Naruto woke up from the hammock and saw it was already late. He waved to the four little helpers he had just recruited and said, "Let's go, I'll treat you guys to ramen."
"Yeah!"
A chorus of cheers erupted as the four kids, full of excitement, followed him to Ichiraku Ramen not far away.
Pulling back the warm curtain, Teuchi, the owner of Ichiraku, was about to welcome them when he looked up and saw Naruto leading four dirty children inside.
Teuchi was momentarily stunned but quickly returned to his usual demeanor and warmly asked, "What would you like to eat?"
Naruto actually doesn't like ramen very much. He gets a little tired of it after eating it a few times. Fortunately, he is not picky about food. Besides, he also wants to have close contact with Teuchi.
'Who knows, maybe Teuchi's real surname was Otsutsuki. After all, any Shinobi who hadn't eaten at Ichiraku Ramen seemed doomed to meet an untimely end.'
For this reason, Naruto always eats ramen with a pilgrimage mentality.
The four children seemed a little reserved. They didn't dare to speak while standing behind Naruto. They just glanced timidly at the menu on the wall.
Although Konoha's orphans are basically subsidized, they are also divided into different levels. In short, the situation of these four kids is not good. They are probably just barely able to get enough food.
Even Ichiraku Ramen was an unattainable delicacy for the four of them.
"I'll have the tonkotsu ramen," Naruto said, "And bring the same for my four friends."
"Sure, wait a moment." Teuchi responded cheerfully and headed back to the kitchen.
Under the warm lights, the four kids sat somewhat uncomfortably, while Naruto yawned and chatted with them out of boredom.
"Have you ever had tonkotsu ramen?"
"No." The four of them shook their heads.
"Then come and eat it every day from now on until you get sick of it." Naruto said casually, as if it was just a trivial remark.
He didn't even know what these four's names were. Naruto didn't ask and they didn't tell him.
"How is that possible?"
It is really possible, because what Naruto had the most now is money, and he has no place to spend it. He has no habit of squandering, and there is no reason for him to spend money casually.
"You'll see." Naruto said, "Anyway, meet me at the same place tomorrow. There'll be ice cream and ramen again."
"Got it, Boss!" The four of them showed happy expressions and answered in unison.
Naruto was genuinely bored, which is why he did seemingly pointless things. But until he finished those twenty D-Rank missions, he might not even be able to participate in the Chunin Exam.
If that's the case, then Naruto would just have to waste his August and September in boredom.
Watching the four eat happily, Naruto yawned again, feeling no appetite. He thought to himself, 'When will this boring day end? I can't wait for the Chunin Exams.'
Late into the night, Naruto parted ways with the four kids.
This scene happened to be witnessed by Ino, who had just finished her training. She was a little confused as to why Naruto was hanging out with those kids.
However, after watching them part ways, Ino didn't think too much about it and walked towards the Yamanaka Flower Shop.
She didn't know how to face Naruto now and didn't want to complicate their relationship further, so she decided to calm down for a while.
However, not long after she walked away, she brushed shoulders with an odd old man dressed in white hair. He was tall, wearing a mesh undershirt training suit covered with a red coat, and a headband with the word 'Oil' written on it.
'When did such the village have such a person?' Ino looked back at the man for a long time, but in the end, she did not follow him.
She felt that it might be related to the Chunin Exams that Konoha was going to host soon, as there are also many people coming from other villages. Now that she thinks about it this way, it makes sense.
Naruto also saw Jiraiya from a distance but didn't approach him. Instead, he headed home in his own direction.
'If I get involved with Jiraiya, my future will definitely be troublesome.'
He really didn't want to inherit the title of the Child of Prophecy. Honestly, Naruto couldn't believe what a toad had said.
Now that he is the Shinobi God, even though it was just an avatar, it had its advantages. Although it might not be useful, spreading hellish jokes around Konoha and disrupting public order wasn't a bad thing.
Unfortunately, Naruto had to make sure he wasn't caught. Besides himself, no one else could know he was the whining Shinobi God.
After returning home, Naruto went to sleep as usual.
At midnight, Naruto's biological clock made him suddenly open his eyes, then he checked the panel to update the Shinobi God's Diary on time.
"August 17th, The Will of Fire is the Shinobi World's trash."
After sending it, Naruto fell back asleep.
The next day, Konoha held a public lecture on the Will of Fire. Shinobi were distributing pamphlets about the Will of Fire everywhere in the streets, and many slogans were posted on walls.
Kakashi even informed Naruto to remember to attend the Will of Fire advanced course at the Academy, and also helped Sasuke and Sakura to attend the class.
"No way, I still have D-Rank missions to do," Naruto complained.
"I would have almost forgotten if you hadn't mentioned it." Kakashi scratched his head while squatting on Naruto's window, "How about this? Use transformation jutsu to substitute for Sasuke and Sakura in class, and you can skip the D-Rank missions."
"Deal."
"Oh, by the way," Kakashi suddenly remembered something and said before leaving, "Tomorrow, the three of you will go to the Academy to submit your application forms for the Chunin Exams. I have already submitted your names."
"Got it."
After giving the instructions, Kakashi disappeared.
"Ah." Naruto woke up lazily, washed up, and suddenly remembered his appointment with the four kids. So, he skipped class altogether.
At the entrance of the convenience store, Naruto and his gang of five squatted in a row, holding ice cream in their hands and licking them synchronously, with the scorching sun a few meters away from them.
"So, boss, you don't have to pick up trash today?" One of the boys asked, sounding a bit disappointed.
"Nah, not for now. Got other things to do." Naruto replied, swallowing his ice cream in one gulp and casually tossing away the stick. Then, he said, "Wait for me here. We'll have barbecue together around noon."
"Um." The only girl among the four raised her head, her messy long hair framing her face. She looked at Naruto and asked, "Why are you being so nice to us?"
"No reason." Naruto glanced back at them, "If I don't hang out with you guys, I wouldn't know what else to do."
"Anyway, just wait for me here obediently."
Leaving those words behind, Naruto walked away without looking back.
As his figure disappeared into the distance, one of the slightly thinner boys suddenly spoke up, his voice cracking like a duck, a voice that was clearly that of a thirteen or fourteen-year-old going through puberty.
"Hey, Tayuya, isn't this Kyubi's Jinchuriki a bit too easy to fool?"
The girl named Tayuya glared at the person who spoke and said, "Shut up. Keep talking like that, and I'll kill you!"