Mizuki eventually left, and Naruto continued fishing by the river. With the help of the Full-level Fishing Mastery buff, it wasn't long before he successfully caught a large basket full of wild fish.
Including the two he had already roasted and eaten, Naruto didn't actually need that many fish. Without a proper freezer at home, taking all of them back would just lead to spoilage.
Initially, Naruto just wanted to test how effective the Full-level Fishing Mastery was, but the result was far beyond his expectations. he collected so many fish before realizing there was no room left in his basket. From the moment he cast his line, he caught fish continuously. Even without bait on the hook, as long as Naruto held the rod, fish would keep coming.
What stopped him from continuing fishing was not time or his stamina, but the fact that when he placed the last fish in the basket it rolled off and fell back on into the stream. The basket was already full the fish could easily jump out with a slight struggle.
Looking at all the big, juicy fish, Naruto fell silent.
Taking them all home wasn't realistic. He simply couldn't store them all.
Sell them? That wasn't an option either. No fish shop in the village would buy fish from him. Not only would they not buy it, they would even suspect that Naruto stole it from somewhere.
Following the principle of avoiding unnecessary trouble, Naruto abandoned the idea of selling the fish.
That left only one option, which is to give them away.
He had very few friends, so few that he could count them all on one hand, so deciding whom to give them to required little deliberation.
'The Hyuga Clan would definitely not accept gifts from me, so they are ruled out! Iruka-sensei is a single guy, but he has always been kind to me after all, so he deserved a few extra fish.'
Choji's house was too far away, so Naruto gave up on that. Shikamaru was a good candidate, so he could drop some off there too.
He also excluded Sasuke, Sakura and Ino, since he knew that their relationship to Naruto was not great until after they had already become ninja. At this stage suddenly giving them a strange gift would only cause trouble.
"Is this a new Ninjutsu developed by Naruto?" The white-haired old man, the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, was currently watching the scene in the crystal ball with a wide smile.
This is Hiruzen's famous voyeurism technique. Everything that happened to Naruto by the river just now was seen by him. He was the one who orchestrated the encounter to test the jinchuriki.
"Hiruzen, you're too soft." A cold voice interrupted, "If the Jinchuriki harbors resentment towards the village, it will be catastrophic for the village!"
"Danzo, Naruto has made his choice." Hiruzen stroked his gray beard and said seriously, "He wasn't swayed by Mizuki and rejected him."
"Although the crystal ball can't capture sound, I'm sure you were able to read the dissatisfaction he harbors towards the village from the moments we were able to read his lips."
After all there is no competent ninja who dose not know lip reading. And even though they could not see him talking about being aware of the burden placed upon him by the forth hokage, they were able to see his lips move once he looked up and spoke of the villagers mistreatment towards him.
"The Jinchuriki has suffered too much unfair treatment in the village, so the conflict between the villagers and Naruto is difficult to reconcile. If we can't resolve it, Kyubi might reappear."
"Hmph!" Danzo snorted, and said indignantly, "Give him to me, and I guarantee he will become the village's safest weapon."
Hiruzen was displeased when he heard this, and his expression immediately darkened. He allowed Danzo to spread the identity of the Jinchuriki because it would make him easier to mold not so he could end up a tool for his old friend and rival.
With a slam to the desk the third stood and looked Danzo straight in the eye before saying the five words that never fail to infuriate his old comrade.
"Danzo, I am the Hokage!"
"I'm well aware of what you've been up to, Danzo, you should take care of yourself. Naruto is an important companion of the village, not a cold weapon. The Root has gotten enough weapons, you don't need to worry about Naruto's affairs."
Faced with Hiruzen's warning, Danzo was obviously unconvinced, but there's nothing he could do about it.
The person sitting in that position was Sarutobi Hiruzen, not him, Shimura Danzo, and this almost become his lifetime regret.
The forth Hokage, the Sannin, Kakashi, and even the current Kyubi's Jinchuriki, all of them have a close relationship with Hiruzen. Danzo knew that the Hokage's position might only be passed back and forth among them.
'This old fox Hiruzen wanted to change the entire Konoha Village by himself. He's delusional! Konoha Village is not his village alone. It should be mine to mold.'
"Hiruzen, you will regret this!" Danzo threw out this parting words before slamming the door behind him.
"Sigh…"
Hiruzen didn't say anything more, just sighed softly. He calmly took a seat and leaned back in his chair before taking another puff from his iconic pipe.
…
Outside Shikamaru's house.
Three knocks broke the quiet atmosphere, and the person who came to open the door was Nara Shikaku, the scar-faced Konoha's top think tank and military strategist. Also known as the man who was berated in front of a fruit stall the other day by his irate wife.
As the door opened, the bright light from inside spilled out like silk threads, illuminating Naruto's feet.
Seeing Naruto emanating a fishy smell, Shikaku was somewhat surprised.
"Naruto? What brings you here? Isn't tomorrow the Academy Graduation Exam?"
The main reason why Shikaku was so surprised was because Naruto rarely came to his house. Even when he came to see Shikamaru, they would always leave to spend time outside away from shikamaru's mother. He wouldn't even come in, just stand far away under the shade of a tree, curiously and nervously observing the household.
To others, Naruto might seem like a troublesome kid, but Shikaku knew Naruto often put up a smile and acted out due to the isolation inflicted upon him by the rest of the village. Which is why he never told Shikamaru not to play with Naruto, whether or not they became friends after that was up to them.
Hearing Shikaku's questions, Naruto smiled brightly, then reached out and pushed the half empty fish basket in front of Shikaku, and said loudly.
"I caught too many fish today. I can't eat them all, and I can't store them, so I wanted to give some to Shikamaru."
There were only five or six fish left in the basket, as Naruto had already given fish to Iruka and old man Teuchi, leaving only Shikamaru's family.
"This..." Shikaku scratched his head, looking at the fish in the basket with some difficulty, "I will have to ask Yoshino."
The sound of cooking came from inside the house. At this time, Shikamaru seemed to hear Naruto's voice outside and came out. He poked his head out from behind his father, and his eyes lit up when he saw the basket of fish.
"Naruto, you're amazing. How did you catch so many fish?"
"I don't know either." Naruto scratched his head and said with a silly smile, "Maybe I have a talent for fishing."
Shikaku, who was standing nearby, couldn't help but marvel when he heard this. He thought to himself, 'For such a young child to have such skill in fishing, he must have spent time fishing for hours to practice it.'
The big fish in the mountains are very smart and it is not easy to catch them even with bait. Shikaku had tried fishing there before, but gave up after coming back empty-handed a few times.
"Naruto, wait a moment." Shikaku said, leaving Naruto and going back inside.
After a while, he returned, placing a box of snacks and a box of food in Naruto's hands. Shikaku looked at the somewhat bewildered Naruto and smiled.
"This is our thanks for your gift, please accept it."
Naruto looked at Shikaku, then looked down at the two boxes of food in his hands, then turned to look at Shikamaru beside him.
"Take it." Shikamaru said shrugging, looking nonchalant as he held his head, "If my mom finds out you didn't accept it, she would probably feel so guilty that she couldn't sleep all night."
"Thank you." Naruto said with a smile, then turned to leave.
"Naruto!" Shikamaru suddenly called out to him, "We have the Graduation Exam tomorrow, don't oversleep!"
"Got it!" Naruto waved his hand, seemingly taking the advice to heart.
Even after his figure disappeared into the night, Shikamaru's worried expression didn't ease.
That blond always making him worry about him.