The people in the hospital room remained helpless, while Naruto's Spirit World was a quiet expanse of hazy, gray-white mist.
His surroundings were empty and silent. There were no explosions, no arguments, and not a soul in sight.
Only Naruto stood there, staring blankly.
He did not want to wake up.
Miki Yūya's words exposing his selfishness and double standards kept circling through his mind, leaving him painfully ashamed and miserable.
Kushina's soft voice echoed gently through that space, full of tenderness.
"Our baby will be born soon."
Minato's voice was gentle and doting as he softly agreed.
"Yeah. I wonder what kind of person he'll grow up to be!"
Kushina chuckled softly, her tone filled with a mother's simplest hopes.
"As long as he's kind, pure-hearted, and happy all his life, that's enough."
Two faint figures leaned against each other, their tender words echoing softly through Naruto's Spirit World, over and over.
Naruto could hear Kushina and Minato, but he could not make out his parents' faces. All this time, their voices had kept echoing through his Spirit World.
Simple and unclouded.
There was only his parents' purest, most ordinary wish-
They only wanted Naruto to live a happy, kind, carefree life.
Standing in the mist, Naruto broke down in tears. They spilled from his eyes, and in the next instant, he opened them.
Everything before him was pitch-black. The sound of water echoed through the darkness, and enormous bars confined the Nine-Tails within. Naruto lay outside the cage. Though he had opened his eyes, he did not spare the Nine-Tails a glance.
Overwhelming hurt and guilt crushed his spirit completely.
He crouched there, clutching his knees tightly and sobbing without a sound.
He did not want to leave.
He did not dare.
His parents' hopes for him had been so simple, yet he had become such a selfish person. Perhaps all of this was what he deserved.
Miki Yūya strolled leisurely out of the medical building. Just as he rounded a corner of the corridor, someone hurried after him.
It was Sakura Haruno.
Her face was angry, her brows tightly knitted. Holding in her fury the whole way, she caught up to Miki Yūya outside and stepped directly into his path.
Everyone in the hospital room had been left speechless by his retorts, swallowing their frustration. Sakura alone could not contain her anger.
In her eyes, Naruto had already suffered enough.
After the mission in the Land of Waves, Sakura no longer disliked Naruto so much.
Naruto had no parents and no one to rely on. The entire village shunned him, and now he had been unconscious for three days-all because of the man before her.
Yet this vicious villager refused to apologize at all.
Sakura Haruno's eyes reddened. Her voice brimmed with accusation and resentment as she fixed Miki Yūya with a glare and demanded:
"Naruto doesn't have parents anymore! He's already miserable enough!"
"You're all alone too, with nobody to rely on! Why do you have to target him like this?! Can't you show him even a little sympathy?!"
Her words hung in the air.
Miki Yūya stopped and slowly turned his head. With a cold, disdainful glance at the indignant Sakura before him, he opened his mouth and unleashed a merciless verbal attack.
"Where did this stupid pig come from, barking its head off?"
[Ding! Conqueror's Haki +2!]
The system notification rang out crisply, and wisps of an overbearing aura settled into his body.
Sakura froze. Her cheeks instantly flushed crimson with shame and anger, and the fury in her chest exploded!
In all her life, nobody had ever dared insult her so bluntly, so viciously!
And she had clearly done nothing just now, yet he treated her like this!
"Who are you calling a stupid pig?!"
"You're an orphan too! You don't have a family either!"
"You're in the same boat! Why are you targeting Naruto?! Doesn't your conscience bother you?!"
Sakura gritted her teeth, her voice trembling with anger as she stood there looking righteous, defending Naruto against injustice.
Miki Yūya found her sanctimonious, two-faced hypocrisy utterly laughable and immediately sneered. In the same boat, my ass. There's nothing wrong with me. And do I even have a fucking conscience?
"Don't give me more credit than I deserve."
"Sure, I'm an orphan. But I've never used my background to win sympathy, and I've never singled Naruto out or used his background against him just because he's an orphan."
"You, on the other hand-I remember you're that Fox Demon's teammate."
Miki Yūya's gaze abruptly turned cold, every word striking where it hurt.
"I remember you. Who was it on your team who kept calling him a monster and a Fox Demon, sneering at him behind his back, isolating him, and mocking him for being an orphan?"
"It was you, from start to finish. Everything you just described was something you've done."
"Women like you look down on Naruto for being alone just because you've got both parents and a stable home. You trample on his pride every day by bringing up his background!"
"When you bullied Naruto and sneered at him, why didn't you think about showing him sympathy?
Why didn't you think about how pitiful he was without a mother or father?"
"Now that an outsider like me has spoken a few truths, you jump out to play the good person, the saint?"
"You bully your teammate every day, watch coldly, and kick him when he's down. What have I even done? Yet here you are, barking and sticking your nose where it doesn't belong?"
"Even the Inuzuka Clan's ninja dogs know better than you. At least they aren't as confused about whose side they're on, or as disgustingly two-faced!"
