Laying into Naruto

The brawl in the ruins raged on.

The entire clearing in the disaster zone seethed with voices and earthshaking curses. Countless civilians and low-ranking ninja banded together to condemn the Konoha High Command, demanding compensation and accountability for their negligence. Resentment hung over the devastated village like a suffocating cloud.

The farce finally ended only after the heads of the major ninja clans promised that everyone would receive compensation.

Seeing that things had more or less run their course, Miki Yūya couldn't be bothered to get further involved. While the crowd descended into an all-out fight, he slipped away unnoticed and headed down a quiet path toward his residential neighborhood.

No one noticed that, in the shadows at the very edge of the crowd, the small, skinny Konohamaru had kept his bloodshot eyes fixed on Yūya's back the entire time.

Konohamaru's eyes were bloodshot, his frail body trembling uncontrollably. Hurt, resentment, and bone-deep hatred filled his heart.

The rumors slandering his grandfather throughout the village, the accusations that twisted right and wrong-this man had started all of it.

He had spread the lie that his grandfather killed himself out of guilt. He had incited everyone to trample the reputation his grandfather had spent a lifetime building.

Grandpa was a hero who died fighting to seal a rogue ninja and protect Konoha!

Yet this man insisted on slandering him, on making the whole village misunderstand!

Konohamaru didn't dare hate or confront anyone else. Miki Yūya alone was the person he hated most at that moment.

The evening breeze carried the chill of dust from the disaster through the streets, while the sunset stretched everyone's shadows.

The shouting and curses from the ruins fell far behind him. The country path was silent, save for the soft rustle of the evening breeze through the grass.

Miki Yūya walked at an easy pace with his hands in his pockets, feeling thoroughly pleased.

He had viciously bullied everyone today, torn away the Konoha High Command's hypocritical mask, and reaped a hefty haul. It had been downright satisfying.

Just then, the grass beside the path shook violently!

A short figure suddenly burst out of the shadows and planted himself directly in the way, refusing to budge!

Konohamaru clenched his fists until his knuckles creaked. His small face flushed scarlet, and hot tears welled in his eyes, but he stubbornly held them back.

He tilted his head up and glared at Miki Yūya, his hoarse voice carrying a child's most obstinate defiance.

"Stop right there!!"

"My grandpa didn't kill himself out of guilt!!"

"The Third Hokage was a hero who died fighting for Konoha! He sacrificed himself to protect everyone!"

"I won't let you slander him! I won't let you say another bad word about my grandpa!!"

Konohamaru screamed with every ounce of strength he had. Even knowing how weak he was, he would give everything to protect his grandfather's last shred of dignity.

Miki Yūya didn't stop walking. He swept an indifferent glance over the boy, finding him laughably naive.

Everyone in the village had seen the truth, but this brat was still living in his own sentimental fantasy. So what if your grandpa was Hokage?

Faced with a child like this, Miki Yūya had no interest in even stopping. He couldn't be bothered to lift his eyelids as he casually delivered a cold, cutting remark.

"A criminal's grandson thinks he has the right to block my way? Get lost."

Those few words pierced Konohamaru's last line of defense like an icy dagger.

A criminal's grandson?

Grandpa had given everything to protect Konoha his whole life, and this man called him a criminal?

Overwhelming rage instantly swept away all of Konohamaru's reason. The hurt and anger in his chest exploded!

He could endure insults and bullying, but he would never let anyone tarnish his grandfather's name!

"I won't let you spout lies!!"

Konohamaru roared. Untrained chakra surged through his young body, and he recklessly clenched his little fist, throwing every ounce of his strength into a punch at Miki Yūya's stomach!

The child put everything into that strike, moving as fast as he possibly could.

But to Miki Yūya, he was pitifully slow.

The instant hostility had stirred in Konohamaru's heart and he had mobilized his chakra, Observation Haki had precisely detected every change and mapped out his entire attack in advance.

Know your limits.

Miki Yūya remained composed. Without breaking stride, he shifted slightly to one side.

Whoosh-!

Air rushed past his ear!

Konohamaru's powerful punch hit nothing!

Having put too much force into it, he lost his balance completely and fell hard into the muddy ground with a splat. Dust scattered everywhere, leaving him a miserable, pathetic sight.

Before he could brace his hands against the ground and struggle up, a cold shadow enveloped his entire body.

Konohamaru looked up in panic. His red eyes had only just met Miki Yūya's utterly cold gaze-

"Bam!!"

A dull impact abruptly rang out!

Without a trace of mercy, Miki Yūya planted a precise kick in Konohamaru's young face!

"Pfft-!"

Agony swept through Konohamaru's entire body. The corner of his mouth split, blood sprayed out, and his head snapped backward. The kick left him utterly stunned.

