Konoha: The thirty-year-old Uchiha is not motivated.

"The security team is here! Get out of the way!"

Just then, the Konoha Police Force, having received a report from a kind passerby, arrived late.

Because the area around the Ninja Academy has always been the safest place in Konoha, there are relatively few local police officers stationed there, and the officer who responded to the call was just a new recruit who had only recently joined the force.
He had short brown hair and a very youthful face, looking about fifteen or sixteen years old.
Judging from the aura emanating from him, he is by no means an ordinary person; he is at least at the Chunin level.
The brown-haired security guard squinted his already narrow, triangular eyes, quickly scanning the rioting crowd.

Upon discovering the trio lying on the ground, he questioned them in a stern, cold voice.
Where is the perpetrator who maliciously caused the injury?

Upon hearing this, the three men with rooster-like haircuts immediately buried their heads in the ground, not daring to utter a single word.

Although they are still ninja academy students, they have already reached the age requirement for entering a juvenile detention center, so this time they probably won't be able to escape.

"Brother Yashiro!"

Seeing that the arriving officials were acquaintances, Xiao Meiqin, who was not far away, happily raised her hand to greet them.

The sweet child's voice reached Uchiha Yatsuho's ears, and even if his heart were an unyielding block of ice, it would melt instantly.
The serious expression on Yashiro's face vanished instantly, replaced by a warm smile.

"Miss Mikoto? And Young Master Fugaku!"

"Ah."

Fugaku nodded calmly, then pointed to the trio lying haphazardly on the ground.
"These three intentionally harmed freshmen at the ninja academy. You handle the situation."

"Alright! I will definitely uphold the law impartially."

"No! We just wanted to scare him!"

Seeing the security guards pull out handcuffs and walk towards him, the man with the mohawk trembled like a leaf.

"Hmph! Everyone saw it just now, your posture didn't look like you were trying to scare anyone at all."

With a cold snort, Fugaku looked around and addressed the onlookers loudly,

"That's right~"

"That fat guy almost killed this handsome young man."

"This isn't the first or second time they've done this."

"They've been bullying freshmen at the school gate ever since they failed to graduate five years ago."

"."

The passersby, bursting with a sense of justice, immediately responded. Amidst the condemnations, the three men with the rooster-like hair lowered their heads, their faces ashen, and were handcuffed by the Eighth Hokage of Uchiha.
"woooooo"

The chubby guy, who had a weaker constitution, even cried out loud, large tears streaming down his greasy face, causing everyone to frown. Uchiha Fugaku was particularly blunt.

"If you've done something wrong, you should always be prepared to accept the punishment."

Good and evil will eventually be rewarded. The trio had bullied at least eighty or a hundred freshmen over the years; they should have known they would eventually be caught.
"punish?"

As if Fugaku's words had struck a nerve, the usually silent man with the mohawk suddenly erupted, raising his head abruptly, his sinister eyes already bloodshot.

"Then who will punish the bastards who bullied us back then?!"

"Boss"

The buck-toothed man and the fat man opened their mouths, their expressions complicated, but they didn't know how to comfort the rooster-headed man whose wounds had been reopened.

Once upon a time, the three of them were excellent students, but they were bullied by students who had repeated a year in their graduation year, which led to their current miserable state.
Fugaku frowned deeply. He hadn't expected that the minor villain he had casually taught a lesson to have such a tragic past.

"Even if you have your reasons, that cannot be an excuse for bullying others."

"You are a high and mighty Uchiha, how could you possibly understand how difficult it is for us commoner ninjas with no background?"

Listening to Fugaku's self-righteous and morally superior words, the man with the rooster-like hair gave a bitter smile. Back then, their Dao Heart had been shattered by a single arrogant ninja student.
In their most difficult moments, they also fantasized about a reliable figure descending from the sky.

"Haven't we all prayed that a hero would step forward?"

Minato, who had been listening quietly to the sidelines, suddenly stepped forward. The four-year-old boy looked so small standing in front of the rooster-haired man.

