Incitement

Konoha, outskirts of the residential district.

Two furtive figures appeared on the street where Naruto often bought rice balls.

They were the pair of brothers Yamanaka Fu had contacted earlier.

"Big brother, are we really doing this?" the younger brother asked, his voice trembling.

The older brother gritted his teeth.

"This is the last time. Once this is done, the debt will be wiped clean. We'll never get involved in this stuff again."

The two exchanged a look and entered an alley.

Seven or eight villagers had gathered in the alley, all familiar faces who hated Naruto to the bone.

After some people had been taken away by the Police Force for beating Naruto, these people had reined themselves in somewhat. But the fury in their hearts had not diminished in the slightest—it had merely shifted from the open into the shadows.

The older brother cleared his throat and lowered his voice.

"Everyone, that Demon Fox came out again today. I saw him buying things at one of the shops on the street. The shopkeeper was too scared to sell him anything, and he just lingered outside the door, frightening the shopkeeper so badly they didn't dare open up."

"What? That beast!"

"I said long ago that we shouldn't let him stay!"

Several people immediately grew agitated.

A middle-aged man in faded work clothes crossed his arms, his face dark.

"I don't care whether he spits or not. My son was only four during the Nine-Tails Attack. A collapsing beam broke his leg. Even now, he still limps when he walks."

He paused, his voice filled with hatred suppressed for years. "Who am I supposed to settle that debt with?"

A middle-aged woman beside him chimed in. "Exactly! My husband was a shinobi. He died in the Nine-Tails Attack. He couldn't even leave behind any final words."

"Have you any idea how hard it's been for me, a widow, raising a child all these years? Why should that Demon Fox still be alive and well?"

Seeing the mood build, the younger brother hurriedly fanned the flames.

"I heard from someone in the Police Force that the Demon Fox's seal has been unstable lately. What if he goes berserk one day? Everyone in this area will be finished!"

The crowd fell silent for a moment.

But they were not frightened. Rather, someone remembered what had happened before.

A skinny middle-aged man shrank back and said quietly, "But... weren't those people who beat the Demon Fox before crippled by the Police Force?"

"My neighbor's still locked up and hasn't been released yet. Those Uchiha from the Police Force are ruthless..."

At the mention of the Police Force, several people's expressions visibly changed.

Some instinctively took half a step back. Others rubbed their arms, as though afraid someone would twist them off the next second.

"Yeah, what if we make a move and the Police Force comes again?"

Another young man hesitated as well. "That Uchiha Zhengye... he's someone who dares to kill people in the street..."

The bald, muscular man stiffened too.

He feared neither heaven nor earth, but when he recalled Zhengye slitting someone's throat with a single stroke, his calves still cramped a little.

Seeing the villagers before him growing fearful, the older brother inwardly cursed.

He immediately picked up the conversation, deliberately lowering his voice with a mysterious tone.

"You don't know this, do you? My cousin works in the ANBU. He said the ANBU will be watching the Police Force today and won't let them come over!"

"Really?" someone asked skeptically.

The younger brother backed him up. "Absolutely true! Lord Hokage has long been fed up with the Police Force arresting people whenever they please."

"The ANBU are here to stop them today. We just need to act—the Police Force won't be able to come!"

"Besides," the older brother said, looking around as his voice rose slightly,

"we're seeking justice for our dead relatives. It's not like we're beating someone up for no reason. No matter how arrogant the Police Force is, can they really arrest all of us?"

Those words were like a calming pill, suppressing the lingering fear in everyone's hearts.

The bald, muscular man slapped his thigh. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

"Let's go!"

"Beat that Demon Fox to death!"

Among the crowd, a bald, muscular man rolled up his sleeves, his face flushed with excitement.

He actually had nothing to do with the Nine-Tails Attack. He had been elsewhere that year and only came to Konoha afterward.

But he had always loved bullying people, especially those weaker than himself.

Naruto would not fight back, and no one cared if he was beaten. He was the man's favorite outlet.

Another woman with curly hair cursed under her breath. She did not actually bear Naruto any deep hatred. During the Nine-Tails Attack, her whole family had been evacuated by the Police Force.

It was just that all the neighbors cursed the Demon Fox. If she did not join in, she would seem out of place.

