Iruka stammered as he announced the result, "Naruto Uzumaki wins!"

The time was too short, and it ended too quickly.

The outcome was also a great surprise.

The entire battle couldn’t be described as "evenly matched."

It was simply Sasuke Uchiha being unilaterally beaten.

Did Sasuke even get a chance to strike from beginning to end?

The only time he attacked was when he used a combination of the substitution and shadow clone techniques to sneak up from behind with a shuriken, but Naruto had predicted it and knocked it away.

When did Naruto become this strong?

Just a few days of training, and he could achieve such impressive results?

On the rooftop of the ninja school,

Hiruzen Sarutobi stood on the terrace and asked a ninja beside him, whose face was mostly covered, with silver hair and only one eye visible.

"Kakashi, what do you think?"

Kakashi Hatake replied softly, "The physical abilities of the two are about the same; in terms of strength, Sasuke Uchiha might be a bit stronger."

"But Naruto Uzumaki has more combat experience."

"He can also use chakra to increase his speed, a technique similar to the Body Flicker Technique."

"His intuition is very sharp; as expected of the Uzumaki clan's bloodline, he must have awakened the talent for 'sensing.'"

"That's why Naruto could win so decisively."

"If he had been disturbed by the shadow clone technique or if Sasuke had activated his Sharingan, the outcome might have been different."

Hiruzen smiled, "That just reminded me of the Fourth Hokage; what about you?"

Kakashi Hatake remained silent.

"One is the last bloodline of the Uchiha clan, and the other is the child of your teacher, the Fourth Hokage." Hiruzen continued, "I plan to have you become their team leader."

"If anyone in Konoha can teach them, it’s only you."

Kakashi agreed, "Understood."

"And one more thing." Hiruzen's gaze fixed on Naruto, who had returned to sit in a corner of the crowd, "Naruto wasn't like this before."

"He suddenly changed his personality and revealed his talents."

"The Anbu didn’t uncover any results; he hasn’t been in contact with any suspicious individuals, and the seal on the Nine-Tails hasn’t been broken."

"We must find out the reason; the Jinchuriki cannot afford to fail."

Kakashi nodded again.

Hiruzen opened his mouth, hesitated for a moment, but didn't say "be nice to him."

He felt there was no need to say it.

Naruto Uzumaki is the son of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, Kakashi Hatake’s teacher, and by logic, they are like brothers; how could an older brother not take care of his younger brother?

Hiruzen left.

The duties of the Hokage are heavy.

Kakashi stayed on the terrace, occasionally glancing at Naruto but mostly focusing on the dark, resentful face of Sasuke Uchiha.

The life of the "genius" Naruto Uzumaki hadn’t improved.

He thought that after revealing his talent, he would start a life similar to that at the "Soul Society" or "Zanpakuto Academy."

But...

It seemed like nothing had changed.

Classmates were still unwilling to be his friends.

Teachers still despised him.

Even... some girls’ attitudes towards him had become worse — who do you think you are, how dare you hit our handsome Lord Uchiha!

Naruto didn’t feel disheartened; ever since the Third Hokage came to "hold him accountable," he had lowered his expectations.

Just confusion lingered.

His days in the "Soul Society" and "Zanpakuto Academy" had taught him one thing.

"Hate" requires a reason — most people only treat strangers with a peaceful attitude.

"Love" is the same.

He had already become excellent, had already given reasons for "love," yet they still acted this way.

That could only mean their reasons for "hate" were far heavier than the "love" he had offered.

It wasn’t because he was an orphan, nor because he used to be mischievous...

What could it be?

He looked at the distant Hokage Rock.

Four massive faces.

Naruto had long memorized the achievements and records of these four.

The First Hokage unified the ninja world, the Second Hokage established the ninja academy, the Third Hokage was still alive, an old man who would not die.

The Fourth Hokage sacrificed his life to save the village from the Nine-Tails.

Wait...

The Nine-Tails?

