Chapter 11 The So-Called People "Come on…Naruto, they are your parents after all." Looking at Naruto's distant look, Jiraiya sighed, a hint of guilt flashing in his eyes. "I was away from the village for the past few years, and you suffered a lot. I know you feel bad, and it's all my fault. As Minato's master, I didn't fulfill my responsibilities." "But no matter what, now that I'm back, I will never let you suffer that kind of injustice again! And you see, the village has announced your identity, and everyone has begun to accept you. Everything is moving in a good direction, right?" As Jiraiya spoke, an ingratiating smile unconsciously appeared on his face, and his tone seemed as if he was coaxing a child. When Naruto heard this, he was shocked, as if he had seen something shocking. “Hey…it turns out that people can actually laugh when they are extremely speechless.” After being silent for several seconds, Naruto finally couldn't hold back the cold expression on his face anymore and couldn't help laughing out loud. "You said... accept me? Why should I ask them to accept me? Do I look like a lowly fellow? Or do I owe them something?"
Jiraiya's smile 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 with a headache: "First of all, Jiraiya... you are a brainless trash. If you were not of some use to me, I would not even have the desire to talk to you." “Rubbish?!” Hearing this, Jiraiya opened his mouth wide, and his whole demeanor became a little gloomy. "Yeah, you're trash. Calling you trash is a compliment..." Naruto snorted, slowly took out a piece of jerky from his pocket and hung it in his mouth, put his hands in his pockets, and looked at Jiraiya arrogantly. "You are not even garbage, what are you? Why do you come to lecture me and give me orders? Is it because of the big wart on your face?" "Big wart..." Jiraiya looked even darker, he had never heard such a sharp insult. Even though Naruto didn't think he was cursing at all, for Jiraiya, who was experiencing the art of Chinese language for the first time, the power was no less than being hit by a Remington shotgun at close range. "Secondly... like I just said, the Fourth Generation has nothing to do with me. I don't recognize the so-called parents, so naturally I don't care how these people see me, so whether it's the son of the Fourth Generation or the demon fox, I don't care." Naruto said, turning his head slightly and glancing at the passers-by who were eavesdropping around him, with a hint of teasing in his eyes: "Unfortunate? Aggrieved? What good will it do you if I die of laughter? Jiraiya... do you care about the opinions of ants? In fact, it's just the opposite. I like the way they can't stand me, but can't get rid of me." "Naruto, you..." Jiraiya wanted to say something but stopped himself. Naruto held up a Rasengan. Seeing this, Jiraiya held his words back again. "The target of hatred for a long time suddenly becomes the son of the Hokage. How many people do you think can adapt to this sense of disparity? Where should they place their hatred?" Naruto dispersed the Rasengan and shook his head slightly: "There are very few people in this world who can reach the transcendent state of self-reflection. The vast majority of people live in a muddleheaded way." "And the vast majority of them are the so-called people. They have the ability to think as human beings, but their so-called thoughts are sadly limited by their vision. They can't find the direction to move forward, which gives rise to a new word: confusion." “Like frightened rabbits, people will instinctively escape from this kind of uneasiness that makes them feel at a loss. When they cannot escape, they force themselves to ignore the source of their uneasiness and pretend that nothing has happened - just like this quiet street.”
"Do you think that announcing the identity of the Fourth Generation's son will change the status quo? It seems that those high-ranking officials have been playing politics for too long and have lost some of their humanity. It's a pity, Jiraiya... The truth is often contrary to the ideal." "Two extreme identities, two different emotions, after rubbing against each other, will gradually become sharper and eventually evolve into a split ending, just like the change of the nature of wind..." The street was dead silent. Some passers-by who were eavesdropping lowered their heads, their faces full of embarrassment as if their thoughts had been exposed. Jiraiya's heart was also in turmoil. He had never thought of the possibility that Naruto mentioned. However, it turned out that Naruto was right. The lingering awkward atmosphere around the two of them when they appeared on the street said it all. He thought that time would dilute the embarrassment, but from the reactions of the people around him, it was not difficult to see that this embarrassment would only turn into another form of indifference and disregard over time. "Why...speak out?" If you say it, it's hard to take it back... Looking at the little face in front of him that looked exactly like Minato, Jiraiya had a complicated expression: "The future can be changed, Naruto, what you said is just one of the possibilities..." "How Konoha's future changes has nothing to do with me, because my future is not here." Naruto chuckled: "The reason I said it is just because I am curious. When the ugliness of one's own body is laid bare before their eyes and there is no escape, what choice will people make?" "Of course, in my opinion, the biggest possibility is that gratitude and conscience will be gradually eroded, and everything will be taken for granted, and finally it will be completely rotten and collapsed. After all, this kind of thing has happened to Konoha... more than once or twice, right?" Hearing this, Jiraiya stood there in a daze, lost in thought. He suddenly realized that Naruto was right. The darkness in the village has been going on for a long time, and people's hearts are gradually collapsing. It is something that Naruto cannot explain alone. Isn't it because, as Naruto said, I didn't want to face it and chose to escape that I have been wandering outside for so many years? It was not until Naruto's figure disappeared around the corner of the street that Jiraiya woke up from his dream and hurriedly chased after him. Soon, Naruto came to a ninja tool shop and pushed the door open. "Do you have chakra paper?" "Oh, yes, yes." "how much is it?" The shop owner quickly handed over a piece of chakra paper, waved his hands repeatedly, and smiled awkwardly: "Oh, how can I accept it——" Before he could finish, Naruto slammed all the money in his pocket onto the table and turned away. He has never had much use for money. In the past two years, he has relied on hunting for food and drink, and occasionally asked Ino to help buy some seasonings. The clothes she was wearing were also bought by Haiyi and his wife, but Ino always said that it was a brother from the clan who bought the wrong size... As Naruto left the Ninja Tool Shop, the boss spat and muttered, "What's so great about that? As expected, a demon fox is a demon fox..." Outside the store, Jiraiya looked embarrassed. Both of them were quite strong, so they naturally could not hide the boss's voice from them. Naruto looked at Jiraiya with a half-smile, his eyes showing an undisguised amusement: "Did you hear that? Do you think they are being nice to me because they feel sorry for me? No, they just want to make themselves feel better." “People always like to blame others for their own mistakes, but when their mistakes are not forgiven, the guilt will turn into hatred, and the so-called gratitude will naturally become insignificant.”
"If we define it directly as human nature, it would be a bit one-sided, but if we use it to describe the people, it is not biased." "Jiraiya, I can't say I 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..." "Not Naruto, and neither can you." First update today! I’m a little slow in updating, mainly because the dialogue in this episode is not easy to write. I’m worried that it’s too sharp, so I’ve been deleting and revising it for a long time. There will be another update later. Please vote for me and keep reading! Thank you everyone! (End of this chapter)