“It’s been three years, already three years. I wonder how many people still remember the name of the Blue Flash.”
In Konoha, standing atop the tall walls, a solitary figure gazed wistfully at the bustling village below.
From this vantage point, the carved faces of the Hokage on the cliff behind the village were visible, with the youngest face being the most recent addition.
“My poor nephew, where could he be now?”
Swoosh!
Namikaze Mirai leaped off the high wall, his body tracing an arc in mid-air before landing in the village below. The sunlight cast on his sharp profile, highlighting his striking blonde hair.
“Who’s there!?”
The ninja guarding Konoha’s walls broke into a sweat, panicking as they pursued the figure that had leaped into the village.
This was Konoha, the foremost of the Five Great Shinobi Villages! How could someone so easily breach their defenses, treating their vigilance as if it were nothing?
If the Hokage found out, they would be in serious trouble!
“Wait! That person looks somewhat familiar?”
One of the guards, staring at the golden hair shimmering in the sunlight, looked shocked and confused.
In their brief hesitation, the figure had already vanished into the buildings of Konoha.
“We should notify the Hokage immediately. If it really is that person returning, the village could be in grave danger…”
Recalling the events of the past few years and the infamous reputation of that person, the two guards shivered involuntarily.
Something bad was definitely going to happen!
…
On the streets of Konoha, people bustled about, vendors shouted, and children clinging to their parents filled the air with lively noise.
Amidst this lively atmosphere, a lone figure walked in the corner of the street, solitary and lonely.
A thin orange jacket, washed multiple times, had turned yellow and wrinkled, and his gray-brown pants were covered in dirt and tears. His sallow cheeks and listless appearance completed the picture.
“Isn’t that the kid?”
“Stay away from him, don’t play with him!”
“Demon Fox!”
The curses and contempt were like needles piercing the heart of the three-year-old Naruto, causing the light in his bright blue eyes to dim like wet charcoal.
“So many people died in the village, including the Fourth Hokage and his wife, all because of him!”
“Why doesn’t this guy just die?”
The malice, like black tentacles, wrapped around Naruto, suffocating him, oppressing him, making it hard to breathe.
The three-year-old Naruto walked with his head down, not arguing, silently bearing the malice that even adults found hard to endure.
He didn’t understand why he had to suffer this, why he was cursed by these people as if he had been enduring it since birth.
He was already numb.
Naruto’s steps suddenly halted, his gaze falling on a mask hanging in the shop opposite. His dim eyes suddenly brightened slightly.
On the mask, simple red lines outlined a bright red fox face. Naruto suddenly felt a desire for this mask.
He wanted that mask.
His small hand fumbled in his pocket, finding only a few scattered coins.
“Uncle, can I buy that mask with this money…”
Three-year-old Naruto held out his hand as if offering his most precious treasure, presenting a few coins. His bright blue eyes, filled with longing and hope, looked at the middle-aged shopkeeper.
Plop!
The hard mask was viciously thrown at Naruto’s forehead by the shopkeeper, making a sound like a cracked egg.
“It hurts! It hurts, it hurts!!!”
Naruto fell back under the unexpected attack, landing heavily on the ground.
“Damn Demon Fox! Don’t come here and dirty my shop! If you want it, take it!”
The fox mask with red patterns bounced a few times on the ground, rolling to Naruto’s feet. His eyes filled with tears that didn’t fall, surrounded by malicious curses that drowned him like suffocation.
“That’s how you treat the Demon Fox! Who caused so many villagers to die!”
“A fox mask for a Demon Fox, how fitting!”
“Look, don’t ever play with this guy, he’s really creepy!”
…
The three-year-old Naruto couldn’t hold back anymore, big tears rolling down from his eyes.
“Why? Why do you treat me like this? What did I do wrong?”
He could only repeatedly ask like a mosquito buzzing.
Why did he have to suffer this injustice?
Why did these adults direct all their malice at a three-year-old?
What did he do wrong?
But his weak voice was instantly drowned out by the gloating contempt around him.
The villagers watching the spectacle swarmed like vultures, smelling the stench of a corpse, biting at Naruto’s flesh.
A large hand picked up the mask lying on the ground, gently brushing off the dust. Then, crouched down, the hand placed the mask in Naruto’s hands.
Naruto’s crying stopped. He looked up, dumbfounded at the gentle smiling face.
Somehow, though he had never seen the man before, Naruto felt a special sense of kinship.
It was a feeling he had never experienced before.
Mirai stood up, turning, his eyes now ice-cold.
“Apologize to him!”
“Apologize? Apologize to this disaster star? What a joke!”
The shopkeeper squinted, his gaze unfriendly as he sized up Mirai.
“Where did you come from? I haven’t seen you in the village before. Could you have some unspeakable connection with this Demon Fox?”
The surrounding villagers looked at Mirai with surprise, some even whispering, smiling coldly.
Mirai had been away from the village for too long, and many villagers had forgotten his existence.
Even if some villagers found him familiar, they couldn’t recall it immediately.
“I don’t like repeating myself.”
Mirai’s bright blue eyes flickered with a few arcs of lightning. The electromagnetic force moved slightly, compressing the surrounding air, a terrifying pressure instantly enveloping the street.
In the Third Shinobi War, the number of ninjas who died at his hands even surpassed the Yellow Flash!
“Please forgive me!!!”
The shopkeeper, who was tough-talking a second ago, immediately knelt, tears and snot flowing, kowtowing frantically.
A foul smell wafted from his crotch, soaking most of his pants.
Faced with this terrifying pressure, even seasoned Chunin found it hard to bear, let alone a mere shopkeeper who wasn’t even a ninja.
The villagers watching were full of fear. The terrifying pressure also spread to them; though not as intense as the shopkeeper’s, it was still unbearable for them.
Naruto, sitting on the ground, looked at the back of that figure with bright eyes, feeling that his position was the only haven in this terrifying pressure.
For the first time, someone stood in front of him, shielding him from the storm.
“Who… are you?”
With a tingling nose, Naruto asked hoarsely.
The tall figure crouched down, his bright blue eyes full of gentle smiles, gently stroking his hair, the golden strands shining brilliantly in the sunlight.
“I’m your father’s brother, you can call me…”
“Uncle.”
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