His words hammered down, every accusation true, tearing Sakura's mask of virtue clean off on the spot!
Miki Yūya was one of Konoha's troublemakers. He was not about to go easy on Sakura just because she was a girl. Strength, gender, family background-none of that mattered to him.
[Ding! Conqueror's Haki +5!] [Ding! Conqueror's Haki +8!]
The passing civilians and idle teenagers all stopped. Having heard every word clearly, they burst into laughter!
"Hahaha! I remember her! That big-forehead girl made fun of the Fox Demon too, and now she won't let anyone else tell the truth?"
"Exactly! She mocked him before they were teammates, but now that she's on the Fox Demon's team, she's suddenly all righteous?"
One mischievous teenage villager went even further. He bent down, picked up a hard, dry bone from the ground, and tossed it at Sakura's feet with a clack.
"So Konoha doesn't just have Naruto the Fox Demon-it has Sakura the Dog Demon too! Here's a bone for you!"
Boom!
The surrounding laughter instantly grew louder. People pointed and jeered, showering Sakura with mockery!
Even Miki Yūya froze when he saw the bone. Holy shit. That's Konoha for you. These troublemakers are ruthless-they actually threw her a bone.
Those mocking faces and harsh peals of laughter made Sakura's face burn. She had never been so humiliated!
The pride she had carried as a top student since childhood was crushed to pieces!
Overwhelming shame and fury swept away her reason!
"You... you deserve to die!!"
Sakura's eyes turned bloodshot. Completely crazed with anger, she instantly gathered chakra into her fist. Her arm tensed, and with a furious roar, she punched straight at Miki Yūya's face!
She was incredibly fast, the rush of air whipping toward his face!
But just as her fist came within an inch of Miki Yūya's nose-
Miki Yūya did not even blink. Neither dodging nor retreating, he calmly met the furious Sakura's eyes, his voice icy and each word bearing down on her:
"You dare hit me?"
"A registered Konoha ninja, openly attacking an innocent villager."
Those two simple sentences instantly shattered all of Sakura's courage!
That was right!
She was a ninja!
Miki Yūya was an ordinary villager!
A ninja attacking a civilian without cause was a serious crime in Konoha!
Her burning fury was instantly doused as though by a bucket of cold water. Every impulse froze!
Sakura went rigid. Her clenched fist hung motionless in midair, so close to him, yet she did not dare move it even a fraction farther!
Trapped between two impossible choices, her eyes reddened with frustration, and her whole body shook with anger!
Seeing her caught between advancing and retreating, fierce on the outside but utterly spineless underneath, Miki Yūya spoke again, his mockery relentless!
"Why aren't you hitting me?"
"Weren't you acting pretty tough just now?"
"Just what I'd expect from a pampered civilian princess. You shout loud enough to shake the sky, but when it's time to act, you haven't got an ounce of courage."
"Go home and have Mommy and Daddy comfort you when you're upset. Why come out here pretending to stand for justice?"
He deliberately drew out his words, taunting her in front of everyone:
"Oh, right. When Konoha was in chaos, you must have been fighting hard too, Lady Sakura?"
"After fighting for so long, did your little hands hurt?"
The teenage villagers passing by instantly chimed in, heckling and laughing!
"Hahaha! Hey, big forehead, do your hands hurt?"
"You're useless against ninjas, but you've still got the nerve to come out here and meddle!"
"A ninja with parents, and still this badly raised! How dare she pretend to be a good person!"
The waves of mocking laughter pierced Sakura's heart like countless needles.
She could no longer bear the endless humiliation and ridicule. Having lost every shred of dignity, she felt tears welling in her eyes, but did not dare cry in front of everyone.
At last, Sakura bit her lip hard, covered her face, and fled, stumbling away in utter disgrace!
All that remained along the street was gleeful laughter and the lively chatter of villagers enjoying the spectacle.
Miki Yūya watched her fleeing back with his hands in his pockets. Two-faced bitch. You deserved that public humiliation.
She'd been so enthusiastic about insulting Naruto herself. All I did was hit him a few times and insult him a little, and someone like her came running out to bark.
She had the nerve to criticize a troublemaker like me. Why didn't she take a little time to look in the mirror and see what kind of person she was?
[Ding! Conqueror's Haki +6!] [Ding! Conqueror's Haki +5]
Another easy haul of power.
Here in Konoha, he would crush anyone who got on his nerves.
Seeing the villagers around him still laughing, Miki Yūya's expression turned cold.
"What are you laughing at? A bunch of ill-mannered troublemakers, throwing trash around. Ptooey. No upbringing at all."
[Ding! Conqueror's Haki +1]
"Fuck you, you worthless orphan! Who are you talking about?!"
"Yeah! Miki Yūya, you're just an orphan! Who are you to criticize us?"
[Ding! Observation Haki +1]
Those were Konoha's troublemakers for you. No matter who you were, they would bully you all the same.
Watching the system's numerical notifications, Miki Yūya secretly reveled in delight. So pure. That's Konoha for you.
Before you continue