Witty Naruto Life

Chapter 217 Konohamaru's Choice
"Is it a guy wearing a white robe and an animal mask?"

"Yes, it's him." The woman nodded.

Naruto chuckled dryly and changed the subject immediately: "Has Konohamaru been going to the newspaper office a lot lately?"

"Konohamaru?" The woman pondered for a moment, then smiled. "He comes here as soon as he finishes a mission. He's more diligent than many of our full-time employees."

"Is that so? He must have had a really tough time..." Naruto smiled like a woman, then suddenly changed the subject:
"Since he's working so hard, let's give him less work usually."

The woman's expression froze for a moment, then she chuckled awkwardly, "Actually... he's not particularly busy right now, and Konohamaru is very passionate about journalism. Just think about it, the future of Konoha..."

"Konoha needs more elite Jonin in the future to maintain the normal operation of the village."

Naruto's serious tone immediately silenced her.

As the editor-in-chief of a newspaper, the woman was unwilling to let go of any promising talents, and Konohamaru was not only young and promising, but more importantly, he had a special relationship with Naruto as his student.

If this were translated into the United States, it would be equivalent to a reporter stationed in the White House having a relative working in the House of Representatives, in which case they would have access to all kinds of first-hand news.

The woman pushed up her glasses, her gaze sharp and intense.

In the name of the editor-in-chief, we must protect this child from Naruto!
"Lord Naruto, I think the child's future should be decided by himself. If you force him to give up what he loves..."

"Hmm. I remember Konohamaru saying before that his dream was to become the Seventh Hokage."

Naruto took a sip of tea, crossed his arms, and calmly looked at the woman.

"...But that was Konohamaru's dream before. His dream now may not still be Hokage."

"If Konohamaru's dream remains unchanged, then it's reasonable for me to ask the newspaper to assign him fewer missions, right?"

Naruto's attitude made the woman uneasy. She herself was unsure of Konohamaru's thoughts, after all, many ninjas regarded Naruto as their ultimate goal.

"Tuk Tuk Tuk!"

The knocking interrupted the woman's thoughts. Naruto said "Come in," and then saw Konohamaru peeking in. When he saw Naruto, his face lit up with surprise.

"Naruto-nii-san! What brings you here?"

Konohamaru entered the room and saw Naruto smiling warmly as he asked him to sit down: "We were just talking about you, and we're discussing your future plans now."

"Me?" Konohamaru was taken aback. He thought it was the editor-in-chief conducting a private interview with Naruto.

Naruto's smile remained unchanged: "We just happened to be talking about your dream of becoming Hokage. This editor-in-chief was a little skeptical; she thought you were going to be a professional journalist."

The woman's eyelids twitched; Naruto's words were far too targeted.

The fact that they specifically used the phrase "I thought" is meant to imply that Konohamaru's dream will never change?

Instead of directly addressing the issue, she changed the subject, saying, "Konohamaru, you've been consistently submitting manuscripts lately. We've discussed it internally and are considering giving you a bonus as encouragement."

Konohamaru's eyes lit up instantly upon hearing such good news: "Really! Thank you so much!"

After she finished speaking, she smiled and looked at Naruto, who smiled back, and the temperature in the air began to rise.

Naruto narrowed his eyes slightly: "A bonus, right? How come I didn't hear about that before?"

The woman covered her mouth and chuckled, "Ah~ I completely forgot, look at my memory~"

This was certainly not because she forgot, but rather a solution she came up with on the spot, and the bonus would come from her own pocket.

"Naruto-nii-san...?" Konohamaru sensed something was off; there was a hint of tension in the room.

Before the woman could continue speaking, Naruto suddenly said, "By the way, Konohamaru, do you know how much the Konoha Foundation's revenue has been in the past year?"

"Huh?" Konohamaru was completely confused and didn't understand.

"Let me put it this way," Naruto leaned forward slightly, revealing a warm, approachable smile:
“At least ten times the newspaper’s annual revenue… Oh, I’m sorry, I was afraid the child wouldn’t understand, so I took the liberty of using the newspaper as the unit of measurement. You don’t mind, do you?” He smiled politely at the woman.

The woman's expression stiffened: "What...are you trying to say?"

"I mean, the Konoha Foundation is similar in nature to the government, and the rewards for some of its commissions are very substantial, not to mention that the Konoha Spiritual Court, a giant in the industry, is backed by the Konoha Foundation,"

"In other words, as long as you are willing to diligently cultivate your skills, you will have the opportunity to accept commissions from the foundation and obtain substantial benefits,"

"Furthermore, as my disciple, I am personally willing to provide you with a 'growth fund,' such as 'a reward of 50000 taels for learning to make a Rasengan with one hand in a week!'"

The woman couldn't help but stand up: "But! This reward is so much..."

Naruto interrupted, "Generally speaking, completing an A-rank mission in the village will reward an individual with between 15000 and 100000 ryo."

"The Rasengan's learning difficulty is A-level. I'll take that as a reference and choose a relatively moderate reward amount for Konohamaru. That's reasonable, isn't it?"

