"No wonder! It was all the Third's fault!"
"We ordinary people knew nothing! The higher-ups suppressed the news and deliberately misled everyone!"
"If we'd known Naruto was Lord Fourth Hokage's son, how could we possibly have bullied him!"
"In the end, the Third hid the truth and controlled public opinion from start to finish. It had nothing to do with us ordinary people!"
Everyone desperately tried to absolve themselves, dumping every last bit of blame elsewhere, as though they had never been the ones who watched coldly and kicked him when he was down.
On the Ninja Academy's playground, the noisy barrage of questions had long since died away.
All the children stood quietly in place. No one teased Naruto anymore, and no one questioned his future self.
Looking at Naruto beside them, his eyes red, his face full of hurt, and utterly at a loss, they lost all desire to enjoy the spectacle.
Naruto himself stared blankly at the Sky Screen, watching his future self pour out every grievance. His nose stung, his eyes reddened, and the hurt inside him grew unbearable.
He questioned himself over and over.
He was the son of heroes who had protected the village. His parents had given their lives for Konoha. He should have been cherished by the entire village and treated kindly by everyone.
Yet his childhood had held nothing but hunger, indifference, rejection, and loneliness.
Why?
Tsunade and Jiraiya exchanged a glance, instantly understanding the upheaval of the Fourth Shinobi World War.
"What kind of shinobi war was it? Even the Kage of past generations were brought back through Impure World Reincarnation."
But Jiraiya was still full of questions. His brow furrowed deeply as he pondered aloud.
"That doesn't add up... judging by what Naruto just said, he already knew about