Please Do Me a Favor

Please Do Me a Favor

When Naruto first heard the attacker's words, he was utterly bewildered.

He searched his conscience. When had he ever provoked this middle-aged man enough for the man to insist on killing him?

At most, he had merely fought back with equal force whenever the villagers bullied him.

Even if Akatsuki or Konoha's darkness, Danzo, wanted to make a move against him, it would be because he was a Jinchuriki. They would not attack him for no reason.

Yet this guy had come at him from the start with a crazed assassination attempt, completely without reason.

Still, the man's weakness had caught Naruto by surprise. How could an assassin be this weak? It was as though he had not taken Naruto, a Jinchuriki, seriously at all.

That ruled out Akatsuki as a suspect.

After enduring the pain and pulling out the fruit knife, Tenpu stared at Naruto in utter disbelief.

In his eyes, Naruto was just a little brat who had never even attended the Ninja Academy, completely incapable of fighting. Once he lured away the Anbu, he should have been able to do whatever he wanted.

Yet Naruto had not only noticed his arrival, but had also set a trap in advance.

With his foot injured and paralysis poison in his system, he no longer had enough confidence to deal with Naruto. If he drew the attention of the village's other ninja, only death awaited him.

Amid his panic, Naruto's voice rang out again. "Who exactly are you? A ninja from an enemy country?"

"..."

Tenpu searched for an opportunity. Unable to determine whether the Naruto before him was a Shadow Clone, he could only look around for a chance to counterattack or escape.

By now, he had completely begun treating Naruto as a ninja.

Shadow Clones guarded both the window and the door, and forming hand seals would take several seconds.

Looking at the numerous Shadow Clones around him, Tenpu understood that he was doomed. But before he died, he wanted Naruto to continue wallowing in pain. That was his revenge against the Fourth Hokage.

With a cold snort, Tenpu twisted his face into a savage expression and said madly, "Who I am doesn't matter. But Uzumaki Naruto, do you know your true identity? Do you know why you were bullied?"

Naruto frowned. Of course he knew who he was.

Seeing that Naruto remained silent, Tenpu continued on his own. "Naruto, you are not a Demon Fox. You are the son of the Fourth Hokage, the Hokage who saved the village. His son was bullied as a Demon Fox. Don't you think that's hilarious?"

After saying that, Tenpu looked at Naruto, expecting to see a wonderful expression on his face.

Unfortunately, he saw no confusion, hesitation, or incomprehension.

Instead, Naruto looked at him as though he were an idiot and sneered. "I'm the Fourth Hokage's son. So what? What are you trying to say? That I should be angry?"

Tenpu's expression became increasingly distorted as he shouted at Naruto, "Why aren't you angry? You're the Fourth Hokage's son, yet you were treated like a Demon Fox! Shouldn't you doubt your life? Doubt this world?"

Naruto shook his head, then had a Shadow Clone approach Tenpu as he slowly said,

"Compared to that, I care more about who you are. Why did you approach me? Are you one of the Third Hokage's men, a spy from Cloud or Iwagakure, or a subordinate of Konoha's darkness?"

If Tenpu had been somewhat crazed just now, all that remained now was fear.

Naruto was just a little brat. How did he know about these forces? Especially Shimura Danzō—many Chunin did not even know there was someone like him in the village.

Moreover, Naruto was displaying a calmness that did not fit his age at all.

He was not from the Third Hokage, nor was he a ninja sent by Danzo or Cloud. Could he be a spy from another hidden village?

Watching Tenpu's expression, Naruto was somewhat puzzled as well. But he quickly found Tenpu's face familiar. Wasn't this the middle-aged man he had once seen at Ichiraku Ramen?

Was there really any need for an ordinary Chunin to target him?

No longer thinking wildly, Naruto formed hand seals. Another three to five Shadow Clones appeared in the room, then swarmed the enemy, using the Gentle Fist style as well.

Very soon, Naruto subdued Tenpu inside the room and began interrogating him through pressure-point strikes.

After recognizing the Gentle Fist, Tenpu completely gave up resisting. He began to wonder whether the Naruto before him was really the Fourth Hokage's child, whether he had truly been possessed by the Demon Fox.

Otherwise, how could someone so young master so many advanced ninjutsu, including the Hyuga clan's secret techniques?

Tenpu broke easily and soon confessed everything. After obtaining this information, Naruto's expression gradually turned strange.

This man was not a spy, nor did Danzo stand behind him. He was merely an unsuccessful Konoha Chunin.

Because of his own lack of ability, he blamed the Fourth Hokage's death for delaying his promotion to Jonin. So he had constantly spread rumors that Naruto was a Demon Fox and secretly targeted him.

After Naruto successfully resisted the villagers' bullying, he had tried to assassinate him, adding another shadow to Naruto's life.

What was this? Simple revenge against society?

But that was only his side of the story. Many details deserved further thought. He alone could not have spread the Demon Fox rumors so widely. There must have been schemers fanning the flames behind the scenes.

After all, a minor Chunin like him might not even notice if someone else had used him.

Still, the appearance of such a person caused Naruto's remaining goodwill toward Konoha to decline even further.

Rather than resist superiors who assigned dangerous missions and suppressed them, they joined forces to bully an orphaned Jinchuriki whose parents had both died. These ninja lurking in the shadows truly possessed the Will of Fire!

With a cold snort, Naruto used the Gentle Fist to shatter Tenpu's heart meridians and watched him collapse helplessly to the floor.

Looking at the corpse on the ground, Naruto felt no psychological discomfort about killing. Or perhaps he had long grown accustomed to the presence of negative emotions and had become numb to them.

But when he thought of how the man had once been his father's subordinate and had received his father's favor—

Yet now, because of his own problems, he had spread rumors harmful to Naruto and had even tried to give him psychological scars through violence.

Naruto still felt an indescribable ache. Perhaps affected by this body, he began to tremble slightly.

The Nine-Tails noticed that something was wrong with Naruto's state and suddenly said, "Hey, brat, don't get depressed over something like this. You are this old man's Jinchuriki. You are not allowed to have such weak emotions."

"You mean killing him? I think I'm fine. It's like killing fish normally."

Naruto looked at the Nine-Tails and forced himself to say it.

The Nine-Tails stared deeply at Naruto, then lightly shook his head.

"Not that. The other matter. That guy just said your father was this village's Fourth Hokage... It doesn't feel good, does it? Being the Hokage's son and suffering discrimination."

Naruto smiled and said indifferently,

"Oh, that. I knew long ago. The distinctive Uzumaki surname, the same hair color and looks as the Fourth Hokage, and the Third Hokage's attitude toward me all made it clear that I was the Fourth Hokage's son."

After a pause, Naruto continued, "Besides, haven't you Tailed Beasts always received the same treatment?"

The Nine-Tails fell silent for a while. Those words struck straight at its heart.

So Naruto had understood the feelings of Tailed Beasts from so early on? It had never known.

While the Nine-Tails was silent, Naruto picked up a kunai from the ground and viciously slashed his own arm.

Looking at the grisly wound and the blood continuously flowing from it, Naruto gazed at the Nine-Tails and said calmly, "By the way, big fox, I've never asked you before, but now please do me a favor. Use your Chakra to control my body."

"I need your power!"