But for some reason, in his resolute eyes, everyone could see a very imposing figure.

"Are you here to make fun of me too, kid?"

Looking down at Minato, whom he had bullied, the man with the mohawk asked dejectedly,

"senior."

"Ok?"

Upon hearing this unfamiliar address, the man with the rooster-like haircut paused slightly in surprise.
To their peers, they were hopeless pests; to younger students, they were filthy scum to be avoided. It had been years since anyone had called them that.

"Do losers like us deserve to be called seniors?"

The man with the rooster-like hair lowered his head, his face contorted with bitterness, feeling an unprecedented sense of guilt under Minato's sincere gaze.
"You're wrong, senior."

Minato gently shook his head, and under the rooster-haired man's questioning gaze, he raised his delicate white hand high, giving him a thumbs-up.

"As long as you don't give up, failure won't defeat you. Keep going!"

The childish voice pierced through the cacophony of condemnation from passersby, striking directly at the shattered heart of the man with the mohawk.
At that moment, he seemed to see himself from years ago, a man full of enthusiasm for everything.

They are very weak, but they have big dreams.

"Pfft! Hahaha!"

Staring blankly at Minato for several seconds, the man with the mohawk suddenly burst out laughing.
The laughter gradually grew louder until it stopped when people were laughing so hard they were crying.
He hadn't laughed or cried so freely in a long time; tears still clung to the corners of his eyes, and the sinister look in his rooster-haired eyes vanished.

"What an interesting kid, tell me your name."

"Class 1-B, Minato Namikaze, please take good care of me in the future, senior."

The incident ultimately did not take a turn for the better; the three men with the mohawks were still taken away by Yashiro on charges of disorderly conduct and intentional assault.
Even though they are still ninja academy students, they will have to stay in the juvenile detention center for quite some time and undergo psychological evaluation before they can return.
The lingering onlookers gradually dispersed, leaving only Fugaku and Minato in the arena, along with Aburame Shimi, whose presence was practically nonexistent.
"Come on, let me introduce you to some of my friends from prison."

Having stolen the limelight, Fugaku ostentatiously brought his newly recruited henchman before everyone, patting Minato's thin shoulder and proudly boasting to his arch-rival Nawaki.
"How about that? Don't you think my little brother is awesome?"

"Uh, I won't look."

Feeling outdone in the matter of recruiting followers, Rope Tree pouted and shook his head with a look of resentment.
"Huh? You idiot, do you still want to eat ramen?!"

"I see! I see!"

"."

"Come here, Minato, let me introduce you. This beautiful young lady is Uchiha Mikoto, your sister-in-law."

Ignoring the rope tree bowing for ramen, Fugaku smiled and pointed to Mikoto beside him. His boastful introduction quickly drew Mikoto's displeasure.
"Young Master Fugaku!"

"The Future"

Seeing Mikoto's sullen face, Fugaku quickly changed his tune with a forced smile.

"Hello, Mikoto-senpai."

Minato bowed to Mikoto, a polite gesture that quickly won her favor.

"Minato-kun, right? What a good kid. Just don't pick up any of Fugaku-sama's bad habits!"

Having witnessed Minato's clever response throughout the entire battle, Mikoto, who is obsessed with good looks, already held this handsome junior in extremely high regard.
"Ah! I don't have any bad habits."

"I don't eat tomatoes."

"Huh, does that count?"

Isn't being a picky eater a bad habit?

"If you say so, then so be it, Minato. You'd better eat tomatoes properly from now on to replenish the Vitamin C that ninjas need most."

A dejected Fugaku could only turn to Minato, who looked like a well-behaved boy, and admonish him.

"Yes, Lord." After introducing the most important person, Mikoto, Fugaku then brushed his finger over the expectant Nawaki, before landing it on the Hyuga brothers.
"These two identical guys are the Hyuga brothers, one named Hiashi and the other named Hizashi. Don't ask me which one is which, I can't tell them apart either."

