But the wooden stick didn't hit Naruto's head like before.
In the moment he moved—
A cold gleam flashed.
The kunai sliced through the soft wood, and the broomstick's head fell to the ground, kicking up dust.
"Damn it! My broom!" The convenience store owner's anger overwhelmed his mind. Unaware of what Naruto's retaliation meant, he only cared about his property. He raised his hand, ready to strike again. "You damned brat, you only bring trouble."
He didn't even finish his sentence.
Naruto grabbed his wrist, lifted his leg, and tripped him to the ground.
The kunai flicked once more.
The convenience store owner looked up, still wanting to curse.
Clang—
The kunai pressed lightly against his nose as he was pinned to the ground, vibrating faintly like a fragile string.
This momentarily stunned him.
A tingling prick in his tailbone spread lightning through his body; his hair stood on end.
The pain brought him back to focus.
His arm bent unnaturally—not broken, but muscles and tendons stretched painfully to their limit.
These sensations overwhelmed the anger in his mind.
He began to panic, realizing he was the one being "hunted." "What do you want to do?"
The Nine-Tailed Fox
"Buy something." Naruto kept looking into the shop, eyes fixed on the clock. "Don't worry, I'll pay. So, will you welcome me this time?"
The convenience store owner gritted his teeth. "I don't welcome you."
Naruto exerted force, twisting the arm's angle further.
Sweat broke out on the owner's forehead, and he hurriedly changed his words: "Welcome, welcome! Of course, you're welcome."
Naruto gave a cold smile, grabbed the kunai, threw it back into his pocket, and walked into the convenience store.
If it were three years ago, he wouldn't have used this method.
But—
In the Soul Society for three years, he learned that violence sometimes solved "necessary" problems more easily than anything else.
"Food" was not a necessity in the Flowing Soul Street.
Normal souls didn't feel hunger.
Only souls with spiritual power needed to eat.
So food was extremely expensive.
If you didn't want to starve, you had to resort to some shady means.
In the first half-year, Naruto survived using this method.
Only after finding a job and stable income later did he abandon "robbery," and it took a year to repay the cost of all the food he had taken.
He walked into the convenience store.
The clock's numbers ticked.
It wasn't broken.
So… he had spent three years in the Soul Society, yet Konoha's time barely passed—or hadn't moved at all?
He pondered this as he picked ingredients.
A piece of meat, two potatoes, some spices, and a bag of rice cost less than 600 ryō.
This was the market price.
Naruto didn't take advantage of the chaos.
But after he left, the convenience store owner hurriedly closed and complained to the Konoha guards.
Lawlessness!
They knew that brat shouldn't be allowed into the ninja academy.
Now that he had learned some skills, he dared to attack innocent people like them.
What about next?
Hokage Tower
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was reviewing official documents.
A ninja knocked and entered. "Third Lord, that Uzumaki troublemaker caused trouble again!"
Sarutobi was unfazed, speaking calmly: "What prank did that Naruto kid pull this time?"
"He had a conflict with a convenience store owner and injured him." The ninja gritted his teeth in hatred.
Sarutobi's expression grew serious.
Uzumaki Naruto was a troublemaker.
But before, it was just pranks limited to the school, meant to attract attention.
Now… he actually injured someone?
That was the first time, a new low.
A true conflict.
"Where did Naruto go now?" Sarutobi asked.
The ninja replied, "He went home."
Sarutobi breathed a sigh of relief. Going home was good; no need to escalate matters. "Got it, I'll talk to him seriously."
"Naruto really went too far this time."
Naruto's residence wasn't far from Hokage Tower—cheap apartments in the village center.
Sarutobi hurried over in a few minutes.
He knocked on the door, frowning, puzzled.
His guidance for Naruto had always been strict; Naruto used to obey well, even when bullied severely, never retaliated.
But today…
The door quickly opened. Wearing an apron and holding a kitchen knife, Naruto greeted him, eyes lighting up: "Third Grandpa!"
In Konoha, this man was the one who cared for him most.
Bearing the name "Hokage," he was the strongest and wisest person in the village.
Naruto really wanted to see him!
