Naruto Was Almost Too Cheerful

"Stop disturbing my fishing..."

Even fishermen had their own fury.

Especially for a child who relied on fishing to supplement his meat supply, seeing the fish he had finally gathered by the river scatter left Naruto wanting to curse.

But when Naruto looked up and saw Youhu standing with his sword in hand, along with the terrifying White Mask on his face, his momentum immediately weakened.

Seeing the wild boar beside Youhu, killed by a single sword strike, made him tremble even harder.

"Am I going to die too?"

That thought surfaced in Naruto's mind. He was unpopular at school, hated and despised by the villagers on the streets, and had been saddled with the nickname Demon Fox by children his age.

He did not care about any of that. At worst, he could get revenge later. If he could not win, he would just go home and cry alone.

But he really did not want to die. He was still just a child. He did not want to die before becoming a Ninja.

Anyone who could kill a wild boar in one blow had to be incredibly powerful. He would probably be cut down with a single sword too. Who had paid to have a child's life taken?

How awful.

"..."

Youhu knew the blond child was Uzumaki Naruto. He also knew that Naruto was the Fourth Hokage's son and the village's Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

But he pretended not to know Naruto's identity. He had stepped in and killed the wild boar attacking Naruto simply to leave a good impression on him, making it more convenient to fabricate lies related to Naruto in the future.

Yet after saving Naruto like a bolt of lightning, Naruto merely looked thoroughly frightened.

Was his White Mask really that terrifying?

Youhu walked over to Naruto and patted him on the shoulder. "Brat, are you deaf? Don't stay in such a dangerous place at night in the future."

He's a Ninja from the village. I don't have to die anymore?

Only then did Naruto come back to his senses. He looked toward Youhu, noticing that the man indeed bore the village's insignia. Had he really been rescued from the wild boar?

"Uncle, were you the one who saved me?"

"Who else? Did you think I came to kill you? Of course, if you want to die, I won't stop you. See the wild boar up ahead? You can go over there and die together with it."

"No, thanks. I don't want to die yet."

Naruto shook his head repeatedly.

After learning that Youhu was not a Ninja who had come to kill him, Naruto felt that even Youhu's mask had become kind and benevolent. This Ninja uncle's age was impossible to make out, but he seemed like a pretty good person.

"Then what are you doing here?"

"I came to fish. I didn't get enough to eat tonight."

Naruto's stomach began to growl, and he gave an embarrassed smile.

Youhu dragged the wild boar over and kicked it to Naruto's side before saying, "Did you bring any salt? You can have this wild boar. Don't come here so late in the future. It's dangerous."

"Got it..." Looking at the wild boar before him, Naruto smiled in bliss.

At that moment, Captain Kakashi walked over. He looked at Naruto's expectant face, then at Youhu, who was processing the wild boar, seemingly waiting for an explanation.

"Captain, I saw that this child was in danger just now, so I stepped in to help him."

As he processed the wild boar, Youhu continued, "But I didn't do it for nothing. We'll eat roast pork together later, and after we're full, we'll take the brat back to the village."

Kakashi neither agreed nor disagreed. He began gathering firewood nearby.

The patrol mission was important, but nothing was more important than protecting the Jinchuriki. Especially with the Masked Man appearing at this time, protecting the Jinchuriki was the top priority.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Youhu went to Naruto's side and began chatting with him about this and that.

Seeing that Youhu was willing to talk with him, Naruto opened his heart and recounted everything that had happened since he could remember. His story could more or less be described as pitiful.

Half an hour later, Youhu cut the wild boar into chunks of meat and placed them over the fire to roast.

Kakashi pulled Youhu aside and demanded with a grim expression, "Youhu, why did you act without my orders just now? Do you know what consequences that could have caused?"

Youhu looked at Kakashi in confusion.

"The Guard Division's duty is to protect the villagers. I thought the Anbu worked the same way."

Kakashi stared fixedly at Youhu, his tone growing colder. "I'm talking about his identity. He's the village's Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. I don't believe you Uchiha don't know that."

"If the High Officials learn that you've had contact with the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, they'll punish you severely."

Kakashi had seen traces of Obito in Youhu, which was why he was so angry. He did not want Youhu to be punished by the Hokage, nor did he want tensions between the Uchiha and the village to worsen.

"So Naruto is the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. No wonder you were so worked up, Captain..."

"But I'm only an Ordinary Chunin, and I've already offended Fugaku Clan Head. It shouldn't matter if I come into contact with the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. The Hokage isn't that petty a person."

Youhu chuckled lightly, looking completely unconcerned.

At that moment, Youhu seemed to remember something and changed the subject. "But Captain Kakashi, don't you think Naruto is a little strange? I feel like there's something off about his condition."

Hearing this, Kakashi glanced at Naruto in the distance. He had not noticed anything wrong.

"Is there something wrong with Naruto? He seems to be enjoying his food, and he doesn't look troubled. He's about as cheerful as the other children in the village."

"Captain Kakashi, don't you think Naruto's constant smiling and cheerfulness are the biggest problem?"

Youhu shook his head, his expression solemn.

"I asked around about Naruto's experiences just now. He has no parents, and the villagers and children his age bully him every day, yet he still maintains such an optimistic and positive attitude."

"Our parents were both lost too. Think about how we were at Naruto's age. Could you have smiled so happily?"

At these words, Kakashi fell silent, recalling his own childhood.

After his father died because of the rumors, he had been depressed for three full years, treating himself as nothing more than a tool for carrying out missions. It was not until he joined Teacher Minato's team that he gradually turned himself around.

Naruto's optimistic and positive appearance did indeed strike him as somewhat strange.

Naruto did not look like a child who had suffered hardships. Instead, he resembled a mature Ninja who had already seen through everything, and that sent a chill through Kakashi's heart.

Noticing Kakashi's expression, Youhu said with some emotion, "Captain Kakashi, this child is almost too cheerful. I even suspect he may have been controlled by an Illusion Technique."

"Naruto was controlled by an Illusion Technique?"

Kakashi's heart jolted. But after activating his Sharingan and examining Naruto, he found nothing unusual. He realized that Youhu might once again be spreading baseless rumors.

Kakashi frowned and retorted, "Naruto was controlled by an Illusion Technique? I think you're the one being controlled by an Illusion Technique. I've never seen an Uchiha quite like you."

Youhu shrugged.

"Captain Kakashi, don't make personal attacks. I was only sharing a casual guess. If you don't believe me, then forget it. Naruto might really just be a born optimist."

"Let's go back and eat the roast meat with Naruto first."

"..."

Hearing the words "a casual guess," Kakashi instinctively felt uneasy. Youhu's intuition was frighteningly sharp. Could Naruto really have been tainted by something unclean?

Or had Naruto been affected by the Nine-Tails Chakra?