Human Nature

"..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi remained silent.

He could not possibly reveal that Naruto was the descendant of Minato.

His silence, however, only served to further corroborate the identity of the fox demon.

A person could not possibly be born without parents!

Moreover, this person was born exactly when the Nine-Tails attacked Konoha; if he wasn't the fox demon, then who was?

The villagers, who had previously been wavering and willing to trust Hiruzen Sarutobi, completely turned against him.

"Please, Lord Hokage, banish the fox demon from Konoha!"

"Please, Lord Hokage, banish the fox demon from Konoha!"

Faced with the surging tide of public opinion, Hiruzen Sarutobi could only offer guarantees in his capacity as Hokage to barely appease the public's rage.

Inside the Soul Space.

"Why are they targeting Naruto like this?"

"Why won't the Third Hokage reveal Naruto's identity?"

"The villagers all believe he is the incarnation of the fox demon. His status as a jinchuriki is practically public knowledge in the ninja world, so why won't the Third Hokage just say it?"

"Why won't he clear Naruto's name?"

"Why treat our child this way?"

Kushina's eyes were red-rimmed, and she felt as if her heart were being tightly gripped by something.

Everything had been fine just a few months ago; why had things taken such a sharp turn for the worse?

The ninja at the front clearly knew Naruto was a jinchuriki, so why did they label him a "fox demon" to fool the villagers who were ignorant of the truth?

Why wouldn't the Third Hokage speak up and clear their child's name?

Why did the heavens treat them this way?

She didn't understand!

"I'm sorry..." Watching his devastated wife, Minato looked pained and filled with guilt.

If he hadn't been so headstrong back then, Kushina wouldn't have died, and Naruto wouldn't have become a jinchuriki...

"It would be useless. Even if they knew Naruto was your child, the situation wouldn't change in the slightest." Sasuke appeared.

"Why?" Kushina whipped her head around, full of confusion.

Sasuke glanced at Minato. "As Hokage, Minato should be very clear about human nature..."

Minato remained silent.

Seeing this, Kushina could only look to Sasuke.

"Then I'll share a few of my insights," Sasuke began. "The villagers are not ninjas. They have always been under the protection of ninjas. Through several Great Ninja Wars, Konoha was never destroyed. Living in a relatively peaceful environment, they have never truly experienced the horrors of war; they are ignorant and selfish."

"They believe that ninjas should protect them, and they certainly won't understand what a jinchuriki is. They will only remember the Nine-Tails that caused their families to be torn apart."

"Even if they knew Naruto's identity, they would only think that the Fourth Hokage sealed the Nine-Tails into Naruto so the child could gain the Nine-Tails' power, disregarding their safety."

"Ignorant people will not admit their mistakes; they will only find all sorts of excuses to prove they are right."

"War has nothing to do with them. All they care about is whether the Nine-Tails will go on a rampage again and whether their own lives will be threatened once more. That is human nature."

"The final result would not only potentially invite assassination attempts from the Fourth Hokage's enemies, but it would also damage the Fourth's prestige among the villagers, leading Konoha's ninjas to question the so-called Will of Fire."

"Don't understand?" Seeing that Kushina seemed puzzled, Sasuke smiled. "There are quite a few ninjas who know Naruto is a jinchuriki now. Basically, everyone who participated in dealing with the Nine-Tails that night knows, but very few know he is your descendant."

"Since everyone is in the dark, he's just a jinchuriki; if the villagers want to despise him, let them."

"But if it were made public and the situation didn't improve, then, given this precedent, do you think the ninjas of Konoha would feel disheartened?"

"Would they still be willing to protect Konoha with all their hearts?"

Kushina's pupils constricted.

Clearly, she hadn't considered all of this.

"Not only that," Sasuke continued. "The Nine-Tails is a collection of hatred. As a jinchuriki, Naruto's personal emotions are very important."

"If he truly thinks he is an orphan without parents, that's one thing. He's an orphan, so it's normal to be discriminated against."

"But if he knew he was the child of the Fourth Hokage and yet had to suffer such unfair treatment, do you think he could still suppress his emotions?"

"Do you think he would still accept being manipulated by Konoha's higher-ups?"

"Any one of these points is something Hiruzen Sarutobi cannot accept."

"Therefore, Naruto's identity is destined never to be made public."

"Besides... there are benefits to keeping it a secret."

"It hasn't been long since the Nine-Tails' attack, and the villagers need an outlet for their emotions..."

"As long as one seizes the opportunity and provides a little bit of insignificant care at the critical moment..."

Kushina's pupils constricted, and then fury surged within her: "Damn you, Hiruzen Sarutobi!!!"

Sasuke, however, looked toward Minato: "Lord Fourth Hokage, what do you think of my few humble opinions on human nature?"

"You truly do understand human nature..." This was not the first time Minato had thought so.

Back when they first met, Sasuke had deliberately left behind the footage of Kushina's confinement cell, creating a stark contrast between their two environments.

Later, he had taken it step by step, striking directly at their weak points until they were forced to hand over their power.

It was just that his methods were not exactly honorable...

"Then I shall take that as a compliment."

"..."

At this moment, in the footage, Hiruzen Sarutobi once again summoned the ninjas who had participated in the Nine-Tails incident to reiterate the gag order regarding the jinchuriki.

He even included the words "Demon Fox" as a taboo, strictly forbidding anyone from mentioning it, especially to Naruto.

Mitsui Naoto, who had ignored the gag order and even laid hands on the jinchuriki, naturally could not escape severe punishment.

This had nothing to do with Naruto.

In the nearly fifty years since Konoha's founding, a strict system of rewards and punishments had been in place to maintain order in the village.

Only by rewarding merit and punishing wrongdoing could the people be truly convinced.

Finally, because the villagers already knew of Naruto's identity as the Demon Fox, he was no longer suitable to be left in their care.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had no choice but to arrange for Anbu to look after him instead.

But having a group of Anbu who only knew how to kill take care of an infant...

"Damn it, do they even know how to take care of someone!"

"Abominable, can't you be a little more gentle!"

"He can't drink anymore, stop force-feeding him!"

"Can't you hear Naruto crying?!"

Kushina was roaring as usual!

In July, the first semester of the Ninja Academy came to an end.

Since it was the last day of the term, Mikoto brought Sasuke along to the Ninja Academy to pick up Itachi after school.

As for the academic results, Itachi was, unsurprisingly, first in every subject.

However, Uchiha Izumi...

"Izumi-chan, where is your report card? Don't hide it, let me see." Sasuke, who was nearly a year old, could already speak relatively fluently.

Izumi, who had hidden her report card behind her back, blushed and said with some embarrassment: "I can show you, but you can't laugh."

"I won't laugh," Sasuke promised.

"Here."

Overall grades: 10th in the class, top 30 in the grade...

"Pfft~" Sasuke laughed.

"Sasuke!" Izumi was furious, pinching Sasuke's cheeks with a fierce, babyish intensity: "You said you wouldn't laugh!"