Both emotionally,
And because of all the questions swirling in his head—Why did he go to the Soul Society? Why did he come back? Why hadn't time passed in Konoha after three years?
Sarutobi looked through Naruto into the room, a bit dazed.
A room stretching to the far end.
Clean.
Neat.
Only food ingredients on the table—potatoes, meat—and rice cooking on the stove.
Nothing like Naruto's place.
Much had changed after a few days.
But the important thing was the "hitting people" incident; these changes weren't so important.
Sarutobi smiled gently and asked, "Naruto, a convenience store owner came to complain to me, saying you hit him. Do you have some conflict with him?"
So that was why he came.
Naruto corrected him: "I didn't hit him. He attacked me first."
Sarutobi nodded. "Why did he attack you?"
Naruto told the truth.
"I wanted to buy ingredients to cook. But as soon as I stepped into his store, before I said anything, he wanted to hit me."
"I only stopped him from hitting me, and tried to do business."
"I did pay for the things I bought."
Sarutobi relaxed a bit.
So it was like that?
Not an intentional act to "hurt someone in revenge"—that was good.
His tone softened: "Even so, Naruto, you could come find me."
"Fighting is not a good thing after all. Naruto, do you remember my teaching? No matter when, you should never hit people from the village."
Naruto was stunned.
Two streams of memories surged through his mind.
One was from the Soul Society—when he was starving and had to steal food, chased by the owner with a knife, cursed and scowled.
But after he worked and repaid his debt, the owner was relieved and said Naruto had done nothing wrong at the time—he just needed to show he couldn't be robbed at will. Weakness would lead to being bullied. If the owner thought Naruto was a problem, he would have called the Shinigami to deal with him.
Becoming "ugly" to survive was not a sin.
Naruto's willingness to make amends made it all beautiful.
The other memory was older and related to the Third Hokage—a fragmented memory.
Whenever he was bullied as a child and fought back, the Third Hokage was always there to comfort him.
It felt warm then; only Third Grandpa cared.
But thinking back now—
Those who bullied him were never punished or even scolded. The next day, they were still alive and kicking, bullying him again.
Those comforting words now seemed like lessons in weakness and submission.
By contrast,
Naruto felt he preferred the owner's curses.
"Do I have to find Third Grandpa every time I want to buy something?" Naruto interrupted.
Sarutobi was taken aback.
Naruto spoke resolutely, word by word:
"When Third Grandpa is around, they respect you and agree to let me buy things. But once Third Grandpa leaves, they don't welcome me."
"Every time, I have to hoard a ton of stuff."
"But I do pay for what I buy, not shorting him a single ryō."
"He wanted to hit me; I stopped him. If he got hurt, it's his own fault."
"Am I the problem?"
"Should I just accept being beaten and cursed without fighting back?"
"Should I eat instant noodles every day? Is it wrong for me to want to eat real food?"
"Should I just go fish in the mountains or pick mushrooms to eat?"
The bottled-up emotions burst out as a series of questions, and shuriken flew, leaving Sarutobi stunned and unable to defend.
He knew how to answer—
But he hadn't expected Naruto, who had been enduring for so many years, to suddenly explode like this without warning.
"Naruto, they might have some misunderstandings, but the village is a whole." Sarutobi tried the old moral appeal about the village as a whole.
Naruto didn't buy it.
Or rather, the old Naruto would have cared deeply about the village as his only home.
But now—
He cut off Sarutobi again: "Third Grandpa, if they have the problem, please go solve their problem."
"Why come solve the problem of me, the victim?"
Bang—
The door slammed shut hard.
Naruto didn't want to talk to Sarutobi at all now.
Not to mention the questions and secrets in his mind.
The accompanying ninja shouted: "Uzumaki Naruto! Is this how you treat the Hokage?"
"Come out and apologize properly!"
His shout was stopped.
Sarutobi waved his hand. "No need. This is also my fault."
He sighed, feeling heavy and somewhat ashamed.
His gaze fell on the door.
He could hear the sound of chopping on a cutting board inside.
He felt he owed a lot to the Fourth Hokage.
(End of Chapter)