At the same time—
in the commercial street near Ichiraku Ramen.
Naruto had already been taken away by the Third Hokage.
Chiba, however, remained.
He looked around quietly. The villagers who moments ago had been snarling like wild beasts now strolled about as if nothing had happened—laughing, shopping, chatting.
What a long experience, Chiba thought bitterly.
Root. Third Hokage. Jinchūriki.
And the villagers themselves…
He could already predict what would happen next. After this incident, the Third Hokage would likely issue a decree forbidding discussion of Naruto's identity, but he would still never deny the words "demon fox."
As for who leaked the Jinchūriki secret in the first place—
that was obvious.
The oldest scapegoat of them all: Shimura Danzō.
Chiba exhaled and shook his head.
He could approach Naruto, but not now.
It had to be natural, accidental — not something that looked deliberate.
There were too many conspiracies in this world. Too many strings being pulled from the shadows.
Sitting down on a large bluestone by the road, Chiba placed the small embroidered wallet on his lap.
He smiled faintly.
Jiang Taigong fishing — those who wish to bite, will bite.
He would simply wait.
Suddenly, the wallet began to glow faintly red.
The light flickered — visible only to him.
"Hm?" Chiba blinked. "She's close?"
The glow was clearly a quest indicator. The target was nearby.
Chiba looked up.
From a distance, a young girl came running anxiously down the street. She had short golden hair that brushed her cheeks, clear blue eyes, and a small, delicate face. She looked about three or four years old.
Chiba recognized her immediately.
Yamanaka Ino.
One of the future Ino–Shika–Chō trio, a descendant of the "pig" family.
She stopped in front of him, slightly out of breath.
When her eyes lifted to his, she froze for a second.
The boy sitting before her had snow–silver hair and calm red eyes. His complexion was fair, his features sharp and elegant — like a porcelain doll brought to life.
Wow… he's really handsome, Ino thought, a little dazed.
(Yes — even at three, she was already a little face-conscious.)
"That… that wallet is mine," she stammered, cheeks flushed.
Chiba smiled softly. So this is the Ino everyone talks about? Cute, but already precocious.
He picked up the wallet and handed it to her.
"Check if there's anything missing."
"Mm!"
Ino took it quickly, unzipped it, and counted the contents with surprising focus: a few folded banknotes, a pale blue card, and some small items. She nodded.
"Nothing's missing! Thank you."
"Good."
Chiba smiled again, voice calm as ever.
In truth, if it hadn't been for the glowing question mark, he wouldn't have picked it up at all. In the real world, returning something could easily get you blamed for theft — and in the Hokage world, that risk could be literal death.
Just as that thought passed—
[Ding!]
[Mission Completed — "Yamanaka Ino's Lost Wallet"]
Rewards:
10,000 ryō
Talent: Grandmaster
Village Reputation +5
Yamanaka Clan Favorability +1
Item: Ordinary Ninja Sword
A crisp system chime echoed in his ears.
Chiba blinked.
Ten thousand ryō?!
That was already a small fortune for him.
Money might be "external," but in this world, it meant survival. Ninja training required terrifying amounts of resources — not only food, but kunai, shuriken, detonation tags, ration pills, and scrolls.
Even medical treatment after injury required money. Otherwise, dark wounds would accumulate, and the path of a ninja would end early.
That was why there were so few geniuses from the commoner class.
Chiba glanced again at the reward list.
Money and a sword were good.
But Grandmaster Talent?
Village reputation +5?
Yamanaka clan favorability +1?
Those were even better.
The visible effects might be minor now, but the hidden benefits could be enormous.
A real smile crept onto his face.
Not bad for my first quest.
Suppressing his excitement, Chiba looked back at the little blonde girl.
"If there's nothing else, I'll be going," he said lightly.
He turned to leave.
"Wait!"
Chiba paused.
Ino was looking up at him, her expression bright but shy.
"My name is Yamanaka Ino!" she said quickly, pointing to herself. "What about you? What's your name?"
"Chiba."
He gave a brief nod and turned to walk away.
Ino watched his back fade into the crowd, clutching the embroidered wallet tightly to her chest.
"Chiba…" she whispered.
"We'll meet again."
Her blue eyes sparkled faintly.