropped in front of him.

  A strange sense of familiarity washed over him.

  He chose to walk around it.

  But if nothing unexpected happened, then something unexpected was bound to occur.

  Bang!

  Naruto fell to the ground.

  His nose throbbed from the impact, and his eye sockets reddened at an arming speed.

  He had tried to avoid it, but a figure had deliberately stepped in his path.

  Or perhaps... they had done it on purpose.

  "Are you blind?!"

  The mask shop owner yelled at him angrily.

  "You stepped on the mask and broke it! What are you going to do about it?!"

  Naruto slowly lifted his head, his blue eyes icy cold.

  No fear.

  The mask shop owner didn’t even try to hide the hatred in his gaze as he raised his hand to sp Naruto.

  Naruto’s anger fred.

  If he couldn’t change things, was he expected to simply endure?

  No.

  He shot to his feet, took the sp head-on, and stomped down hard.

  Snap—

  The mask beneath him shattered.

  At the same time, his cheek burned from the sp.

  Ringing ears. Darkened vision.

  But he forced himself to move, staggering toward the mask shop.

  The shop owner had regretted hitting him the moment he did it.

  "Damn it! Hokage-sama just issued that decree yesterday..."

  He hesitated for a brief moment.

  Naruto took advantage of that opening, rushing past him.

  Once inside the shop, Naruto kicked over the wooden stand dispying masks.

  Jumping onto it, he stomped down repeatedly.

  Crack, crack—

  The masks broke one after another.

  The shop owner finally snapped out of his daze and shoved Naruto away.

  "You brat! Are you looking for a beating?!"

  Then, seeing the pile of broken masks, his heart clenched.

  Naruto y on the ground without making a sound.

  But his eyes—his eyes were like those of a predator locking onto prey.

  "My masks... you’re going to compensate me!"

  The shop owner shuddered at Naruto’s gaze but quickly suppressed his unease with anger.

  He took a step forward, this time raising his foot.

  Whoosh—

  A figure suddenly appeared in front of Naruto, blocking the kick.

  The ANBU operative had finally intervened.

  He coldly looked at the shop owner and said:

  "That’s enough."

  The moment he saw the ANBU, the shop owner paled.

  Naruto said nothing. He simply got up, dusted off his pants, grabbed his fishing gear, and walked away under countless hateful stares.

  The crowd dispersed shortly after.

  The ANBU grabbed the shop owner’s wrist impatiently.

  "Come with me to see Hokage-sama. The decree was issued yesterday, and you already broke it today... You’re the first."

  The shop owner’s face turned ghostly pale.

  But the ANBU ignored his pleading and dragged him off.

  Meanwhile, another ANBU operative in the shadows continued trailing Naruto.

  Unnoticed by all, a girl had witnessed the entire incident from start to finish.

  "Why does everyone treat him like this?"

  "He didn’t do anything wrong."

  "The shop owner was the one who started it!"

  "He’s so pitiful..."

  LordMerlin