Naruto stepped out onto the street and looked at the ANBU who was still staring at the Hyuga clan's gate. The corner of his lips curled into a mocking smile.
"What are you doing? Why are you following me again? I'm telling you, I'm going to become the Hokage!"
Naruto shouted at him.
The ANBU responsible for monitoring Naruto turned pale in shock.
Naruto grinned, raised the silver banknote in his hand, and shook it.
"You're not planning to rob a child of his money, are you? Let me tell you, this was given to me by the head of the Hyuga clan of Konoha. If you dare take it, the next second your corpse will be lying right here."
At that moment, both the Hyuga clan guards and the ANBU responsible for surveillance turned pale.
Why was Naruto provoking them all the time?
Seeing that both sides remained silent, Naruto muttered,
"Boring."
After that, he headed straight toward Konoha's shopping street.
Watching Naruto leave safely, the ANBU finally let out a sigh of relief. He shot Naruto an annoyed glare before disappearing into the shadows.
Naruto simply snorted.
"Hmph."
All the way, Naruto wandered through the streets of Konoha.
The villagers around him deliberately avoided him.
"Damn it, that demon fox is out again!"
"I'm afraid he might transform again!"
"Why does the village allow that demon to live among us?!"
Many villagers even forced their children to throw stones at Naruto.
Naruto raised an eyebrow. Without hesitation, he caught one of the flying stones and threw it right back.
The children immediately cried out in pain.
The villagers became furious, rolling up their sleeves as if preparing to teach Naruto a lesson.
Although the Third Hokage had forbidden people from mentioning the Nine-Tails, rumors continued to spread.
Even though the Third Hokage had issued the order, he largely ignored the villagers' bullying of Naruto.
Thus, when Naruto had just begun living on his own, he was often chased around. Only after gaining some strength did he start going out freely.
The reason he came out today was because the Hidden Cloud shinobi mission had already set a date for their visit.
This was an extremely important turning point in the history of the Hokage.
From the moment the Hyuga clan incident occurred, Konoha gradually changed from a powerful village into a place where everyone schemed against one another.
Various famous clans slowly withdrew from the center of power in Konoha, and the era of the Third Hokage's true monopoly over authority began.
Konoha lost its balance after the series of actions taken by the Third Hokage.
Obviously, Iwagakure had lost the war, yet a peace treaty was signed without any advantages for Konoha.
For the sake of so-called peace, the Third Hokage even demanded that the head of the Hyuga clan—one of Konoha's greatest clans—be handed over to the enemy shinobi village.
This decision was nothing short of outrageous.
After all, Konoha was the victorious side.
The enemy mission had come to request a ceasefire and sign a peace treaty.
Yet Sarutobi Hiruzen claimed that the village could no longer endure another major war.
To the Hyuga elders, the meaning was clear: if you do not resolve this matter yourselves, you will personally go to the Hidden Cloud village.
It was a blatant threat against the Hyuga clan.
After that incident, the Hyuga clan was completely brought under the Hokage's control.
And it was during that period that the Third Hokage crushed the opposition within Konoha and firmly consolidated his power.
With the Nine-Tails controlled by the Sharingan, the Uchiha clan was relocated to the outskirts of Konoha.
Using himself as bait, he lured Danzo into attempting an assassination, then suppressed the high-ranking members of Danzo's faction.
Later, through the Hyuga clan incident, he eliminated their descendants and warned the other clans not to step out of line—otherwise they would suffer the same fate as the Hyuga clan, with even their clan head sent to the grave.
At such a critical moment, how could Naruto possibly miss the chance to add fuel to the fire for Sarutobi Hiruzen?
Watching several adults rushing toward him, Naruto laughed right in their faces.
Watching the show?
If they don't come out again, I'll order the Nine-Tails to cause chaos. Didn't they spread rumors that I might run wild? I'll give them a real show.
"Stop!"
Suddenly, a shout rang out.
Naruto raised his head with a smirk and saw Sarutobi Hiruzen walking toward him, accompanied by the ANBU who had just run off to report the situation.
"Lord Hokage!"
Several villagers hurriedly stepped back and awkwardly looked at the Third Hokage.
Although Naruto's identity was already widely known, the order forbidding discussion of the Nine-Tails had also been issued by the Third Hokage himself.
"What are you doing? How can you treat a child like this?!"
The Third Hokage shouted.
Then he crouched down.
"Little Naruto, you're not hurt, are you?"
Naruto suddenly collapsed onto the ground and began shouting loudly.
"I'm injured! He hit me! I'm suffering from severe internal injuries right now! Without 180,000 ryo, this matter can't be settled!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen: "???"
The villagers' eyes widened.
"My child was beaten by your brat and we haven't even asked for compensation yet—how are you the one lying on the ground first?!"
"Don't believe him! You demon fox!"
One of them shouted loudly.
Naruto suddenly burst into laughter and shouted even louder.
"Did you hear that, old man Third Hokage? He called me the demon fox! Weren't you the one who issued the order that this topic is forbidden?! Don't think I'll stay silent this time! Otherwise I'll tell everyone that the Third Hokage's orders are meaningless!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen: "..."