The Bonds of the New Generation

Naruto stared at Ino but did not speak for a long time.

Although Ino's remark about "rogue ninja" had been unintentional, it revealed the unease most of Konoha felt over the Third Hokage allowing Naruto to become a ninja.

After all, Ino had clashed with him before, so compared to the other seven of their generation, she was somewhat more distant from Naruto.

Even though her father, Inoichi Yamanaka, knew Naruto's true identity, the Third Hokage's ban on discussing Naruto's background meant that Ino had formed most of her impression of Naruto through rumors.

And those who felt distant from Naruto...

Those who had formed their image of Naruto through rumors...

Included countless ninjas and villagers throughout Konoha...

Logically speaking, such unease over Naruto's very existence should have gradually been stamped out by the Third Hokage over the past two years...

Could it be Danzo?

That was the only explanation Naruto could think of.

Although Danzo was being watched by the Third Hokage and could not openly do anything excessive to Naruto without Hiruzen Sarutobi's approval...

Naruto knew perfectly well that Danzo had employed no shortage of schemes in the shadows.

After the Scroll of Seals incident, the Third Hokage had stopped having ANBU or the Telescope Technique monitor Naruto.

However, Root, the organization controlled by Danzo, had still not completely ceased its surveillance of Naruto.

Being watched at all times by such a sinister viper was truly unbearable.

"Naruto!"

Naruto's thoughts drifted away, but Sakura's cry immediately brought him back to his senses.

Sakura forcibly pulled Naruto's hand away from Ino's face.

She glared at Naruto. "Ino doesn't like this!"

There was anger in Sakura's voice. This was the first time she had ever shown anger toward Naruto.

In the past, Sakura had also feared Naruto's former hostility, so she had always been cautious around him.

After becoming teammates in Team 7, Sakura was no longer as afraid of Naruto as before, but because she was weaker than both Naruto and Sasuke, she had still kept a lower profile around them.

This time, however, she glared angrily at Naruto for Ino's sake.

"And do you think I like being slandered by her?"

Naruto did not avoid Sakura's gaze.

When their eyes met, a trace of fear still surfaced in Sakura's eyes, but she quickly steadied herself.

Sakura held Ino in her arms. Ino was still trembling all over, clearly having been badly frightened by Naruto earlier.

"Ino... she's just like I used to be. Because she doesn't understand you, Naruto, she was misled by everyone else's rumors... I'll make Ino understand that you aren't like what everyone says... And I'm not trying to cover for Ino. I just... I just hope you can forgive her this once. I know Ino well... Ino is actually a very, very good girl—a girl who knows how to correct her mistakes—Ino!"

Sakura gently shook Ino by the shoulders.

After regaining herself a little, Ino looked at Sakura, who was defending her, for quite some time before finally turning her gaze to Naruto.

"...I'm sorry, Naruto. I apologize for the nonsense I said just now."

Her attitude was very sincere.

"So, Naruto—I apologize to you too. You were protecting yourself just now, and protecting me as well... but I still took Ino's side. Can you forgive Ino for misspeaking this time?"

After Ino admitted her mistake, Sakura also expressed her apology to Naruto.

"..."

"...Fine."

If Ino had not suddenly linked him to rogue ninjas, Naruto would not have cared what she said at all.

"Then, Naruto!"

Just when he thought the matter should have ended there, Sakura hesitated for a moment before calling out to Naruto again. "You need to apologize to Ino too!"

This time, Naruto truly could not understand. But rather than anger, he felt more curious about Sakura's reason for doing this.

"Why should I apologize?"

Naruto made no attempt to hide his curiosity.

"Because we are companions from the same village in the end. If we're going to let bygones be bygones, we should do it properly! We shouldn't leave any grudges in our hearts!"

There was naturally nothing wrong with that reasoning, but Sakura seemed to have overlooked the feelings of the people involved.

Naruto said nothing. He simply stared at Sakura.

Sakura was still immature and did not think things through thoroughly enough, but she was growing much faster than she had in the original story.

Naruto found it rather interesting.

Under Naruto's scrutinizing gaze, Sakura's earlier anger was almost entirely spent.

As the saying went, the first burst of energy was strong, the second weakened, and the third exhausted.

Once she calmed down again, Naruto's continued silence caused the fear of him that she had accumulated over a long time to surge back all at once.

She was finally able to think clearly about how she had blindly taken Ino's side despite Ino being the one at fault. No matter how nicely she had phrased it, it was true that she had not considered Naruto's feelings.

Just as Sakura was growing increasingly uneasy...

Naruto finally spoke. "I understand. I went a little too far just now as well. Forgive me, Ino."

If Ino had not carelessly called him a "rogue ninja," he would not have bothered wasting time on her.

Naruto's choices for the future meant that he and Konoha's new generation were destined to walk different paths.