Miki Yūya immediately followed with a relentless barrage of kicks. Every blow landed solidly and savagely, without the slightest pity or restraint.

At the same time, his cold voice drifted down, every word cutting deep and crushing the conviction in the child's heart.

"Your grandpa was never some selfless hero!"

"He tolerated the rogue ninja Orochimaru for years, sowing the seeds of today's disaster!"

"After the Fourth Hokage died, he ruled Konoha for decades without ever considering choosing someone new to succeed him. If you ask me, he just couldn't let go of that position!"

"When he could no longer clean up the mess, he used a Forbidden Technique that cost him his life. That's the strongest proof that he killed himself out of guilt!"

"Like grandfather, like grandson! The old man failed in his duties and ruined the village, and the brat is ignorant and overbearing!"

"Ordinary villagers suffered in the chaos, losing their homes and families, yet even asking for justice counts as slander!"

"A criminal's grandson dares attack a civilian of this village? Who gave you the nerve!"

One kick, two, three... more than a dozen blows rained down in succession!

[Ding! Physically bullied Konohamaru. Armament Haki +15!]

[Ding! Armament Haki +12!]

[Ding! Verbally bullied Konohamaru. Conqueror's Haki +11!]

[Ding! Verbal bullying. Conqueror's Haki +13!]

System notifications flooded in!

Armament Haki continuously tempered his body, settling and condensing as his physical strength steadily rose!

His conqueror's aura expanded wildly, surging higher and growing increasingly formidable!

The Will of Fire? Sentimental attachment to Konoha?

Before these devastated ruins, all of it was nothing but empty, self-deluding talk.

These Konoha brats had been brainwashed too thoroughly, blindly worshipping their idols and defending their own with double standards. He would beat them until they faced reality!

For the final kick, Miki Yūya gathered his newly acquired Armament Haki and lashed out with all his strength!

"Boom-!!"

Terrifying force erupted!

Konohamaru's scrawny body flew several meters like a kite with its string cut, then slammed into the cold, muddy ground!

It felt as though every bone and tendon in his body had snapped. Agony swept through every limb, and mud mingled with blood all over him.

He struggled with everything he had, but couldn't even muster the strength to lift a hand and get up. He could only lie sprawled on the ground, his vision blurred by tears.

Even grievously injured, he kept his teeth clenched, the hurt and hatred in his heart undiminished. With his last shred of strength, he screamed his accusation!

"It was you... the rumors from you vicious villagers! You killed my grandpa!!"

Miki Yūya slowly approached and looked down at the wretched child, his eyes filled with cold mockery.

How laughable. How absurd.

The mistakes committed by ninja, the disasters sown by those in power, the slaughter brought by war-in the end, innocent civilians who couldn't even defend themselves were expected to take the blame.

These were the warped values Konoha instilled from childhood.

"We killed him?"

"Then tell me."

"Did we ordinary villagers betray the village?"

"Did we unleash Forbidden Techniques and slaughter our own people?"

"Did we launch a rebellion and destroy the village?"

"We did nothing!"

"We're just innocent victims caught in the fighting!"

"Your ninja leadership neglected its duties, the powerful ninja clans avoided the fighting to save themselves, and the Hokage tolerated a rogue ninja until disaster struck! That's all down to your ninja's incompetence."

"And in the end, we innocent villagers are supposed to shoulder all the blame? Why!"

His questions rang out forcefully, each one striking straight at the heart of the matter.

Konohamaru was left speechless. He could only lie on the ground and sob uncontrollably, hatred still burning in his eyes.

Just then, an enraged shout rapidly approached from the distance!

"Stop!!"

A golden blur came sprinting toward them at tremendous speed!

It was the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, feared throughout the village and called a monstrous fox demon-Naruto Uzumaki!

Naruto immediately spotted Konohamaru lying helpless in a pool of blood, miserable and unable to move. Then he saw Miki Yūya advancing step by step, his presence cold and overbearing. Naruto's eyes instantly went red, and overwhelming rage rushed to his head.

To him, the scene was unbearable.

Grandpa Third was the benefactor who protected Konoha. Konohamaru only wanted to defend his grandfather's reputation. He was innocent.

Yet this vicious villager did nothing but slander a hero with rumors and use his age to bully the weak!

Naruto immediately rushed forward and spread his arms, planting himself firmly in front of Konohamaru. Glaring at Miki Yūya, he launched into his specialty: talking people down.

"You've gone too far!!"

"It's the malice of villagers like you! Your vicious rumors!"

"Those invisible words, that prejudice and slander-they're the real weapons that killed Grandpa Third!"

"Grandpa Third was a great hero who protected Konoha! What gives you the right to slander him however you want!"

Listening to this sanctimonious speech and its blatant double standards, Miki Yūya felt nothing but utter scorn.