His "inner power" was also a fox; it didn’t know the Soul Society or Seireitei, but it knew Konoha.

Previously, Naruto had not connected these two matters.

But now he had no choice but to consider it.

He entered his inner world.

"Kid, don’t come to disturb me!" The Nine-Tails became restless upon seeing him.

Naruto looked up, gazing into those golden eyes, "I heard a rumor when I was young that the Fourth Hokage saved the village from the Nine-Tails."

"You... are that Nine-Tails?"

The Nine-Tails grinned, unashamed, "Yes, it's me, finally realized?"

"I'm not some half of your so-called friendship game."

"Kid, I could just eat you!"

Naruto said nothing and took another step closer.

He didn’t feel anything particularly special about the fact that "the fox inside him was the Nine-Tails."

Even if "it" was the reason he was ostracized by the village.

Hate?

Maybe just a little bit.

But now, Naruto didn’t care about the village’s opinion of him; he had another place to belong, and the Soul Society was much better than Konoha.

He simply looked ahead.

The red barred gate, the cursed seal stuck in the crack of the door, formed the fact known as "sealing."

"So your reason for hating me is that the Fourth Hokage sealed you within my body?" he said softly, grasping at the source of the Nine-Tails' "hatred."

The Nine-Tails didn’t respond, just grunted in silence.

That blond man...

Naruto asked again, "Why me?"

"The Fourth Hokage could have chosen any child; why did he choose me, this orphan?"

A being that could threaten the survival of the entire village shouldn’t be sealed in a mere child — in the Soul Society, when fighting for food, the older kids would stand in front of the younger ones.

The Nine-Tails' expression suddenly changed oddly; it leaned closer, examining Naruto, "Didn’t the people of Konoha tell you this?"

Naruto shook his head in confusion, "The fact that you are the Nine-Tails is something I guessed by myself."

If he hadn’t gone to the Soul Society, he wouldn’t even have known there was a fox inside him.

"Kid, let me tell you then." The Nine-Tails extended its claw, pointed at Naruto's forehead, grinning ferociously, speaking wildly, "Of course that man, the Fourth Hokage, would seal me inside you; he had no other choice."

"After all, you are the Fourth Hokage’s son!"

"Before he died, the only one he could choose as a Jinchuriki vessel was you."

Naruto froze.

His facial features began to twist in disbelief.

His eyes lost focus, glaring fiercely at the Nine-Tails.

His father, who had never shown his face, not even a photo or a name known, turned out to be the Fourth Hokage?

"How... is that possible?" Naruto couldn’t believe it.

What he had experienced wasn’t enough to make him believe.

If he was the Fourth Hokage's son, then he was the child of a hero.

Could the child of a hero be hated by the entire village?

Could the child of a hero have no friends?

"I'm not lying to you." The Nine-Tails grinned, excited, as if it had found some incredible toy, "Instead, Konoha has been deceiving you, not telling you the truth; they only want to use you as a weapon of war."

"What’s the point of such a village's existence?"

"Come on... unseal me; don’t you want to borrow my power?"

"Just unseal it."

"Let’s destroy this village together."

Naruto took a deep breath, even though he didn’t need to do this in his spirit space.

He wanted to find "Gramps Third" to ask clearly if this was true.

But another memory surfaced.

It was when he was very young.

He had asked Gramps Third for pictures of his parents, only to be told there were none.

He had asked about his parents' names, which was dodged.

Then came the events of a few days ago.

The Third Hokage was no longer trustworthy.

He was the one who didn’t let him know his parents' identities.

The Nine-Tails continued to chatter.

"Shut up!" Naruto glared fiercely, "I’m not going to listen to you!"

The Nine-Tails squinted, "I like that look in your eyes."

"But at this point, do you still want to defend Konoha?"

Naruto clenched his fists, "Konoha..."

"I’m not defending it."

"Since you are sealed in my body by my father..."

"I will find him and ask clearly."

"And not listen to you!"

"You, the... murderer of my father!"