"Don't be afraid, I'm just an old man passing by."
Is he a cat? He didn't make a sound.
Naruto, startled, lay on the ground, his big eyes fixed on the old man. He couldn't quite figure out where this person came from.
He didn't recognize the newcomer, who had silver hair and a face full of wrinkles, looking quite old. His figure was thin and gaunt, not appearing to possess any strength.
The stranger turned to look at the roasted fish, then.
Grumble~
His stomach rumbled quite spiritedly.
So he's just hungry, it's good that he's not here to cause trouble.
Naruto finally relaxed a little. He climbed up from the ground, picked up the roasted fish that had fallen, and handed him a new one.
"Grandpa, you can have this roasted fish," Naruto said with exceptional friendliness.
Regardless of whether he was an enemy or not, treating him with courtesy couldn't go wrong.
Moreover, he was inherently a kind person.
"It looks delicious, thank you."
The old man took a bite and praised, "This is truly delicious."
This compliment gave Naruto the strange illusion of the Brazilian president praising his national football team.
Didn't he know whether this roasted fish was delicious or not?
Looking at the white-haired old man again, Naruto felt a shared sense of pity.
This was probably a lonely elder, perhaps suffering from senile dementia, or even lost, otherwise he wouldn't be wandering in the forest so late at night, unable to find his way home, ending up hungry and encountering him.
Naruto initiated conversation, saying, "Grandpa, don't you think it would be great if the village had a community cafeteria where orphans like us and lonely elders could eat for free?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was eating the roasted fish, looked at Naruto with three parts surprise and seven parts confusion.
Me? A lonely elder?
"That way we could eat regularly, without constantly going hungry..." Naruto continued to elaborate.
Then, he changed the subject. "Grandpa, you're so old, you must have seen a lot. Do you know what a ninja is?"
"A ninja, huh?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi pondered, a flicker of memory in his eyes. "A ninja is a protector of the village and their comrades, and an inheritor of the Will of Fire."
He looked deeply at Naruto. "The youth are the hope of the future. Where the Will of Fire burns, new leaves sprout. The fire's light will continue to illuminate the village, and allow new leaves to bud..."
These words made Naruto feel that this old man might be a retired official from the propaganda department.
However, the conversation had begun, and Naruto continued along, casually asking what he was curious about. "So, Grandpa, how strong are ninjas? Can one achieve immortality by becoming a ninja?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had been about to give a lecture, paused at these words.
He had expected Naruto to be curious about the Will of Fire, but Naruto was only concerned with strength and immortality.
Then again, he's just a child, it's understandable.
"Powerful ninjas can move mountains and fill seas."
Recalling the battles between the First Hokage and Madara Uchiha, it felt as if it were yesterday. The overwhelming power was still shocking to remember.
"As for immortality, not even the Sage of Six Paths had that ability." For some reason, as he said this, Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly thought of his disciple Orochimaru.
So, he added earnestly, "The meaning of life is not in its length, but in its quality. To protect the village and comrades, one must..."
Naruto nodded as he listened, indicating that he understood.
Before, he thought ninjas were similar to martial artists in his previous life, mostly for self-cultivation, at best able to fight ten people. He was even planning to start a business, using his advanced business knowledge to become the richest man in this world.
But now, it seemed becoming a ninja had more potential.
After the old man finished speaking, Naruto finally asked his real question. "So, what is chakra?"
"Chakra is a type of energy within the body," Hiruzen Sarutobi explained simply to a three-year-old child.
A type of energy? Similar to magic or spiritual energy?
Grumble~
Just as Naruto was about to ask further, the old man's stomach rumbled again.
"Here, Grandpa, eat quickly."
Naruto picked up another roasted fish and handed it to him.
This old man was a good person, greatly helping Naruto understand this world, so he was very enthusiastic.
He ate four out of five roasted fish and drank a large bowl of mushroom soup.
During this time, Hiruzen Sarutobi considered for a moment, then taught Naruto the Chakra Coalescence Technique.
There wasn't much to consider. Besides, if the Fourth Hokage were still alive, he would have taught Naruto by now.
Since that was the case, he, an old man, would teach Naruto on behalf of the Fourth.
Naruto was very happy, even excited, to receive the Chakra Coalescence Technique.
To be able to embark on the 'path to immortality' so easily seemed too smooth. The ups and downs of his mood today were like a roller coaster.
Suddenly, Naruto seemed to understand something.
He glanced at the old man, hesitant to speak, but his curiosity about his parents outweighed the potential consequences. Finally, he tentatively asked, "Grandpa, do you know my parents?"
"Your parents were heroes," Hiruzen Sarutobi said with absolute certainty.
Really? I don't believe it.
Naruto looked silently at the old man in the flickering firelight.
If it were the three-year-old Naruto, he would probably have believed it and might have been overjoyed by the comfort. But a soul of over 20 years old wouldn't let him easily believe it.
The people from earlier today were still vivid in his mind. If his parents were truly heroes, those people should at least show him some respect, if not gratitude.
But now?
Some people whispered about him behind his back and watched him with cold eyes, while others wished they could kill him.
It was incomprehensible, even more bizarre.
This old man might really have senile dementia.
Naruto wanted to ask why so many people hated him, but he didn't dare.
This old man seemed a bit senile, and he was afraid that if he asked, the old man might actually remember something and hate him like everyone else.
Then he would have no one left to talk to.
This old man was, at the moment, his only source of information about this world.
At this moment, Naruto suddenly felt that the village had gaslighted him.
Being disliked and hated by the whole village, abandoned by the whole world, and now having one person be nice to him felt like a drowning man grasping at his only straw.
What else could this be but gaslighting?
Seemingly sensing Naruto's low mood, Hiruzen Sarutobi pointed at the stars in the night sky and said, "Look, each of those stars is like the sun in our world. Amazing number, isn't it?"
"Mm-hmm." Naruto nodded in cooperation.
"This world is truly vast. Compared to all this, human existence is truly, truly tiny."
He even made a comical gesture, making Naruto laugh.
What an interesting old man, he knows how to amuse people like an old mischievous child.
"Our joys and sorrows as such tiny beings are truly insignificant."
Naruto understood the situation. Looking at the starry sky again at this moment, his mood actually lightened quite a bit.