Mizuki eventually left, and Naruto continued fishing by the river. With the help of the Full-level Fishing Mastery buff, it wasn't long before he successfully caught a large basket full of wild fish.
Including the two he had already roasted and eaten, Naruto didn't actually need that many fish. Without a refrigerator at home, taking them back would just lead to spoilage.
Initially, Naruto just wanted to test how effective the Full-level Fishing Mastery was, but the result was far beyond his expectations.
From the moment he cast his line, he caught fish continuously. Even without bait on the hook, as long as Naruto held the rod, fish would keep coming.
What stopped him from continuing fishing was not time or his stamina, but the fact that the fish basket, which was taller than his waist, was already full and could not hold any more fish. The fish were so packed that they could easily jump out with a slight struggle.
Looking at the basket full of big, juicy fish, Naruto fell silent.
Taking them home wasn't realistic, as without a refrigerator, he couldn't store them.
Sell them? That wasn't an option either. No fish shop in the village would buy fish from him. Not only would they not buy it, they would even suspect that Naruto stole it from somewhere.
Following the principle of avoiding unnecessary trouble, Naruto abandoned the idea of selling the fish.
That left only one option, which is to give them away.
He had very few friends, so few that he could count them on one hand, so deciding whom to give them to required little deliberation.
'The Hyuga Clan would definitely not accept gifts from me, so they are ruled out! Iruka-sensei is a single guy, but he has always been kind to me after all, so he deserved a few extra fish.'
Choji's house was too far away, so Naruto gave up on that. Shikamaru was a good candidate, so he could drop some off there too.
He also excluded Sakura and Ino. At this stage, Naruto's relationship with them wasn't very close, and suddenly giving them a strange gift would only cause trouble.
"Is this a new Ninjutsu developed by Naruto?" The white-haired old man, the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, was currently watching the scene in the crystal ball with a wide smile.
This is Hiruzen's favorite voyeurism technique. Everything that happened to Naruto by the river just now was seen by him.
"Hiruzen, you're too soft." A cold voice interrupted, "If the Jinchuriki harbors resentment towards the village, it will be catastrophic for the village!"
"Danzo, Naruto has made his choice." Hiruzen stroked his gray beard and said seriously, "He wasn't swayed by Mizuki and rejected him."
"Although the crystal ball can't capture sound, I'm sure it's not hard for you to know what Naruto said."
"The Jinchuriki has suffered too much unfair treatment in the village, so the conflict between the villagers and Naruto is difficult to reconcile. If we can't resolve it, Kyubi might reappear."
"Hmph!" Danzo snorted, and said indignantly, "Give him to me, and I guarantee he will become the village's safest weapon."
Hiruzen was displeased when he heard this, and his expression immediately darkened.
"Danzo, I am the Hokage!"
"I'm well aware of what you've been up to, Danzo, you should take care of yourself. Naruto is an important companion of the village, not a cold weapon. The Root has gotten enough weapons, you don't need to worry about Naruto's affairs."
Faced with Hiruzen's warning, Danzo was obviously unconvinced, but there's nothing he could do about it.
The person sitting in that position was Sarutobi Hiruzen, not him, Shimura Danzo, and this almost become his lifetime regret.
The Yondaime Hokage, the Sannin, Kakashi, and even the current Kyubi's Jinchuriki, all of them have a close relationship with Hiruzen. Danzo knew that the Hokage's position might only be passed back and forth among them.
'This old fox Hiruzen wanted to change the entire Konoha Village by himself. He's delusional! Konoha Village is not his village alone!'
"Huruzen, you will regret this!" Danzo threw out this parting words before slamming the door behind him.
"Sigh…"
Hiruzen didn't say anything more, just sighed softly.
…
Outside Shikamaru's house.
Three knocks broke the quiet atmosphere, and the person who came to open the door was Nara Shikaku, the scar-faced Konoha's top think tank and military strategist.
As the door opened, the bright light from inside spilled out like silk threads, illuminating Naruto's feet.
Seeing Naruto covered in fishy smell, Shikaku was somewhat surprised.
"Naruto? What brings you here? Isn't tomorrow the Academy Graduation Exam?"
The main reason why Shikaku was so surprised was because Naruto rarely came to his house. Even when he came to see Shikamaru, no matter how much he was invited inside, Naruto would never come in.
He would just stand far away under the shade of a tree, curiously and nervously observing the household.
To others, Naruto might seem like a mischievous kid, but Shikaku knew about Naruto's inferiority complex and sensitivity, which is why he never told Shikamaru not to play with Naruto.
Hearing Shikaku's questions, Naruto smiled brightly, then reached out and pushed the almost empty fish basket in front of Shikaku, and said loudly.
"I caught too many fish today. I can't eat them all, and I can't store them, so I wanted to give some to Shikamaru."
There were only five or six fish left in the basket, as Naruto had already given fish to everyone else, leaving only Shikamaru's family.
"This..." Shikaku scratched his head, looking at the fish in the basket with some difficulty, "Uncle will have to ask Auntie."
The sound of cooking came from inside the house. At this time, Shikamaru seemed to hear Naruto's voice outside and came out. He poked his head out from behind his father, and his eyes lit up when he saw the basket of fish.
"Naruto, you're amazing. How did you catch so many fish?"
"I don't know either." Naruto scratched his head and said with a silly smile, "Maybe I have a talent for fishing."
Shikaku, who was standing nearby, couldn't help but be moved when he heard this. He thought to himself, 'For such a young child to have such skill in fishing, he must have gone through a lot of hardships to practice it.'
The big fish in the mountains are very smart and it is not easy to catch them even with bait. Shikaku had tried fishing there before, but gave up after coming back empty-handed a few times.
"Naruto, wait a moment." Shikaku said, leaving Naruto and going back inside.
After a while, he returned, placing a box of snacks and a box of food in Naruto's hands. Shikaku looked at the somewhat bewildered Naruto and smiled.
"This is our thanks for your gift, please accept it."
Naruto looked at Shikaku, then looked down at the two boxes of food in his hands, then turned to look at Shikamaru beside him.
"Take it." Shikamaru said, looking nonchalant as he held his head, "If my mom finds out you didn't accept it, she would probably feel so guilty that she couldn't sleep all night."
"Thank you." Naruto said with a smile, then turned to leave.
"Naruto!" Shikamaru suddenly called out to him, "We have the Graduation Exam tomorrow, don't oversleep!"
"Got it!" Naruto waved his hand, seemingly taking the advice to heart.
Even after his figure disappeared into the night, Shikamaru's worried expression didn't ease.