The streets.
Night was when life truly began.
The immense pressure brought by life made people enjoy drinking.
Two men, their faces flushed red, staggered out of the tavern. Their expressions were indignant, and they were grabbing each other's collars.
"Who told you to mess around at that time!"
"It's your fault that I ended up like this!"
"Huh? What did you say! It was clearly you..."
"Bastard!"
The tavern proprietress stepped forward to stop them. "Don't be like this."
Passersby gathered around, curious about what was happening.
At this moment, the Police Force arrived quickly and pulled the two apart.
"Behave!"
But the other party didn't appreciate it.
"Police Force, get lost!"
"Go hide to the side just like you did during the Nine-Tails incident!"
The Nine-Tails incident was the beginning of everything erupting, and for the Uchiha, it was a matter that could not be easily touched upon.
In an instant, they enraged two Uchiha Clan Members. They no longer held back, pinned the two to the ground with their faces against the cold floor, and tied them up with ropes to take them away.
But such a scene was highly disapproved of by the surrounding villagers and passersby.
"It was just a drunken argument, right?"
"Wouldn't it have been enough to just mediate?"
The whispering and murmuring, like malicious rats, carried the viruses of "violent law enforcement," "the culprit of the Nine-Tails Incident," and "guilty conscience," spreading throughout the village and intensifying.
And such rumors also reached the ears of the Uchiha Clan Members one by one.
The next day, early morning.
The weather was beautiful, and the sunlight shining on people was very warm and comfortable.
Six-year-old Naruto woke up groggily, but heard the "slurping" sound of ramen being eaten next to him.
He turned his head to look, and saw that it was the person with the flat-top haircut and closed eyes from yesterday.
He was instantly dumbfounded. He rubbed his eyes, his blurry vision became clear, and that person with the flat-top haircut became clear.
Naruto jumped up abruptly and backed away several steps on the bed. "You... how are you here!"
"Do you know why I destroyed the Hokage Building?"
One sentence from Hiromi instantly lowered Naruto's guard to the limit.
Naruto still held onto his distrust, though he still asked, "Why?"
Hiromi stopped slurping the noodles. He turned to look at Naruto and said calmly, "Because someone gouged out my nii-san's eyes."
As he spoke, Hiromi opened his eyes. Those were eyes that were blurry to the extreme, turbid beyond description. But one could still see the blood-red color that had once been contained within, representing its former extraordinariness and glory.
Naruto was stunned, and unknowingly sat beside Hiromi and chatted, completely forgetting Hiruzen's instructions.
The Anbu outside the window were stunned and hurriedly reported the news to Hiruzen.
By the time Hiruzen rushed over from the Sarutobi Clan Compound, Hiromi was already gone.
Before he could even ask about Naruto's situation, he heard Naruto ask him: "Grandpa Hokage, why did your teammate gouge out his nii-san's eyes?"
"..."
Hiruzen seemed to freeze, and he didn't know how many times he had cursed Danzo in his mind.
At the same time, he also felt uneasy about Naruto, who was slightly out of his control. His brainwashing of Naruto was achieved by hiding part of the information.
For example, he hid the fact that Naruto was the son of the Fourth Hokage and the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.
Regarding the rumors that said he was a demon fox, they had nothing to do with him. Although this formed a good brainwashing loop with him being very good to Naruto and the villagers being very good to him, he had never lied to Naruto.
Therefore, he comforted Naruto as always, "Naruto, I don't know either. As Hokage, I have to manage all the big and small matters in the village. I'm too busy, and some people have changed their hearts, but I didn't notice it in advance. This is my fault."
"Grandpa Hokage..." Naruto was very moved.
"But he still destroyed the Hokage Building for no reason, which is the symbol of Konoha." Hiruzen did not say this sentence.
Because he knew that if he were to delve deeper, he would be the one to suffer. Thus, he changed the direction of his strategy.
He said kindly, "Naruto, I can take half a day off on Saturday. Do you want to go out and play with me?"
Naruto's eyes lit up. "Awesome!"
Hiruzen said with a smile, "But Naruto, you have to study hard these next few days. I will be checking your progress then."
"Mm-hmm. Don't worry, Grandpa Hokage."
Hiruzen smiled.
This way, Naruto wouldn't have time to spend with Hiromi.
—
Uchiha Clan Compound.
Sasuke, who was about to head to school, looked at Hiromi blocking his path. His mouth opened and closed, then opened again. Finally, he let out a "Hmph."
Hiromi spoke, "Bring Naruto to the Uchiha Clan Compound, and I can do you a small favor."
Sasuke was dismissive, especially since Hiromi was now a cripple. But he wanted to know one thing too badly. The eyes from that day had left a very deep impression in his heart. Even though nearly a year had passed, he would still occasionally see them in his dreams.
So he gave a cool nod in agreement and walked past Hiromi to go to school.
This scene was witnessed by Itachi, who was monitoring the Uchiha Clan Compound, his expression pained.
'Is this forcing me to pick a side? Shisui...'
***
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