"Don't listen to Fugaku's nonsense. I am the elder brother Hiashi, and he is the younger brother Hizashi. It's nice to meet you."

Having witnessed Minato's extraordinary talent, the Hyuga brothers did not put on airs as members of a noble family.
The two brothers behaved with gentle manners, which flattered Minato, who came from a commoner family. He immediately returned the greeting politely.

"Greetings, Hiashi-senpai! Greetings, Hizashi-senpai!"

"Alright, next up is..."

Upon hearing this, Nawaki immediately perked up, tidied his appearance, and flashed a wide smile at the bewildered Minato.
"I'm."

"Nara Shikaku, a year older than you, is a pineapple-headed guy who's a bit clever."

"what?"

Seeing Fugaku skip over him and begin introducing Nara Shikaku, Nawaki's smile instantly froze on his face, and the anger blazing in his eyes rivaled that of Amaterasu.

"Senior Shikaku, is there something dirty on my face?"

Minato curiously sized up the black-haired man, who was about his own height, because he realized that the other man had been secretly observing him ever since he arrived.
"That's not true."

He recognized the surname Namikaze; they were one of the first immigrants to Konoha. Although they came from a merchant family, they had produced a Jonin.
Furthermore, his strength ranks among the top of Jonin, making him a highly respected and outstanding figure among commoner ninjas.
Given this, it's no surprise that what just happened was due to the guidance of such an elder.

"Minato, is that lunchbox over there yours?"

Having figured this out, Shikaku immediately turned his gaze away from Minato's face and pointed to the spot where the battle had just taken place.
Only then did everyone notice a food box lying quietly in the corner of the alleyway. A faint aroma of food lingered in the air.
"Ah! My bento box!"

Minato's expression froze upon hearing this. He quickly turned to check his small shoulder bag, only to find that his lunchbox had indeed fallen out during the battle.

"It must have fallen out when I was getting the chopsticks."

Minato ran over, his face full of heartache. This was a loving lunch his grandmother had prepared especially for him.
"Bottom of the Water Gate Prison".

Suddenly, Fugaku's voice rang out behind him, and Minato, recalling his well-intentioned lie, instantly shuddered.
"So it's you, kid."

"Sorry, prison ward, I..."

Now that his scheme had been exposed, Minato lowered his head in embarrassment.
"So you don't like tomatoes either, huh!"

"what?"

Looking up in surprise, Minato met Fugaku's mocking gaze.
Only after being reminded did he notice that the food box on the ground had been shaken open from the fall, revealing a striking bright red and dazzling golden color—his grandmother's signature dish.
Stir-fried eggs with tomatoes

The glistening golden scrambled eggs paired with bright red tomatoes cooked until sticky are incredibly appetizing.

Of course, this doesn't include Fugaku, who is increasingly pleased with Minato.

Even their hobbies are the same as his, the prison guard; the two of them are practically a match made in heaven.
"It's okay. I've done this kind of thing many times before: lying that I didn't bring lunch to avoid eating lunch."

In Fugaku's view, Minato must not want to eat tomatoes, which is why he would rather go hungry than lie to everyone and say he forgot to bring his lunch.

"Wasting food is wrong!"

Following behind Shikaku, Choji frowned, his eyes filled with regret as he looked at the scrambled eggs with tomatoes.

"I'm sorry, it was my mistake."

I bent down to pick up the lunchbox. Luckily, only the lid was slightly ajar; the food inside was unaffected.
"Phew, I can still eat it."

He had just breathed a sigh of relief when he suddenly felt a burning gaze. Following the gaze, he saw the chubby little boy who had just reminded him not to waste food.

The other person's mouth was drooling, and their two tiny, beady eyes were gleaming with a chilling green light.
"Gululu~"

Would you like some?

Out of politeness, Minato, feeling somewhat uncomfortable under Choza Akimichi's gaze, tentatively asked a question.
"thanks for treatment!"

