The shopping district was crowded with people.
Early in the morning, numerous villagers and ninja had already gathered there.
All kinds of goods filled the displays of various stores.
As the most prosperous village in the Land of Fire, Konoha was naturally lively.
"Festival sale! Don't miss it if you're passing by!"
Behind the counter of a weapon shop, a cute girl with twin buns in her hair was energetically promoting the store's ninja tools.
Naruto Uzumaki stood among the crowd, his gaze sweeping across the various ninja weapons.
Clearly, the store's products were attractive.
Even ordinary civilians seemed tempted to buy something.
"So this is Tenten's family's ninja tool shop… no wonder there are so many customers."
Naruto Uzumaki thought to himself as he moved forward with the crowd.
"Hey! Kid! Put that kunai down!"
Kurama stared in shock as Naruto Uzumaki used the cover of the crowd to steal a weapon.
The problem wasn't the fact that the jinchuriki brat had used the enhanced speed and reflexes granted by tailed beast power to snatch a weapon.
The problem was—
The son of the Fourth Hokage had developed the habit of stealing?!
If Minato Namikaze, resting inside the stomach of the Shinigami, found out about this, he would probably cry!
"This isn't stealing… ninja business can't be called stealing. It's borrowing."
Naruto Uzumaki smoothly slipped the kunai into his clothes and pushed his way through the crowd until he finally emerged outside.
"Give it up, brat! I can tell at a glance that you're more devious than anyone else! There's no one in Konoha worse than you!"
Naruto Uzumaki's behavior was so outrageous that even Kurama couldn't help getting emotional.
In the ninja world, people believed strongly in bloodlines.
Dragons give birth to dragons.
Phoenixes give birth to phoenixes.
And the children of mice dig holes.
In other words—lineage determined everything.
Yet the child of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki had such a terrible personality.
It was completely unbelievable.
Even though Kurama had already concluded that its host was a little devil, Naruto Uzumaki still managed to shatter its worldview.
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, the man who will become Hokage in the future. Why would I steal something? Don't slander me."
Having successfully "borrowed" the weapon, Naruto Uzumaki looked completely righteous.
"How did you even grow up like this…"
Kurama had watched this brat since childhood.
Yet it still couldn't understand how things had turned out this way.
Perhaps…
Among all jinchuriki, Naruto Uzumaki was the worst of them all.
Naruto Uzumaki suddenly stopped walking.
Kurama didn't understand why.
"Their eyes…"
An empty space suddenly opened in the busy street.
The moment people noticed Naruto Uzumaki, they stopped walking.
Like machines following a single command, the villagers stared at him with cold expressions.
Fear.
Disgust.
Hatred.
All kinds of emotions filled their eyes.
The trauma left behind by the Nine-Tails still lingered.
Even after so many years, the wounds from that disaster had not healed.
This bustling street suddenly fell silent because of Naruto Uzumaki's presence.
The shouting of vendors faded away.
Even the merchants who had been loudly advertising their goods fell quiet.
They glared at Naruto Uzumaki just like the rest of the crowd.
Kurama said nothing.
A gust of wind blew past, carrying a dry leaf across the road.
The winter air was cold.
Wearing his bright orange short-sleeved jacket, Naruto Uzumaki stood out sharply from the crowd.
"Your gaze is even more disgusting than theirs."
If the villagers' expressions were normal reactions from ordinary people…
Then Naruto Uzumaki's gaze was far worse.
To Kurama, Naruto Uzumaki looked down on everyone like they were insects.
That arrogance…
Even the Uchiha Clan couldn't compare.
The last person who had looked at others that way was Madara Uchiha.
No—
At least Madara Uchiha treated people like ants.
In Naruto Uzumaki's eyes, these people were probably nothing more than walking two-legged creatures.
Step.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Naruto Uzumaki walked forward.
The pedestrians automatically parted to make way for him.
Then came the whispers behind him.
"The demon fox…"
"A monster…"
"He's out again…"
Soon, Naruto Uzumaki stopped in front of a mask shop.
Various masks were displayed across the storefront.
Some resembled Anbu masks.
Others looked like masks worn by villains.
Naruto Uzumaki found them quite interesting.
The moment he appeared, the already small number of customers outside the shop immediately disappeared.
The shop owner became furious.
He was a man in his forties.
He struggled to support himself with the store's modest income.
And since he had been single for years, his temper was rather bad.
The moment he saw Naruto Uzumaki, he immediately shouted.
"Get lost, brat!"
The mask shop owner's anger seemed to trigger something in the crowd.
Or perhaps it simply gave them an outlet.
People began smiling faintly, revealing the darker side of human nature.
They were eager to see the shop owner teach this "demon fox" brat a lesson.
"I was just passing by."
Naruto Uzumaki turned around and prepared to leave.
Smack!
Something hit the back of his head.
A mask.
"Take that mask and get out of here! After you touched it, no one will want to buy it anymore!"
The shop owner seemed oddly generous.
Naruto Uzumaki stopped and looked down at the mask lying by his feet.
Hated by everyone.
That was Naruto Uzumaki's current reputation in Konoha.
Negative.
"Naruto…"
Among the crowd watching this scene were not only random villagers.
Hinata Hyuga was also there, shopping with her maid Natsu Hyuga.
Seeing Naruto Uzumaki treated like this suddenly made Hinata Hyuga's heart ache.
"Why… why does everyone treat Naruto like this?"
Hinata Hyuga didn't understand.
But instinctively, she stepped forward, wanting to help him.
"Lady Hinata!"
A hand suddenly grabbed her arm.
Hinata Hyuga turned around and saw the cold, serious expression on Natsu Hyuga's face.
The maid who was normally gentle and beautiful now looked frighteningly stern.
"Don't get involved with him."
Natsu Hyuga's voice was cold.
During the Nine-Tails disaster, the Hyuga Clan compound had also suffered damage.
Although their location at the edge of the village had limited the destruction, many clan members had still died while fighting the Nine-Tails.
As someone from the branch family, Natsu Hyuga firmly believed Naruto Uzumaki was the demon fox.
Naturally, she stood on the villagers' side.
"Why?"
Hinata Hyuga couldn't understand.
Children of the younger generation didn't know the truth about the Nine-Tails.
Most were simply told by their parents to stay away from Naruto Uzumaki.
"Lady Hinata, you must never get close to him!"
Natsu Hyuga hesitated but did not explain further.
After all, the Third Hokage had strictly forbidden anyone from speaking about the Nine-Tails.
Over time, it became nothing more than whispered rumors.
"But…"
Hinata Hyuga turned her head again.
Naruto Uzumaki was still standing there, seemingly debating whether to pick up the mask.
Meanwhile, the shop owner continued yelling insults at him.
"Anyway—"
"Hey. Isn't that a bit too much?"
A clear, childish voice suddenly cut through the tense atmosphere.
Everyone turned toward the source.
Standing on a telephone pole across from the mask shop was a child with both hands in their pockets.
Being able to jump that high meant they were definitely not an ordinary civilian child.
Looking down with arrogance was Sako.
"In broad daylight, you're bullying a kid. Is that how an adult treats people?"
Sako's words immediately stirred the crowd again.
And when Hinata Hyuga saw this girl suddenly appear to defend Naruto Uzumaki—
Her beautiful face alone made Hinata Hyuga feel a strange sense of danger.
Thump.
Thump.
The faint sound of blood rushing through her veins echoed.
Veins bulged around her eyes as she unconsciously activated the Byakugan.
In an instant, Hinata Hyuga confirmed something.
"She's… a girl…"