"Uncle, where are we going?"
On Konoha's streets, Naruto clutched Namikaze Mirai's hand and nervously shrank behind him.
He did not know why Uncle had brought him outside.
Clearly, these Villagers...
His sapphire-blue eyes, like soaked embers, dimmed in an instant.
Namikaze Mirai rubbed Naruto's hair with some heartache, his voice gentle.
"Be good, nephew. You are not some Demon Fox. Uncle will prove it to you."
"R-Really?"
Naruto raised his head, a glimmer of hope flashing through his dim eyes.
Ever since he had been born, the name Demon Fox seemed to have followed him everywhere.
No matter where he went, people cursed him as the Demon Fox, saying he had killed the Fourth Hokage and his wife!
But he did not even know the Fourth Hokage.
Nor did he know how he had killed them!
Now, Uncle said he would prove that he was not the Demon Fox.
What method would he use...
Naruto thought timidly to himself.
Someone on the street recognized Naruto and angrily pointed at him.
"It's the Demon Fox!"
The moment his voice rang out, the surrounding Villagers immediately turned their gazes toward him.
Their faces abruptly filled with hatred.
"So it really is the Demon Fox. I can't believe he still dared to come out!"
"Hmph! He killed the Fourth Hokage and his wife! And so many other Villagers too!"
Listening to the hateful voices around him, Naruto's eyes, which had just begun to brighten, dimmed once more.
Was I the one who killed so many people?
I am the culprit behind all of this.
Maybe I should not have lived at all...
The pain and guilt in his heart surged like a tide, instantly swallowing Naruto's fragile heart.
Suddenly, a gentle force settled on his shoulder.
"Nephew, don't listen to those people. You are not some Demon Fox!"
Naruto raised his head and saw Namikaze Mirai's gentle smile. In those smiling eyes, he saw hope and kindness he had never seen before.
"Okay, Uncle."
He nodded, strength returning to his heart.
Namikaze Mirai turned around and swept his gaze over the Villagers around them, whose eyes were filled with disgust. His eyes turned icy.
"If I hear the words 'Demon Fox' again, don't blame me for being rude!"
His voice was not loud, but the pressure within it was like a heavy mountain, instantly pressing down upon those Villagers.
It was not merely pressure. He had also used Electromagnetic Force to control the air's attraction and compress its density!
Making that pressure even more terrifying! They could barely breathe!
Cold sweat seeped from their foreheads, and their pale Adam's apples bobbed slightly. The Villagers moved aside on their own, allowing Namikaze Mirai to lead Naruto through the middle.
No one dared to speak. The air was deathly silent.
Holding Namikaze Mirai's hand, Naruto quietly followed him across the street.
Only after they had left did the oppressive feeling lingering overhead finally disappear.
"That guy is too overbearing! Do they even care about the village?"
"Exactly! We absolutely cannot allow people who endanger the village to remain here. We have to report this to the Hokage!"
"That's right! Let's find the Third Hokage! There are so many of us—are we supposed to be afraid of one man?"
"Drive the Demon Fox out of the village!"
The crowd noisily clamored. Their earlier cowardice made them flush with shame and humiliation.
They also forced that humiliation onto the Demon Fox.
They were going to find the Hokage and drive Naruto out of Konoha!
At first, it was only this street.
Later, the massive crowd affected other Villagers.
More and more Villagers joined them.
They angrily shouted slogans.
"Demon Fox, get out of Konoha!"
"Demon Fox, get out of Konoha!"
Their momentum was overwhelming.
The gathered curses reached Naruto's ears ahead.
He stopped, tears welling in his eyes.
"Uncle..."
All the Villagers in Konoha wanted him to leave the village.
Namikaze Mirai crouched down and rubbed Naruto's golden hair.
"Don't worry. Naruto is not some Demon Fox. Just follow me."
"Okay."
Naruto nodded.
But the thunderous voices behind him still affected him.
He pressed his lips together, forcing himself not to let the tears in his eyes fall.
Uncle had said that a good child should not only know how to cry.
He had to have the courage to face everything.
"Lord Danzo, something has happened in the village!"
In a dark alley, Danzo's single eye narrowed slightly as he listened to his subordinate's report.
"What happened?"
"It's the Demon Fox. Things have progressed somewhat beyond expectations. The Villagers are highly agitated now, and they have joined together to protest at the Hokage Office, demanding that the Third Hokage drive the Demon Fox out of Konoha."
"What?!"
Danzo's heart skipped a beat! How had things developed to this point? If all the Villagers started causing a commotion, this would be difficult to contain! Those Villagers might not know, but he knew perfectly well! Naruto was not some Demon Fox at all—he was the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki! Konoha's most important weapon of war! Hiruzen could not, and absolutely would not, drive such an important resource out of the village!
If ninja from other villages discovered this, they would likely stop at nothing to take Naruto away! "Damn it! What is going on? Wasn't the plan merely to guide public opinion and apply pressure? How did it turn into a Protest?"
Danzo gritted his teeth.
He punched the wall beside him in frustration.
The matter had grown this large. If Hiruzen truly blamed him for it,
he would not be able to cleanly resolve it either!
"It... it was Namikaze Mirai..."
The Root member reporting to him spoke with a tremor in his voice.
"He led the Demon Fox around the village, seemingly deliberately provoking conflict among the Villagers."
"Namikaze Mirai! You again!"
Danzo's eye instantly turned red!...
Uchiha Police Force.
"Confess! Confess! We'll confess to everything!"
"Don't hit us!"
The Villagers who had been brought back were so frightened that they wet themselves and spilled everything before the Uchiha Clan Members could even torture them.
How Root had found them.
How much money they had been given, and what lines they were supposed to say.
They held nothing back.
"Just as I suspected."
Uchiha Setsuna narrowed his eyes slightly.
This storm of public opinion had come far too strangely. If there was no one guiding it behind the scenes, he would not believe it even if he were beaten to death.
The White Fang Incident from more than a decade ago seemed to have been the same...
Just as he was pondering this,
"Lord Setsuna, something has happened!"
An Uchiha Clan Member came in to report.
"What is it?"
"All the Villagers are causing trouble. They want to find the Hokage and drive Naruto out."
"What?!"
"Drive out the Demon Fox!!"
"Demon Fox, get out of Konoha!"
"Drive out the Demon Fox!!"
The procession of protesting Villagers grew larger and larger, and their momentum became increasingly grand. Their voices gathered over Konoha, exploding across the entire village.
Watching this scene from a tree branch, Kakashi felt like his head was about to explode.
His head throbbed terribly!
"How did this turn out like this? I have to notify the Hokage immediately!"
Hokage Office.
Sarutobi Hiruzen, who had been handling official business, froze like stone when he heard Kakashi's report.
Clatter!
The pipe clenched between his teeth fell to the ground.
Before you continue