The black-framed giant screen continued playing.
["Oh." Little Naruto replied indifferently.]
["…Uh…" Sarutobi Hiruzen's smile froze.]
[Seeing this, little Naruto suddenly paused.]
['Wait—if I don't play along… will this old bastard get angry and scheme against me some other way?']
[Thinking that, little Naruto hurriedly said, "Wow, the Will of Fire is amazing~!"]
["As long as I understand the Will of Fire, I'll be happy… and everyone won't hate me anymore, right?"]
[Hearing this, Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes lit up, and he nodded firmly.]
[Then he pressed harder, saying, "Naruto, do you know what those stone statues above the village represent?"]
Hokage?
The strongest people in the village?
These two thoughts flashed through little Naruto's mind, but he still shook his head.
He didn't show much interest—
because the difference before and after would be too obvious.
["Hehe, Naruto, the people carved up there are all great heroes who protected the village!"]
["Is that so? Then, Grandpa, you kind of look like one of them~" little Naruto added casually.]
[In little Naruto's view, this counted as a subtle compliment to the nasty old man.]
[However, what he didn't expect was—]
[this nasty old man really was one of them.]
["Hehe, you noticed that?" Sarutobi Hiruzen lifted his chin proudly.]
[As if affirming Naruto's good judgment.]
["Where the leaves dance, the fire burns endlessly."]
[Uh…]
[Little Naruto was genuinely shocked.]
[A rotten old man like this could actually be carved up there?]
[Wait—this old bastard really is the Third Hokage!]
[For an instant, little Naruto felt a chill run down his spine.]
[He glanced at Sarutobi Hiruzen, who was still droning on endlessly about the Will of Fire.]
['So this old guy really is the Third Hokage… the boss of those bastards… but he doesn't look impressive at all!']
[Little Naruto thought for a moment and suddenly realized—]
[The noise around him was gone.]
[Looking up, he saw Sarutobi Hiruzen smiling at him.]
[Without thinking, little Naruto adjusted his emotions slightly and said, "So that's how it is, Grandpa… you're really amazing~!"]
[Hearing Naruto praise him, Sarutobi Hiruzen coughed lightly twice.]
["Do you want to become someone like that too?"]
["I do!" little Naruto answered immediately.]
[Now that he had confirmed this man was the mastermind behind everything, little Naruto's attitude completely changed.]
["Very good. Then, Naruto, you must understand one thing."]
["It's not that you become Hokage to gain everyone's recognition."]
["It's that only after gaining everyone's recognition can you become the great hero who protects the village—the Hokage."]
[Little Naruto: "..."]
["I understand~!" little Naruto nodded quickly.]
["Oh, right, Grandpa—are you the strongest person in the village?"]
["Hehe, of course I am."]
[Naruto believed the seed of the Will of Fire had already been planted, and he cherished this 'only white moonlight' deeply.]
—Everything stopped.—
The image on the black-framed screen abruptly cut off.
Just like the final scene on the gold-framed screen.
The entire shinobi world: "..."
This old bastard.
Whether in the gold-frame world or the black-frame world—
same darkness, same shamelessness.
Watching himself say, with his own mouth, that he was the strongest one—
Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't help but feel his old face heat up.
Orochimaru laughed until he nearly exploded.
Originally, he had planned to Edo Tensei the First Hokage and say, in front of him, that Sarutobi Hiruzen called himself the "God of Shinobi."
Now—
this could practically be considered Sarutobi Hiruzen saying it himself.
And not just once.
Twice.
In front of the entire shinobi world.
Buzz—
At this moment, the gold-framed giant screen lit up again.
"This is… continuing from our world's Naruto?"
"Looks like it."
["It's getting late. I should be going." Sarutobi Hiruzen waved to Naruto.]
[The seed of the Will of Fire had already been planted, and Naruto cherished this 'only white moonlight' deeply. Today's goal had been achieved.]
["Goodbye, Grandpa~!" Naruto waved his small hand.]
