"Look, it's that guy!"

  "Isn't he supposed to be dead?"

  "No wonder I tripped in the bathroom yesterday. It's all his fault."

  "That damn demon fox…"

  "Shut up! Have you forgotten Sandaime-sama’s orders?"

  "Ugh, why does Sandaime-sama always favor that monster?"

  "..."

  The truth was, even though Naruto had been absent from the vilge for nearly a year, the vilgers' malice toward him hadn't diminished in the slightest. In fact, thanks to Hiruzen's unnecessary orders, it had only grown stronger.

  Naruto ignored the disgusted, hateful gres and malice around him, calmly walking the path back home. Only shallow-minded people would get angry over curses and insults. Naruto, on the other hand, would raise the entire vilge's average strength to Kage-level and lead everyone to become the next Sage of the Six Paths.

  Truly the perfect example of repaying evil with kindness.

  "Hey, you! You bumped into us, you know?"

  "Huh?" Naruto suddenly heard a commotion and turned to see a familiar figure. His expression shifted slightly in surprise.

  Several taller boys had surrounded a small girl wearing a light pink yukata.

  "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to." The girl stammered, her face filled with fear. Her porcein-like skin, rosy cheeks, short hair, delicate features, and the distinctive Byakugan in her eyes all pointed to her identity.

  Hyuga Hinata.

  However, the group of kids surrounding her didn’t seem to recognize the prestige of the Hyuga Cn. One of the boys roughly shoved her. Caught off guard by the sudden aggression, Hinata fell to the ground, and her yukata was stained with dirt.

  As she fell, her Byakugan was exposed, causing the boys to pause for a moment before bursting into ughter.

  "Hahahaha, look at her eyes."

  "They're white! She's another monster."

  "Just like that thing over there."

  "Since she’s also a monster, let's stone her to death."

  The four kids picked up rocks from the ground, ready to throw them at Hinata.

  The malice of children was the purest form of malice, unreted to politics or personal gain. Simply because someone was different, they could be treated with the deepest hatred.

  Naruto couldn’t help but find it ironic, ‘Hyuga Cn is the second rgest cn in Konoha after Uchiha Cn. Now, even their eldest daughter can be bullied by ordinary civilians like this?’

  "I didn't expect that even after a year, you're still the same."

  Naruto's voice suddenly rang out behind the group, startling the four kids. Hinata, who had been curled up on the ground, peeked out from behind her arms, her eyes lighting up with recognition.

  Naruto and Hinata had met before, about a year and a half ago, shortly after Naruto had first arrived in this world. The scene back then had been almost identical to this one.

  Back then, Naruto had just gained the Chakra Mastery and hadn’t yet mastered his strength. He had ended up sending those bullies to the hospital. He had cried and regretted it for a long time, barely managing to smooth things over with Hiruzen.

  "You... you're that monster!"

  "Didn’t Sandaime-sama execute you?"

  "You really are a monster, aren’t you?"

  "Th-the monster’s going to eat us."

  The four boys stared at Naruto as he approached, their voices trembling. The Naruto of today was no longer the scrawny kid they remembered. His massive Chakra Reserves, combined with a year and a half of rigorous training and good nutrition, had transformed him. His muscur build and towering height compared to his peers made the boys freeze in fear.

  "Na-Naruto-kun!"

  Hinata stood up, her face filled with joy. Ever since Naruto had helped her a year ago, she had wanted to thank him in person but had never gotten the chance.

  Naruto ignored the four ‘inherently evil Konoha brats’ and walked up to Hinata, his expression filled with disappointment.

  "Naruto-kun?"

  Hinata looked up at him, her eyes wide with confusion and a hint of hurt. In Naruto’s demeanor, she suddenly saw a reflection of her father.

  "The monster’s going to eat the monster! Let’s run!"

  "Run!"

  Seeing that the ‘demon fox’ wasn’t paying attention to them, the four boys scattered and fled.

  "Dealing with them wouldn’t have been hard, right?"

  'Naruto-kun's voice was a little stern... it reminds me of Father.’

  “Father said... we shouldn’t use our strength to hurt others... It wouldn’t be good if they got hurt.” Hinata mumbled, her voice barely audible as she stared at the ground.

  “So you have power but refuse to use it? You’d rather get hurt yourself than harm others?” Naruto stared at Hinata, who kept her head down, his disappointment growing.

  “I thought we could have been good friends.”

  Naruto’s tone was filled with regret. Hearing this, Hinata instinctively looked up at him, her snow-white Byakugan eyes filled with panic.

  She didn’t understand. After all, st time, when Naruto had saved her, he chased away her bullies, and even held her hand as he walked her home. He had been so kind back then. Why didn’t he want to be friends with her now?

  “Why... why doesn't Naruto-kun...?”

  Hinata was frantic, so much so that she could barely speak.

  Her pure eyes had grown misty, tears welling up like a clear spring in the snow, pitiful and heart-wrenching.

