Naruto took a deep breath, as if he wanted to draw all the emotions in his heart into it.
His gaze was incredibly complex, containing both relief and a trace of self-mockery that was difficult to erase.
He paused for a moment, as if organizing his thoughts, before slowly speaking to Minato before him in a calm yet deeply heartfelt tone:
"Fourth Hokage, do you know? From the moment I could remember things until I grew up, I truly went through far too much... Even now, when I think back to those days, I still feel somewhat afraid and unable to face them. They weren't merely memories filled with pain and tears, but also an unavoidable and indispensable hell in my life."
Hearing the estrangement in Naruto's words—and the way he used hell to describe the Hidden Leaf Village—Minato, the Fourth Hokage, opened and closed his mouth, suddenly feeling parched.
He wanted to say something.
But what could he say?
"I still remember that when I was little, because the Nine-Tails Demon Fox was sealed inside me, I suffered endless disdain and rejection in the village. The children in the village treated me like a terrifying beast. They were afraid of me and avoided me whenever they could. They would even gang up on me and bully me from time to time. Simply because that horrifying monster was hidden inside my body, they decided that I, too, was an evil existence."
Naruto's voice grew slightly lower as that unbearable past slowly rose to the surface of his mind.
"One time, I was playing alone by the river, happily splashing the water and enjoying that rare moment of relaxation and freedom. However, some water accidentally splashed onto several children nearby. Who could have imagined that such an insignificant little incident would