The child being shoved roughly to the ground and subjected to vicious insults looked nothing like a "monster." His figure was extraordinarily small and frail; he was probably only three years old.
With his bright blond hair and clear blue eyes, Little Naruto was driven out of the shop by its owner as though he were a walking plague.
"Fine, fine! If you won't sell it, then don't... Why do you have to be so mean?"
Little Naruto climbed to his feet, muttering under his breath as he brushed the dust off his trousers. He tried hard to sound indifferent, but the slight tremor at the end of his words still betrayed a hurt he could not quite conceal.
This was plainly an adult bullying a small child, yet not one of the villagers gradually gathering around stepped forward to stop it.
They merely whispered among themselves. Far from sympathetic, the looks they cast at Little Naruto were filled with undisguised disgust and cold hatred, as though they were looking at something unclean.
"That child again... Just looking at him gives me the creeps..."
"Stay away from him. Whatever you do, don't get involved with him."
"He's the one who killed Lord Fourth Hokage... Why does the Third Hokage still let a monster like that stay in the village?"
"I heard he's that... The thing that destroyed the village a few years ago..."
"Seriously, why is a walking disaster like that still allowed to stroll around the streets?"
Those malicious whispers were like icy needles, piercing the helpless little figure in their midst from every direction.
"Wait! Aren't you going a little too far?"
A passing man wearing a ninja vest seemed unable to stomach the sight. He stepped forward, unable to keep himself from intervening.
But before he could