After Sarutobi Hiruzen finished speaking, his old face flushed red.
To be honest, this whole situation was rather humiliating.
If it hadn't been for his advanced age and failing physical strength, there was no way he would have only managed to seal Orochimaru's hands!
It was truly shameful to admit this now!
Especially in the chat group,
with the Kages of so many villages present,
wouldn't this make him look entirely out of place
and drag down the average caliber of the Kages?
"It's all that damned Orochimaru's fault!"
"He plays dirty and ambushed a sixty-nine-year-old retired Hokage!"
At the same time, Orochimaru was furious enough to die.
That old fogey Sarutobi Hiruzen,
if you wanted to die, fine,
why did you have to drag my hands down with you?
Now look at this.
Before finding a new physical vessel,
forget about fighting,
he couldn't even swat a fly!
Kabuto chimed in from the side with a very timid expression, "Lord Orochimaru, you still have your subordinate here!"
Orochimaru: "......"
[Ding! The viewing system has finished loading, and the audience in the live broadcast room has been gathered.]
[Playback countdown begins...]
[10...]
[9...]
[8...]
[7...]
[...]
[...]
As the cold voice of the system died away,
the huge black-and-white screen in the sky began to change.
The screen with the black border suddenly vanished,
and a screen with a white border slowly expanded in its place.
On the screen, the imagery gradually became clear.
[Hidden Leaf Village.]
[On a bustling, lively street,]
[a child with golden hair and blue eyes was walking aimlessly.]
[On his tender, youthful cheeks were six whisker-like marks.]
[He looked very happy, as if he were about to go do something fun.]
The moment this child appeared,
he was instantly recognized by the people of the Hidden Leaf Village.
Who else could this fellow be?
The Hidden Leaf Village's notorious troublemaker—Uzumaki Naruto!
Uzumaki Kushina: "So this is Naruto when he was little. He's so cute!"
Namikaze Minato: "Indeed, he perfectly inherited your best traits, Kushina!"
Fourth Raikage: "But why is the screen showing Uzumaki Naruto? And such a young Naruto, at that?"
The Fourth Raikage's question
was also the doubt shared by everyone in the chat room.
Why the Hidden Leaf Village?
And why Uzumaki Naruto of all people?
Could it not have shown the youthful romantic history of me, Onoki, instead?
Does this make any sense?
Senju Hashirama didn't care much about who was on the screen,
but instead expressed delight upon seeing the current prosperity of the Hidden Leaf Village.
Senju Hashirama: "Not bad, Hiruzen. It looks like the Hidden Leaf Village has developed better and better under your leadership."
Sarutobi Hiruzen: "It's all thanks to the solid foundation laid by you, Lord First Hokage!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Being suddenly singled out by the First Hokage out of nowhere
truly broke him out in a cold sweat.
Was the development of the Hidden Leaf Village good or not?
It was certainly nothing to complain about!
The common people lived and worked in peace and contentment!
But could it compare to the era of the First Hokage?
Naturally, there was no comparison at all.
Right now, the other four great nations
were all eager to climb onto the Hidden Leaf Village's head and shit!
Beneath Sarutobi Hiruzen's glorious rule
lay a repeating cycle of humiliation, forbearance, and compromise.
At this moment,
he was already silently praying in his heart
that the First and Second Hokages must never find out about these things!
Otherwise, he would truly lose his honor in his twilight years!
The scene on the screen continued.
[Naruto walked all the way up to a mask vendor's stall.]
[He had his eye on a white fox mask.]
[Naruto's tiny hand pulled some money out of his pocket.]
[Yet unexpectedly, the shopkeeper didn't even look at him, shoving Naruto violently to the ground.]
[Even that white fox mask was dropped onto Naruto, who was sprawled on the ground.]
[“Get lost, you cursed monster! I gave you the mask, now don't ever come back!”]
[Faced with the shopkeeper's abuse, Naruto's eyes showed utter helplessness; he couldn't understand what he had done wrong.]
[Uzumaki Naruto stood up, dusted off his clothes, and walked away without even taking the mask.]
[By this time, a crowd of onlookers had already gathered at the shop entrance.]
[“It's this kid. Truly disgusting!”]
[“Damned creature, hurry up and get lost!”]
[“I heard this fellow is a demon fox!”]
[“Hmph, indeed, you can tell at a glance he's no good!”]
[Faced with the abuse of these people, Naruto seemed to have already grown used to it. He merely lowered his little head and slowly walked toward the outskirts of the village.]
Looking at the outrageous scene on the screen before her, Kushina could no longer hold back.
Uzumaki Kushina: "Old man Third, what on earth is going on here?"
This time,
faced with Kushina's fury,
even Namikaze Minato remained silent.
He couldn't understand it either.
When he chose to seal Kurama inside Naruto,
his original intention was for the people of the village to treat him as a hero of the Hidden Leaf Village.
So how on earth did he end up becoming a demon fox reviled by everyone?
Orochimaru: "Teacher Hiruzen, care to explain? @Sarutobi Hiruzen @Sarutobi Hiruzen @Sarutobi Hiruzen @Sarutobi Hiruzen."
Sarutobi Hiruzen: "Orochimaru, you traitor, stop adding fuel to the fire. I have no idea who leaked the news that Naruto is the demon fox, but I guarantee you, it certainly wasn't me! I'd bet eight or nine out of ten it was someone from another village deliberately trying to frame Naruto!"
Orochimaru: "Teacher Hiruzen, then who would go out of their way to frame a young child? That argument simply doesn't hold water."
Sarutobi Hiruzen: "Are you saying that I, a dignified Hokage, would target the child of my own student's descendant? Does that make any more sense?"
Orochimaru: "It's hard to say, Teacher Hiruzen!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen: "Teacher Tobirama, you know me. If I wanted to make things difficult for a child, I wouldn't need to go to such lengths—I'd just hand Naruto over to Danzo directly."
Shimura Danzo: "???."
Shimura Danzo: "Hiruzen, I refuse to take this blame. What does this have to do with me?"
Senju Tobirama: "Enough, stop arguing. Tailed Beast Jinchuriki are indeed a sensitive topic in every village. It's only normal for a person or two in the village to misunderstand Naruto."
Fourth Raikage: "I disagree with that! If anyone in our village dared to bully our Tailed Beast Jinchuriki, I'd twist their head right off!"
Upon seeing this line,
Killer Bee was moved to the depths of his heart.
He hadn't expected that he mattered so much in the Fourth Raikage's eyes,
and inspiration struck him instantly.
Killer Bee: "A Tailed Beast Jinchuriki is human too, our hearts will ache right through, so please don't attack us Tailed Beast Jinchuriki, yo-yo, skr!"
Iruka: "Naruto was indeed rather mischievous in the beginning, which led many people in the village to misunderstand him, but now he has won the recognition of many people."
Uzumaki Kushina: "Is that really true? Also, who might you be?"
Iruka: "I am a teacher at the Ninja Academy. My name is Iruka."
Uzumaki Naruto: "Uh... well... back then I really was ostracized by everyone. It was very painful at first, but through Teacher Iruka's guidance, I've slowly changed, and the people in the village have started to accept me."
Seeing Naruto say this,
Uzumaki Kushina didn't argue any further,
though her heart ached for Naruto all the more.
During all those days when she couldn't be by Naruto's side,
he must have suffered a great deal!