Konoha did not immediately settle down after Danzō's death.
On the contrary, it was as though the floor had been ripped out from beneath the entire village.
Root's evidence of wrongdoing was made public.
Clues about the true culprit behind the Nine-Tails Incident were exposed.
The truth of the Uchiha's long-term vilification was brought into the light.
Shimura Danzō was publicly executed.
Taken together, these events made everyone in Konoha realize one thing.
Many things the village had once taken for granted might have been wrong from the start.
Naruto especially.
That blond child the villagers had always hated, avoided, and pointed at.
After word spread that the Nine-Tails Incident was being reinvestigated, the way many people looked at Naruto began to change as well.
Before, they had only known that the Nine-Tails had killed the Fourth Hokage.
But now, everyone had heard.
There might have been a Masked Man behind the Nine-Tails Incident.
A man with space-time abilities, who was suspected of calling himself Uchiha Madara.
In other words, Naruto was not the source of the calamity.
He was a victim too.
On a street in Konoha.
Naruto sat alone on a swing, clutching a cup of instant ramen.
Normally, no one would go near him at this time.
Today was different.
When several villagers passed by, they instinctively paused.
Some wanted to say something, but had no idea how to begin.
In the end, one of them only managed to squeeze out:
"Naruto... try not to eat so much instant ramen from now on."
Naruto froze.
"Huh?"
The man awkwardly set down a bag of rice balls and turned to leave.
Naruto looked at the rice balls, then at the man's retreating back, his face full of confusion.
"What was that..."
"Why is everyone acting so weird today?"