Over the past two years, she had grown used to it. If she did not curse Naruto a few times every day, she always felt like something was missing.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," she jeered along with the others. "A monster like that deserves to be beaten to death!"

At least half the people in the crowd had no deep grudge against Naruto to begin with. They had merely been swept along to join the commotion.

But they all shared one clear belief: humiliating and beating Naruto was right. It was what should be done.

Seeing that the time was ripe, the older brother raised an arm and shouted, "Let's go! We'll find that Demon Fox and seek justice for our dead relatives!"

"Justice!"

"Beat him to death!"

A dozen or so people grabbed wooden sticks and stones, pouring out of the alley and surging toward the place Naruto often went.

Yet among the crowd, one person watched the two brothers with icy eyes.

No evidence or clues can be left behind. It's about time to send you on your way.

He moved like flowing water and swiftly came up beside the brothers.

With a slight movement of his hand, he slipped two Explosive Tags into the brothers' clothes.

Then he quietly darted aside, standing in the shadows by the street and forming the opening hand sign for Mind Body Switch.

At that moment, Naruto was squatting by the roadside, feeling the three thousand ryo the Third Hokage had given him in his pocket.

He was debating whether to eat at Ichiraku Ramen, buy a boxed meal, or get some rice balls.

Though it was quite a bit of money, he did not know when the Third Hokage would give him money again.

After thinking for a long time, Naruto made up his mind.

I haven't had ramen in ages. I'll go see Uncle Teuchi!

"There he is!"

A furious shout rang out, making Naruto's entire body jolt!

He instinctively covered his head and crouched down. A stone whistled through the air and smashed into his back.

"Ah!" A piercing pain shot through him, and Naruto cried out as he fell to the ground.

When he turned around, he saw a large group charging toward him. At the front was that bald, muscular man, raising a wooden stick with a vicious grin plastered across his face.

"Demon Fox! Die!"

"Give me back my son's life!"

Naruto instinctively hugged his head and curled into a ball.

But this time, he did not silently endure it as he had before.

He remembered what that person had said.

"Whenever you're bullied from now on, shout for help as loudly as you can. We'll come save you."

Bang!

The stick struck Naruto's back. He held back his cry of pain, instead taking a deep breath and shouting with all his strength.

"Help! Police Force! Help!"

His voice echoed through the street.

"You still dare call for help!" As the bald, muscular man kicked and beat him, he inwardly rejoiced.

Those brothers were right. The Police Force really didn't come.

At that moment, a Police Force patrol happened to pass by not far away.

Leading them was Uchiha Soji from yesterday. Hearing the cry, his expression changed. "It's Naruto! Hurry!"

The three-man squad had only charged a few steps when more than a dozen black figures descended from above and blocked their path.

They were the ANBU assigned to watch Naruto.

The team, which had grown to twelve members yesterday, surrounded the three Police Force officers.

The ANBU captain, Mikawa Ze, wore a fox mask, his voice cold.

"Police Force, stop. The ANBU is taking over this matter."

As he spoke, his hand settled on the hilt of his sword, his bearing imposing.

Soji frowned deeply. "Didn't you hear Naruto calling for help? Move aside!"

"By Lord Hokage's orders, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki's safety is entirely the ANBU's responsibility. You have no authority to interfere!"

Mikawa Ze refused to yield an inch.

Behind Soji, Akimichi Mountain Range said indignantly, "But Naruto is being beaten! Why are you stopping us instead of saving him?"

Mikawa Ze did not answer. He merely kept his hand on the hilt of his sword.

Soji clenched his fists. Although Zhengye had instructed them yesterday that they could arrest people directly,

the other side was ANBU, directly under the Hokage. They were completely different from ordinary villagers.

Without orders, he could not directly attack the ANBU.

And there were too many of them. The three of them could not get past.

He gave Yamanaka Saki beside him a look. She gave a slight nod, already forming hand seals.

She sent word of what was happening here.

At that moment, Zhengye was patrolling another street, holding a bag of dorayaki in his hand.

Suddenly, a voice rang out in his mind.

Naruto is in trouble, and the Police Force squad has been stopped by the ANBU.

Zhengye's expression turned cold. So this was the move you had prepared, Third Hokage?

He tucked the dorayaki into his clothes, and his figure vanished from the spot in an instant.