This Naruto is a player.

Chapter 2 Sarutobi Hiruzen
"Don't be afraid, I'm just an old man passing by."

'Is he born in the Year of the Cat? He hasn't made a sound.'

Naruto was so frightened that he lay on the ground, his big eyes fixed on the old man, unable to figure out where he came from.

He didn't recognize the person; he had silver hair, a wrinkled face, and looked quite old. Moreover, he was thin and didn't seem to have any strength.

The stranger turned to look at the grilled fish, and then...

goooo~
My stomach is rumbling, which makes me feel very energetic.

'Oh, so he was just hungry, not here to cause trouble.'

Naruto was slightly relieved. He got up from the ground, picked up the grilled fish that had fallen on the ground, and handed him a new one.

"Grandpa, here, have this grilled fish." Naruto said in a very friendly manner.

Whether they are enemies or not, treating them with courtesy is never wrong.

Moreover, he is essentially a friendly person.

"It looks delicious, thank you."

The old man took a bite and exclaimed, "This is really delicious!"

Naruto felt a bit like the Brazilian president praising his national football team after hearing this praise.

Does he not know whether the grilled fish is delicious or not?

Looking at the old man with a full head of white hair again, Naruto felt a sense of pity for him.

This is probably an elderly person living alone, perhaps suffering from dementia, or even having a terrible sense of direction. Otherwise, they wouldn't be wandering around in the forest late at night, unable to find their way home, and end up running into him on an empty stomach.

Naruto started the conversation, saying, "Grandpa, wouldn't it be great if there was a community canteen in the village where orphans and elderly people like us could eat for free?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was eating grilled fish, looked at Naruto with a mixture of surprise and confusion.

Me? A lonely old man?

"That way we can eat regularly and won't go hungry all the time..." Naruto added.

Then, he changed the subject, "Grandpa, you're so old, you must be very knowledgeable. Do you know what a ninja is?"

"A ninja."

Hiruzen Sarutobi pondered for a moment, a flash of recollection in his eyes, "Ninjas are the protectors of their villages and comrades, and the inheritors of the Will of Fire."

He looked intently at Naruto, "Young people are the hope for the future. Where the leaves of Konoha dance, the fire will never die. The fire will continue to illuminate the village and allow new leaves to sprout..."

These words made Naruto think that this person might be a retired official from the propaganda department.

However, once the conversation started, Naruto continued, and casually asked the question that had been bothering him: "Grandpa, how strong are ninjas? Can you live forever by becoming a ninja?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had intended to give a lecture, paused upon hearing this.

He thought Naruto would be curious about the Will of Fire, but Naruto only cared about strength and whether he could live forever.

Think about it again. After all, they're just kids, so it's understandable.

"A powerful ninja can move mountains and fill seas."

Recalling the battle between the First Hokage and Madara Uchiha feels like yesterday; their overwhelming power still sends chills down my spine.

"As for immortality, even the progenitor of ninjas didn't have that ability." For some reason, when saying this, Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly thought of his disciple Orochimaru.

Then, he added earnestly, "The meaning of life lies not in its length, but in its quality. To protect the village and our companions..."

Naruto listened and nodded, indicating that he had remembered.

He previously thought that ninjas were similar to those who practiced martial arts in his previous life, mainly for self-cultivation, and at most one could take on ten people. He was even prepared to start his own business and use his advanced business knowledge to become the richest person in the world.

But now, becoming a ninja seems to be a better career path.

After the old man finished speaking, Naruto finally asked his real question: "Then what is chakra?" "Chakra is a kind of energy in the body," Hiruzen Sarutobi explained simply to a three-year-old child.

A kind of energy? Like magic or spiritual energy?

goooo~
Just as Naruto was about to ask further questions, the old man's stomach rumbled again.

"Here, Grandpa, eat up."

Naruto picked up another grilled fish and handed it to him.

This old man is a really good person. He greatly helped Naruto understand the world, so he was very enthusiastic.

He ate four of the five grilled fish and drank a large bowl of mushroom soup.

During this time, Hiruzen Sarutobi considered it for a moment and then taught Naruto the chakra refining technique.

There's nothing to overthink about. Besides, if the Fourth Hokage were here, he would have taught Naruto long ago.

In that case, let this old man teach Naruto on behalf of the Fourth Hokage.

Naruto was overjoyed, even a little excited, upon obtaining the Chakra Refining Technique.

To be able to embark on the 'path to immortality' so easily is a bit too smooth. Today's mood swings are like riding a roller coaster.

Suddenly, Naruto seemed to understand something.

He glanced at the old man, hesitant to speak, but his curiosity about his parents outweighed the potential consequences, and finally he tentatively asked, "Grandpa, do you know my parents?"

“Your parents are heroes.” Hiruzen Sarutobi’s tone was exceptionally firm.

really?I do not believe.

Naruto glanced at the old man in the flickering firelight and remained silent.

If it were a three-year-old Naruto, he might believe it and even be overjoyed by the comfort, but his soul, which is in its twenties, wouldn't allow him to believe it so easily.

The people from earlier that day were still vivid in his mind. If his parents were truly heroes, these people would at least show him some respect, if not gratitude.

What now?
Some people gossiped behind his back and watched coldly, while others wished they could beat him to death.

I can't understand it, and it's even more incomprehensible.

This old man probably has dementia.

Naruto wanted to ask why so many people hated him, but he didn't dare to ask.

The old man seemed to have some dementia, and he was afraid that if he asked him, the old man might actually remember something and start hating him again, just like everyone else.

Then he won't even have anyone to talk to.

This old man is currently his only source of information about the world.

At that moment, Naruto suddenly felt like he had been put into a CPU by the village.

He was hated and despised by the entire village and abandoned by the whole world. When someone was kind to him, he felt like a drowning man grasping at a straw.

What else could this be but a CPU?
Seemingly noticing that Naruto was in a bad mood, Hiruzen Sarutobi pointed to the stars in the night sky and said, "Look, those stars are just like the sun in our world. How about that? Quite a lot, isn't it?"

"Mhm." Naruto nodded in agreement.

"The world is truly vast, and compared to all of this, the existence of humankind is truly very, very small."

He made funny gestures as he spoke, which made Naruto laugh.

'What an interesting old man! He's like a playful old child, always making people happy.'

"The joys and sorrows of our insignificant existence are truly insignificant."

Naruto understood the reasoning, and looking at the starry sky again, he felt much more relaxed.

(End of this chapter)