Brat

By the time Sarutobi Hiruzen finished his speech, Naruto had been slumped over his desk in the classroom for over half an hour.

He sat by the window in the last row, sunlight spilling over his golden hair and lending him an air of youthful vitality.

Sarutobi Hiruzen's voice was so loud that Naruto could hear every word clearly from inside the classroom. He had definitely used some unusual method to amplify it.

Even Naruto sometimes could not understand how the Will of Fire could brainwash people into such fanatical states. A few hollow platitudes that did not even qualify as theory somehow had people flocking to them. Even pyramid schemes knew to give their recruits a few benefits first, yet the Will of Fire could make seven- or eight-year-old children willingly go to war with just a few empty words, and their parents had no objections. Was it some kind of genjutsu?

Or was it because the ninja world had no compulsory education? The lower one's level of knowledge, the more believable the Will of Fire became?

Naruto was still sitting there with his mind blank. He had been focused on training the Flying Thunder God lately, to the point that even his daily routine had become a mess. School life could serve as some rare time to relax, but then a noisy voice disturbed him.

"That guy really was hiding in the classroom. Not only is he disgusting, he has no manners either!"

"Dongye, keep your voice down. Did you forget what Lord Hokage said?"

"Yeah, and he's that thing my aunt saw with her own eyes."

"Did I say anything wrong? Lord Hokage was still giving his speech, and this guy just ran off. If it weren't for Lord Hokage, everyone would've kicked him out of the village long ago."

Naruto did not need to think to know those words were aimed at him.

Still, when he heard them, he could not help feeling a little nostalgic. It had been a long time since he had heard anything like that. He raised his head and glanced to the side.

Three little boys were sitting near the door, looking his way. The arrogant-looking one in the middle was probably Dongye. It could not possibly be the two timid-looking kids beside him.

"Hey, you disgusting freak, what are you looking at?!"

When Dongye saw Naruto looking at them, he stood up and pointed at Naruto as he shouted angrily.

He was probably some spoiled child from a well-off family, or simply the kind of brat no one had disciplined since childhood. He acted as though he feared neither heaven nor earth. Had he not noticed that the other children had all been repeatedly warned by their families not to get involved with Naruto? Yet this guy insisted on being different.

Seeing Dongye's cannon-fodder face, Naruto could not help thinking of those cocky wannabe tough guys from his previous life.

Sarutobi Hiruzen's speech had ended, and the students were mostly returning to the classroom. Dongye's outburst naturally drew everyone's attention, and the four of them suddenly became the center of attention.

Having suddenly become the focus, Dongye secretly felt delighted and cursed again.

"What are you looking at?! You orphan with no father and no mother!"

"If Lord Hokage hadn't been kind enough to treat everyone in Konoha like family, an ungrateful wretch like you would've been kicked out of Konoha long ago."

As soon as Dongye finished cursing, quiet whispers rose around them again.

"H-he's so brave."

"Th-this... he won't get eaten by that thing, will he?"

"My mom said that thing can really turn into a Demon Fox."

Seeing how frightened so many of his classmates were, Dongye patted his chest and declared, "Don't be afraid. We're at school. Lord Hokage will definitely protect us. If he dares hurt us, Lord Hokage will definitely throw him out of the village."

"Heh, how interesting."

Naruto could barely hold it in anymore. With a faint smile on his lips and calm eyes, he said, "You seem to think you're very important?"

As he spoke, he raised his right hand, formed a shooting gesture, and pointed it at the boy named Dongye.

That motion startled all the children present. They did not understand what Naruto meant, but Dongye seemed to have been deeply insulted. His eyes immediately turned bloodshot, and he began panting like a bull.

"I'll break your fingers!"

"N-Naruto, calm down first!"

Minato Namikaze could not help speaking up from within the Sealing Space, while the other two wore uncertain expressions.

The Sealing Space was linked to Naruto's heart. Whenever the darkness in Naruto's heart grew stronger, the Sealing Space would become twisted and dark. Now, distortions had begun to appear within it, and rust was creeping across the Sealing Space's gate. The three of them all turned pale, while only the Nine-Tails continued reading its novel with a cheerful grin.

Although the little brat named Dongye had indeed gone too far, and even Minato Namikaze wanted to teach him a lesson, he still hoped Naruto would show some restraint.

Naruto ignored Minato Namikaze's attempts to dissuade him. Watching Dongye draw closer, a wicked smile appeared on his face. Young people really were hot-blooded.

"Bang!"

Naruto softly made the sound of a gunshot. A fierce gust suddenly swept through the classroom, carrying countless leaves in through the windows and hurling them at Dongye.

"What is this?!"

Dongye instinctively raised both arms before his face to keep the wind and dust from getting into his eyes.

After quite a while, Dongye finally felt the wind die down. He lowered his hands, revealing a twisted face full of rage.

"Y-you..."

The words caught in his throat before he could say them. His eyes widened as the sight before him filled him with utter terror.

Countless red foxes crawled out from the shadows behind Naruto and pounced on him, frantically gnawing at him. His body, his eyeballs, even his internal organs were wracked by the pain of being devoured. Fortunately, a child's willpower was not strong enough, and the intense pain soon made him pass out from the genjutsu.

Though they were children, this was exactly the kind Naruto disliked most. As a result, before class had even begun, he was summoned to the office for a talk.

When Naruto followed the grim-faced Iruka out of the classroom, no one inside dared whisper about Naruto anymore.

Dongye, who had been so aggressive just moments ago, had suddenly collapsed to the floor screaming and rolling around. In the end, he lay there with his eyes rolled back, foam spilling from his mouth, his whole body convulsing before going still. It left a deep psychological scar on the group of six-year-old kids.