Chapter 24: Hinata, Have You Ever Used Your Byakugan to Peek at Naruto?
"This hot spring feels off," Naruto said.
His words startled the others, especially Kiba, who had almost jumped into the pool.
Kiba looked at the hot spring suspiciously but couldn't see anything wrong. "The pool looks pretty clean to me. What's off about it?"
Naruto didn't explain further. He directly called over the male staff member who had been adding things to the pool earlier.
Staring at him with sharp eyes, Naruto questioned, "What exactly were those powders you just put into the pool?!"
The male staff member didn't panic at all. He put on a professional smile and answered,
"It's just ordinary medicinal powder. It promotes blood circulation and speeds up metabolism."
Seeing how calm the man was, even Naruto was slightly surprised. Could he have overthought it?
Had he developed a mild case of persecution paranoia after living in Konoha for so long?
He shook his head, throwing the ridiculous thought out of his mind.
Kurama had mentioned massive malice, and combined with the series of strange events earlier, this hot spring definitely had a problem.
With a flash, Naruto appeared beside the male staff member. He grabbed the back of the man's collar with one hand and lifted him up like a chicken, holding him suspended directly above the hot spring.
"If it's really a medicinal bath, then I'll pay for it. I'll generously let you try it first!"
Seeing that Naruto seemed serious, Shikamaru and Shino also frowned.
If it had been anyone else, they might have thought it was going too far. But if it was Naruto — given how he was usually treated in Konoha — anything was possible.
As Naruto slowly tightened his grip, the male staff member looked down at the hot spring, his eyes flickering.
The next second, he finally shouted, "Wait!"
Naruto smiled as if he had expected this. "Speak. Was this your own idea, or did someone order you to do it?"
"It was the shop owner. She told me to drug the hot spring. She promised to give me 200,000 ryo after it was done."
Hearing this, everyone's expressions turned ugly. Even the kind-hearted Choji furrowed his brows.
"What kind of drug?" Naruto pressed.
The male staff member sighed, knowing he was going to be in big trouble. He could only resign himself to his fate.
"It's a poison that quietly attacks the organs after soaking. It seriously damages health."
After hearing this, Shikamaru and the others broke out in a cold sweat.
Even taking a relaxing hot spring bath could lead to something so vicious.
Shikamaru tried to imagine living Naruto's life. Just thinking about it made his scalp tingle, even though he hated trouble.
Suddenly remembering something, Naruto urgently asked the male staff member,
"The three girls who came with us — did you put this drug in their hot spring too?!"
The male staff member slowly shook his head. "The shop owner only told me to drug your private room."
Only then did Naruto breathe a sigh of relief.
He didn't care if Sakura bathed in poison.
But he didn't want Hinata and Ino to suffer because of him.
Meanwhile, Hinata, Ino, and Sakura were already soaking in their hot spring pool.
Steam rose around them, making their faces flushed and pink.
Relaxing in the warm water, the three girls chatted about gossip.
Ino swam over to Hinata. Their white shoulders brushed against each other.
Looking at Hinata's Byakugan, Ino asked with a mischievous smile,
"Hinata, your Byakugan can see through things, right? Be honest with me — have you ever secretly used your Byakugan to look at Naruto's body? No lying!"
Suddenly asked such a question, Hinata's face instantly turned bright red. She stammered, "I-I… haven't…"
Ino sighed with fake regret. "Aww, I wanted to ask you if Naruto has abs. Even through his clothes, you can tell his figure is super amazing."
This kind of topic was a bit too stimulating for Hinata.
But Sakura, standing nearby, was very interested. She also wanted to know whether Naruto had abs.
However, because she usually didn't get along with Naruto, she couldn't bring herself to join the conversation.
Yet Hinata's next words shocked both Ino and Sakura.
"Naruto… does have abs… I accidentally saw them once during training…"
"Huh???"
Both girls let out a surprised sound at the same time and stared at the blushing Hinata with strange expressions.
Ino looked envious, with only one thought in her mind.
[I really want to see…]
If Naruto knew about the three girls' conversation, he would definitely think that kids in the Naruto world matured way too early.
On the other side, Naruto called the mature shop owner over for questioning.
The busty woman walked gracefully into the private room. Seeing that her plan had been exposed, she stopped pretending. The smile on her face disappeared, replaced by hatred that almost overflowed from her eyes.
"You demon fox! You killed my husband and two sons, yet you still dare to come enjoy the hot spring they built with their own hands. You deserve to die!"
The commotion here was also noticed by Kakashi and the other two Anbu.
They didn't show themselves. Instead, they notified the Konoha Military Police Force.
The shop owner's motive didn't surprise Naruto.
"You didn't even bother to find out the truth before trying to harm me. Then don't blame me for being ruthless."
Sticking to his "an eye for an eye" ninja way, Naruto grabbed the shop owner by the back of her collar just like he had done with the male staff member.
This position fully displayed her curvaceous figure.
But Naruto wasn't in the mood to appreciate it. He casually threw her toward the hot spring pool like throwing away trash.
However, at that moment, two figures flashed into the private room with a whoosh.
One of the ninjas wearing Military Police Force attire caught the falling shop owner in his arms and brought her safely to the ground.
The leader was a black-haired middle-aged jonin with a serious and rigid expression.
After the Uchiha Clan was wiped out, the Military Police Force was jointly managed by the major clans.
The clan with the most members in it now was the Sarutobi and Shimura clans.
The middle-aged man leading the team was an elite jonin from the Sarutobi clan.
He glared sharply at Naruto and said coldly, "So young, yet already so vicious! Even if she did something wrong, it's for the Military Police Force to punish her. It's not your place to act on your own!"
Seeing this, Naruto really wanted to instantly activate Sage Mode and hit the man with a Sage-enhanced First Form Slash.
But thinking about his plan to steal the Scroll of Seals, causing a scene now would definitely affect it. So he decided to endure for now.
He took one last look at the busty shop owner, memorizing her appearance and aura. He would definitely make her regret provoking him in the future!
The shop owner also saw Naruto's gaze. Being stared at by those eyes, she couldn't help but shiver.
Although he had already learned Multiple Shadow Clone and Flying Thunder God from the Scroll of Seals, there were still many other forbidden techniques worth learning — such as Edo Tensei, Shiki Fūjin, Spiritualization Technique, Yin Seal, and the Eight Gates…
After the Military Police Force took the shop owner away, Naruto lost all interest in continuing the hot spring bath and left first.
The next day, at night.
Following the address Mizuki had given him, Naruto arrived at the location where the Scroll of Seals was hidden.
If Mizuki hadn't told him, Naruto would never have known that the Scroll of Seals was actually hidden inside the Sarutobi clan estate.
Under the cover of night, Naruto jumped over the wall and sneaked into the courtyard.
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