When his small figure appeared, the lively street seemed to cool at once. Whispers spread, and children were pulled back into their parents' arms.
"That is him..."
The looks from both sides of the street formed an invisible wall around him. Naruto Uzumaki was already used to it, lowering his head and walking step by step as naturally as he could.
He was too young to understand hatred and fear, but he clearly felt the bitterness of being pushed away by the world. Then a ball rolled to a stop at his feet with a soft patapata sound.
Naruto Uzumaki crouched down and picked it up, looking up with a bright smile. The man in front of him pressed a hand on his own child's shoulder and stared down coldly.
"Do not play with him. Who knows what he might do."
The words cut deep, and the smile froze on Naruto Uzumaki's face. He did not understand what he had done wrong, when he only wanted to return the ball.
He stood stiffly and let the ball drop. Hungry as he was, he turned away like he always did and left the crowd behind.
His walk turned into a run, his small back stiff with stubborn pride as he headed toward quieter streets. He brushed past Sasuke Uchiha, who glanced back and muttered, "What a strange guy."
"He is the one," an adult nearby said. "They say the Fourth Hokage died because of him."
Sasuke Uchiha frowned but turned to leave. A burst of noise behind him caught his attention, and he turned to see someone standing in front of that boy.
It looked like the blond kid had run into him. When Sasuke Uchiha saw the face clearly, a name came to mind at once.
Ryuji Hyuga.
A brief recommendation followed, praising a veteran Hokage fan work with strong writing. The book was titled "Teaching at the Hokage Academy, the System Says I Am Tsunade's Student," and it described a man hiding as a teacher among the Konoha Ninja until a strange system appeared and demanded he become Tsunade's disciple.
"Pant, pant."
With his vision blurred, the stone road under his feet seemed endless, and the cold words still echoed in Naruto Uzumaki's ears. Right now he only wanted to run back to his own home, back to that quiet place where at least no one pointed at him. He wanted to hide himself away and stop being seen.
He kept his head down and ran in a mess through the street, and everyone he passed frowned and stepped aside. Just as he rushed forward without looking up, it happened.
Bang!
It felt like he slammed into a wall that was not hard, yet strangely solid. The impact made his already unsteady body lose balance.
The small body fell backward and landed hard on the cold ground. His palm scraped against the rough surface and burned with pain.
"I, I am sorry!" Naruto Uzumaki blurted out almost by reflex. "I, I did not mean to…"
He did not dare to look up at the person he hit, afraid of seeing another pair of disgusted eyes. His small body curled up in embarrassment, shrinking in on itself.
But the scolding he expected never came.
A hand reached out in front of him and entered his lowered field of view. The hand was long, with clear joints and thin calluses from long training, yet the movement was unusually gentle. It did not pull him up, but simply opened quietly before him like a patient, silent invitation.
Naruto Uzumaki froze when he saw it, his voice stuck in his throat. He cautiously raised his head little by little and followed the hand upward.
What he saw was a person lowering his center of gravity, one hand on his knee as he bent slightly forward. There was no coldness or anger on that face, only a smile that felt unfamiliar and unreal to him. Sunlight fell across it, and even those pure white eyes carried a hint of warmth.
"It is, it is you…"
A faint spark flashed through Naruto Uzumaki's mind as he remembered the figure who once sent three kids flying with a few slaps. He spoke without thinking, "That really strong big brother?"
"It is you." Ryuji Hyuga seemed to remember him as well and moved his hand slightly. "Are you hurt?"
Naruto Uzumaki instinctively wanted to raise his hand to take it, but just as his fingertips were about to touch.
"Wait, Ryuji Hyuga sir, do not touch him!"
A tense and loud warning suddenly broke the calm of the street. Ryuji Hyuga followed the voice and looked over, seeing a middle aged man nearby.
"Ahem, you may not know this." The man wore a flattering smile mixed with smug certainty. "This child is the reincarnation and vessel of the Nine-Tails Fox that killed the Fourth Lord back then!"
