Bab 4: Being No One
With a creak, the apartment door was opened from outside.
The dim hallway light cut into the entryway like a blade, casting Naruto's stretched shadow onto the shoe rack, making it look like a sinister monster.
He changed his shoes, turned on the light.
Naruto stood on the balcony, letting the wind blow through his hair, with his cup noodles steaming on the small table behind him. He originally wanted to buy some vegetables, but it was too late, and he was kicked out, annoyed.
If there had been more people, or if Naruto had gone earlier, perhaps the shop owner wouldn't have shown such a gloomy expression.
He wasn't sure if there were any Anbu watching him now, or if what he said during the day had reached the Third Hokage's ears.
After all, a jinchūriki was the village's strongest weapon. If his attitude toward the village changed, it could lead to terrifying consequences.
But Naruto didn't care. He wasn't planning to take revenge on the village. He didn't even have any dark thoughts in his mind. He just wanted to lie flat.
Lying flat was cool, okay? With the system by his side and the reincarnation of Ashura, why not take the simpler path when the power of the system was greater than the Nine-Tails, and possibly even greater than any other power in this world?
In order to earn everyone's recognition, he had desperately wanted to become Hokage, to protect those who had discriminated and bullied him, just to earn their approval.
But that was too laughable. A person lives to show their own worth, not to gain value from others.
Walking on the road, being looked at with disgust, feeling inferior and sensitive, and experiencing guilt and disappointment—this was a people-pleasing personality, always seeking recognition and acceptance.
But now Naruto was no longer the old Naruto. He knew that being a goody-goody would only make people look down on him. There was no need to seek others' approval; he had to learn to make peace with himself.
Live as an ordinary ninja, lead a fulfilling life.
The ones in the wrong were them, the ones who wanted to take advantage of the Nine-Tails without wanting to pay the price.
Called "protection," but it was actually PUA (Psychological Manipulation).
Being Hokage was not Naruto's dream; it was the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen's dream, the ambitions of the higher-ups. They wanted Naruto to serve the village like the Fourth Hokage.
The summer night's moonlight was gentle, enveloping Konoha. The night wind blew through the balcony, lifting the hair on Naruto's forehead, and his eyes gradually became clear.
He didn't want to be Hokage, nor did he want to be recognized by others. He just wanted to live a mundane life and get stronger.
The cup noodles were a bit cold, but Naruto still ate them without changing his expression. After washing up, he lay on the bed and slowly closed his eyes.
The next day.
Not long after Naruto left the house, he ran into a brat wearing a white hat and a blue scarf—a boy who was none other than the Third Hokage's grandson, the heir to the Hokage position, Konohamaru.
Konohamaru was standing against a wall, covered by a disguise cloth. Seeing Naruto staring at him, he immediately yelled arrogantly.
"What are you looking at? Haven't you seen the young master practicing ninjutsu? My grandpa is the Hokage! Hurry up and get lost!"
Konohamaru stared at Naruto, who was dumbfounded by his scolding, feeling a bit disappointed. He thought, "This person is no different from others."
As soon as people hear that he's the Hokage's grandson, they should listen to him.
However, Naruto smiled and took out a few one-hundred-yen bills from his pocket, handing them to Konohamaru with both hands.
Konohamaru's face showed a disappointed expression. He waved his hand, impatiently saying,
"Go away, I don't want your money!"
"This is your medical and nutritional fee, kid... you're dead!" As he spoke, Naruto immediately started beating him up.
While hitting, he cursed,
"So the Hokage's grandson is so great? Who doesn't have a Hokage relative?"
At the ninja school, Naruto sat at the back of the classroom, yawning with a pale face.
No one was causing trouble for him today, but when he entered the classroom, there were still some disgusted looks.
At the podium, the teacher Iruka put away his lesson plan, coughed, and said,
"Tomorrow is the graduation exam. In the morning, we'll have a review exam on the Transformation Jutsu, and in the afternoon, we'll have an outdoor practical exam."
As soon as he finished speaking, the classroom became lively. The boys and girls whispered to each other, some excited, some nervous.
"Transformation Jutsu, huh, I'm good at that. Do you think tomorrow's graduation exam will involve the Transformation Jutsu?"
"I'm not sure. The exam will randomly pick one of the three jutsus for testing. The probability... heh, probably one-third."
"The first place will definitely be Sasuke. His grades are great in all subjects."
"The one at the bottom will definitely be that guy! Ha-ha!"
"Yeah, he looks like he has no brain, always doing annoying things! I heard he's been delayed for two years. He probably won't graduate this year either."
"People like him won't become ninjas after graduating, right?"
"Always failing wherever he goes, such a sad and gloomy life. If I were him, I'd rather die. Definitely wouldn't want to live with such shame."
Iruka on the podium also heard some of the gossip and didn't look too pleased. But he couldn't do anything about it, so he knocked on the desk to quiet the class.
"Everyone go outside and line up, one by one!"
Bored and waiting in line, Naruto yawned again. Shikamaru, noticing, asked in confusion,
"Where did you go last night?"
"The cup noodles went bad, I ate something that upset my stomach," Naruto said.
"I told you, can't you just cook something yourself?" Shikamaru gave him a sidelong glance. "At our age, we should be able to make some simple meals."
"Don't take what's easy for you to do as something normal, idiot!" Naruto bumped Shikamaru, "At least the cup noodle shop owner wouldn't give me that kind of look."
"Buying groceries every day, it's so troublesome and attention-grabbing, okay?"
Hearing this, Shikamaru paused, suddenly realizing the kind of looks Naruto usually got. What seemed like a simple thing to him might not be so simple for Naruto.
"Sorry, Naruto."
"You idiot... why are you apologizing?" Naruto glanced at Shikamaru without much reaction, then shifted his gaze to a pink-haired girl who was taking the exam.
Sakura Haruno, even more adorable in reality than in the manga, stood out with her fair skin among the other girls.
The crunching sound of chips could be heard as Choji stood behind Shikamaru, his small eyes scanning both Shikamaru and Naruto, taking in the scene that had just unfolded.
Ino, with blonde hair, stood one position ahead of Naruto. When she turned to look for Sasuke, she happened to notice Naruto's gaze on Sakura, and a smile curved at the corner of her mouth.
"Naruto, what are you looking at?"
At the sound, Naruto turned his head and saw Ino's mischievous, gossipy smile.
"Sasuke doesn't like women."
"What?" Ino's face immediately fell, her eyes wide in disbelief, and she was struck by the news!
"Damn! What did you say?"
"Hey, Ino, don't get so worked up!"
"Let go, Ino! Naruto's going to die!" Choji, not even able to eat his chips, hurriedly stepped forward to break up the fight.
"Let go of me! I'll bite that bastard to death! Damn it!" Ino, fuming with rage, tried to hit Naruto, but Choji quickly held her back.
Shikamaru, seeing the commotion, hurriedly stepped in to separate the two. At that moment, Iruka's angry voice rang out from the classroom.
"Quiet out there!"
"Next! Uchiha Sasuke!"
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