To let the Hero's Son suffer bullying, Hiruzen, what is your crime?

Silence!

A deathly silence!

The air throughout the Hokage Tower was as still as frozen ice! Countless villagers looked on in shock and disbelief! The Demon Fox, the Fourth Hokage's son?

"How can this be?! The Fourth Hokage saved the entire village, how could the Demon Fox be his son?"

"Exactly! What kind of joke is this?! How could something like this be true?!"

"It must be a lie made up by Uncle Demon Fox! He's even slandering the deceased Fourth Hokage! What a scoundrel!"

Noisy voices erupted from around the Hokage Tower.

The villagers gathered near the Hokage Tower were filled with disbelief, as if they had seen a ghost.

The Fourth Hokage was a hero who sacrificed himself to save the village! On the night of the Nine-Tails' rampage, he fearlessly sealed the Nine-Tails with his own life.

He saved countless lives! How could such a great ninja be the father of the Demon Fox? Some villagers looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen, hoping that the respected Third Hokage would thoroughly expose Namikaze Mirai's lie!

The Demon Fox being the Fourth Hokage's son, how could that possibly be true? It must be a lie made up by Uncle Demon Fox!

Its purpose was to deceive them, these kind villagers!

But then, something shocking happened.

Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression was complex, and in his grayish-brown eyes, there was an indescribable emotion as he remained silent.

Why isn't Lord Third speaking? Shouldn't he be thoroughly exposing Namikaze Mirai's lie right now? The villagers began to panic.

Why would their always-respected Hokage show such an expression?

A commotion began in the crowd! Bustling, noisy sounds rose from among the people.

Soon, another shocking discovery was made.

The Anbu—the Anbu who were originally maintaining order around them—had all fallen silent! One silver-haired Anbu's eyes were particularly dim, as if all his strength had been drained in an instant.

These abnormal scenes finally caused the agitated crowd to calm down...

"How can this be? Could it be that the Demon Fox really is..."

As soon as this thought arose, it sent a shiver down their spines! What a joke! If the Demon Fox really was the Fourth Hokage's son, then what were they? Benefiting from the Fourth Hokage's kindness, only to turn around and harm his son?

Namikaze Mirai stared coldly at Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"Lord Hokage, isn't it time to be honest about everything?"

Such a widespread commotion had been caused, affecting more than half of Konoha Village.

If Naruto's true identity wasn't revealed today, it would be impossible to bring things under control! A dry smile touched his lips, and Sarutobi Hiruzen seemed to age a dozen years in an instant, his back hunched, his voice taking on a hoarse quality.

"Have you considered the consequences of revealing all of this? Minato made countless enemies during the Third Great Ninja War. If Naruto's identity is revealed, how much..."

"Lord Hokage! I don't think you understand!"

Namikaze Mirai's tone carried a hint of mockery.

He stared directly at Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Every word was deliberate.

"With me here, no one will be able to threaten Naruto!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen's body trembled abruptly, and he seemed to age even further, his wrinkled face so withered it almost seemed to sag.

Finally, he sighed.

He seemed to have accepted the outcome.

"He's right. Naruto is the Fourth Hokage's son."

The crowd instantly erupted.

A clamor greater than any before echoed through the Hokage Tower.

Namikaze Mirai's previous words had only caused a slight ripple in their hearts.

But now, Sarutobi Hiruzen's personal admission changed everything! Naruto, whom they had always called the Demon Fox, was actually the Fourth Hokage's son!

The son of the hero who sacrificed his life to save this village! The Demon Fox, a hero's son?

"But, but why did everyone call him the Demon Fox?"

"Where did these rumors come from?"

"This is too strange!"

Many villagers were still filled with confusion.

If Naruto was a hero's son, why was he treated this way?

As the Fourth Hokage's son, shouldn't he enjoy the best benefits of the entire village and be raised as a hero's son?

Why was Naruto's situation completely the opposite?

And most importantly...

Lord Third had not intervened at all during this process, which was too strange!

"Because… the Nine-Tails."

Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes held a bitterness he had never shown before.

Things had come to this; he had no choice but to reveal the full truth.

Otherwise, these enraged villagers would likely turn their anger on him instead.

"The night of the Nine-Tails' rampage, Minato and Kushina sacrificed their lives to seal the Nine-Tails inside their son, Naruto."