The words were like a stone thrown into water, instantly stirring waves.
"Look at that child's face…" "Yes, yes, it is him. I heard it too." "Lord Ryuji, you are a hero just like Fourth Hokage was, young and capable. You cannot let this thing cling to you!"
The noisy whispers gathered again like a cold tide, freezing shut the small opening that had just appeared. The crowd that had quieted when Ryuji Hyuga showed up returned to its buzzing, and many eyes watched Naruto Uzumaki with tension and scrutiny.
"I, I…"
Naruto Uzumaki's raised hand froze in midair, and the tiny spark that had just ignited was drowned at once by cold water. He lowered his head again, afraid to see Ryuji Hyuga's expression after learning his so called identity. Tears welled up as he pressed his head even lower.
At this moment, Ryuji Hyuga's smile faded a little. It did not vanish, but melted away like thin spring snow, revealing something calmer beneath. He did not answer the villagers right away, nor did he look down at Naruto Uzumaki.
Those pure Byakugan eyes slowly lifted. They swept over the villagers whose faces carried self righteous concern and the deep rooted prejudice of Root.
When that emotionless gaze calmly passed over each person who had been talking at once, the noise weakened on its own. It faded until it vanished completely, leaving silence behind.
The villagers who had spoken with such certainty suddenly felt uneasy. It was as if something ugly deep inside them had been reflected clearly by those pure Byakugan eyes. The street fell into a deathly stillness, and everyone held their breath without realizing it.
Ryuji Hyuga's gaze settled on the man who had first spoken up.
"Reincarnation of the Nine-Tails Fox? The one who killed the Fourth Lord?" He looked at the villager with a faint smile and spoke calmly. "May I ask where you heard these claims?"
"T, this…"
The man was caught off guard and turned awkward and flustered. His eyes darted around before he pointed at a woman beside him like grabbing a lifeline. "It, it was her. I heard it from her!"
As soon as he said it, everyone looked in the direction of his finger. The woman became the center of attention, sweat beading on her forehead.
Ryuji Hyuga's gaze shifted to her. Under that calm yet pressing stare, she swallowed hard.
"Th, this…" Her voice was dry and tight with panic. "E everyone says it. It has spread all over the village. Wh, who does not know?"
"I see. Everyone says it."
Ryuji Hyuga nodded slightly without comment and swept his gaze over the silent crowd. His calm voice spread clearly through the air. "Then who here?"
"Which of you has personally seen this child hurt anyone, even in the smallest way?"
The air itself seemed to freeze.
Silence.
People looked at one another, unable to answer. Disgust and fear had driven them to avoid him, insult him, and teach their children to see him as a monster. Yet the source of that fear, rooted in Root, was only rumors that everyone repeated, and no one had truly seen the child harm anyone.
This was their weakness. It was not that no one thought of it, but that it had nothing to do with them. Avoid trouble and avoid causing trouble, that was their thinking, and it turned into group indifference and bullying.
In their eyes, even if Naruto Uzumaki was not a monster, so what. They had not done anything unforgivable, had they. If everyone said and did the same, then he must have a problem, right.
If someone investigated later, they could just bow and apologize. I already apologized, what more do you want from me. Even now, facing Ryuji Hyuga with no answer, some resentment still quietly rose in their hearts.
Ryuji Hyuga's expression softened again, and that gentle, approachable smile returned.
"Everyone, we are all villagers of Konoha." He spoke warmly. "Living under the same roofs and facing the storms of the Ninja World together, we are family who rely on each other."
"How can family hurt one another without any proof, just because of a few rumors of unknown origin?"
"Even if it were not this child, but any one of you standing here, I would still say the same. I would choose to believe you without hesitation."
[Your lie has been judged as Flowery Words. Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, and others experienced emotional fluctuations and reached the level of Believing It to Be True. You have obtained 700 Reality Points.]