The Sarutobi Compound had been reduced to ruins, majority of the clan being wiped out.
Itachi and Obito had managed to exterminate the entire Uchiha Clan in a single night.
Similarly, the Four Tailed Beast-Level Monsters, alongside the Uchiha Elites, were capable of slaughtering the Sarutobi Clan in the span of a single day.
"Congratulations. You have witnessed the destruction of the Sarutobi Clan with your own eyes." Naruto sat down beside Third Hokage, patting the old man's shoulder. It mirrored a scene from years ago-back when Naruto sat by a creek roasting fish, only now, their identities were swapped. "Third Hokage."
Watching the destruction of the Sarutobi Clan, and seeing Konoha invaded by Sunagakure and Otogakure, finally allowed some of the gloom in his heart to dissipate.
A person might start with a normal psyche, but living for years in an environment steeped in malice, targeted, isolated, and forced to suppress every true emotion without release, inevitably warps the mind. Of course, no ninja was truly sane to begin with.
Naruto had often wondered what his life would have been like if he hadn't met Goku.
There was a average probability he would have become a desperate people-pleaser like in canon, moved to tears by the barest minimum of kindness, deceiving himself to survive, and shoving the darkness down to the deepest part of his soul. It would be just like when Karin first met Naruto in canon: the chakra on the surface was warm and sunny, but deep within that chakra hid an abyssal, dark power.
Or, higher likelihood was that he might have shattered completely and become a homicidal maniac, a monster ruled by the desire for destruction and slaughter.
Those without sensory abilities could never understand the agony of surviving in an environment shrouded in malice.
The stronger the perception, the more information flooded in, and the heavier the toll.
"Why did you do this?" Hiruzen spoke slowly, his voice hoarse. "It was Danzo, wasn't it? He must have told you something to twist you like this. He distorted the facts."
"How should I put this, Third Hokage?" Naruto shrugged, looking almost helpless. "Although he has done every evil imaginable, you've actually accused him wrongly this time."
"Because I remember everything from the moment I was born."
"I saw my parents die in front of me with my own eyes. I saw my father entrust me to you. I know exactly who he was."
"Minato Namikaze."
Hiruzen's eyes widened. Realization struck instantly, followed by a look of guilt.
"It was all done by me and Danzo. All the sins should be borne by us. Why take your anger out on my clansmen? They are innocent."
Naruto could clearly sense that he didn't feel true guilt. And even if he did, so what? What good was internal guilt without action?
It was the classic defense: "Look, I feel guilty, so what more do you want from me?" Then, a crowd would swarm to whitewash his reputation.
At his core, Hiruzen was a politician.
If you truly feel guilty, make amends. Don't just pay lip service.
Naruto looked at Hiruzen with disdain and spoke in a mocking tone. "Even now, you don't forget to drag Danzo down with you. He really is your good friend."
"You said they are Innocent? Are they really innocent?"
Naruto sneered repeatedly.
"Did the Sarutobi Clan not enjoy the welfare? While I was in Root I looked at the mission statistics, all the cushy and safe missions were reserved for your clan, while all the dangerous missions were dumped onto others."
"You committed the sins, and your clansmen enjoyed the benefits gained from your bad deeds."
"Should I only target you, the culprit?"
"On what basis?" Hiruzen replied righteously, "They didn't enjoy anything!"
"Really? Third Hokage."
"Let's set aside the conveniences brought to them since you became Third Hokage."
"Let me ask you."
"Where did my parents assets go?"
"Where did the Uchiha's assets go?"
"Where did the Land of Whirlpools assets go?"
"Hell even... where did the Shimura Clan's assets go? Danzo is a horrible man, but atleast he has some integrity, the early members of Root consisted mostly of Shimura clan. Even when he knew that most of them wouldn't survive, he still went through with it. He sacrificed almost everything for the village. And he never denied the kind of person he is."
Facing Naruto's rapid-fire questions, Hiruzen answered instinctively without thinking. "Those supplies and assets were all contributed to the village. They contributed a great effort to the construction of the village."
"Generous with other people's money. Truly worthy of Konoha." Naruto laughed coldly and continued, "The Uzumaki clan's unique Fuinjutsu is very useful, isn't it? But why is it that only people from the Sarutobi Clan know it? The Uchiha's Fire Release is quite nice, right? Yet it was all merged into the Sarutobi Clan's Ninjutsu Scroll."
"Take a guess, how much do you think I know about the Land of Whirlpools incident back then?"
Hiruzen fell silent, offering no further answer.
Standard politician behavior: either change the subject or simply say nothing.
"Third Hokage, you might not believe me, but I actually don't care about the things I just mentioned. After all, that is all in the past tense. And as for money? It's very simple for me to get as much as I want. Look, aren't I the World's Richest Man now? I'm not interested in money."
"My happiest times were when I collected my monthly subsidy to eat Ichiraku Ramen. I still remember the price of a bowl of Tonkotsu Ramen back then, I could eat it many times a month. After all, besides Ichiraku Ramen, no one else would sell food to me."
"Do you still remember? That Cabin I built by the Lakeside back then. I originally just wanted to live A Peaceful Life there."
"Fishing, farming... a Self-Sufficient and peaceful life." At this moment, Naruto seemed to drift into memory. "Although it was crude, it was very warm. That was my home."
"It's a pity... it was destroyed. It was you who sent people to destroy it, right?"
Before Hiruzen could answer, Naruto continued, "Did you know? I could Sense Malice since I was a child. The very next day, I knew it was you who sent them. The changes in the malice clinging to you... couldn't be hidden from me at all."
Naruto smiled then. He smiled wearing Hattori's face, but unlike Minato's sunshine-like smile, his expression was extremely bizarre.
"I chose to avoid it, but you still refused to let me be. So, I could only choose to face the difficulty head-on."
"You started the game first, so it cannot be ended by you. I have the final say on when it ends."
Naruto leaned in, whispering into Hiruzen's ear.
"My Ninja Way, Naruto Uzumaki's way, has always been: always repay kindness, and always repay debts."
"You destroyed my home, so I will destroy yours. Look, this is very fair, isn't it?"
Naruto kept talking, instilling in Hiruzen the concept that 'you created me, and the fact that things have turned out this way is entirely your responsibility. I am the monster of your making.'
"Kill me!" Hiruzen slowly closed his eyes.
Obviously, he had accepted this outcome.
"Kill you? No, no, no. How could I do such a barbaric thing as killing our beloved Hokage-sama?" Naruto shook his head. He had long made arrangements for Hiruzen. "There is a more suitable candidate for this matter, the very person you were just thinking about and hadn't forgotten."
"Your old friend, Danzo."
After speaking, Naruto paid no further attention to Hiruzen.
A living Hiruzen was the gift he was bringing to Danzo.
"Naruto."
As Naruto prepared to take a stroll around the Sarutobi Compound, he was suddenly stopped by Sasuke. "Did you really want to live a peaceful life?"
Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Eavesdropping Sasuke?"
With Sasuke's level of skill, how could he possibly hide from Naruto? 'Better to suppress the anger for now.'
"If you listened, you listened. It's not a secret anyway. That was just me lying to him."
"...", Sasuke went silent at that answer.
Naruto's personality was indeed terrible.
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