Why are these people so gossipy...
Finally escorting Satsuki to the entrance of Uchiha Clan Compound, Naruto secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Along the way, the unabashed pointings and whispers coming from all directions were really uncomfortable.
Of course, this time, the focus of those eyes and discussions was not on him, "Demon Fox", but all on Satsuki, who had his head lowered next to him.
However, this focus is not malicious, but a deep compassion.
"Look... Is that the child? I heard that Uchiha Clan... were all killed last night..."
"It's really a crime... to experience this kind of thing at such a young age..."
"Shh! Keep your voice down! Don't let her hear! But I heard... it's her sister, how could she do it..."
"I heard that because of this incident, that terrible organization was attracted, and something big almost happened again..."
Those depressing discussions kept coming. Every look of pity, every sigh of "so pitiful" was like repeatedly uncovering Satsuki's bloody scars, causing her already drooped head to bury deeper.
Naruto could clearly feel the stiffness of the girl next to him, which made him feel inexplicably irritated, but he couldn't stop everyone's mouths.
Today in Konoha, two pieces of blockbuster news swept through every corner like hurricanes, causing unprecedented shock.
One of them is the genocide of the Uchiha Clan. As Konoha, the most powerful ninja clan worthy of the name, several people were slaughtered in one night, leaving only a few survivors. The impact of this news was undoubtedly seismic.
However, such a shocking tragedy, in the storm of public opinion, can only be ranked second.
What really topped the list of topics and triggered widespread criticism was the revelation of the heinous crime against a dead executive—Danzō Shimura.
He desecrated the body of First Hokage and stole cells for taboo research. During the Third Shinobi World War period, in order to seize Sharingan, he secretly attacked the compatriots of Uchiha who fought side by side, creating a large number of "disappearance" cases.
Maintaining secret cooperation with the notorious S-rank missing-nin Orochimaru who defected from Hayao, he continued to conduct inhumane human experiments, and even kidnapped innocent villagers and lone Ninja as experimental subjects for his crazy research...
The shocking extent of these crimes that were made public one after another completely subverted people's understanding of "Konoha High Command" and aroused public indignation and condemnation from the entire people.
In contrast, the truth about Uchiha Massacre was temporarily blurred, which caused people's anger to focus more on the dead Danzo.
Although Danzo's numerous evil deeds were required to be made public as a condition put forward by Naruto as Menma, at present, he actually has no intention to pay attention to the heated discussions and denunciations from the outside world.
All his attention is focused on the girl next to him. He never wants Satsuki to be alone on that lonely road like in the novel.
Stepping into the street of the Uchiha Clan, deathly silence hits your face. Although it was not particularly lively in the past, the clan place was still full of life. Now it was completely empty, leaving only a heart-stopping silence.
On the street, the outlines of human figures drawn with white chalk, representing the positions of each "corpse", are shocking. Next to them, there are still large stains of Hayao's dried and blackened blood.
Naruto looked at these traces in silence, feeling a little complicated in his heart. He couldn't tell which ones were real bloodstains and which ones were realistic forgeries left behind when [Golden Experience] generated those biological fakes... maybe, it was both.
He didn't say anything, didn't try to comfort her with pale words, he just stayed by Satsuki's side silently, walking side by side with her, step by step into the depths of the Qiyan clan.
There is still a long distance from the entrance to Clan Head's Residence.
Then, the sky darkened without warning, and thin raindrops began to fall, and soon they formed a line and fell in a steady patter. The rain that fell in this work to highlight the loneliness came as expected.
The rain hit his face and body, and Satsuki seemed to have received too much impact. He didn't even react at first, and just continued to drool blankly.
It wasn't until the rain soaked her hair and clothes, bringing a cold touch, that she was awakened from her sleepwalking state.
She stopped subconsciously, then turned her head sharply and looked at Naruto next to her with an almost panicked, helpless and pleading look...
She was not worried about the rain, nor was she afraid of the deserted streets. She was afraid - afraid that Naruto would leave because of the sudden rain, that she would find it troublesome, that it would be a burden to accompany her through the last part of the journey, and that she would be left alone.
She didn't know what to do. If Naruto really left, would she have the courage to walk the road to the broken "home" alone?
She doesn't want to be alone.
Absolutely not.
Naruto looked at Satsuki's side face that was wetted by the rain and looked even paler and slightly trembling shoulders. He hesitated for a moment, then reached out and touched Satsuki's wet hair.
To be honest, he had wanted to do this kind of action for a long time, but he was not sure whether the proud Satsuki would get out of the way.
But now...Satsuki was just slightly startled, without any resistance or dodge. Instead, as if seeking comfort, she still looked at him with her eyes that were ready to cry, filled with vulnerability and dependence.
"You..." Naruto sighed, "Can you have a little faith in me?"
After saying that, he took Satsuki's hand and quickly ran to a nearby roof to take shelter from the increasing rain. The hair and clothes of both of them were already slightly wet from the rain, and they felt cool against their bodies.
After standing firm, Naruto quickly formed a simple seal with his hands.
With a soft sound, another identical Shadow Clone appeared next to them.
"Go." Naruto ordered in a concise and concise manner.
That Shadow Clone nodded, and the next second, chakra erupted under his feet, and at the high speed Ninja was driving at, he instantly rushed into the rain curtain, and his figure disappeared at the end of the street after a few ups and downs.
"Wait here for a moment," Naruto explained to Satsuki beside him, "He will send the umbrella over right away. As I said, I will always be by your side and I will keep my word."
Satsuki heard the words and lowered her head deeply, making it difficult for people to see her expression at the moment. She just nodded slightly and imperceptibly to show that she heard.
However, her body unconsciously moved a little closer to Naruto's Fang Yan.
Naruto felt her subtle dependence and sighed again in his heart. He didn't say much, but stroked Satsuki's rain-soaked hair from time to time.
On the other side, the Shadow Clone who rushed into the rain, after running a far enough distance to ensure that he was completely out of Satsuki's sight, suddenly stopped again and Hand Seals his hands again.
Another cloud of white smoke flashed by, and another clone appeared.
One of the clones didn't stop and continued running towards the nearest grocery store, Fang Yan.
And the aura of the other clone that came out suddenly changed! An illusory figure vaguely emitting blue-pink light appeared behind him.
Immediately, the clone ran towards Konoha Hospital at full speed.
His mission is to use the power of repairing one's body to fulfill the promise of "100% recovery" made to Satsuki.
(There will be another update the next day)