At this moment, Minato was overwhelmed with self-blame.
"Naruto, I'm sorry. I truly am sorry…"
"And Kushina… seeing what you've become, I don't even have the face to meet her again…"
"Heh…" Naruto let out a bitter laugh.
"What's the use of saying this now? Can anything change what I went through?"
He roared, "The pain they gave me can only be repaid with the fall of every single one of them!"
Hearing this, Tobirama narrowed his eyes.
"Foolish brat, do you even understand what you're saying?!"
A surge of immense killing intent instantly engulfed Naruto.
But Kaede stepped forward, shattering Tobirama's killing intent with ease.
Glancing at Tobirama, he smirked. "Looks like the lesson I gave you earlier wasn't enough.
If you truly wish to be obliterated, I don't mind granting that right now."
"You!" Tobirama's eyes widened. Never before had he suffered such humiliation.
Though he knew full well he was no match for Kaede, he wasn't angry about that.
After all, he had already died once—why fear death again?
Just then, Hashirama once again raised his hand to stop Tobirama, leaving his younger brother with a dark expression.
This big brother of his really wasn't giving him any face at all.
Hashirama looked at Naruto and said, "You have a selfless father."
"Tch!" Naruto sneered.
Unbothered, Hashirama continued, "In my era, the first Nine-Tails Jinchūriki was my wife.
You both, without a doubt, are heroes of Konoha—you suppressed the Nine-Tails' evil power…"
At that last sentence, Naruto snapped, "Shut up already!
What do you mean by 'the Nine-Tails' evil power'? The Nine-Tails is not evil!
The tailed beasts are innocent! They lived in peace, but people like you, greedy for their power, kept disturbing their lives.
In the end, you not only took away their freedom but also branded them as 'evil'!
The truly evil ones are those who sought to use the Nine-Tails' power—your own power is what gave rise to evil!"
"I…" Hashirama was momentarily speechless.
That wasn't his intention at all.
What he meant was that only when the Nine-Tails' power was held by someone good could greater casualties be avoided and its use by evil people be prevented.
But Naruto's words lumped him into the "evil" camp as well.
"…Naruto." Inside Naruto, the Nine-Tails couldn't help but curl its lips into a grin.
It was growing fonder and fonder of this kid.
Hashirama sighed. "Perhaps I didn't explain it well. But for now, that's not important.
I believe the civilians of Konoha are innocent—they simply don't know of the contributions you've made to protect the village.
Trust me, once they understand, they'll never hate you again."
"Tch!" Naruto looked away in disdain.
"No need. I've already seen their true faces clearly. Only death can repay their sins!"
Hashirama frowned, unable to understand the source of Naruto's deep fury.
Kaede stepped forward, smiling faintly. "Let me explain it to you.
When I left Konoha, I revealed Naruto's identity as the 'son of the Fourth Hokage'.
But do you know what happened after that?"
Hashirama blinked, glancing toward Tobirama for help.
Tobirama had already guessed part of the answer and simply shook his head, closing his eyes.
Naruto took over, glaring toward the distant Konoha civilians with a cold smile.
"When they learned my identity, not many of them had any thoughts of repentance."
He turned back to Hashirama. "You said the first Nine-Tails Jinchūriki was your wife, right? Then you should know what the people were doing when the Nine-Tails rampaged."
Hashirama nodded solemnly, having already guessed part of the truth.
But the real answer was even crueler than he imagined.
Naruto's cold laughter rang out. "The day I learned my identity, I also received help from the Nine-Tails.
In my perception, those damned people didn't just lack remorse—many of them wished I would die!
In that moment, I knew these people were not worth protecting—they don't deserve to live in this world!"
His furious voice echoed in everyone's ears.
Hashirama turned in disbelief toward the civilians in the distance. Under his gaze, they shamefully lowered their heads.
That action alone was an admission.
But Naruto wasn't done. He continued coldly:
"After that, another incident occurred. A week after my teacher left Konoha, Danzō began recruiting civilians under my name to fight.
That area was sealed off by the village, unsure if any conspiracies remained.
But the next day, three children came to me and said that if I could bring back a war trophy from that battlefield, they'd be my friends!
In that moment, many Konoha villagers heard them—but not one person stood up to scold them!
I could feel it—in their hearts, they were filled with joy at the thought of my death!!!
Tell me, if Danzō didn't kill these damned people, wasn't it just to—"
Naruto's tirade made Hashirama lower his head in guilt.
He didn't know how to comfort Naruto, because the truth was, those people really had wished for Naruto's death.
Tobirama also stayed silent.
Now he truly understood just how rotten Konoha had become.
No wonder Tsunade stood on Kaede's side.
He turned his cold gaze toward Hiruzen and Danzō, snarling, "Look at what you've done!
I entrusted Konoha to you—this is how you managed it?!"
Hiruzen and Danzō lowered their heads, not daring to meet Tobirama's eyes.
Now, they could only hope Kaede and Tobirama would end up fighting each other to exhaustion.
Then they could swoop in and take the spoils.
But they forgot one crucial thing.
Naruto glanced at the two of them and sneered. "That white-haired ghost—they harbor a lot of malice toward you."
Tobirama's mouth twitched at the nickname, but what angered him more was the fact that Hiruzen and Danzō truly bore ill will toward him.
Hiruzen, startled, snapped at Naruto, "Don't talk nonsense! I've always respected Tobirama! Don't think you can sow discord between us!"
"Is that so?" Naruto didn't respond, but Tobirama gave him a deep, meaningful look.
Naruto smirked, then spread his arms.
"Still, that day was one of the happiest days I've had in years!"
His eyes turned cruel as he stared at the Konoha civilians.
"That day, not only did I take a master as my teacher, but with the Nine-Tails' help, I used a Tailed Beast Bomb to wipe out several thousand of those fools!
Hahahaha…"
He pointed toward a massive crater behind Konoha, laughing wildly.
"See that? That crater over there—that was my doing!"
At that moment, Hashirama and Tobirama were furious, Minato was consumed with guilt, and the other reanimated shinobi brimmed with killing intent.
Tobirama stared hard at Naruto, thinking, "This guy can't be allowed to live!
He was fine just a moment ago, but the moment Konoha is mentioned, he loses himself completely in madness!
If he lives, Konoha will never know peace!"
Tobirama had already decided—once the fighting started, he would kill Naruto as quickly as possible.
(End of Chapter)
[Check Out My P@treon For +20 Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!!][[email protected]/euridome]
[Thank You For Your Support!]