Vulpix is going to be famous

In fact, the classmates in Naruto's class noticed Vulpix as early as when Naruto brought it over.

Such a cute Vulpix—how could they not notice?

It's just that their relationship with Naruto was the most ordinary kind of classmate relationship.

Sarutobi had ordered that the villagers of Konoha were not allowed to talk about the Nine-Tails Rebellion anymore, or about the fact that Naruto had a fox demon sealed inside him.

This also made the villagers of Konoha aware of Naruto's connection to the fox demon, but they didn't dare speak openly about it.

As a result, many in Konoha's new generation didn't know about the fox demon.

Still, the attitude of the villagers toward Naruto affected the children to some extent.

Coupled with the fact that Naruto was academically at the bottom of the class and not particularly handsome, none of them took the initiative to approach him—until Ino broke the silence.

Now that Ino spoke up, others followed suit.

"That's right, this is my Vulpix! Pretty strong, huh?"

"I got it at the Pokémon House," Naruto added, feeling happy for the recognition he had long craved.

What Naruto hoped for the most was to be acknowledged by others.

In the past, he often pulled pranks in Konoha just to get attention.

But no matter how many pranks he played, the attention he got was always negative.

Now, by simply bringing Vulpix to class, he had managed to capture the attention of so many classmates.

Naruto felt overjoyed.

"Pokémon House? I've never heard of that shop. Is it in Konoha?" Sakura asked, her curiosity piqued as she scratched her chin.

"Of course, it's in Konoha! The Pokémon House is run by Brother Fuji, on the south side of Konoha Street."

"It used to be called Fuji's Ninja Shop, but now it's been changed to the Pokémon House, specializing in selling Pokémon instead of ninja tools," Naruto explained excitedly, giving the full address of the shop.

"Fuji's Ninja Shop? I know that place! The shop owner is a very handsome guy," Ino chimed in, clapping her hands as she recalled the store.

Ino, who had a thing for good-looking faces, remembered Fuji clearly due to his striking appearance.

Fuji had been in Konoha for many years, though he hadn't done anything major.

Even so, he had made a difference in smaller ways. For example, when Hinata was bullied, it was Fuji who chased away the kids bothering her.

Because of this, Hinata didn't seem as shy as she once did around Naruto.

Fuji had also made friends with Ino and others over time.

Perhaps because Ino had seen Fuji's good looks, she wasn't as obsessed with Sasuke as she was in the original story. She didn't fawn over Sasuke nearly as much now.

"So, it's been changed to the Pokémon House and they sell Pokémon now?"

Although Ino wasn't sure what exactly a Pokémon was, she assumed it referred to creatures like Vulpix.

"Yes, yes! It turns out you know Brother Fuji too, Ino," Naruto nodded enthusiastically.

"Of course I do! Brother Fuji is so handsome; how could I not know him?" Ino replied, smiling at the thought of Fuji.

"Handsome? Could he be more handsome than Sasuke?" Sakura asked, unconvinced.

"He's way more handsome than Sasuke!" Naruto and Ino said in unison.

"Sasuke's just full of himself. He's not that handsome!" Naruto exclaimed, irritated that Sakura kept praising Sasuke.

"Sakura, you've never seen Brother Fuji. That's why you think Sasuke is handsome," Ino said smugly, feeling a sense of superiority.

Ino's relationship with Sakura was much better than in the original story, largely because she no longer viewed Sakura as a rival for Sasuke's attention.

"What? There's no way anyone could be more handsome than Sasuke!" Sakura and the other girls in the class exclaimed in disbelief.

They were all Sasuke fans, so they couldn't admit that anyone could surpass him in looks.

"That's because you haven't seen Brother Fuji. You'll know what I mean when you meet him," Ino stated confidently.

"Isn't it boring to talk about this? Weren't we discussing Vulpix?" one of the boys interrupted.

"That's right! Don't you think it's cool that Vulpix can use fire?"

"Yeah, considering how small Vulpix is, it's amazing that it can already use a fire move!"

"I want a strong Pokémon like that too!" the boys in the class agreed, clearly impressed by Vulpix's abilities.

"Pokémon…" Sasuke, sitting at the front of the class, thought coldly to himself. "Maybe these creatures will help me grow stronger… and help me defeat that man."

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