This Naruto Is a Player!

"Hello everyone, my name is Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm the man who's going to become Hokage!"

Naruto wrote his full name on the blackboard.

Turning around, he took in the expressions of everyone in the classroom before stepping down from the podium.

Good. The kids are all very innocent and haven't been obviously corrupted.

However, this homeroom teacher named Oda Ichiro... his gaze held a hint of disgust.

Should I drive him away?

At this moment, Naruto remembered his side quest.

Anyway, he was already the village's notorious prankster, so getting rid of one more homeroom teacher wouldn't make much difference.

Whatever.

After everyone had finished their self-introductions, during break time, all the young students were busy making new friends.

Naruto also set his sights on someone.

Across the aisle, there was a chubby kid, round and somewhat cute.

He was wearing a T-shirt with the character for 'eat' on it. He must be a foodie, right?

"Hey, chubby kid, my name is Naruto, and you're Choji, right?"

"Don't call me chubby kid!" Choji instantly bristled at the word "chubby."

"Huh? My bad, I didn't know you didn't like that name." Naruto's face showed apology as he pulled something out from behind him.

"Here, take these as an apology."

Choji's spellcasting (his anger) was interrupted by the six bags of potato chips placed on his desk.

"Are these really for me?"

Looking at the bags of chips, Choji found it hard to believe.

"Of course! As an apology, these are all for you. I sell snacks, so if you come to me to buy chips in the future, I'll give you a 50% discount."

At this, Choji's eyes lit up, and he asked disbelievingly, "Really?"

"Of course. My name is Naruto Uzumaki. If you want any snacks in the future, just find me."

Before leaving, Naruto suddenly turned back and handed him a bottle of soda.

"Soda tastes great too, try it. But you should drink a little less of this one."

With that, Naruto hurried off to his next target.

This was a small business Naruto wanted to start in his spare time.

The items in the mall, being purchased with recharged currency (RMB), were significantly cheaper than outside.

Food, drinks, and even ninja tools were all cheaper than what was available externally.

For example, the refined kunai Naruto often drew from the gacha cost only 1 ryo per piece in the mall.

However, kunai of that quality would cost at least 50 ryo outside.

Other price differences existed, though not as exaggerated, but still enough for Naruto to earn a substantial profit margin.

If the adults hadn't been so unwelcoming, he would have opened a general store in the village to make money long ago.

But now, the opportunity had arrived.

Adults didn't want to deal with him, but he could use small snacks and drinks to harvest the pocket money of his classmates.

Beside Choji, Shikamaru had been listening to their conversation. Seeing Naruto leave, he noticed Choji's fingers twitching, wanting to devour the chips.

"Hey, Choji, you know who he is, right?" Shikamaru prompted.

Other kids might not remember, but Shikamaru remembered Naruto. He was the person almost all adults disliked, even avoided, with many saying he could spread a virus. Though troublesome, Shikamaru didn't want Choji to contract this unknown 'virus.' Making friends was already a hassle, and he himself wasn't popular due to his personality, only able to play with Choji. If he lost Choji too, he couldn't imagine.

"I won't waste any food," Choji replied firmly.

He tore open a bag of strange cucumber-flavored chips, tasted it, and found the flavor unique and delicious.

And the cola was sweet and fizzy—tasty!

While eating, Choji stared at the busy Naruto and suddenly recalled their first meeting.

It was on the main shopping street. Naruto was walking along, and passersby were all avoiding him, some even cursing him softly.

It was the first time Choji had seen people dislike someone so intensely.

Many people disliked, even hated and detested Naruto, wishing him dead.

However, he was shocked by Naruto's attitude.

Naruto seemed completely unbothered by any of it. He even saw Naruto walking along, tossing a coin into the air.

Then, Naruto suddenly yelled, "It's decided then! Let's go fishing!"

And then he saw a smile appear on Naruto's face.

Being discriminated against, hated, and even cursed by so many people, yet Naruto could still smile?

What an incredibly strong inner spirit.

And what about Choji?

He was also discriminated against by other children for being fat. Many kids called him "chubby" or "pig," and he felt a bit insecure, even fearful and angry when others mentioned the word "fat" in front of him.

So, he empathized with Naruto's plight.

His only friend was Shikamaru, and that was only because their families were old acquaintances. Otherwise, he might not have had any friends at all.

Having no friends was lonely, and Choji couldn't imagine what it would be like to be alone.

Would he be as strong as Naruto?

Would he be able to smile even when alone?

If he could, Choji truly wanted to be friends with Naruto. He yearned to be like such a strong person and deeply wanted to become someone like that himself.

On the other side, Naruto was still busy promoting his snacks.

He went from student to student, selling to them and remembering many of his classmates. Most chose to buy snacks, until he reached Sasuke Uchiha.

This protagonist did indeed look good, already strikingly handsome at such a young age.

Black hair, a clean and beautiful face—no wonder he became the protagonist, no wonder so many girls liked him.

At this moment, he wore a blank expression, looking quite cool, but actually very pretentious.

"Hey, you want some snacks or not?"

Sasuke was quite speechless. He had noticed this lively blond kid long ago.

Why did he call everyone else by name, but just said "hey" to him?

Naruto was still bothered by the fact that this little brat in front of him was the protagonist, while he himself could only be the villainous final boss.

Feeling annoyed, he naturally didn't have a good attitude.

Besides, that face was indeed good, but he, Naruto, wasn't bad either, okay? Why, despite similar looks, did he have to be relegated to a villain? He refused to accept it!!!

Sasuke shook his head, refusing.

This rejection from Sasuke, the protagonist, suddenly ignited a competitive spirit in Naruto.

So you're the protagonist, huh?!

He was rather curious to see what would happen if he led this protagonist down a "crooked path."

Starting with small things like this.

Naruto activated his max-level passive-aggressiveness, subtly saying, "Oh, surely the second young master of the Uchiha doesn't lack the money to buy a drink, does he?"

In the time he had, he had already investigated Sasuke's financial background.

"I'll take it."

Little brat, so easily provoked.

"Well, well, young master, don't be stingy. If you're going to buy, buy a big one like this." Naruto placed a 2L bottle of cola on the desk.

Thud!

Sasuke directly slapped banknotes onto the desk.

"That'll be 10 ryo."

Naruto smiled. A 5 ryo drink, and I'm selling it for 10 ryo directly! I'm so ruthless! Wait, why does it feel like I sold it too cheap?

Watching Naruto leave, Sasuke suddenly reflected on himself.

Why was I so easily provoked? Strange.

Continuing to sell his wares, Naruto saw a familiar face.

"Oh, it's you. You're Hinata, right?"

Hinata was very shy. "Naruto-kun."

"No need to be so formal. Here, this bubble tea is for you. Girls should drink more bubble tea."

"Thank you, Naruto-kun."

"That'll be 15 ryo."

The class bell rang, and Naruto returned to his seat.

Splash!

Homeroom teacher Mr. Oda had just opened the door when he was drenched by a bucket of water.

"Who did that?!"

"Teacher, it was Naruto Uzumaki."

"Naruto Uzumaki! Go stand outside!"

Naruto walked out of the classroom. The hallway was empty.

Seeing no one supervising him, he simply left.

Time to go fishing.