Already starving, Akimichi Choza vanished from his spot in an instant. When he reappeared, he was holding Minato's bento box, raising his ever-present chopsticks, and began to devour the food.

"Hao Chi! Hao Chi!"

"Ding, isn't that incredibly impolite?"

Yamanaka Inoichi, his face scrunched up, stepped forward and tugged at his childhood friend who was wolfing down his food, while looking apologetically at Minato.

"I'm sorry, this is how Choza is when he's hungry. I'm Yamanaka Inoichi, nice to meet you."

"Greetings, Senior Haiyi. And this Senior Dingza?"

"Minato-kun! Thank you for the meal. From now on, we're good friends."

Over here, Choza, who had quickly devoured Minato's lunch, licked his lips with a lingering sense of satisfaction and gave his kind-hearted junior a grateful smile.
Seeing this, Fugaku nodded in satisfaction and waved his hand at everyone present.
"Alright, now that we've finished introducing everything, let's all go get some ramen!"

"Akizuna! What about me?! Fugaku, you bastard, are you deliberately ignoring me?"

Seeing Fugaku urging everyone to go eat ramen, Nawaki, who had been left out for a long time, finally couldn't suppress his anger and jumped out, pointing at Fugaku's head and cursing.
"Oh, I almost forgot."

Fugaku feigned a look of sudden realization and, under Minato's questioning gaze, pointed to Nawaki and began to explain.
"He's just a nobody by the roadside, no need to pay him any attention."

A roadside stall?
What a strange name.

Minato scratched his head and asked Nawaki, whose anger was about to explode, in a very sincere tone,
"Um, excuse me, should I call you 'Roadside Senior' or 'Ichijo Senior'?"

"U! Chi! Bo! Fu! Yue!"

"Why are you calling you dad?"

"Xinei!"

"."

ten minutes later,

Ichiraku Ramen
"Slurp~ Slurp~ Nageki-senpai, slurp~ I really slurped just now~ Sorry."

Starving, Minato held a ramen bowl bigger than his head and, between gulps of air, looked apologetically at Nawaki, who had a dark circle under his right eye, and said...

"Slurp~ It's alright, slurp~ It's all that bastard Fugaku's fault, slurp~"

Seeing the free ramen, Nawaki's resentment lessened considerably. Besides, Minato was innocent; he had simply followed the wrong person.
"Slurp~ Idiot Rope Tree, slurp~ Eat my food, slurp~ Still going to curse me? Slurp~"

Upon hearing this, Fugaku, who was sitting next to Minato, looked up, revealing a similarly bruised left eye, his swollen eyes filled with displeasure.
"One code, slurp~ Back to one code, slurp~"

Just because you treated me to ramen doesn't mean I've forgiven you!
"I just can't do anything with you two. *slurp*"

Having failed to mediate the fight, Mikoto helplessly watched the two locked in a fierce confrontation, and continued slurping her ramen in small bites.

The voices of the group were quickly drowned out by the sounds of other people slurping noodles in the shop.

"Slurp~" *5
"Slurp."

"I'm so full! I'm so full! Uncle, please pay the bill!"

After the meal, Fugaku, who had promised to treat, didn't slip away. He came to the front desk with his bulging belly to pay the bill.

"Brother Fugaku, wait a moment, let me check. There are 88 bowls in total!"

"Huh? Uncle, you didn't miscalculate, did you?"

Fugaku was taken aback. How could a bunch of kids possibly eat so much?

Seeing that Fugaku questioned his accounting, Ichiraku's father began to take stock with a serious expression.
"Absolutely not, I have records here. You ate eight bowls, Rope Tree Brother ate nine bowls, and Mikoto ate three bowls, huh?"

As he continued calculating, a look of utter astonishment, as if he had seen a ghost, gradually appeared on his face.

"How come there are nine extra bowls? Did I really miscalculate?" (End of Chapter)