Tree Climbing in Advance

The next day.

Naruto woke up, rubbing his eyes, and found an extra person in his house.

Still dizzy, he shook his head and realized it was the Third Hokage.

"Third Hokage Grandpa, why are you here so early?"

The Third Hokage smiled kindly. "Naruto, do you still have enough money?"

Naruto beamed. "Yes, I have enough! I can eat whatever I want now."

"Have you encountered any difficulties at the academy recently?" The Third Hokage sat on a stool and engaged in small talk with Naruto.

In reality, Anbu reported Naruto's daily activities to him, but this was his way of getting closer to Naruto.

After chatting with Naruto for a while and finding nothing unusual, the Third Hokage finally left.

Once the Third Hokage was gone, Naruto closed the door and sighed heavily. Acting was exhausting, but he couldn't stop.

Teacher Natsuki had told him not to let the Third Hokage know he had learned a lot.

Naruto tidied up his room, ate the bento he bought yesterday, and then left the house.

As soon as Naruto stepped out, the Anbu immediately followed.

But Naruto only went to the riverside, where Sasuke was already practicing the Fire Release jutsu.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"

Sasuke took a deep breath and spewed out a massive fireball. He then quickly leaped forward and threw two shuriken.

Thunk, thunk.

The fireball skimmed the water's surface and disappeared, with the two shuriken embedding themselves in the bullseye.

"Wow, wow, wow…" Naruto clapped his hands vigorously. "Sasuke, you're amazing!"

Sasuke turned around proudly. "Hmph, of course."

"Come on, let's go to the woods."

Naruto followed Sasuke to the woods, where they stood before two tall, straight trees.

Sasuke coughed and then, trying to be serious, said, "Yesterday, my teacher said my chakra control wasn't very good, so he taught me to climb trees. Climbing alone is boring."

"So, Naruto, I'm going to teach you to climb trees, and we'll climb together."

Naruto sat on the ground obediently, nodding repeatedly. He knew Teacher Natsuki had arranged for Sasuke to teach him.

Sasuke was a bit surprised to see Naruto being so cooperative.

Teacher Natsuki asked Sasuke if he would like to be Naruto's teacher this morning.

Having grown used to being Naruto's rival, Sasuke was more than willing.

Since the academy had just taught chakra refinement, Natsuki immediately thought of tree climbing and water walking exercises.

Given the Anbu's constant surveillance, if Natsuki himself taught Naruto, the Third Hokage would surely react strongly.

Although Natsuki, with his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, wasn't afraid of the Third Hokage, he planned to leave the village soon, so it was best to keep a low profile.

Sasuke had a good relationship with Naruto, so having Sasuke teach him wouldn't raise any suspicion from the Third Hokage.

After earnestly explaining the technique, Sasuke and Naruto began their climb.

Sasuke took five steps before falling.

Being a Uchiha, Sasuke had good coordination and landed gracefully with a flip.

Turning around, he saw that Naruto had also taken five steps.

Naruto had initially been nervous about gathering chakra in his feet, fearing the Nine-Tails might disrupt his chakra flow. To his surprise, it worked this time.

In his heart, Naruto thanked the Nine-Tails. Although the Nine-Tails didn't respond, Naruto was still delighted.

In his excitement, Naruto fell from the tree.

Although Naruto's movements weren't as graceful as Sasuke's, he had clearly spent a lot of time training in taijutsu.

Naruto adjusted his posture as he fell, landing on his feet and rolling to avoid injury.

Though his landing was less elegant, it was effective in preventing harm.

However, his clothes took a beating. After rolling on the ground, Naruto stood up with his clothes covered in dirt.

"Naruto, look how dirty you are." Sasuke laughed at Naruto's way of landing.

But then he remembered that Naruto had climbed just as high as he had.

He quickly regained his serious demeanor.

"Let's continue..."

...

In the Hokage's office.

The Third Hokage read through the Anbu's report. Naruto and Sasuke had spent the entire day training in tree climbing.

Naruto was surprisingly on par with Sasuke, a stark contrast to his performance in the academy's ninjutsu classes.

The Third Hokage took a puff from his pipe.

So be it.

Even though he was the Third Hokage, the professor of ninjutsu, he had relatively little experience with Jinchuriki studies.

As long as Naruto remained under Konoha's control, it was fine.

As for Sasuke teaching Naruto to climb trees, it was a minor issue.

He merely instructed the Anbu to keep a closer watch and dismissed them.

As the Hokage, he had many other matters to handle.

Danzo had been out of sight for a long time. The Third Hokage knew Danzo would never be content with the status quo and was likely biding his time somewhere.

The bloody mist regime in the Land of Water had driven many elite Mist ninjas to become rogue ninjas, causing turmoil in the black market.

Meanwhile, the Land of Rain had been closed off for years, with Hanzo remaining silent. Both situations required vigilance.

The Sand Village had been quiet recently, likely due to their poverty. Rasa had been focusing on boosting the Sand Village's economy since the Third Great Ninja War, so there was no immediate concern.

In the Rock Village, Onoki was reportedly busy cleaning up after his talented disciple's messes.

However, the Sound Village in the Land of Fields...

The Third Hokage sifted through a thick stack of intelligence reports.

They stayed hidden after Itachi and Shisui left the village with over a hundred elite ninjas. The Third Hokage's attempts to track them with the Anbu had quickly failed.

When they resurfaced, Itachi and Shisui were in the Sound Village.

But Konoha couldn't afford to label them as rogue ninjas. The Uchiha in the village had surrendered their power and coexisted peacefully with Konoha, while those outside the town had relocated.

Declaring Itachi and Shisui as rogue ninjas wouldn't serve Konoha's interests.

With four pairs of Mangekyo Sharingan to contend with, Konoha had no choice but to accept the situation.

What intrigued the Third Hokage was the "Chinese Cuisine" business the Uchiha clan had started. What did "Chinese" mean? Was it a unique code or something?

The Third Hokage had tried the cuisine himself and had to admit that after eating Chinese cuisine, he felt like he had been eating pig slop before.

Whether it was the diverse main courses or the rich snacks, the new cuisine had decimated the old dining system.

Reports indicated that the business had gained the support of the Land of Fields' daimyo and was spreading widely, offering many more dishes than in Konoha.

As the Third Hokage had suspected, the mastermind behind these delicious foods was Uchiha Natsuki.

The Third Hokage knew the Mangekyo Sharingan could awaken special ocular powers. Could Uchiha Natsuki's power be related to cooking?

Analyzing their profits, the Third Hokage found that the businesses in Konoha's Eighth Street alone were making a fortune.

However, the Uchiha never disclosed their exact earnings. Still, the improved quality of life for Uchiha civilians indicated substantial profits.

And all of this was brought by Uchiha Natsuki.

If only Uchiha Natsuki weren't around, everything would be better...

...