This Naruto is too easily persuaded.

Hokage Building, Mission Hall.

Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced at the large sum of cash on the table, then looked at the composed Naruto.

His mouth, still pursing a pipe, remained open for a long time.

"Seven...seven hundred thousand taels?"

The third generation picked up the banknotes in disbelief, repeatedly checking the amount of money.

"You've paid off the entire debt in just three days?"

The old man stared at Naruto with suspicion, his eyes sharpening.

"Naruto, tell me honestly, where did you get this income?"

Kakashi, who was standing nearby, also looked over in surprise.

Until two days ago, Naruto was still struggling to make ends meet.

How did we suddenly manage to scrape together a huge sum of 700,000 taels of silver today?

Even if a Jonin worked their butt off on S-rank missions, they couldn't raise enough money this quickly.

"Grandpa, you're really wronging me."

Naruto adjusted his glasses, a harmless smile on his face:

"I just used some basic methods,"

In several entertainment venues in the village, a small-scale... short-term high-frequency arbitrage was conducted targeting 'random variables'.

"Short-term high-frequency arbitrage?"

Sakura curiously leaned closer. "What do you mean?"

Naruto smiled without saying a word.

Of course, he wouldn't say that he used a transformation technique to disguise himself as a tourist and used shadow clones to observe from multiple angles.

They used various methods to win big money in casinos of all sizes within Konoha, and then withdrew in batches.

Until he and his shadow clones withdrew.

The casino owner had no idea what had happened; he had simply lost a large sum of money for no apparent reason.

It seems that many tourists are exceptionally lucky, grabbing a quick bite and leaving.

They don't even give people a chance to find fault with them.

"In short, it's all legal income, so there won't be any trouble."

Naruto said casually.

Sasuke glanced at Naruto, inwardly complaining.

This guy... even his gambling is described in such a refined and elegant way...

"Cough cough..."

The Third Hokage, a seasoned and shrewd man, roughly guessed from Naruto's ambiguous answer what kind of mischief Naruto had gotten into—

I guess they went to the casino to buy supplies.

The third generation put away the money, tapped his pipe, and spoke with a hint of warning and indulgence in his tone.

"Since the money has already been paid back, let's just let it go this time."

"This is a one-time exception. You are not allowed to harm the village's industries in the future."

"I see."

Naruto nodded obediently.

He understood the unspoken meaning behind San Dai's words—it was forbidden to do this in the village, but it was allowed outside the village.

Kakashi sighed inwardly.

This is about Naruto.

If an ordinary ninja did this and was discovered, he would probably spend the rest of his life in jail.

The third generation did not investigate the matter further.

After putting the money away, he lit his pipe again.

"Now that the training ground is repaired and the debt is paid off... I must say, the efficiency of your Seventh Class has indeed exceeded my expectations."

"Regular D-rank missions really don't have much training value for you guys right now."

The Third Hokage flipped through the mission files on the table and looked at Kakashi:

"Kakashi, what do you think? Should we give them a C-rank mission?"

Kakashi scratched his head, his deadpan eyes sweeping over the three students.

Sasuke was eager to try, and Sakura looked on with anticipation.

Naruto, on the other hand, had an indifferent expression.

"Well... since they have so much energy, let's go for a walk."

Kakashi picked and chose from a bunch of missions and finally picked one.

"This one will do, for the escort mission."

"Yay!"

Sakura cheered excitedly.

Sasuke's lips curled slightly; he could finally escape the D-rank mission of laying grass and filling pits.

Not long after.

The office door was suddenly pushed open, and a strong smell of alcohol hit the door.

"belch……"

A drunken old man staggered in carrying a bottle of liquor.

He wore glasses, carried a towel, was dressed in shabby clothes, and had a flushed face.

"What...?"

The old man, his eyes still blurry with drunkenness, glanced disdainfully at the three children from Class Seven:

"These are the three ninjas protecting me? A bunch of brats who haven't even been weaned yet?"

"Is there no one left in Konoha? I paid for this!"

The lively atmosphere instantly froze.

Sasuke frowned, and Sakura clenched her fists.

Only Naruto remained calm and silent, showing no anger.

He simply pushed up his glasses, and his deep blue eyes, like a scanner, scrutinized the old man from head to toe.

"Worn-out clothes and badly worn-out shoes indicate that the person is struggling financially."

"Large finger joints with thick calluses are a characteristic of long-term manual labor."

"but……"

Naruto's gaze fell on the bottle of wine in his hand.

"They clearly have no money, yet they drink such strong liquor..."

"Moreover, I was filled with immense pressure, as well as a sense of resignation to death..."

"This shows that he is drowning his sorrows in alcohol and escaping enormous psychological pressure."

"Kakashi-sensei."

Naruto suddenly spoke up, interrupting the old man's complaints:

"We won't take this mission."

"What?"

Kakashi was taken aback, and the Third Hokage also stopped smoking, wanting to hear the reason.

"This is a rare C-rank mission..."

Sakura was also a little confused.

Naruto shook his head and walked directly to the old man.

Although he was not as tall as the old man, the aura he exuded at that moment instantly sobered the old man up.

"Sir, you're lying."

Naruto's voice was calm and indifferent:

"The standard for a C-rank mission is to defend against thieves or gangsters, and does not involve ninja-level combat."

"But your actions tell me that you are being hunted by ninjas."

"This is not a C-level mission at all, but a B-level, or even A-level, high-risk mission."

The old man's face turned deathly pale, and he almost dropped the wine bottle in his hand.

"What...what nonsense are you talking about..."

I don't care if you have any difficulties or not.

Naruto turned his back to him, his voice devoid of any warmth.

"We are newly graduated genin, not cannon fodder sent to our deaths."

"Using C-level compensation to trick us into taking unknown risks is irresponsible towards our lives."

"If you're not going to tell the truth, please leave."

These words were calm and rational, yet full of protectiveness towards his companion.

Sakura looked at Naruto with eyes full of admiration.

Even Sasuke silently suppressed his dissatisfaction.

Although he longed for battle, Naruto was right—he couldn't be used as cheap labor to die.

Kakashi sighed.

"Since we've been seen through, there's nothing we can do. Mission canceled."

"Sir, please reissue the task."

"Wait...wait a minute!"

The old man—Dazner—finally broke down.

He knelt down with a thud, tears streaming down his face:

"Please... if you don't go, I'm dead!"

"The Land of Waves...my country is doomed too!"

Naruto remained unmoved and lifted his foot to leave.

"I had no choice!"

Dazner cried out:

"If I had money, I wouldn't want to lie!"

"But that caliber guy, that damned tycoon!"

He controlled the maritime trade of the Land of Waves, monopolized all business, and amassed all its wealth!

Upon hearing this, Naruto, who had turned to leave, suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"He was incredibly wealthy, yet ruthless!"

"I just want to build a bridge... to break his monopoly..."

Dazner was still trying to elicit sympathy with tears streaming down his face.

Naruto slowly turned around.

The coldness on his face vanished, and a sharp glint, unlike anything he had ever seen before, flashed behind his glasses.

"etc……"

Naruto's voice suddenly became much gentler, even carrying a hint of...excitement.

"You just said... the person who's been chasing you, he's both bad and rich?"