Naruto's Counterattack

Outside the Ninja Academy.

As usual, Naruto waited until everyone else had left before lowering his head and slowly making his way home.

On both sides of the street were the laughter and joy of families, warm scenes of parents sharing meals they had prepared with their children.

It stood in stark contrast to Naruto, walking home alone on an empty stomach.

"Grrr..." Naruto's stomach growled in protest.

There happened to be a small shop by the street that sold rice balls.

Naruto sniffed and found himself walking over.

He rummaged through his pocket, but only found a 50-yen coin.

Grandpa Third, when are you coming?

"Get lost! You monster! Don't stand there and ruin my business!"

When Naruto approached, two villagers had been picking out rice balls. The moment they saw him, they immediately left.

The owner was already irritated and hurriedly began driving Naruto away, waving his broom twice.

Naruto backed up two steps, narrowly avoiding being hit.

"I... I'm here to buy something." Naruto clenched the coin in his hand and shouted.

The owner waved his broom with a look of disgust.

"I'm not doing business with you! You monster! Get lost!"

"I'm not!... Grandpa Third said I'm not a monster!" Naruto argued.

To these ordinary villagers, the Third Hokage was really just a kindhearted old man who was too soft on everyone.

So the villagers were not particularly afraid of the Third Hokage.

"It's only because the Third Hokage is kind enough to let you stay. Otherwise, you would've been killed long ago. You—"

This villager clearly did not understand what a Jinchuriki was. He only knew that Naruto had been the cause of that disaster years ago.

But he remembered that the Third Hokage had issued a gag order and did not continue.

He immediately shut his mouth when he spotted a masked Anbu in the distance.

The Anbu made two hand signals at him. Though he only half understood them, he still took a box of rice balls from the counter and tossed it at Naruto's feet. "Get lost. Don't stay here."

Naruto picked up the dented box, placed the 50-yen coin on the counter, and ran off without looking back.

"I paid for it!"

He had seen it before. This box of rice balls cost 50 yen.

The owner disdainfully tossed the coin onto the ground, as though it were covered in filth.

After the delay, some villagers had already finished dinner and come out for a stroll.

Naruto could only clutch his box of rice balls tightly and hurry home.

The more people there were, the more terrified he became, because when children had adults around, they bullied him even more brazenly.

Just as he feared, several children who had just finished dinner spotted Naruto by the roadside.

"It's that monster again!"

"Disgusting! I ran into you again!"

"Get lost!"

One of them picked up a stone and threw it at him. The others followed suit, grabbing stones and hurling them as well.

Naruto's frantic attempts to dodge made the children burst into laughter.

Their unrestrained laughter made Naruto both angry and anxious.

But Grandpa Third had told him not to cause trouble, so he could only lower his head and run away.

Two stones struck him in the back. Pain shot through Naruto's body, and he fell flat onto the ground.

The rice balls in his hand hit the ground and rolled away.

"Hahaha..."

"Look at this guy. He actually has rice balls to eat."

Amid the cruel voices, Naruto saw a foot stomp the rice balls flat into the dirt.

"You stole them, didn't you? You monster!"

Naruto's blood surged, and he shoved the fat boy in front of him to the ground.

"I bought them! I'm not a monster!"

"Ow!"

"Still daring to fight back? Beat him!"

The four children swarmed him, surrounding Naruto and punching and kicking him.

The four Anbu nearby remained utterly indifferent. It was just children fighting, after all.

"Why don't you fight back?" a voice sounded beside Naruto's ear.

As Naruto shielded himself, he said, "Grandpa Third Hokage will get angry."

"Why listen to him?"

"Only Grandpa Third Hokage treats me well. He gives me money to buy food."

"The moment you fight back, the Third Hokage will come."

"Really?"

"Really."

Naruto suddenly threw the fat kid straddling him off.

"Ah!"

Naruto slammed two punches into the fat kid.

The fat kid cried out in pain twice. "You still dare fight back? Get him together!"

The five of them immediately became a tangled mass.

Clearly, Naruto alone was no match for four people, and he was quickly pinned down.

A huge bump had formed on Naruto's head, and his face was covered in bloody scrapes from being dragged against the ground.

That voice appeared by his ear again. "Pick up the stone on the ground and smash him with it."

But Naruto's head was spinning, and he could no longer move.

Yet his body moved on its own.

Naruto grabbed a handful of sand from the ground and flung it backward.

"Ah! My eyes!" The fat kid leading them was immediately sprayed in the face.

"Help me! What are you doing!?" The fat kid snorted angrily, not noticing that everything around him had gone quiet.

"Bang!" A dull thud rang out.

"Ah!"

The fat kid let out a heart-rending scream.

Naruto grabbed the stone that had just been thrown at him and smashed it into the fat kid's head.

Blood immediately poured from the fat kid's head.

The others who had been bullying Naruto were badly frightened:

"Monster!"

"The monster's going to eat people!"

"Run!"

These children had only ever seen Naruto beaten until his head was bloody. Today, seeing their companion's head covered in blood after being struck, they were instantly terrified.

As the fat kid scrambled away in panic, he screamed:

"Help! Help..."

Naruto said nothing. He picked up the stone and smashed it into the fat kid's head again.

The fat kid's body stiffened, then went limp. He could no longer crawl.

His voice grew weaker as well.

"Hel..."

When the nearby Anbu saw Naruto fight back, they even found it amusing.

After all, under the Third Hokage's guidance over the past two years, Naruto had rarely fought back.

But they soon stopped laughing.

After knocking the fat kid down, Naruto did not let him go. Instead, he straddled him, picked up a stone, and smashed it down hard.

"Bang!"

The fat kid lost consciousness.

But Naruto raised the stone again and smashed it down violently once more.

"Bang!" The fat kid jerked once, and blood had already begun spreading across the ground.

Expressionless, Naruto raised the stone again and smashed it down ruthlessly!

Several figures appeared at once, grabbing Naruto's hand.

An urgent voice rang out. "Stop! Are you trying to kill him!?"

Naruto raised his head and looked at the suddenly appeared Anbu, a bone-deep hatred surfacing in his eyes.

It sent a chill through the Anbu.

The next moment, Naruto closed his eyes and fainted on the spot.

The Anbu squad captain shook his head, dismissing what had just happened as an illusion.

He had a massive headache now. None of the other shifts had run into any problems.

So why did something happen when he was on duty today? Naruto had fought back before, but he had never killed anyone.

What the hell had happened today?

"Captain, that fat guy's badly injured. He's barely hanging on."

"Get him to the hospital immediately. Don't let anyone die."

"Inu Hachi, hurry and notify the Third Hokage. I'll take Naruto home first."