Chapter 8: Impersonating the Hokage

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Emerging from his hiding place, Naruto glanced up at the sky. It was roughly seven or eight in the morning. He started walking toward home but soon felt the pace too slow. With a leap, he jumped onto a tree, then swiftly bounded from branch to branch until he vanished from sight.

Meanwhile, the Anbu tasked with protecting Naruto were stunned.

“Karasu, did you see that?”

“Yes.”

“That was...”

“Not the Third Hokage. Though it looked incredibly real, when I handed over my shift this morning, the Third was still in his office.”

“So what do we do?”

“You continue tailing and protecting him. I’ll inform the Hokage.”

“Understood.”

With that, two shadows split apart and disappeared after a few bounds.

Location: Hokage Tower, Hokage’s Office.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was overwhelmed with a mountain of affairs. The ongoing war between the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning generated a constant stream of intelligence and duties, leaving him stretched thin.

Now, he had just received an unexpected yet somewhat delightful piece of news.

“Is the information confirmed? Naruto has transformed into my likeness?”

“Confirmed.”

Looking again at Karasu, Sarutobi recalled that the Anbu was a trusted veteran.

He found it odd. Naruto had only learned chakra refinement three days ago; when did he master the transformation jutsu? This disguise had even nearly fooled the Anbu.

A prodigy, perhaps? It was quite possible—after all, he was the son of the Fourth Hokage.

Sarutobi drew on his old pipe and said, “Looks like I’ll have to go there myself.”

Meanwhile, Naruto’s experience was full of surprise.

“Good morning, Hokage-sama.”

“Good morni... cough, good morning,” Naruto tried to deepen his voice.

“Good morning, Third Hokage.”

“Mm, good morning.”

Since entering the village, greetings like these had come nonstop.

Everyone he met—every single one—wore genuine smiles and greeted him warmly.

The respect in their eyes nearly overflowed.

Children even affectionately called him “Hokage Grandpa,” chasing him playfully before returning upon their parents’ reminders not to disturb the Hokage’s affairs.

This feeling was entirely new—being respected, loved by many. Naruto, in his previous life as an outcast, had never experienced such warmth.

The level of popularity he felt must rival that of the richest man in the world.

Yet, these titles—

Hokage-sama, Hokage Grandpa, Third Hokage.

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Naruto looked up and noticed the carved faces on the Hokage Rock. He froze.

Wait, wasn’t that the lonely old man?

How could that be... the Third Hokage?

Naruto realized he might have caused trouble.

He felt a bit annoyed.

Just randomly picking someone, and it turned out to be this little old man—he actually was the Third Hokage.

Was the Hokage really that boring? Sitting with him late at night for dinner?

Naruto no longer dared to stroll around so openly. He slipped into a deserted alley and dispelled the transformation.

“A bit reckless. Hopefully no one noticed.”

At that moment, a notification popped up:

[You have completed a prank mission with a score of 9.5]

[You have earned: 1 skill point, Prank Rookie Badge]

[You have unlocked: Prank Star questline. Please check the mission interface for details.]

“What’s this? A prank?”

Naruto glanced at the mission interface.

So this was a side quest. According to the game design, the game offered high freedom; aside from mandatory main quests, players could freely explore and trigger numerous side quests.

This was one of them.

Naruto looked at the reward: 1 skill point?

No, it was 1 unrestricted skill point.

It could directly raise a skill from 90 (level 1/10) to 91 (1/10), rather than from 90 (1/10) to 90 (2/10).

Then he examined the Prank Rookie Badge.

[Prank Rookie:

+0.2% chakra recovery

Description: Pranks bring joy, and joy increases recovery.]

Naruto tried equipping it to see the effect.

(Recovery rate: 1.2% (base) × (1 + 200% + 2000%) × 2 = 55.2% per hour)

Previously it was 46%, now increased by 9.2%—a significant boost.

If the Rookie badge was this powerful, what about the badges to come?

“I love pranks!” Naruto exclaimed sincerely.

Closing the interface, he scanned the surroundings; no one seemed to notice him.

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief and then leapt forward.

Swish, swish—

Within a few bounds, he was back at his doorstep.

Taking a key from his backpack, he entered and saw a figure inside. At first, he thought there was a thief, but upon closer look, it was the Third Hokage.

“Hokage Grandpa.”

This “grandpa” was heartfelt.

This man was the village’s top boss—on Earth, he would be equivalent to a national president.

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With this old man around, was he really afraid of being eliminated by villagers?

“Little Naruto, you’re back,” Hiruzen Sarutobi greeted with a kindly smile.

He could tell Naruto already knew who he was.

He reached out to affectionately pat Naruto’s head and asked, “I heard there’s someone impersonating me in the village?”

“Fakenews, it’s all false,” Naruto replied.

Hearing this, Sarutobi didn’t pursue it further but warned, “Naruto, I know you didn’t mean any harm, but don’t transform into others inside the village. Otherwise, you might be mistaken for a spy and arrested.”

“Understood.”

Thinking back on his recent experience, Naruto couldn’t help but ask, “Hokage Grandpa, how did you become Hokage?”

The Third smiled, recalling, “I was appointed by the Second Hokage. I had prepared to sacrifice myself for my comrades, but unexpectedly, the Second named me Hokage...”

Naruto wasn’t interested in these secrets; he just wanted to know how to become Hokage.

He loved the feeling from that journey—being respected, warmly greeted by everyone.

It felt exhilarating.

But that was the Third Hokage.

What about him, Naruto? Whenever he went out, people either ignored him or looked at him with hatred.

Forget greetings; not getting hit by rotten eggs was lucky.

What if he didn’t go out?

No.

Naruto Uzumaki—why couldn’t he go out?

If he became Hokage, would everything change?

“Hokage Grandpa, how can I become Hokage?” Naruto asked earnestly.

What effort was needed?

Was becoming the strongest enough?

Naruto was curious—very, very curious.

Hearing this, the Third felt deeply gratified and content.

Naruto was being guided onto the right path; his teaching that night had not been in vain.

Feeling Naruto’s Will of Fire burning bright, Sarutobi continued, “To be Hokage, you need great strength, superhuman patience and perseverance, and most importantly, the recognition of your comrades and everyone else.

Great strength requires constant growth and learning—improving your skills every day.

Superhuman patience and perseverance require...”

At that moment, Naruto felt a headache coming.

Maybe not going out wasn’t so bad after all.

What did the villagers’ cold stares matter?

He could just take a detour.

He wasn’t fragile-hearted and had a thick skin—let them look if they wanted.

He couldn’t control their gaze, but he could control his own mindset.

Better yet, he could fight back.

That was perfect—he had just learned some ninjutsu!