Just as expected of a fox demon utterly ruined by Konoha's propaganda. His values were twisted beyond belief.

The ninja who killed and brutalized people were innocent, while the civilians who complained and demanded their rights were guilty.

Today, he would personally shatter that ridiculous, twisted reasoning!

Before Naruto could spout any more nonsense, Miki Yūya flashed forward and closed the distance in an instant!

He moved too quickly for the naked eye to follow!

His heavy fist, infused with Armament Haki, slammed straight into Naruto's face without flourish or mercy!

"Bam!!"

Naruto went flying backward, rolled several times through the mud, and landed in a miserable heap, his head ringing.

Miki Yūya coldly watched the fox demon brace himself against the ground and struggle up. His voice was bone-chilling, every sentence crushing Naruto's worldview.

"You're right. Malice and rumors really can kill people. We killed the Third Hokage."

"Then let me ask you, fox brat."

"During this Konoha Crush, countless civilians were caught in ninjutsu attacks and lost their homes and families."

"Were those innocent people killed by the villagers' rumors? Were they killed and injured by the villagers' malice?"

"Or were they killed by ninja's kunai, ninjutsu, and warfare?"

Naruto's face flushed scarlet. Clutching his aching cheek, he gritted his teeth and screamed:

"That's completely different!"

"Different?"

Miki Yūya pressed forward step by step, sneering as he tore Naruto's double-standard logic to shreds!

"According to your reasoning-"

"Ninjutsu can't kill people, kunai can't kill people, and war can't kill people either!"

"Only the words from our villagers' mouths and the malice in our hearts count as murder weapons!"

"So does that mean-"

"Every ninja who invaded and slaughtered people, every criminal who betrayed the village and committed atrocities, is innocent!"

"While innocent villagers like us, too weak to defend ourselves and dragged into all this, deserve to die a thousand deaths?!"

Those words exposed every flaw with pinpoint precision!

Naruto's mind went blank. He completely lost his temper, his chest heaving and his eyes red with rage!

"Shut up!!"

Watching him lose his composure and dodge the issue, Miki Yūya sneered inwardly.

"Getting upset? A moment ago, you were full of lofty principles and righteous conviction. Why have you suddenly stopped making your case?"

Miki Yūya's tone grew colder as he continued his relentless, cutting questions!

"Since you believe that twisted logic, let me ask you something else."

"The man who slaughtered the entire Uchiha Clan back then acted in silence the whole time. He showed no malice toward the Uchiha Clan, and no one ever heard him insult them."

"By your logic..."

"What right does that surviving Uchiha brat have to seek revenge?"

"The person who actually kills is innocent, while the person who curses afterward is guilty. Is that how it works?"

"Would you dare say what you just said to his face?"

"Or do you think that, now he's an orphan too, he's finally just like you? Are you happy he became an orphan?"

Naruto froze completely, his body rigid and his lips trembling. He couldn't answer a single word!

The values he had held unwaveringly since childhood, the reasoning he had taken pride in, were being crushed piece by piece!

He could talk circles around people and fill his mouth with righteousness, but the moment it touched the interests of those closest to him, his true colors showed. A textbook sanctimonious hypocrite.

Finally, Miki Yūya bent down and stared hard into Naruto's eyes, every word a blade driving deep into his soul!

"Fox demon brat, your parents were the truly pitiful ones."

"Perhaps back then, your parents were protecting you while you were still in swaddling clothes."

"In their final moments, they gripped their kunai tightly and exhausted every last bit of chakra to shield you from every lethal blow. Only because they protected you did you survive."

"The child they staked their lives on, sacrificed everything for, and fought to the death to protect..."

"Grew up to say something like this."

"The ninja who wielded the blade and killed people did nothing wrong. We're the villagers who are at fault. Hahaha!!"

"How can you face your parents?!"

"No, you can face them, because you think your parents deserved to die too, don't you? Because you think the people who killed your parents did nothing wrong, don't you?"

[Ding! Verbally bullied Naruto. Conqueror's Haki +21!]

[Ding! Verbal bullying. Conqueror's Haki +23!]

Vast, searing power surged wildly through every limb and bone!

Miki Yūya's presence grew ever more powerful, his domineering aura raging unchecked until even the surrounding air seemed to stagnate under its pressure!

Across from him, Naruto stood frozen, his entire body trembling violently beyond his control, his eyes vacant and unfocused.

The Will of Fire, his worldview, his values, his principles-all deeply ingrained since childhood.

But was Miki Yūya the sort of person who knew when to quit while he was ahead? Not in the slightest.

"You really are a menace!"

"That Uchiha companion of yours probably doesn't know that a fox demon like you would be happy he became an orphan and lost his family, does he? Taking comfort in someone else's misfortune.

Someone like you is the real sinner!"