The Time for Change Had Arrived

A month passed quickly. Today was the day the Third Hokage left the village.

According to Shikamaru, the Third Hokage was going to the Daimyo of the Land of Fire this time to apply for construction funds for Konoha's next stage of development.

Early in the morning, the area by the main gate was packed with people seeing the Third Hokage off, every face wreathed in smiles.

"Naruto, did you come specifically to see the Third Hokage off too?"

Choji stood by the wall, stuffing snacks into his mouth as he spoke.

"Yeah, I came specifically to see Lord Hokage off."

After watching the Third Hokage lead a group of Anbu out through Konoha's gates, Naruto nodded calmly.

"Are we still going to the Training Ground today?"

Shikamaru's voice suddenly sounded behind him.

"No." Naruto turned around and smiled at Shikamaru, his eyes as still as a deep pool. "I have something to do. I'm heading home."

"Oh... okay." Seeing Naruto's unnaturally calm eyes, Shikamaru's breath caught. The words at his lips were swallowed back down, and in the end, he nodded solemnly.

After studying the laughing, cheerful crowd at the distant gates once more, Naruto headed off in the opposite direction.

What happened?

The last time he had seen that look in Naruto's eyes was in the photo Lord Hokage had given him.

Shikamaru's curiosity flared up again.

He had spent several months with Naruto, yet Naruto had always felt mysterious to him. From the day they met, he and his father had already made a decision.

Aside from reporting Naruto's usual behavior when he was around them, they would at most occasionally add some analysis of his personality.

Naruto had already vanished from sight, yet Shikamaru felt a faint, elusive sense of dread in his heart.

"Naruto, what about that persistent guy?"

Kurama, inside the seal, could not help speaking up. Gekko Hayate was still following Naruto.

"His target of surveillance is Uzumaki Naruto. It is his duty, and his mission. I will give him another Uzumaki Naruto soon enough."

As Naruto replied to Kurama, he walked at an unhurried pace. Gekko Hayate's surveillance did not affect his expression in the slightest. His gaze remained calm and resolute, fixed ahead, while his silently spreading senses took in every detail around him.

It was no longer snowing this season. Many adults walked down the streets in groups with children and acquaintances, making the village exceptionally lively.

After sweeping his gaze around several times, he headed toward one of the streets that was usually quieter.

"Haha, you can't catch me!"

"No way! How did you jump up there?!"

"Hehe! Of course I did! I'll become the strongest ninja someday, as strong as Lord Third Hokage!"

Naruto had now reached a relatively secluded street. It was fairly quiet here, and just as he arrived before a nearly empty shop, he heard two children's voices from above.

"I-I can get up there too. I'll be the strongest ninja."

"Idiot, don't come up here too!"

Two children with no training were playing a pointless ninja game.

At that moment, the shop owner came out. His face was flushed with fury as he shouted, "Brats, you're not allowed on my roof! Watch out!"

Hmm?

Naruto instinctively looked up. Two children, around four years old, were trembling as they clung to each other atop a towering pillar less than half a meter wide.

It would have been fine if the shop owner had not shouted, but the moment he did, the two children were startled.

One child's legs gave out, and his body immediately tipped off one side of the pillar. The other hurriedly reached out to grab him, but caught nothing and fell with him.

The two brats screamed in terror the instant they hung in midair, clawing wildly with both hands as they fell.

From that height, even if they did not die, they would definitely be crippled.

Naruto's figure flashed. In the next instant, each of his hands had caught a child by the collar. Before the shop owner's still-horrified eyes, he gently set the two brats down on the ground.

"Waaah..."

After landing safely, the two brats' eyes reddened, and something—either snot or tears—instantly streamed down their faces.

"That's great! Naruto, they should be all right!"

Minato Namikaze looked exhilarated inside the Sealed Space.

Before he had even had time to speak, Naruto had already acted and saved them.

Yet when Naruto heard Minato Namikaze's voice, his gaze darkened.

Because he had just realized that Gekko Hayate, who had been following not far behind him, had not intended to reveal himself and save the children at all.

The children's cries quickly brought their parents over. Seeing their parents arrive, the two little devils each threw themselves into their arms, then pointed at Naruto and cried even harder than before.

The parents hurriedly comforted their children in soft voices.

At that moment, a crowd of other villagers and children gathered to watch, clogging the entire street.

"How do you people watch your children? Do you know what just happened?!" The shop owner strode up to the children's parents and roared. Then he turned and pointed at Naruto. "If it weren't for him... him... uh... Demon Fox!"

The shop owner who was pointing at Naruto could no longer speak. His eyes widened as if he had seen something unbelievable.

When he had heard the children playing on the roof, he had rushed out in alarm and overlooked Naruto before him. Even after Naruto saved them, Naruto had remained with his back to him.

Now, he recognized who Naruto was.

It was not just him. The two children's parents recognized Naruto too, as did the other onlookers.

"Damn it! The Demon Fox must have frightened the children!"

"That's right! Aren't those two children still pointing at him?"

"So it really is this jinx. Look at his eyes—they're terrifying!"

The villagers who had gathered around erupted, followed by all kinds of curses.

The shop owner hesitated, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he said nothing.

"Father, are you all right?"

After asking into the Sealed Space, Naruto moved and walked toward the crowd ahead.

Minato Namikaze looked despondent. The moment the shop owner had pointed at Naruto and called him the Demon Fox, he had closed his eyes.

"Demon Fox! What are you doing?! Stop!"

"Stop, you're scaring me."

The people blocking the street immediately questioned Naruto warily. Some of the children even spoke with tears in their voices.

"Move aside." Naruto's emotionless voice carried clearly into the crowd.

A wide passage immediately opened through the street.

Naruto walked forward, with Gekko Hayate close behind him.

"Naruto, you saved those two children. They shouldn't have wronged you."

Minato Namikaze felt a deep sorrow in his heart. After hesitating, he continued, "Naruto, why didn't you explain yourself just now? They didn't do it on purpose. Back then, everyone in the village had suffered harm to some extent."

"Are you saying that wounded hearts have no hope?" Naruto's figure appeared in the Sealed Space.

Minato Namikaze froze. "No, that's not what I meant. I meant that if the misunderstanding had been cleared up just now, everyone in the village could have seen your kind side."

"That's impossible." Naruto's gaze suddenly turned razor-sharp. "Because once they see it, they will expect me to always be kind."

"Saving them today was partly my instinctive reaction, but I had originally wanted to see whether Gekko Hayate would abandon his mission and reveal himself."

Minato Namikaze sighed inwardly. "I understand."

"Father, these things are meaningless to me. The timing now is important to me." Naruto walked up to Minato Namikaze and extended his fist. "I need you to show me your experience training in the Flying Thunder God again."

--

Sorry, I got back too late.