Because Someone Dug Out My Brother's Eyes

"No." Sarutobi Hiruzen answered decisively.

"So you're just going to let the Uchiha Clan approach him?!" Shimura Danzō stared at Sarutobi Hiruzen with a chilling gaze.

Naturally, Sarutobi Hiruzen could not allow the Uchiha Clan to approach Uzumaki Naruto, but neither could he allow Shimura Danzō to meddle in this.

The Nine-Tails Jinchūriki was the village's most powerful weapon. He would not easily let anyone get close, much less Shimura Danzō, who had dug out Uchiha eyes.

"I have my own methods."

Sarutobi Hiruzen's words made Shimura Danzō storm off in fury.

Uzumaki Naruto stayed in his tiny Rental Room.

He did not have many demands when it came to where he lived.

But he never got to eat well.

He had enough money.

But the villagers would not sell him anything. He did not like stealing, and it had never occurred to him that he could steal.

He did not know where the villagers' hatred for him came from, but he knew how great the Hokage grandpa was.

Everyone liked the Hokage Grandpa!

So as long as he became Hokage, everyone would like him too.

That was why his dream was to become Hokage and make everyone like him!

Knock, knock.

A knock sounded at the door.

Then came a familiar voice.

"Naruto, are you asleep?"

Uzumaki Naruto's eyes lit up, and he quickly climbed down from bed to open the door.

"Hokage Grandpa!" he shouted excitedly.

Sarutobi Hiruzen chuckled as he picked Uzumaki Naruto up and carried him into Naruto's room.

He asked Naruto several clichéd questions. "Have you been behaving lately?" "Have you made any friends?" "What do you want to do in the future?"

After confirming that Uzumaki Naruto was still the same as before, Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed in relief.

Then, he had Naruto tell him how he had spent his day.

Uzumaki Naruto naturally told him everything.

When he mentioned having a meal with a little brother who could walk with his eyes closed, saliva nearly dripped from the corner of his mouth.

It had been so delicious!

The Akimichi family's grilled meat was amazing!

If he had gone alone, even with money, the others would not have let him in.

But today had been strange. Everyone's attention had been on that little brother with his eyes closed.

That little brother was obviously nice. Why did everyone seem so afraid of him?

Sarutobi Hiruzen seemed pleased that Uzumaki Naruto had made a new friend. He casually smiled and said, "That little brother is very dangerous. He was the one who destroyed my Hokage Building, and he damaged many houses in the village too, causing enormous losses."

"Huh? So they're afraid of little brother because..." Uzumaki Naruto froze.

Was that little brother actually a bad person?

Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded slightly and smiled. "Naruto, your dream is to become Hokage, right?"

"Yes! I'm going to become the Fifth Hokage!" Uzumaki Naruto said excitedly.

"But a Hokage cannot be friends with bad people." Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke regretfully.

Although Uzumaki Naruto felt that something about this was off, his mind, conditioned by years of manipulation, could not figure it out. So he said, "I'm not friends with him!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen's smile widened.

But what he did not know was that Uzumaki Naruto quietly said to himself, I need to repay him for the meal he treated me to!

The streets.

Night was when life truly began.

The immense pressure of life made people fond of drinking.

Two men, their faces flushed red, staggered out of a tavern.

They looked enraged, each grabbing the other by the collar.

"Who told you to mess around at a time like that?!"

"It was your fault that I ended up like this!"

"Huh? What did you say?! It was obviously you..."

"Bastard!"

The tavern owner rushed forward to stop them. "Don't do this, don't do this..."

Passersby gathered nearby, curious about what had happened.

At that moment, the Police Force quickly arrived and pulled the two men apart.

"Behave yourselves!"

But the two men did not appreciate it.

"Police Force, get lost!"

"Go hide off to the side like you did during the Nine-Tailed Night!"

The Nine-Tailed Night was the beginning of everything erupting. For the Uchiha Clan, it was not something that could be casually touched upon.

In an instant, they had enraged the two Uchiha Clan Members.

They no longer held back. They pinned the men to the ground, pressing their faces against the cold pavement, then tied them up with ropes and took them away.

Yet this scene made the watching villagers deeply disapproving.

"They were just drunk and arguing, weren't they?"

"Couldn't you have just mediated?"

The soft murmurs were like malicious rats, carrying the contagion of "violent law enforcement," "the culprits of the Nine-Tailed Night," and "guilty consciences." They spread throughout the village, growing more intense by the moment.

And such rumors reached the ears of one Uchiha Clan Member after another.

The next day, early morning.

The weather was bright and clear, and the sunlight felt warm and pleasant on the skin.

Six-year-old Uzumaki Naruto woke up groggily, only to hear someone slurping ramen beside him.

He turned his head and saw that flat-top little brother from yesterday, the one who kept his eyes closed.

He was instantly dumbfounded.

He rubbed his eyes. His blurry vision cleared, and so did the flat-top little brother.

Uzumaki Naruto suddenly sprang up and backed several steps away across the bed.

"Y-You... why are you here?!"

"Do you know why I destroyed the Hokage Building?"

Jinghuo Uchiha's single sentence instantly reduced Uzumaki Naruto's guard to its lowest point.

But Uzumaki Naruto still remained distrustful as he asked, "Why?"

Jinghuo Uchiha stopped slurping his noodles.

He turned to Uzumaki Naruto and calmly said, "Because someone dug out my brother's eyes."

As he spoke, Jinghuo Uchiha suddenly opened his eyes.

They were eyes blurred beyond recognition, clouded to an unbelievable degree.

Yet one could still see traces of the crimson they had once contained, proof of their former extraordinariness and glory.

Uzumaki Naruto was stunned. Without realizing it, he sat down beside Jinghuo Uchiha, calling him little brother this and little brother that, completely forgetting Sarutobi Hiruzen's warning.

The Anbu outside the window were also stunned.

They hurriedly reported the news to Sarutobi Hiruzen.

By the time Sarutobi Hiruzen rushed over from the Sarutobi Clan Land, Jinghuo Uchiha had already left.

Before he could ask Uzumaki Naruto what had happened, he heard Naruto ask, "Hokage grandpa, why did your teammate dig out little brother's brother's eyes?"

"..." Sarutobi Hiruzen seemed to freeze in place. In his mind, he cursed Shimura Danzō more times than he could count.

At the same time, he felt uneasy about Uzumaki Naruto slipping somewhat beyond his control.

His manipulation of Uzumaki Naruto had been achieved by concealing certain information.

For example, he had hidden the fact that Uzumaki Naruto was the Fourth Hokage's son and the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki.

And the rumors calling him the Demon Fox had nothing to do with him.

Although this created a perfect cycle of manipulation—him treating Uzumaki Naruto well while the villagers treated him poorly—he had never actually lied to Uzumaki Naruto.

So, as always, he soothed Uzumaki Naruto.

"Naruto, Grandpa doesn't know either. As Hokage, I have to manage all the village's affairs, and I'm too busy. Some people changed their hearts, but Grandpa failed to notice in time. That was Grandpa's fault."

"Hokage Grandpa..." Uzumaki Naruto was deeply moved.

"But that little brother still destroyed the Hokage Building for no reason. It is Konoha's symbol." Sarutobi Hiruzen ultimately did not say those words.

Because he knew that if they pursued the matter further, he would be the one at a disadvantage.

So he changed his approach.

With a kind, gentle smile, he said, "Naruto, Grandpa can take half a day off on Saturday. Do you want to go have some fun with Grandpa?"