"This matter is too significant; a premature leak would have severe consequences, which is why I ordered all information related to it to be sealed. But I never imagined it would escalate into the rumor that Naruto is the Demon Fox."

"If Minato knew this in the afterlife, he would surely blame me!"

A commotion!

A huge commotion!

The truth was finally revealed!

The villagers who learned the truth found it hard to accept.

They had been cursing the Demon Fox that killed the Fourth Hokage and his wife, only to discover it was their only son! For all these years, they had been bullying the hero's son!

"I'm… the Fourth Hokage's son…"

Naruto stood rooted to the spot, stunned.

So, my birth parents, whom I've never met, were actually the heroes who saved the entire village? The last one carved into Hokage Rock, the Fourth Hokage revered by the village as a hero! I was never the Demon Fox! I'm the hero's son!

Tears welled up in his eyes in an instant. Naruto bit his lip, trying his best not to cry.

Uncle said real men don't cry.

But, but…

Large tears streamed down his face, one after another, and he was practically a weeping mess.

Namikaze Mirai knelt down and gently wiped the tears from his eyes.

"Don't resent your parents. They were the people who loved you the most in this world. It was just a critical situation back then, and they had no choice but to make that decision."

"No, I don't resent them."

Naruto wiped the tears from his face.

"I'm happy. I'm not the illegitimate child they called me. I have parents, and they're the heroes who saved the village. I just… I just want to see them."

"I really, really want to see them…"

The crowd fell silent.

Some quietly wiped tears from their eyes.

Others clenched their fists in self-reproach.

Namikaze Mirai stood up, turned, and stared at Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"Third Hokage, how should the crime of allowing the hero's son to suffer bullying from the village be judged?"

Crime???

Sarutobi Hiruzen's face instantly turned ugly.

What does he mean??? Namikaze Mirai is directly targeting me? "Naruto, as the hero's son, should have received the best education, the best treatment, but he got none of it! Instead, he constantly endured baseless bullying!"

"Are you, the Third Hokage, not planning to take responsibility for this?"

The moment Namikaze Mirai's voice fell, a cacophony of discussions immediately erupted around them.

"Regarding Naruto, the Hokage-sama certainly needs to bear some responsibility."

"That's right! Everyone has a heart. If the Hokage-sama had announced from the beginning that Naruto was the Fourth's son, how could we have treated him like that?"

The villagers began to shift blame to each other, their self-reproach over knowing Naruto's identity finding an outlet.

Sarutobi Hiruzen's teeth chattered as he listened. The Anbu around him exchanged glances, their morale wavering.

"How do you want compensation?"

He took a deep breath.

The situation was overwhelming; he no longer had a choice.

Namikaze Mirai smiled faintly: "I recall that the inheritance my brother Minato left behind seems to have been embezzled by you. That portion of the assets is, barely, worth about 500 million ryo, wouldn't you say?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Sarutobi Hiruzen immediately became agitated.

"How could Minato have left behind that much in assets? Don't be so greedy!"

Namikaze Mirai's face turned cold: "So, my brother's inheritance really was swallowed by you?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen snapped back to reality, noticing the strange looks from the surrounding villagers, and his heart sank.

He had fallen into a trap.

"The assets Minato left behind were all used to rebuild the village and compensate the families of the ninja who died that night. Not a single ryo went into my pocket, and besides, it definitely wasn't as much as 500 million ryo."

Sarutobi Hiruzen forcefully suppressed his anger.

"It's one billion ryo now!"

Namikaze Mirai sneered.

"Mirai, you!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen gritted his teeth, his blood pressure soaring! "Are you saying that Naruto's suffering, and Minato and his wife's legacy, aren't even worth one billion ryo?"

"You can't come up with it, but the Sarutobi Clan can't?"

Flames seemed to flicker in Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes as he looked at Namikaze Mirai.

He remembered Namikaze Mirai's declaration in the Hokage Office when he first returned to the village: I will reclaim every last bit of Minato's legacy.

If the Sarutobi Clan truly had to pay one billion ryo to compensate Naruto, many clan members would likely have to live in poverty.

But the current situation was no longer something he could control.

"I'll have someone send the compensation over. Remember, this is for Naruto."

He took a deep breath. Though his tone was calm, a faint flicker of fire could be seen in his eyes.

Yet, Namikaze Mirai's gaze remained remarkably placid.

It was as if he was saying, this is just the beginning.