Zeff's inner conflict

"Zeff's life really was a tragedy!"

Wolffy couldn't help sighing.

At that point, something suddenly occurred to Wolffy, and he asked Naruto, "Naruto, you recognized me right from the start, too. Does that mean you know my story? Then tell me, did I ever get to eat a sheep?"

Wolffy's question was cruel.

Not to Naruto, but to Wolffy himself.

"Ah..." Naruto sighed. "Wolffy, you never got to eat a sheep, not even by the time you died! It's cruel, but that's the truth!"

That really was the truth. The cartoon Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf was aimed at young children, so there was absolutely no way Wolffy would ever get to eat a sheep.

Hearing Naruto's words, Wolffy looked dejected, while the Nine-Tails burst out laughing.

"Hahaha... an entire lifetime without ever eating a sheep..."

"Before I met those freaks Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju, I ran free out in the world. I trampled so many sheep to death every day that I couldn't even count them."

At those words, Wolffy's dejected expression vanished. He glared furiously at Kurama, and soon, the wolf and the fox started arguing again.

With Naruto there, neither Wolffy nor Kurama would choose to come to blows.

League of Legends became the perfect arena for their life-or-death duels.

Another solo match began, once again pitting the fox against the werewolf. Naruto was getting tired of watching it.

While the two were having their solo match, Zeff walked over to Naruto, carrying a bottle of liquor.

"I heard everything you said just now."

"A tragedy, huh? I suppose my life really was pretty tragic."

With that, Zeff took a huge swig, then looked at Naruto and asked,

"Tell me, kid. What did you bring me here for?"

Naruto was taken aback.

What did I bring you here for? How would I know? I'm not the one who brought you here...

But seeing how dispirited Zeff looked, Naruto kept those thoughts to himself.

Instead, he bowed deeply to Zeff.

"Mr. Zeff, I hope you'll guide my training!"

Naruto's words caught Zeff off guard.

He had heard requests like that countless times at Marine Headquarters.

"Training, huh? Am I still qualified to be anyone's teacher?"

Zeff thought back over his life. From the moment he became the admiral who never killed, he had believed he would be a hero to everyone, and he had kept working toward that goal.

It was precisely that heroic conviction that had kept him from killing pirates.

He knew that under the rule of the already somewhat corrupt World Government, many people could no longer survive and had no choice but to set sail as pirates.

But... that dream of being a hero had shattered when his wife and child died before his eyes.

His heroic dream had shattered because... he had begun to want to kill pirates.

He could no longer live up to the title of the admiral who never killed.

But after his colleagues persuaded him, he decided to train more true Marine heroes.

Naturally... he would not force his own standards on those students, either. So... his students included Marines such as Akainu, who believed in absolute justice, Aokiji, who followed lazy justice, and Kizaru, whose unclear justice was impossible to pin down.

As a teacher, he had succeeded, but he had also failed, because he... had failed to protect his students, leaving an entire ship full of them to meet violent deaths.

In the end, he lost all faith in the World Government, and the last moral restraint in Zeff's heart, along with his tolerance for pirates, vanished completely.

Then he met Straw Hat Luffy. The Straw Hat showed him that there were good people among pirates-or perhaps... hope.

Those repeated changes, those repeated conflicts within him, had left this reborn Zeff doubting himself.

Was I really a good teacher?

Zeff looked at Naruto's earnest expression and waved him off. "You should find someone else!"

Seeing that Zeff had actually refused, Naruto understood... this Zeff, who had experienced death, was no longer the man he had once been.

"All right!" Naruto answered, a little disappointed. He picked up the projector and put on the complete Naruto series again.

"This contains information about the world we're in now, as well as its future. Please take a look!"

Zeff nodded at his words, then went back to drinking without saying anything more.

Just as Naruto was about to leave the Sealing Space, he suddenly seemed to remember something. With a casual wave of his hand, several Inhalers and a few bottles of medicine appeared in front of Zeff.

"Mr. Zeff, these are Inhalers to relieve asthma, along with medicine specifically for treating it!"

With that, Naruto vanished from the Sealing Space.

Zeff first glanced at the medicine in front of him, then stared intently at the spot where Naruto had disappeared... finally, he shook his head with a bitter smile and took another mouthful of strong liquor.

Only then did he turn his gaze to the screen in front of him, which was playing Naruto.

Meanwhile.

After returning to the real world, Naruto took the constantly vibrating device bearing Wolffy's face out of his pocket.

"That old man the Third is here again!"

Naruto muttered.

This vibrator was another of Wolffy's little inventions.

The vibrator was connected to the invisible cameras outside Naruto's house. Whenever a camera spotted the Third Hokage, or a stranger tried to enter Naruto's house, the vibrator in his pocket would alert him.

Shortly after Naruto switched off the Wolf-Head Vibrator, a knock sounded at the door.

Opening the door, Naruto saw the Third Hokage standing outside with a pipe in his mouth, looking much thinner than before.

"Hehehe... Naruto, Grandpa's come to see you!"

Looking at the Third's current condition, Naruto wondered whether he would even live long enough to see the Konoha Crush...

The village's higher-ups had also noticed that the Third Hokage had been growing increasingly thin lately.

They all believed it was because that rumored, unidentified Blood Release Ninja kept ambushing the Third Hokage.

But... probably only Naruto and Bluebird, who watched over him, knew what was really going on.

And... Bluebird had already bought the Third Hokage kidney tonics and blood-replenishing medicine several times.

"Grandpa Hokage, which game would you like my help with this time?"

Hearing Naruto's question, the Third felt rather embarrassed.

The Third Hokage really was hopelessly addicted to porn. By now, even his Crystal Ball had begun gathering dust.

On the rare occasions he used it, it was only to check what Naruto was doing. But... once he realized Naruto stayed home every day... he stopped watching Naruto altogether. He simply had Bluebird report to him each day during the shift change at mealtime!

Since he was always using the computer, the Third Hokage had also developed an interest in its games.

Then he began trying them out one by one.

Soon, besides his addiction to porn, the Third had become hooked on a game called Plants vs. Zombies...