The So-Called Populace

"Don't be like this… Naruto, they are your parents after all."

Looking at Naruto's distant demeanor, Jiraiya sighed, a hint of guilt flashing in his eyes.

"I wasn't in the Village these past few years, and you suffered, I know you feel bad inside, and it's all my fault. As Minato's sensei, I didn't fulfill my responsibility."

"But no matter what, now that I'm back, I will absolutely not let you suffer such grievances again! And look, the Village has already announced your identity, and everyone is starting to accept you. Everything is developing in a good direction, isn't it?"

Jiraiya said, an ingratiating smile unconsciously appearing on his face, his tone as if he were coaxing a child.

Naruto, upon hearing this, was shocked, as if he had seen some world-class imbecile.

"Heh, crap… So people really do laugh when they're extremely speechless."

After several seconds of silence, Naruto finally couldn't maintain the coldness on his face and burst out laughing.

"You said… accept me? Why would I need them to accept me? Do I look like some despicable guy? Or am I indebted to them?"

Jiraiya's smile instantly froze: "That's not what I meant, Naruto, listen to me…"

"No, you've said enough. Now it's your turn to listen to me."

Naruto rubbed his head, a little headache: "First of all, Jiraiya… you are a brainless piece of trash. If you weren't somewhat useful to me, I wouldn't even have the desire to speak to you."

"Tra… Trash?!"

Upon hearing this, Jiraiya's mouth fell open, his whole demeanor darkening a few shades.

"Yes, trash, calling you trash is even an overestimation…"

Naruto scoffed lightly, slowly pulling a piece of jerky from his pocket and dangling it from his mouth, hands in his pockets, looking at Jiraiya cockily.

"You don't even count as trash. What are you? Why do you come here to lecture me, to point fingers? Is it because of the big wart on your face?"

"Big wart…"

Jiraiya looked even gloomier. He had never heard such sharp insults.

Even though Naruto didn't feel he was insulting anyone, for Jiraiya, who was experiencing the impact of Chinese linguistic art for the first time, its power was no less than taking a close-range Remington shotgun blast.

"Secondly… as I just said, the Fourth Hokage has nothing to do with me. I don't acknowledge so-called parents, and naturally, I don't care how these people see me. So whether it's the Fourth Hokage's son or the demon fox, I don't care."

Naruto said, turning his head slightly to glance at the passersby secretly eavesdropping around him, a hint of mockery flashing in his eyes: "Misfortune? Grievance? What good does it do me to make you laugh? Jiraiya… do you care about the opinions of ants? In fact, it's quite the opposite. I like it when they can't stand me, but can't do anything about me."

"Naruto, you…"

Jiraiya hesitated, wanting to speak, but Naruto conjured a Rasengan. Seeing this, Jiraiya swallowed his words again.

"The target of hatred for so long suddenly becomes the Hokage's son. How many people do you think can adapt to this sense of disparity? Where should their hatred be directed?"

Naruto dispelled the Rasengan and shook his head slightly: "Few people in this world can reach the transcendent state of self-reflection. The vast majority of people live aimlessly, just surviving."

"And this vast majority is the so-called populace. They possess the human ability to think, but their so-called thoughts are tragically limited by their horizons, unable to find a direction forward, thus giving rise to a new term: confusion."

"Like startled rabbits, people instinctively avoid this unsettling uncertainty that leaves them at a loss, and when they can't escape it, they force themselves to ignore the source of their unease, pretending that nothing ever happened—just like this quiet street."

"Do you think announcing the Fourth Hokage's son's identity can change the current situation? It seems those high-ranking officials might have played politics for too long and lost touch with human nature. Unfortunately, Jiraiya… truth often runs contrary to ideals."

"Two extreme identities, two different emotions, after rubbing against each other, will gradually sharpen, ultimately evolving into a divisive outcome, just like Wind Nature Transformation…"

The street was dead silent. Some passersby who had been eavesdropping lowered their heads, their faces full of embarrassment at having their thoughts exposed.

Jiraiya's heart was also in turmoil. He had never considered the possibility Naruto spoke of.

However, the facts proved Naruto right. From the moment the two appeared on the street, the pervasive awkward atmosphere around them already explained everything.

He had thought time would dilute this awkwardness, but from the reactions of the people around, it was clear that this awkwardness would only, with the passage of time, eventually turn into another form of indifference and disregard.

"Why… say it out loud?"

Once spoken, it's hard to take back…

Gazing at the small face before him, identical to Minato's, Jiraiya's expression was complex: "The future can be changed, Naruto. What you're saying is just one possibility…"

"How Konoha's future changes has nothing to do with me, because my future is not here."

Naruto scoffed lightly: "The reason I said it out loud was simply out of curiosity, to see what choices people would make when their own ugliness is laid bare before them, yet unavoidable."

"Of course, in my opinion, the greatest possibility is that gratitude and conscience will be gradually eroded, and all of this will gradually be taken for granted, eventually rotting and decaying completely. After all, for Konoha… this isn't the first or second time, is it?"

Upon hearing this, Jiraiya stood rooted to the spot, lost in thought.

He suddenly realized Naruto was right.

The darkness of the Village had a long history, and people's hearts were slowly disintegrating; it wasn't something that could be explained by just this one incident with Naruto.

The reason he himself had drifted for so many years wasn't it, as Naruto said, because he chose to escape rather than face it?

It wasn't until Naruto's figure disappeared around the street corner that Jiraiya snapped out of his daze and quickly hurried after him.

Soon, Naruto arrived at a ninja tool shop and pushed the door open.

"Do you have Chakra paper?"

"Oh, yes, we do."

"How much?"

The shop owner quickly handed over a piece of Chakra paper, waving his hands repeatedly and smiling awkwardly: "Oh, how can I possibly charge—"

Before he could finish, Naruto slapped all the money from his pocket onto the table and then turned to leave.

He had never really needed money.

For the past two years, he had gotten his food by hunting, only occasionally asking Ino to help him buy some seasonings.

His clothes were also bought by Inoichi and his wife, though Ino always said it was because a clan brother bought the wrong size…

As Naruto left the ninja tool shop, the owner spat, muttering under his breath: "What's the big deal? A demon fox is a demon fox after all…"

Outside the shop, Jiraiya looked awkward. Both of them were strong, so the owner's voice naturally couldn't be hidden from them.

Naruto looked at Jiraiya with a half-smile, his eyes filled with undisguised mockery: "Did you hear that? You think they're being nice to me because they feel bad? No, they just want to make themselves feel better."

"People always like to blame their own mistakes on others, and when their mistakes are not forgiven, that bit of guilt will turn into hatred, and so-called gratitude naturally becomes insignificant."

"If we define it directly as human nature, it might be a bit one-sided, but if used to describe the populace, then it's not too far off."

"Jiraiya, I don't hate Konoha, because I don't care about the opinions of ants, but if anyone dares to stand in my way, that's another matter…"

"The Hokage can't, and neither can you."

First update today! It's a bit slow, mainly because the dialogue in this chapter was difficult to write, worried it would be too sharp, so I revised it for a long time.