[But not long after he sat down—]
[Gurgle—]
[Naruto's stomach growled.]
[At this age, he was supposed to eat a lot.]
[After running around all afternoon, he'd only eaten one skinny grilled fish. Of course he was hungry.]
[Yet Naruto's face was full of smiles.]
["Everyone's recognition…"]
["I can definitely do it~!"]
Ōnoki: "See that? Shameless Third Hokage!"
Mei Terumī: "My god, how can someone be this shameless?"
Yamanaka Ino: "That disgusting old man! You never worry about food, yet you steal a fish a child spent all afternoon catching!"
Yamanaka Ino: "Give Aunt Kushina's inheritance back to Naruto!"
With her mother's promise and the reward from the comparison system, Ino had clearly grown bolder.
Sarutobi Hiruzen's face instantly darkened.
He glanced downward, toward where Yamanaka Inoichi was sitting.
However, Yamanaka Inoichi didn't even look up—
instead, he continued talking with Akimichi Chōza and Nara Shikaku, as if he hadn't heard anything at all.
Even Shikaku has this attitude now?
Hiruzen's heart sank.
What surprised him even more—
was that even a mere civilian dared to challenge him now.
Encouraged by Ino, Sakura spoke up.
Haruno Sakura: "Th-Third Ho… hard coin—did you embezzle Aunt Kushina's and the Fourth Hokage's inheritance?"
Uzumaki Kushina: "ANSWER ME, YOU OLD MONKEY!"
Seeing people speak up for Naruto, Kushina was deeply moved.
Such good children~!
Especially that girl named Yamanaka Ino… she even received a reward.
That hair color… could she be Senior Inoichi's daughter?
She even said Naruto was bad and she liked him…
Alright then—no indiscriminate bombardment of Konoha for now.
Uchiha Mikoto looked helplessly at her close friend.
She could already guess what Kushina was thinking.
But after a moment's thought, she felt it was perfectly normal.
Deep down, Kushina believed she owed her son far too much.
So before everything was settled, she would do everything possible to make it up to him.
Mikoto smiled and shook her head.
Wasn't she the same?
The gold-framed screen continued.
[Time flew by. Summer and autumn passed in a blink.]
[Naruto seemed to grow accustomed to his identity.]
[Even though he still felt hurt whenever people cursed and insulted him,]
[he could quickly adjust himself, smiling as he faced them, hoping to gain recognition.]
[Clearly heartbroken, yet the next day he'd force himself to smile again, grinning foolishly.]
[What made Naruto happiest was that he finally made friends.]
[Two of them—one named Shikamaru, and one named Chōji.]
[They didn't hate him, nor did they look at him with disgust like the other children.]
[That day, Naruto ran around the streets as usual.]
[But the atmosphere in the village felt strange.]
[Shikamaru and Chōji weren't playing in the park either.]
[With no choice, Naruto went back home.]
[Night fell, and heavy snow arrived as expected.]
[Energetic Naruto couldn't stay still and sneaked out again.]
[In truth, Naruto loved nighttime.]
[At night, people couldn't immediately recognize him.]
[He could wander the streets like a normal child.]
[But today, the streets were unusually deserted.]
[Even the normally lively food street had almost no one.]
[Naruto only glanced from afar and didn't go over.]
[The smell was too strong—if he stayed there, even if he wasn't recognized, seeing delicious food would make him suffer all night.]
[Money was still tight, and most shops refused to sell to him.]
[In the blink of an eye, Naruto realized he had 'claimed' the entire street.]
[This had never happened before, and the small Naruto happily ran around in the snow.]
[But playing alone, no matter how fun, quickly became boring.]
[Just as he was about to keep wandering, he suddenly noticed a child squatting under a distant streetlight.]
[Soft sobbing reached his ears.]
Hinata, who had just woken up, froze when she saw this scene—
and then, as her brain overheated again, steam practically rose from her head.
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