Chapter 32: The Fox Murder Rumors
At noon, Kakashi, Naruto, and Sasuke sat under a tree eating their bentos.
Sakura was pitifully tied to the wooden post.
After being bound for so long, her body felt very uncomfortable, and she kept shifting around.
Naruto's hands itched as he watched. The bell-grabbing test had lacked the signature Thousand Years of Death technique, making it feel incomplete.
It wasn't until afternoon that Team 7 disbanded and everyone went home.
Sakura was finally freed. She rubbed her sore bottom and headed home to take a bath.
The next day, Team 7 gathered.
Today Kakashi actually got up early — he was only ten minutes late.
He led Naruto and the others to accept their first D-rank mission.
Mission content: Help Mrs. Ōnamiwe clear the weeds in her courtyard.
It was worth mentioning that Mrs. Ōnamiwe's husband had already died on the battlefield several years ago.
When the four arrived at the destination, a beautiful woman in a loose, deep V-neck kimono was already waiting in the courtyard.
Her cold white skin paired with bright red lips, plus a voluptuous figure that her kimono couldn't hide, really matched her name.
Kakashi kept his face covered, so Mrs. Ōnamiwe didn't pay him any attention.
But when she saw the two strikingly different handsome boys — Naruto and Sasuke — her eyes lit up.
She covered her mouth with a light laugh and walked over.
With a sway of her hips, she bumped the annoying Sakura aside.
She stared straight at Naruto and Sasuke, her smile blooming like a flower.
"You two little handsome boys, what are your names? Come inside and sit for a while. Big sister has prepared some excellent drinks for you~"
Sakura, standing behind them, rolled her eyes so hard they almost went to the back of her head. [Damn old woman! Just because you're bigger!]
Kakashi coughed dryly and reminded her, "Madam, there's no need for drinks. We should start clearing the weeds right away."
The beautiful woman pouted coquettishly, "Fine. You and this girl can clear the weeds in the courtyard. These two little handsome boys can come inside with me. There are also lots of weeds in the house~"
Sakura and Sasuke didn't catch the implication.
But Kakashi, who had read every volume of Make-Out Paradise, and Naruto, who had been influenced by the internet, instantly understood and felt a bit embarrassed.
In the end, Mrs. Ōnamiwe didn't get her wish, because that wasn't the kind of service a D-rank mission should provide.
After clearing the weeds in the courtyard, she could only watch Naruto and Sasuke leave with deep regret.
Looking at the youthful energy radiating from the two boys, she really wanted to show each of them a wave of motherly love.
Improper missions were still in the minority.
Most of the following missions were proper, but dull and boring.
Tasks like helping find a lost cat, babysitting children, and even cleaning up garbage.
After doing these kinds of missions for three days, Naruto completely lost interest and started sending Shadow Clones to handle them half-heartedly.
Naruto's Shadow Clones had already reached a level of perfection.
They weren't like the original Naruto's clones that exploded on impact with 2.5 attack power.
Even Kakashi, without using his Sharingan, couldn't tell that the Naruto following him was a Shadow Clone.
Meanwhile, Naruto's real body continued training the various secret and forbidden techniques he had obtained.
With his extremely strong mental power and the help of Multiple Shadow Clones, his progress was lightning-fast.
In less than a month, he had almost maxed out all the secret techniques.
Even the various sealing techniques and the Uzumaki clan's core secret technique — Adamantine Sealing Chains — had been trained to max level.
He had also learned some practical Five Nature Release techniques.
"System, open the status panel."
Name: Uzumaki Naruto Age: 12 years old Physique: 46 → 48 (Average person = 1) Chakra: 106.6 → 112.4 cards Bloodline: Perfect Uzumaki Sage Body Abilities: Constant Stage Wind Breathing, Transparent World, Perfect Chakra Control, Sage Mode, Adamantine Sealing Chains, Mind's Eye of the Kagura Ninjutsu: Three Basic Jutsu, Phantom Transformation Jutsu, Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu, Flying Thunder God, Edo Tensei, Sealing Techniques, Spiritualization Technique, Wind Release…
His physique and chakra continued to grow steadily, while his abilities and ninjutsu had expanded significantly.
And they were all carefully selected, highly practical abilities.
In the following ten days, more than a dozen murder cases suddenly broke out in Konoha.
Every victim had several deep, long claw marks on their bodies!
At first glance, it looked like they had been killed by some kind of ferocious beast.
For a while, the entire village was filled with rumors and panic.
The biggest rumor was that the Nine-Tails demon fox had started killing again.
All the dead were said to have been killed by Uzumaki Naruto transforming into the Nine-Tails at night!
Team 7 was also forced to temporarily stop taking missions.
The moment the Third Hokage learned of the incidents, he tried his best to suppress the rumors.
But things had already spiraled out of his control. Rumors spread like wildfire and couldn't be stopped.
Naruto's situation in Konoha plummeted to rock bottom.
Whenever he went out, countless fearful or venomous gazes stabbed at him.
Once, when he went out to buy something, a middle-aged man who had lost his daughter directly raised a kitchen knife and tried to hack at Naruto.
He was stopped by the Anbu hidden in the shadows.
They intervened not because they feared Naruto would be killed by a civilian, but because they feared what Naruto might do in response.
This morning, three more civilians were found dead. The cause of death was still being torn apart by sharp claws.
The situation was getting worse — the victims were ripped into pieces, and the scenes were extremely gruesome.
Inside the Hokage Building, upon receiving the news, Hiruzen Sarutobi slammed his hand on the desk. His hoarse voice trembled slightly.
"Danzo…"
Danzo had left Konoha a month ago for the Land of Fire.
But the Third Hokage wasn't senile yet. Not long after the incidents began, he had already guessed that this was an order Danzo had given before leaving.
The purpose wasn't hard to guess either.
The method was the same as the old "White Fang incident."
Using the villagers' hatred as an excuse to interfere with the jinchuriki!
That night, Naruto sat on the sofa in his home.
His eyes flickered as Transparent World remained active.
Five on the trees, three on the rooftops, seven in the opposite building, four downstairs…
The number of Anbu monitoring him had increased again.
From the original three to nearly thirty now — a full tenfold increase!
"They really went all out."
Already fed up with Konoha, and with his current situation, Naruto's desire to break free from the village grew stronger and stronger.
"Good, good, good. So everyone says I'm the one killing people, right?" Naruto smiled and murmured.
Knock, knock, knock.
A knock at the door interrupted Naruto's thoughts. Looking outside, he saw Hiruzen Sarutobi wearing his Hokage robes.
Over the years, this old man had visited him many times.
But he usually came in casual clothes. Today he was wearing the formal robes.
After entering the room, the Third looked at him with a pair of somewhat cloudy old eyes, his expression extremely complicated.
With so many Anbu monitoring him, he naturally knew those murders had nothing to do with Naruto.
"Naruto, I'm sure you've heard about the baseless rumors spreading in the village lately.
You don't need to take them to heart. I know this has nothing to do with you. Grandpa will investigate and clear your name."
"But before that, why don't you come with Grandpa to a certain place? You'll be very safe there, and no one will disturb you."
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