"Grandpa Third Hokage, is all of this true?"
Naruto's face fell, and his gaze toward the Third Hokage became impossibly conflicted.
Before meeting Shinichi, he had indeed lived that miserable life. Only on the days the Third Hokage came to visit had he felt a little warmth. Once, he had even believed the Third Hokage treated him better than anyone else in the village.
But after hearing what Shinichi had just said, he could not help questioning the Third Hokage's intentions.
"No, that's not how it was, Naruto!"
The Third Hokage instinctively tried to deny his sinister intentions, hurriedly saying, "I only wanted you to understand the true meaning of the will of fire, so you wouldn't resent the people of the village..."
"You old dog Sarutobi, where the fuck do you get the nerve to say that?"
Shinichi sneered. "Can you honestly say you didn't know Danzo deliberately sent people to spread rumors about Naruto throughout the village? As far as I'm concerned, Danzo is a despicable, shameless bastard, but at least he dares to own what he's done."
"And you? You're a fucking hypocrite who loves pinning the blame on everyone else! Without Danzo covering up your dirty deeds, do you really think your reign as Hokage would look so noble and glorious?"
"Shut your mouth!"
As though Shinichi had hit a sore spot, the Third Hokage began losing his composure and snapped in humiliation, "Everything I did was for Konoha! I only wanted the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki to become a stabilizing force that would protect the village. That was my duty as Hokage!"
"Well, that took some doing. You finally admitted it."
Shinichi applauded his shamelessness, then said flatly, "It sounds lovely coming out of your mouth, but was it really for Konoha? I think all you cared