Naruto, You Can Call Me Uncle

"It had been three years. Three whole years. I wondered how many people still remembered the name Blue Flash."

Atop Konoha's towering walls, a solitary figure stood with his back turned, gazing wistfully at the prosperous village below.

From this position, he could see the Rock Shadow faces carved into the cliff behind the village, the last one being the youngest.

"My poor nephew... where was he now?"

Whoosh! Namikaze Mirai leaped from the high wall, his body tracing an arc through the air as he fell into the village below. Sunlight spilled across his sharply defined profile.

And... that brilliant head of golden hair.

"Who goes there?!"

The ninjas stationed atop Konoha's walls broke out in a cold sweat and hurriedly pursued the figure that had jumped into the village.

This was Konoha, foremost among the Five Great Ninja Villages!! Yet a ninja had infiltrated so easily, treating their defenses as if they were nothing!

If the Hokage found out, they would be in serious trouble!

"Wait! Didn't that person look a little familiar?"

Watching those golden strands glint beneath the sun, one of them showed a stunned expression as a trace of confusion rose in his heart.

During that brief hesitation, the figure darted away and vanished among Konoha's buildings.

"We should notify the Hokage right away. If that person really had returned, something terrible might happen to the village..."

Thinking of what had happened in the village over the past few years, as well as that man's fearsome reputation, the two could not help but shudder.

Something might really—

Go terribly wrong!...

Konoha's streets bustled with passing pedestrians. Vendors called out their wares, while children nestled in their parents' arms and whined sweetly. It was a lively scene.

Yet amid such an atmosphere, a lone figure walked alone through a corner of the street.

His thin orange shirt had yellowed and wrinkled after countless washings, while his grayish-brown pants were covered in dirt and tears. His sallow cheeks and listless appearance made him look utterly dispirited.

"That was the child, right?"

"Stay away from him. Don't play with him!"

"Demon Fox!"

The curses and scorn pierced three-year-old Naruto's heart like needles, dimming the light in his azure eyes like wet charcoal.

"So many people in the village died, including the Fourth Hokage and his wife, all because of him!"

"Why didn't this brat just die?"

Malice wrapped around Naruto like black tentacles, suffocating and oppressive, leaving him unable to breathe.

Three-year-old Naruto walked down the street with his head lowered. He did not offer any rebuttal, silently enduring the malice that even adults would have found unbearable.

He did not know why he had to suffer all this, why these people cursed him. It seemed that ever since he had been born, he had endured such treatment.

He had already gone numb.

Naruto suddenly stopped. His gaze landed on a mask hanging outside a shop across the street, and his dim eyes brightened slightly.

Simple red patterns outlined a vivid fox face on the mask, and Naruto suddenly felt a longing for it.

He wanted that mask.

His small hand searched through his pocket, finding only a few scattered coins.

"Sir, can I buy that mask with this money...?"

Three-year-old Naruto opened his palm as though offering up his most precious treasure, holding those few coins out as he looked hopefully and pleadingly at the middle-aged vendor with azure eyes.

Smack!

The hard mask was viciously smashed into Naruto's forehead by the vendor, making a sound like a cracking egg.

"Pain! It hurts, it hurts!!!"

Caught off guard by the attack, Naruto toppled backward and landed heavily on the ground.

"You filthy Demon Fox! Don't come over here and dirty my shop! If you want it, then take it!"

The fox mask with red markings bounced several times across the ground before rolling to Naruto's feet. His eyes instantly filled with tears, but before they could fall, the mocking curses around him drowned him like suffocation.

"That's how you should treat the Demon Fox! He got so many Villagers killed!"

"A Demon Fox wearing a fox mask—what a perfect match!"

"See that? Never play with that brat. He's creepy!"

Only three years old, Naruto could no longer hold back. Tears as large as beans rolled from his eyes.

"Why? Why are you treating me like this? What did I do wrong?"

He could only repeat those questions in a voice as faint as an insect's buzz.

Why did he have to suffer such unfair treatment? Why did these adults heap all their malice upon him, a child of only three? What had he done wrong? Yet his weak voice was instantly swallowed by the gloating scorn around him.

These Villagers watching the spectacle were like vultures drawn to the stench of a corpse, swarming forward to tear into Naruto's flesh.

A large hand picked up the mask from the ground, gently brushed away the dust, then crouched down and placed it in Naruto's hands.

Naruto stopped crying. He looked up blankly at that gentle, smiling face.

For some reason, although he had never met the man before him, a special sense of closeness arose in his heart.

It was a feeling he had never experienced before.

Namikaze Mirai stood up. As he turned around, his eyes had already gone ice-cold.

"Apologize to him!"

"Apologize? To that jinx? What kind of joke is that!"

The vendor narrowed his eyes, looking at Namikaze Mirai with hostility.

The surrounding Villagers also stared at Namikaze Mirai in surprise. Some whispered among themselves, sneering.

Namikaze Mirai had been away from the village for too long, and many Villagers had already forgotten him.

Even those who found him familiar could not recall who he was at the moment.

"I don't like repeating myself."

Several arcs of lightning flickered in Namikaze Mirai's azure eyes. Electromagnetic Force stirred slightly, compressing the surrounding air as a terrifying pressure instantly enveloped the street.

During the Third Great Ninja War, the number of ninjas who had died at his hands had even surpassed the Yellow Flash!

"I'm sorry! Forgive me!!!"

The vendor, who had been stubborn just a moment ago, immediately gave in. He dropped to his knees with tears and snot streaming down his face, kowtowing frantically.

A foul stench spread from beneath his crotch, soaking most of his pants.

Even battle-hardened Jonin would have struggled to withstand such terrifying pressure, let alone a vendor who was not even a ninja.

The watching Villagers were filled with terror. That dreadful pressure had spread to them as well. Though it was not as intense as what the vendor felt, it was still far beyond what they could endure.

Naruto, sitting on the ground, watched that figure's back as light shone in his eyes. Where he sat was the only shelter from that terrifying pressure.

For the first time, someone stood before him and sheltered him from the wind and rain.

"Who... are you?"

His nose stinging, Naruto asked in a hoarse voice.

That imposing figure crouched down. His azure eyes were full of gentle laughter as he softly stroked Naruto's hair, golden strands gleaming brilliantly beneath the sunlight.

"I'm your father's younger brother. You can call me..."

"Uncle."