His series of moves left the woman speechless. Konohamaru, standing nearby, was even more dumbfounded, somewhat dazed, feeling as if he were dreaming.

Naruto sneered. He hadn't even considered using his financial power to defeat Konohamaru, but since someone was taking the initiative to challenge his strengths, he didn't mind putting on a good show for him.

Perhaps this is the simple and unpretentious nature of the wealthy.

"So, Konohamaru, it's more in your best interest to use your limited lifespan for training, isn't it?" Naruto patted Konohamaru on the shoulder and said earnestly.

"Spend more time practicing in the future, and go to the newspaper office less. After all, hobbies are hobbies, and business is business," "You agree, right?"

The woman looked at him expectantly: "Konohamaru..."

Konohamaru's eyes darted around. After hearing this and considering what the two had just done, he suddenly became much more clear-headed and understood their intentions.

He took a deep breath and solemnly said to Naruto, "Brother Naruto, I don't want your money."

In an instant, Naruto's expression froze. What else do you want besides training? Are you really addicted to stalking me?
I can't rely on stalking me to make a living in the future!
The woman was stunned for a moment, then her face lit up with ecstatic joy; she felt she had turned the tide of her life! But the next moment, Konohamaru said to her again:
"Editor-in-chief, I don't want your bonus either."

"...Konohamaru?" The woman was stunned, while Konohamaru looked at the two of them and said seriously:

"I enjoy being a reporter, and I want to become Hokage, but I'm not doing this for the money,"

"If it were for money, I could have asked the clan for it, but if I could record other people's lives and experience their joys and sorrows, I would be willing to do it even without any reward!"

“Cultivation is the same. I’m already happy as I slowly get stronger and feel that I’m getting closer and closer to my goal of becoming Hokage. How could I possibly take your money, Naruto-nii?”

The woman was deeply moved; Konohamaru was practically born with the divine talent of a reporter!

Naruto sighed softly, thinking that the child hadn't suffered enough and didn't realize the importance of money.

Let's talk about it when you're buying ninja tools, raising children, and supporting your parents, when you're spending money like water.

Naruto: "Since you've said that, I won't stop you anymore, but there are two things you must abide by."

"First, stop stalking me every day like an idiot. I'm getting annoyed with you. If you do it again, I'll just beat you up."

Konohamaru was taken aback; he thought his disguise was flawless.

"Second, you can't let the reporters' affairs interfere with your cultivation... Hmm, I'll test your cultivation progress tomorrow. If you don't pass, don't come here this week."

"This is not a discussion, it's a notification."

After saying that, he turned to the woman: "Is everything alright?"

The woman forced a smile: "As long as he can continue being a reporter, that's fine."

In the end, Naruto-sama used his status to intimidate them; they were simply not to be trifled with.

Konohamaru's face fell instantly. Because of collecting materials, he had indeed been slacking off in his training recently, so he immediately said that he had to go back and quickly cram.

After dealing with the matter, Naruto did not linger and immediately bid farewell to the editor-in-chief before leaving the newspaper office.

……

in the afternoon.

The training ground where Yamato was born.

Naruto summoned four shadow clones at the bottom of the waterfall.

Two of them sat cross-legged on the ground, responsible for collecting natural energy to help the main body switch to immortal mode at any time.

The other two are on the left and right sides of the main body, respectively, and like the main body in the center, they are all wearing immortal masks.

Naruto's right palm faces upward as he begins to condense a Rasengan, while his left side stabilizes his chakra and his right side incorporates Wind Release nature transformation.

Before confronting Kakuzu, Naruto had already completed his training in cutting waterfalls, and now he was about to officially master Sage Art: Rasenshuriken.

To stabilize his chakra, he summoned two shadow clones to assist him, just like in the original story, in order to master it as quickly as possible.

Ideally, this ultimate move should be mastered before Sasuke makes contact, so that he can be more confident in dealing with Orochimaru.

It's worth mentioning here that Sasuke has been away from Orochimaru's lair for some time now.

However, the three-year time limit has expired, and given that Genyuumaru's body is gradually becoming repulsed by Orochimaru, this possibility cannot be ruled out:

The weakened Orochimaru decided to first reincarnate into a new body, and then, in his prime, capture Sasuke and imprison him for three years.

In the original work, Sasuke was able to devour Orochimaru largely because of his own physical weakness, but if he weren't weak, that would be a different story.

"This decision might be bad for Orochimaru, but being killed by Sasuke while weakened would definitely be worse, and he might anticipate that I'm going to support Sasuke," Naruto muttered.

He stopped thinking about it and began to focus on his palm, where the Rasengan slowly began to condense.

He deliberately slowed down and had his right clone incorporate Wind Release nature transformation, causing the previously spherical vortex to gradually transition into the shape of a shuriken.

"Buzz-"

Naruto felt his hairline being blown up, and the chakra vortex affected the surrounding grass, causing it to sway in the wind.

This shows how powerful this move is.

The clone on the left joined in at this moment, but soon, his forehead began to be covered with fine sweat.

(End of this chapter)