Sakura Haruno frowned, feeling a little confused.
Why is everyone looking at me like that?
Forget it.
Someone was slandering Naruto, so she had to speak up first.
"Slander!"
Sakura Haruno pointed at the three Kumogakure shinobi and shouted,
"You keep talking about how miserable you are, but you never say why you're miserable!"
Her words instantly enraged the three Kumogakure ninja.
Why were they miserable?
Did she really have the nerve to bring that up?!
One of them flushed red with anger and roared,
"What did you just say?!"
"Hiss—"
Sakura covered her ears and looked at him with obvious disdain.
This man clearly didn't realize he was in the wrong.
He shouted almost hysterically,
"Just because something didn't even succeed, you wiped out our entire village?!"
Sakura pouted, her tone full of contempt.
"Then why don't you explain what that 'something' actually was?"
The Kumogakure ninja snarled,
"You know exactly what it was!"
"Then say it~" Sakura chuckled lightly.
"So everyone can sympathize with you."
Forced into a corner, the Kumogakure ninja could only recite the excuse he had prepared.
Under the curious gazes of the crowd, he said stiffly,
"Our people were killed in Konoha. It was just an attempt at a marriage alliance, and Konoha didn't even agree. All because of such a small matter!"
His words painted Hidden Cloud Village as nothing but victims.
Naturally, many people looked at Naruto with strange expressions again.
After all, this was a conflict between Kumogakure and Konoha—what did it have to do with Naruto?
Naruto ignored it.
He wanted to establish himself as a great demon lord.
These Kumogakure shinobi were nothing more than tools.
But someone wasn't letting things go smoothly.
That person was Sakura Haruno.
She asked again,
"Then who exactly did you want to marry?"
The Kumogakure ninja fell silent.
Everyone turned to Sakura, sensing where this was going.
She snorted coldly.
"They nominated several candidates—but without exception, they were all people with Kekkei Genkai or those who possessed secret techniques!"
The scene instantly exploded.
So that's how it was!
Everyone understood immediately.
Hidden Cloud Village completely deserved it.
It wasn't that they thought Naruto was blameless.
It was because they empathized.
Kumogakure's arrogance was infamous throughout the ninja world.
All Four Great Shinobi Villages had suffered under their coercion.
Using force to extort bloodline limits, secret techniques, even Tailed Beasts—
This wasn't the first or second time.
Now that everyone heard Kumogakure had tried the same tactic on Konoha—
They could no longer hold back.
Curses erupted instantly.
Kurotsuchi spoke coldly,
"Hidden Cloud Village had it coming. They once slandered Iwagakure and tried to seize our Bloodline Limits—and even our Tailed Beasts."
From Sunagakure, Baki glanced at Gaara.
Gaara calmly continued,
"They once threatened war to force us to hand over our puppet research."
Among all present, the highest-ranking envoy was Mei Terumī.
The only one of the Five Kage in attendance.
She clicked her tongue lightly and glanced at the three Kumogakure ninja with clear disdain.
Her attitude needed no explanation.
Even Kirigakure—long isolated—had suffered under Kumogakure's pressure.
All Four Great Shinobi Villages had similar grievances.
As for the smaller villages?
They'd been bullied even worse.
Normally, they dared not provoke Kumogakure.
They endured in humiliation.
But now?
Hidden Cloud Village was crippled—only the Raikage and a single Tailed Beast remained.
And now the Four Great Shinobi Villages were openly condemning them.
The dam burst.
"They deserved it! Always acting superior—now that they've hit a wall, they come crying here!"
"Exactly! Fucking Kumogakure scum!"
"So shameless! Do they have any idea how disgusting their reputation is?"
Seeing public opinion completely collapse—
The Kumogakure ninja panicked.
He shouted angrily,
"Then what about our civilians?! What did they do wrong?! They were innocent—yet they were killed by him!"
At that moment, Naruto finally spoke.
From atop the building, he sighed lightly.
"You really came here unprepared."
The entire scene fell silent.
Sakura thought she had helped and began winking wildly at Naruto.
Naruto's mouth twitched.
He ignored her.
Sakura felt a little hurt, not understanding what she'd done wrong.
Naruto turned his gaze to the three Kumogakure ninja.
"Did you ever consider that the people you oppressed were also innocent?"
The Kumogakure ninja wanted to argue—
But Naruto had clearly lost patience.
"Enough," Naruto said calmly.
"I'm not interested in wasting time on you."
Just as Naruto was about to continue—
The Kumogakure ninja shouted again.
They were desperate.
This might be their last chance.
They didn't want Naruto to establish his village successfully—or maintain a good public image.
They hadn't expected things to spiral this far.
One of them, chest heaving with rage, completely lost control and screamed,
"Hey!!! Do you dare fight me one-on-one?!"
Everyone:
"???"
Dead silence.
Five seconds passed.
Then—
Laughter erupted.
Uncontrollable laughter.
Fight Naruto one-on-one?
Were you insane?
From Iwagakure, someone finally asked sincerely,
"Can you beat him?"
The Kumogakure ninja:
"..."
Reality hit.
If he could beat Naruto—
Hidden Cloud Village wouldn't have been annihilated in the first place.
Naruto shook his head slightly, smiling faintly.
This works too.
He raised his voice calmly.
"Fine. I'll fight you one-on-one."
Then he added,
"I'll fight all three of you—one-on-one."
As he spoke, Naruto raised his hand.
Palm facing the three Kumogakure ninja.
The crowd exploded into alarm.
Shinobi instantly scattered.
The area around the three Kumogakure ninja became—
A terrifying death zone.
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