  Naruto's expression remained unchanged. He wanted Hinata to change. If she remained as passive as she had been in the original work, she would only be a burden to him.

  After all, in Konoha, Hinata was one of the few who harbored no malice toward him. Even Hiruzen, who had always been kind to him, occasionally radiated malice. That was why he wanted to guide Hinata, to prevent her from being brainwashed by the ‘Will of Fire’.

  After spending so long in the darkness, he yearned for a bit of light.

  This reunion had brought him nothing but joy and excitement from Hinata. Her emotions were so pure and clean, untainted. But if she remained this weak, getting too close would only hurt them both.

  "Did you see the look in their eyes?" Naruto suddenly gnced at the crowd that had inexplicably begun to gather. Each person carried a disgusting level of malice, with a few particurly intense ones scattered among them.

  ‘Heh, another one of those old men’s little tricks?'

  "Why... why?" Hinata also noticed the vilgers gathering. Each of them looked at Naruto with eyes that screamed, ‘Why aren't you dead yet?’. This only deepened her pain.

  "Because of your weakness, they don’t even see you as a presence."

  Naruto's gaze wasn’t on Hinata but fixed on the crowd surrounding him.

  In the crowd, he spotted the group of kids from earlier, standing beside their parents, whispering and snickering, as if they were on some moral high ground, pying the victims.

  Hinata saw it too, ‘Why? Why was Naruto-kun, who had helped me, being treated like the vilin?’

  The noise from the crowd grew louder.

  "Is that guy going to hurt someone again?"

  "I knew something would happen as soon as that guy showed up in the vilge."

  "Sure enough, that monster should be driven out!"

  "Hey! Sandaime-sama’s orders..."

  "Forget the orders! That demon fox is going to hurt someone again."

  "Is that little girl his next target?"

  "Is this monster going to eat her?"

  "Someone call Sandaime-sama! Drive that monster out!"

  The vilgers' malice grew thicker, but Naruto remained calm. His heart didn’t waver in the slightest.

  "That's not true!"

  A soft but firm voice suddenly rang out, cutting through the noise. The malicious chatter came to an abrupt halt.

  Naruto looked at Hinata in surprise. Her face was flushed, her hands tightly gripping the hem of her yukata. Though her whole body trembled with fear, she mustered all her strength to shout.

  "Naruto-kun isn’t a bad person! He saved me! Naruto-kun is a good person!"

  For the first time, Hinata bravely raised her voice. She didn’t want to see the disappointment in Naruto's eyes. For the first time, she stood against the vilge.

  However, the ignorant vilgers couldn’t see the truth.

  "That little girl must have been threatened by the demon fox."

  "Damn it, it's really an evil demon fox."

  "He dares to threaten vilgers? Why hasn’t the Military Police Force shown up yet?"

  "Drive him out!"

  "Drive him out!"

  In an instant, the crowd erupted in anger. Hinata realized her expnation had backfired, and panic set in. She wanted to shout again, but a small hand gently rested on her head.

  "Okay, that's enough."

  Hinata suddenly met a pair of gentle, sky-blue eyes.

  "Hinata, you should leave now. Things might get dangerous."

  He had already noticed some vilgers picking up stones.

  "No, I..."

  Tears welled up in Hinata's eyes. She wanted to stand by Naruto's side.

  "Young dy." At this moment, a Hyuga Ninja appeared in front of Hinata. His arrival caused the angry vilgers to falter.

  After all, they were just civilians, and they couldn’t afford to provoke a Ninja.

  The Hyuga Ninja directly stepped between Naruto and Hinata, looked at Naruto defensively, and said to Naruto with disgust: "Stay away from the young dy, you demon..."

  His voice caught in his throat as he met Naruto's eyes, which now glowed with a needle-like red light. He was too terrified to speak.

  "That’s not true! It’s not like that!" Hinata cried, trying to expin, but the Hyuga Ninja scooped her up and ran as fast as he could. He swore he had never run this fast, not even when dodging kunai from Kumogakure Ninja.

  ‘That thing really is a monster!’

  The Hyuga Ninja was the first to realize this, ‘I thought it was just a rumor...’

  The departure of the Hyuga Ninja reignited the vilgers' anger, making it even more explosive.

  "Get out of our vilge!"

  Swoosh-

  The sound of something cutting through the air rang out. A stone struck Naruto's head, instantly drawing blood that stained half his face.

  When Hinata saw this, her vision turned red. She felt as if she were in a blood-soaked world, where the gentle, small Naruto was being devoured by a group of monsters.

  ‘It's all because of me...’

  'I’m still too weak.'

  Naruto wiped the blood from his face, calmly watching as eggs, vegetables, and stones were hurled at him.

  ‘If only I had the power to destroy the entire vilge in one blow, like Pain, I wouldn’t have to endure this humiliation.’

  [Ding!]