Rather than waste time getting angry at Ino, he might as well think about how to maximize his own gains before defecting.

For example, whether he should kill Yakushi Kabuto during the upcoming Chunin Ninja Exams...

In the original story, during the Fourth Shinobi World War, aside from Black Zetsu, Madara Uchiha, and Obito Uchiha—

—Yakushi Kabuto was the war criminal burdened with the deepest sins.

Of course, Naruto was not considering whether to kill Yakushi Kabuto because his sense of justice had been stirred.

It was simply because Naruto felt that he and Yakushi Kabuto were not the same kind of people.

In the future, the two of them would surely become enemies who could never understand one another.

Naruto did not want to become a "Jinchūriki weapon" whose self-will had been erased by Danzo using the Sharingan.

But Yakushi Kabuto was someone who would willingly cast aside his own self-will.

After Orochimaru died, the first thing Yakushi Kabuto thought of was actually to deny the will of "Yakushi Kabuto" and become a brand-new Orochimaru!

Furthermore, after Orochimaru was "killed" by Sasuke in the original story, Yakushi Kabuto gained mastery over Orochimaru's various forbidden techniques and even learned Ryūchi Cave's Sage Mode.

Dealing with Yakushi Kabuto then would become considerably troublesome.

As for Yakushi Kabuto now, aside from his troublesome medical techniques and intelligence-gathering abilities...

Judging solely by combat strength, he was probably around the level of Kakashi in his normal state.

That was not meant to belittle Yakushi Kabuto.

During the Chunin Ninja Exams, Yakushi Kabuto was only nineteen or twenty years old, yet he was being measured against Kakashi, who had long been famous and possessed impressive skill in using the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

There were not many ninjas in the shinobi world with achievements comparable to Hatake Kakashi's.

Thinking it over carefully, dealing with Yakushi Kabuto during the Chunin Ninja Exams would indeed introduce all sorts of uncontrollable complications into Naruto's defection plan.

But from a long-term perspective, if Naruto could withstand the unpredictable consequences that might arise after eliminating Yakushi Kabuto...

The benefits he would gain in the future would be enormous.

Hmm... whether to deal with Yakushi Kabuto during the Chunin Ninja Exams really was a choice worth taking time to weigh.

As for "forgiving" Ino...

Naruto was simply going along with the situation. Insisting on not forgiving Ino would be nothing but a waste of time.

Since Sakura had unexpectedly handed Naruto a way to turn a major matter into a minor one, why not make use of it?

Compared to meaningless arguing...

The urgent matter was to make Ino shut up properly and ensure that she would not go around telling everyone, "Naruto is a rogue ninja," something that was practically Naruto's reverse scale!

Naturally, Sakura and Ino had no way of knowing what Naruto was thinking.

They had not expected Naruto to become so easy to talk to again.

Both Sakura and Ino wore lost expressions.

"Girls really are troublesome."

Seeing their expressions, Shikamaru Nara joined the conversation.

He was very good at judging when to speak during a conversation. The fact that he could interject meant the conflict between Naruto and Ino had ended.

Shikamaru's words finally allowed Sakura and Ino to breathe a sigh of relief.

"How much longer are we staying here? I'm already hungry."

As Choji Akimichi spoke, he opened another bag of chips.

"You really are..."

Shikamaru looked at Choji helplessly, stopping himself halfway through what he wanted to say.

Naruto silently watched everyone before him.

In his later years, the indecisive Third Hokage's only policy carried out with firmness and resolve was probably keeping the new generation of ninjas away from ninja wars, allowing them to enjoy true peace—even if that peace was still part of the shinobi world's cycle of war.

But looking across the entire shinobi world, it was precisely because Konoha's new generation had truly known peace that, after the war, they chose to let go of the hatred that had never ceased since the Warring States Period.

If he could, Naruto would also have been willing to enjoy the bonds shared among Konoha's new generation.

Konoha's current foolish higher-ups were ultimately old relics with one foot in the grave. The future had nothing to do with them.

But—Konoha was still controlled by those old fossils trapped in the curse of conflict.

Naruto's circumstances were also different from how the original story had unfolded.

Though those differences were subtle, they made an enormous difference to Naruto.

Since Danzo had already used Kotoamatsukami on Naruto before, he would never let Naruto go.

Danzo's current inaction toward Naruto was merely because the Third Hokage was forcibly restraining him.

Once the Third Hokage died, would Danzo still endure as he had in the original story until Tsunade took office? Would Naruto still have enough time to grow?

Naruto would never place his fate in an uncertain future like that.

If the future were truly fixed, Umino Iruka would not have died in this world twelve years ago.

The current Naruto had no way to contend with Danzo, who possessed Kotoamatsukami. Before his strength had fully matured—

—only by defecting from Konoha could Naruto find a sliver of hope for survival.