Hokage Building, Mission Hall.
Sandaime Hokage stared at the large pile of cash on the desk, then glanced at Naruto's calm face.
His pipe hung from his half-open mouth for a long moment.
"S-Seventy thousand ryo?"
Hokage-sama picked up the bills, still disbelieving, and counted them again and again.
"It's only been three days and you've paid off the whole debt?"
The old man's eyes narrowed sharply as he studied Naruto.
"Naruto, tell me honestly—where did this money come from?"
Kakashi-sensei, standing to one side, looked over in surprise.
Just two days earlier Naruto had been frantic for pocket change.
Today he'd produced seven hundred thousand ryo out of thin air?
Even a Jonin grinding S-rank missions couldn't earn that fast.
"Hokage-sama, you're wronging me."
Naruto adjusted his glasses, an innocent smile on his face.
"I simply used some basic methods—to carry out a little… short-term, high-frequency arbitrage on 'random variables' at a few of the village's entertainment venues."
"Short-term, high-frequency arbitrage?"
Sakura-chan leaned in, curious.
"What does that mean?"
Naruto only smiled.
He certainly wasn't going to explain how he'd used Henge no Jutsu to pose as a tourist, coordinated with Kage Bunshin watching from every angle, swept the casinos dry by every trick imaginable, then slipped out in small groups.
By the time he and his Kage Bunshin had vanished, the casino owners still had no idea what had hit them—only that they'd lost a fortune.
It seemed a bunch of tourists had been outrageously lucky: hit big and leave.
No chance for anyone to pick a fight.
"In short, it's all legal income—no trouble at all."
Naruto said it as if it were nothing.
Sasuke shot him a sidelong glance and secretly rolled his eyes.
"This guy… even gambling sounds classy when he puts it that way…"
Sandaime Hokage, old fox that he was, more or less guessed from Naruto's evasive answer what the boy had done—he'd gone "shopping" at the casinos.
Hiruzen pocketed the money and tapped out his pipe, his tone half-warning, half-indulgent.
"Since the debt's cleared, we'll let it go this once."
"Only this once. From now on, leave the village's businesses alone."
"Understood."
Naruto nodded obediently.
He caught the real message—inside the village was off-limits; outside the village… fair game.
Kakashi-sensei sighed to himself.
Only Naruto could pull this off; any other shinobi caught doing the same would rot in prison.
Sandaime Hokage didn't press the matter further.
He simply stowed the cash and relit his pipe.
"Now that the training ground's repaired and the debt's settled… I must say, Team 7's efficiency has exceeded my expectations."
"Ordinary D-rank missions offer you no real training now."
Hiruzen flipped through the mission files on his desk and looked at Kakashi-sensei.
"Kakashi, what do you think? Ready to give them a C-rank?"
Kakashi-sensei scratched his head; his dead-fish eyes slid over the three students.
Sasuke was eager, Sakura-chan bright-eyed.
Naruto looked indifferent.
"Well… if they've got this much energy, let's send them somewhere farther afield."
Kakashi-sensei rummaged through the stack and finally drew one out.
"This one: escort duty."
"All right!"
Sakura-chan cheered.
Even Sasuke allowed himself a faint smile—finally free of weed-pulling, hole-filling D-ranks.
A little later, the office door burst open, a reek of alcohol pouring in.
Hic…
A tipsy old man tottered in, bottle in hand.
He wore glasses, a towel across his back, threadbare clothes, face flushed.
"What the—"
The old man squinted in disdain at the three children of Team 7.
"These brats are the shinobi protecting me? Babies who haven't even been weaned?"
"Is Konohagakure that short-handed? I paid good money!"
The lively air froze instantly.
Sasuke's brows drew together; Sakura-chan clenched her fists.
Only Naruto showed no anger, said nothing.
He simply adjusted his glasses, blue eyes scanning the old man like a scanner.
"Worn clothes, soles heavily scuffed—means tight budget."
"Knuckles broad, calloused—long years of hard labor."
"But…"
Naruto's gaze settled on the bottle in the man's hand.
"Broke yet drinking high-proof liquor… and weighed down by crushing stress, even a death-wish…"
"He's drowning fear in drink, running from something huge."
"Kakashi-sensei."
Naruto suddenly spoke, cutting off the old man's complaints.
"We're not taking this mission."
"What?"
Kakashi-sensei blinked; Hiruzen paused, pipe halfway to his lips, waiting for an explanation.
"It's a rare C-rank…"
Sakura-chan, too, was puzzled.
Naruto shook his head and walked straight up to the old man.
Though shorter, the aura he radiated snapped the drunk halfway sober.
"Sir, you lied."
Naruto's voice was calm, cold.
"C-rank means guarding against bandits or thugs—no shinobi-level combat."
"Everything you've done tells me shinobi are hunting you."
"This isn't C-rank; it's B, maybe even A—high-risk."
The old man's face drained; the bottle nearly slipped from his fingers.
"Y-you're talking nonsense…"
"I don't care what your reasons are."
Naruto turned his back, voice devoid of warmth.
"We're fresh Genin, not cannon fodder."
"C-rank pay for unknown danger is irresponsible with our lives."
"If you won't tell the truth, leave."
The words were cool, rational, yet burned with protectiveness toward his teammates.
Sakura-chan gazed at Naruto in admiration.
Even Sasuke swallowed his irritation; he craved battle, but Naruto was right—no point dying cheap.
Kakashi-sensei exhaled.
"Since it's exposed, nothing we can do—mission cancelled."
"Please resubmit the request, sir."
"W-wait!"
The old man—Tazuna—finally broke.
He dropped to his knees, tears streaming.
"Please… without you, I'm dead!"
"Nami no Kuni… my homeland is finished!"
Naruto, unmoved, started for the door.
"I had no choice!"
Tazuna sobbed.
"If I had money, I wouldn't have lied!"
"But that Gato—damn tycoon! He monopolized all sea trade, squeezed every ryo from us!"
At that, Naruto halted mid-step.
"He's richer than a nation, but ruthless!"
"I only want to build a bridge… break his stranglehold…"
Tazuna kept wailing, wiping snot and tears.
Naruto slowly turned back.
The coldness was gone; behind his lenses glinted an almost excited gleam.
"Hold on…"
His voice softened, even eager.
"Did you just say… the man chasing you is rotten and loaded?"