Sure enough!
When Naruto detached the ninja pouch from his waist, it hit the ground with a heavy thud!
Holy crap! No wonder that pouch was so heavy!!
Gold coins were spilling out in a constant stream from the seams of the pouch?!!
Even Sasuke couldn't help but blurt out, "You dead weight! Are you a money-drawing cat?!!"
Those oval coins looked exactly like the 'lucky cat coins' held by the maneki-neko statues outside many shops, didn't they?!
Naruto pulled up his pants and opened the ninja pouch.
Almost at the same moment—
Boom!
The pouch simply couldn't hold that many coins. The instant Naruto opened it, they shot straight up into the air!
The free-falling coins clattered down on them, and honestly, it really hurt.
"Why are there so many coins?!" Sakura exclaimed, shocked.
Naruto dug his hand into the pouch, groping around until he finally found the little frog whose mouth had been stretched out of shape.
"Ah!! My wallet!!"
Naruto was heartbroken. He hugged Gama-chan to his chest, rubbing it against his face and squishing its chubby little cheeks until they looked all squished.
Sasuke spotted the mission scroll tucked at an angle among the pile of coins in Naruto's pouch.
"Hey! Naruto, take that thing out and let us see."
"What about that scroll, dattebayo?"
"Never mind that! Just take it out!"
Naruto pulled out the mission scroll he'd found in his pouch the day before.
When this scroll—almost identical to Obito Uchiha's—was unfolded, everyone's eyes widened instantly!
[Mission Rank: SSS]
[Mission Content: Rescue—the Masked Man.]
The SSS mission appeared perfectly normal, unchanged from before.
However, unbeknownst to anyone, a new mission had appeared on Naruto's scroll!
[Mission Level: D-Rank]
[Mission Content: Have Kakashi Hatake read aloud pages 7, 8, 15, 31, 106, and 207 of Icha Icha Paradise.]
Most importantly—
This mission had a stamp!
[Mission Status—Completed]
"So that means..."
Sakura stared at the gold coins scattered on the floor. "These coins are all mission rewards?!!! For a D-rank mission! This much?!!"
Minato picked up a gold coin, weighing it in his hand. He then looked at the coins covering the floor and estimated their total value.
"There's roughly one million ryō of gold here. That's equivalent to the peak reward for an A-rank mission in Konohagakure."
"O-o-one million ryō?!!!!"
Naruto started counting on his fingers. "Tonkotsu ramen, shoyu ramen, miso ramen... This mission alone could let me eat every flavor of ramen over a hundred times?!"
Minato chuckled. "Don't just eat ramen. You should also have some vegetables and meat. And definitely don't forget milk and eggs."
Sakura sighed. "The Fourth really spoils him. That idiot leaves milk past its expiration date for over a month on the table!" She remembered the time when she and Sasuke went to Naruto's house to tell Kakashi-sensei he couldn't make it due to a sudden mission. The scene at Naruto's house was still fresh in her mind—she'd never seen such a messy, dirty room.
"Come on, Sakura, cut me some slack~~" Naruto pleaded.
Sakura seized the opportunity to demand that Naruto treat them to a meal.
Naruto insisted that the mission was completed by Kakashi-sensei, so the reward should go to him.
Everyone turned to look at the young man, Kakashi Hatake...
The elite jōnin of Konoha, the man known as the "Copy Ninja" and "Kakashi of the Sharingan." At this moment, he lay limp on the ground like a small puddle, seemingly on the verge of evaporating into the air...
"Sensei, I said this is your reward for reading Icha Icha—"
"Don't say it! Naruto!" Kakashi waved his hand desperately, looking like he was on the brink of death. "Please, I beg you, don't say it! The mission scroll and the mission fee are yours."
"Huh?!!"
Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were all stunned. Was this really the same stingy sensei who wouldn't part with a single coin?!
Given the circumstances, Naruto decided to split the mission fee equally among himself, Sasuke, and Sakura, following the team concept.
He was generous with this unexpected windfall. "Alright! When we get back to Konoha, I'll treat everyone to a feast!! And let's invite the Fourth Hokage, Obito, young Kakashi-sensei, and Rin too!"
Sasuke: "The Fourth Hokage appearing in the village would cause a commotion."
"No problem! We can use the Transformation Technique to get in first, then go tell Grandpa Hokage about it!"
"Hey, what does the Fourth Hokage like to eat?"
Minato Namikaze thought carefully. "How about Ramen Ichiraku? I'm not sure if that place is still open."
Naruto's eyes lit up. "You like Ramen Ichiraku too?! What a coincidence!! It's my absolute favorite too!!"
His chattering made Minato and Kakashi, who had finally recovered thanks to Naruto's energy, look at him with gentle eyes.
That strange feeling, born from a girl's intuition, surfaced again in Sakura's heart. The Fourth Hokage-sama was... perhaps a little too kind to Naruto?
And Kakashi-sensei... he seemed odd too.
Sakura glanced at Rin Nohara beside her.
Rin just smiled at her without saying a word.
But Obito was feeling a bit unbalanced now. "Why did his mission get completed, while mine hasn't changed at all?!"