At this moment, Third Hokage had finished saying all the words that had been buried in his heart for many years, and the office fell into silence. He was quietly waiting for Naruto's reaction, with tension and expectation in his old eyes.
Although Jiraiya on the side felt that Naruto's mind was not narrow-minded, before he got a definite answer, his heart was also hanging.
"... Um," Naruto started, his tone a little confused, "What you call disappointment and resentment, do you mean that I will become a traitor or something because of this?"
Hearing these words, Third Hokage and Jiraiya's nerves tensed up instantly. However, immediately afterwards, Naruto showed a speechless expression and continued.
"But, people's opinions on things they don't care about are actually not that important. In that case, if I don't save them, even I will look down on myself... Okay." He waved his hand and spoke in a relaxed tone.
"Old man, you can have some confidence in me again." Naruto put that familiar smile on his face again, "What I feel in Konoha are not all those annoying things... By the way, my Chunin Ninja Exams competition has been interrupted. Is there any hope for my promotion to Chunin?"
Looking at Naruto's smiling face, and the last question with a trivial meaning that was obviously meant to lighten the atmosphere... The boulder that had been weighing on Third Hokage's heart for an unknown amount of time finally fell to the ground with a thud. The huge sense of relief even made his legs and feet go weak, and he almost collapsed backwards on the chair.
He looked at the face in front of him that was so similar to Fourth Hokage, but also combined the tenacity and cheerfulness of Kushina, and his eyes heated up slightly.
Yes... he... he is that person's child after all...
"Naruto... Thank you."
Hearing such a solemn apology, Naruto scratched his face uncomfortably, "Well, um, it's nothing. Can I go? I still have some things to deal with." His mind was now full of problems about his mother Kushina, and he couldn't wait to find a solution.
As for the "not caring" I just said, of course it is true. Naruto considers himself not that stingy. In fact, he has never been able to understand why the character would be so angry that he wanted to kill everyone or even destroy the entire village just because someone scolded him a few times?
He couldn't help but think of some Hokage fan fiction with sensational titles that he had occasionally glimpsed - those so-called "blackened Naruto" who said "kill decisively", but what they wrote was "I don't eat beef."
It seems that once the original Naruto knows the plot, he will inevitably go to extremes and destruction.
Even if Satsuki was not with him when he was a child, no matter how excessive the behavior of those villagers was, Naruto would at best be completely ruined and then find a chance to leave the village and live alone.
Naruto murmured in his heart. He thought of those widely circulated sayings - "The person who should be the most rebellious nin finally became Hokage."
Gaara--In addition to being ostracized, he also lived under the constant threat of being assassinated by his loved ones. Nagato--My parents died tragically in front of my eyes. I wandered in the war and almost starved to death. Witnessing the death of his best friend, Kakashi--his father commits suicide in spite of the infamy. One of his teammates dies and the other "betrayed". His beloved teacher and his wife also sacrificed their lives. Kai is the only close friend who is still alive.
If we really want to talk about being miserable, we must at least reach the level of the above people if we want to be black. Naruto feels that it is a bit too childish and exaggerated to shout about beating and killing because of a few rumors.
If you are bullied or scolded, you can hit him back or scold him back, kill him? Elementary school students?
His consciousness was floating in a chaotic darkness, as if he was struggling to wake up from an endless sleep, and the heavy sleepiness was constantly eroding the edge of wakefulness like a tide.
Kushina Uzumaki can feel that as long as he relaxes for a moment and gives up resistance, he will immediately fall back into that unconscious sleep.
Just clearing her thoughts and trying to understand the current situation had already used all her strength at the moment except resisting sleepiness.
The last scene in my memory was... I was penetrated by Kurama's sharp and huge claws... Severe pain, the rapid passage of life... No, even if it was not penetrated, as Jinchuriki, Tailed Beast was pulled away, death was already doomed...
That day was supposed to be the happiest day in her life, but in the end, she could only glance at her newly born child at the last moment of her life, and she was about to usher in the end of eternal separation...
What then?
There was a gap in the memory. When consciousness came back again, what flashed before my eyes was that face... that young face... was it him?
There was unwillingness and bottomless sadness on that face, as well as a reluctance that was so strong that it couldn't be overcome... The outline of the facial features looked a bit like mine, but the eyebrows looked more like Minato...
But, isn't he already dead? Why is he in this situation? The feeling of his body... is so strange, there is no real feeling, and no pain...
"By the way...Minato seems to have told me about a similar situation..."
Mental mutterings with strange oral habits, Kushina Uzumaki tried hard to search in the chaotic memories. She recalled that in the past, when Minato was studying Flying Thunder God Technique, she seemed to have mentioned... that on Forbidden Jutsu scroll, which recorded countless mysteries, there was a forbidden technique that could bring the dead back to the living world.
Of course, Kushina did not delve into it at the time. She only knew that such a technique existed, but did not understand its specific principles. After all, who would want to learn a technique that disrupts the order of life and death? But considering the current situation, it seems that this is the only possibility that can explain it.
The body is bound by some kind of force... This feeling is...
"This is, Eight Trigrams Seal?"
As the heir to the bloodline of the Uzumaki Clan and the master of Sealing Jutsu, Kushina immediately recognized this familiar feeling of restraint on his body.
In other words, after I sacrificed myself with Minato that day, I was summoned by someone using a forbidden technique for some bad reason... Maybe I was even manipulated into doing something?
This thought made her heart tighten. So... that child, Naruto, did he show such a sad and painful expression? Is it to stop me from being manipulated?
After death, before being summoned... there is no memory, and I can't even feel the passage of time. Is that what it feels like when the soul stays at Pure Land? And now that I can still think and feel, it means that the soul is still imprisoned in this world, right...
I am already a dead person... I should no longer interfere with everything in this world...
This rational idea flashed through Kushina's mind clearly. However, when she tried to move her fingers ever so slightly and felt the long-lost "touch" even if it was based on the dusty body, an uncontrollable impulse originating from the depths of her soul made her unconsciously want to move more.
How old is he... now? He should be... already a teenager...
Without his parents around, has he been lonely these years? Has he been bullied?
Do you eat well? Are you hungry? What do you like to eat? Are you healthy?
Have you made friends? Is your personality as gentle as Minato, or is it a bit impulsive like myself?
Does he... hate us? Hates us for leaving him alone...
Doubts, worries, guilt and deep love instantly broke down the newly established rational dam about "should not interfere with the present world". The unforgettable concern that belonged to the mother overwhelmed everything else at this moment.