Chapter 176:
The daimyō was so furious he nearly lost his mind on the spot.
Born into privilege, from childhood to old age, everyone had always treated him with utmost caution.
Over time, this bred certain habits.
And these arrogant, lofty habits were exactly what made Naruto extremely unhappy.
This guy really had issues. Little Black killed his grandson, and he comes looking for Naruto?
Wasn't this walking straight into a trap?
As someone who had gone through nine years of compulsory education, Naruto might not have learned much knowledge, but he at least possessed basic moral values… and exceptional skills at roasting people.
The daimyō laughed in extreme anger. He placed the evidence he had already collected in front of Naruto: "Oh? So I hear you have quite the close relationship with the one who killed my beloved grandson."
"Then how is your behavior any different from his?"
Naruto frowned inwardly: The one who killed his grandson? Could he not know it was Little Black, and instead think it was Sakyo?
That made sense. Very few people knew about Little Black's existence.
It wasn't wrong for the daimyō to assume that.
So the daimyō wanting to regain face through Naruto also made sense.
Because on the surface, Sakyo was the last surviving Uchiha. If the daimyō went directly after Sakyo, Konoha might turn against the daimyō to protect the village's standing in the ninja world.
But Naruto was simpler. The outside world didn't know he was the Fourth Hokage's son, so… Konoha's handling could be a bit more flexible.
However… if the outside world knew Naruto was Minato's son.
Then the daimyō wouldn't have come here to die.
One was the hope of an ultimate ninja clan; the other was the child of a hero.
Neither was someone who could be humiliated.
On the surface, if the ninja village couldn't even protect these people, it would basically be seen as having knelt completely.
In short, it would be mocked by peers and looked down upon by the world.
This matter was no longer just between Mizunaka and Little Black.
It had already attracted too much attention.
It had escalated into a conflict between the daimyō mansion and the ninja village—deciding who was truly more important would be shown to the world through this incident.
The daimyō mansion wanted to protect its status.
But the ninja village was different. Surface-level importance didn't matter—as long as peers acknowledged Konoha's handling, it was fine.
So the reason the daimyō pursued this wasn't really because of his "beloved grandson"—it was for the daimyō mansion.
However…
The daimyō had run into a ruthless person. Naruto didn't care what you were doing it for.
All Naruto knew was that the daimyō was causing him trouble.
So Naruto wouldn't wrong himself. Who cares if you're the daimyō? Who cares how high your status is? Full output, that's it!
Facing the daimyō's question, Naruto said:
"Oh, you mean this?"
"First: we're the same age.
Second: we haven't done anything out of line or immoral.
Third: Mizunaka's intentions were already extremely obvious—no need to explain further.
Fourth: early relationships are everywhere in the ninja academy—why don't you go lecture them?"
"And I dare guarantee that at least half the people here have been in similar situations to mine."
The ninja world was one where children matured very early.
Here, kids at a young age weren't playing house—they were thinking about romance. It was extremely common!
After Naruto's words, many people's expressions changed—especially the ANBU Commander, whose old face turned red, nearly fleeing the scene on the spot.
Jiraiya wasn't much better. This guy had already started gathering "materials" back in the ninja academy, specifically targeting the well-developed ones while mocking those who weren't… mm… like Tsunade…
By the daimyō's logic, Jiraiya was worse than an animal…
The daimyō truly lived up to his title—he had superb negotiation skills.
He forced himself to calm down and looked for loopholes in Naruto's words: "Oh? So your behavior is just puppy love, while my grandson's was immoral?"
Naruto was speechless: "Don't ignore the important conditions, okay? I'm different from that animal."
"I'm doing it with the intention of marriage when we grow up, and I haven't done anything out of line."
"As for him? To put it bluntly, he's a damn lolicon. Don't blame me for being direct, but that's the fact."
The daimyō spoke again: "Oh? My grandson didn't take any actual action. He just wanted to make friends. How can you jump to such a conclusion?"
Naruto: "Can't everyone analyze his behavior? It's practically an accepted fact already."
Daimyō: "But it didn't happen."
Naruto: "Fuck off! I say it happened, so it happened."
Daimyō: "By what right do you get to decide?"
This left Naruto speechless. The daimyō clung to this point and wouldn't let go. Honestly, Naruto really couldn't find a counterargument.
After all, the fact was that Mizunaka hadn't taken things to that step before being burned to death by Little Black…
But everyone here was a shinobi, and this wasn't some trivial matter, so they already knew the full process and details of the incident.
Everyone could analyze Mizunaka's behavior and intentions based on experience.
But since it never actually happened, and Mizunaka was now dead… did that make the analysis wrong?
Naruto was stumped. The daimyō seized this and said: "As long as you apologize in your companion's name to the daimyō mansion, this matter ends here."
The daimyō spoke lightly. He knew he was in Konoha and that Konoha's attitude toward him had already changed.
And the daimyō was very clear about his own position.
What he wanted, and what the ninja village wanted.
As long as Naruto apologized, he could get everything.
The daimyō mansion would regain face, and the ninja village could preserve its dignity in the eyes of its peers.
After all, the one apologizing was Naruto, and on the surface Naruto was just an ordinary ninja academy student + jinchūriki.
Publicly, Naruto wasn't known as the Fourth Hokage's son, so there wouldn't be any issue!
Would Naruto give in?
Would he apologize to the daimyō for the "greater good"?
Actually, quite a few people present hoped Naruto would do exactly that.
After all, one person being able to resolve the issue between the daimyō mansion and the ninja village was already very rare.
This was an opportunity—a chance for both the Land of Fire daimyō mansion and Konoha to escape the negative impact of this incident.
Tsunade quietly watched Naruto. After their brief interaction and understanding, she felt Naruto was a very special person.
Naruto possessed certain qualities others didn't—like… a unique way of thinking or personality?
In short, something like that…
So how would Naruto choose?
Tsunade believed that with Naruto's intelligence, he had already realized the crux of the problem.
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