On the streets of Konoha.
Naruto pressed himself against the wall and shuffled forward step by step.
He pulled down the goggles on his forehead, hiding half his face.
Whenever he went out in the past,
he would inevitably be greeted by rotten vegetable leaves, stones, and vicious curses.
But today, there was an eerie silence in the air.
As he passed a dango shop on the corner,
the proprietress stood at the entrance, holding a box of freshly made Three-color Dango.
Naruto instinctively swallowed and shrank his neck, backing away.
He thought the woman was about to chase him off with a broom again.
"Naruto..."
The proprietress's voice trembled, her eyes red as a rabbit's.
She hurried down the steps and stuffed the box of dango directly into Naruto's arms.
"Auntie was blind before."
"Auntie was awful. Please don't blame me!"
After saying that,
the proprietress covered her face and ran back into the shop.
Naruto held the box of dango, frozen where he stood.
His head buzzed, and he could not process what was happening at all.
Then,
the vegetable seller beside him walked over as well.
The man vigorously wiped his hands on his greasy apron.
He picked out the two ripest tomatoes from his stall and held them out to Naruto.
"Kid, take them and eat."
"We common folk have always remembered the Fourth Hokage's kindness."
Tears glimmered at the corners of the man's eyes.
He even reached out and stroked Naruto's messy blond hair.
Naruto blankly stared at the tomatoes and dango in his hands.
He was completely dumbfounded.
The villagers who usually called him the "Demon Fox" were looking at him entirely differently today.
There was deep guilt in their eyes.
There was respect and gratitude.
Of course,
some people stood in the distance,