"Damn it! Where's my milk? There were over twenty bottles on the shelf!"
Inside the shop, the store owner stared at the now-empty shelves, eyes wide with rage, and stormed forward to search.
"The bread's gone, the sausages are gone, even the fresh dango I just stocked is gone!"
"This is the how many times this month already?!"
Fuming, the shop owner stomped back to the counter, ready to close up shop and head to the Hokage Tower to demand the Hokage catch the damn thief.
But the moment he got back to the counter, he let out another anguished roar:
"Bastard! Where's the money from my drawer?!"
Enraged beyond reason, the shop owner rushed out into the street, shouting at the passersby:
"Damn thief! Which broke ninja can't make ends meet and has to come steal from my shop?! Don't let me catch you, you bastard!!"
The villagers exchanged glances, whispering amongst themselves:
"It happened again?"
"That mysterious thief… even the Hokage sent people to investigate, but they found nothing."
"Even the Hyūga clan tried using the Byakugan, but they couldn't trace anything. It's like the thief just appeared out of thin air…"
"It wasn't just this store—I heard even the Akimichi clan's barbecue place was hit!"
"Could it be a ghost? I mean, how can so many ninjas fail to catch a thief without even seeing a strand of hair?"
"Don't scare me like that! My family runs a dango shop, and we just lost dozens of skewers yesterday…"
…
Panic rippled through the crowd as they began avoiding the recently raided shop, afraid they might be next.
Soon, a group of Konoha ninja arrived, nearly surrounding the entire shop. Some stormed inside for a full inspection.
A member of the Aburame clan appeared—cloaked in a dark overcoat, sunglasses perched on his face, exuding a mob-like presence.
He held out both hands toward the shop and muttered in a deep voice:
"Parasitic Insects."
In an instant, thousands of tiny black insects poured from his sleeves like a swarm, sweeping through the shop like a storm.
A few seconds later, the Aburame ninja retracted his bugs and shook his head.
"Nothing. The intruder left no trace."
As a member of the Aburame clan, he could control insects for combat, scouting, and defense.
But even with so many bugs, they couldn't detect any residual chakra in the store.
"Still no clues?!" Hiruzen stood beside him, pipe in mouth, his brows deeply furrowed as he muttered:
"We moved fast this time, yet still found nothing. Just what kind of jutsu… is this person using?"
"No… what's their goal?"
"With such powerful abilities, and yet they're only stealing… milk and bread?"
The longer he pondered, the deeper Hiruzen's frown became.
He couldn't comprehend the thief's motives. If they had this kind of power, why use it to steal something so trivial?
Was it a warning?
A show of power?
Or some kind of infiltration tactic?
Just then, several members of the Uchiha clan arrived—eyes red from overuse of their dōjutsu, almost looking diseased.
Hiruzen glanced over and said, "Clan Head Fugaku, Shisui, you came at the right time. See if you can find any traces."
The newcomers were Uchiha Fugaku, the clan leader; Uchiha Shisui, their strongest; and Uchiha Itachi, their prodigy—along with several other Uchiha members.
They nodded and activated their Sharingan, scanning the store intently.
A few seconds later, they deactivated their dōjutsu. Fugaku shook his head.
"I don't see anything abnormal."
Even with his fully awakened three-tomoe Sharingan, the shop appeared perfectly normal.
Hiruzen's brow tightened even further, but in the end, he could only issue orders helplessly:
"Have the Uchiha, Hyūga, Aburame, and Inuzuka clans patrol the village. Do everything you can to catch this intruder."
The ANBU nodded respectfully in response.
Meanwhile—
In the space behind the door, not far away.
Rustle… Naruto unwrapped a stick of three-color dango, tossing it into his mouth as he stared coldly at the scene before him.
"Looks like things are getting out of hand…"
It had been three months since he first awakened his chakra.
In that time, he had become a legendary thief—using the Doa Doa no Mi to loot every kind of store in Konoha.
Shops, barbecue joints, fresh markets, weapon stores… none had escaped his reach.
Thanks to his "efforts," not only had he recovered his malnourished body, he had grown stronger and healthier by the day.
"…But it's time to lay low for a while." Naruto popped the last piece of dango into his mouth and turned toward home.
The Uchiha, Hyūga, Aburame, Inuzuka, Yamanaka—those were all clans with top-tier tracking abilities.
Even if the Door-Door Fruit was a space-based Kekkei Genkai, you never knew when some weird ninja ability might expose him.
…
Two more months passed in a flash.
One day, Naruto was walking down the street to buy some instant noodles to keep up appearances.
But just as he reached the halfway point, someone from the surrounding crowd hurled a rock.
It came so fast, Naruto didn't even see it.
Crack!
He crashed to the ground, clutching his forehead. When he looked down—
His hand was covered in bright red blood.
"You damn bastards…"
Naruto's gaze turned icy.
"Hahahaha!"
The surrounding villagers erupted in laughter.
A group of bratty kids—around Naruto's age—cheered as they clapped mockingly:
"The monster got knocked down! Hahaha!"
"The golden-haired freak is bleeding! Get out of our village!"
"Yeah, go away!!"
…
Naruto's eyes were as cold as the depths of a frozen lake.
But he quickly composed himself, getting up in a slightly embarrassed manner.
He looked around at the laughing villagers and forced a smile:
"Hey everyone… don't throw rocks like that. It's really dangerous. Look—my head's bleeding now."
One of the villagers sneered and muttered:
"Exactly why I threw it—you are the monster…"
Naruto didn't bother finding out who threw it. He knew he'd never get a straight answer.
So he bought the instant noodles and headed home, holding his bleeding forehead.
After roughly bandaging the wound, he sat down and prepared to resume chakra refinement.
But just then—there was a knock at the door.
Naruto walked over and opened it.
Seeing who stood outside, he instantly put on an expression of joy and leapt forward happily:
"Jii-chan! You came to visit me!?"
(End of Chapter)
[Check Out My Patreon For +20 Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!!][[email protected]/zaelum]
[+500 Power Stones = +1 Extra Chapter]
[Thank You For Your Support!]