Chapter 31

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Chapter 31: The Path the Sandaime Wants Naruto to Take

"Really..."

Everyone else in the classroom was listening to the lecture quietly, and no one paid any attention to what was happening in the last row.

Even Iruka, who had always been paying attention to Naruto from the podium, seemed to have temporarily forgotten his existence.

"You... you know?"

Ryosuke's calm answer and expression stunned the nervous and conflicted Naruto.

But after a while, he seemed to remember something. "Yes, you are from the Hyuga clan, you should know, but..."

From the Third Hokage, he learned about the origin of the fox in his body—the tailed beast.

The tailed beasts are immensely powerful creatures, almost like gods among beasts.

In the ninja world, there are nine tailed beasts, distinguished by the number of tails. The fox in his body is called the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. It is the most powerful of the tailed beasts.

Because the power of the tailed beasts was too strong, the First Hokage, to prevent the ninja world from suffering disasters, suppressed the nine tailed beasts and then divided them equally among the major ninja villages to maintain the balance of the ninja world.

The Nine-Tailed Fox is the tailed beast obtained by the Land of Fire.

And he is the container that imprisons the tailed beast of this generation.

But why was it him, and why did Ryosuke know about this but keep it from him, and why did the Third Hokageonly explain it to him now?

Many questions arose in Naruto's mind, like big hands stirring his restless heart since yesterday.

"We haven't known each other for long, but in my impression, you are a relatively rational person."

Naruto didn't finish his words, but Ryosuke understood what he meant and explained softly, "Although you can think calmly about most things, you are particularly susceptible to being affected by emotions on certain issues and make some wrong judgments."

"Are you afraid that after I know about this, there will be a big reaction? Will it... have an impact on the village?"

Naruto interrupted Ryosuke's words, and his fists, which were already clenched due to nervousness, clenched even tighter, and the chakra in his body surged wildly with his emotions.

To be honest, he had been very excited since he heard the truth. It felt like there was a fire burning in his body, which was about to destroy all his rationality.

He knew he should stay calm, but he couldn't suppress the fire by himself.

With no other friends around him, he was so lonely that he could only ask for help from his deskmate, Ryosuke, who always seemed very gentle.

"I'm not afraid that you'll have an impact on the village. You don't stand a chance."

He could see his excitement, but Ryosuke didn't care and shook his head calmly, "You have no ability to make an impact on the village, even if you have that fox in your belly."

"Since the fox is trapped in your body, it means that the village has no shortage of means to control him."

"I'm mainly afraid that after you know this, you will do something that you will regret in the future."

Ryosuke's tone was calm, and although it did not contain any genjutsu, it made Naruto feel inexplicably calm.

His clenched fists relaxed a little.

Naruto was a little confused about what Ryosuke meant.

"First of all, do you think you are an... alien?" Ryosuke asked again. His face seemed casual and gentle, but his heart was full of vigilance.

Ever since Naruto went to school today, a pair of prying eyes had been lingering around them.

Unlike the previous spying at a distance, this time, Ryosuke could feel it very close...

It's Sarutobi Hiruzen!

Others may not know, but Ryosuke knew exactly who the owner of this gaze was.

The Telescope Technique is a technique performed with the help of special ninja tools. The principle is that as long as you understand the chakra characteristics of a person, you can directly monitor them remotely.

Although the range is limited, this technique can definitely be regarded as a ninjutsu above level A.

And since it is a ninjutsu, there must be traces of chakra.

The reason why Ryosuke was able to sense that Sarutobi Hiruzen was nearby was, on the one hand, because of the enhancement of his sensory ability brought by the Byakugan, but also partly because he had become accustomed to Sarutobi Hiruzen's chakra over the past month.

So, he knew that Sarutobi Hiruzen was nearby, hiding in the dark and observing them, or rather, observing Naruto.

Perhaps since yesterday, when he was entangled by Naruto and had no choice but to tell Naruto the truth, he had been following him secretly until now.

If Naruto's emotions became uncontrollable during this process because of the truth and he was bewitched by the Nine-Tails in his body, perhaps Sarutobi Hiruzen would take direct action to suppress it.

"Alien?"

Naruto laughed miserably, "Am I not? Even in this state, am I not an alien?"

And when this sentence was said, Ryosuke could clearly sense that Sarutobi Hiruzen was standing outside the closed classroom door, most likely with his back against the wall, listening to the conversation here.

His aura leaked out a little because of Naruto's words, allowing Ryosuke, who had only sensed his existence but didn't know his exact location, to realize where he was hiding.

"It doesn't matter how others see you, what matters is how you see yourself."

Ryosuke retracted that calm demeanor and put on a warm smile, "First of all, you must be a person with independent ideas, not some vicious beast."

"You can see yourself as a prison, a tool to hold this brutal beast, but you can also see yourself as a hero, taking on this responsibility for others."

"Hero?"

Naruto seemed to have never thought about this title and was a little bit incredulous.

He didn't think that this title could be applied to him. He was ostracized by the villagers since he was a child. If he were a hero, he should be like the Third Hokage, loved by everyone, right?

"I said, the key is how you identify yourself and how you position yourself." Ryosuke continued, as if explaining his inner thoughts.

"As I recall...your dream is to become Hokage?"

All of a sudden, Naruto's heart, which had been even more confused and tangled, seemed to understand something.

Outside the door, Sarutobi Hiruzen's originally somewhat uneasy aura seemed to stabilize along with Naruto's emotions and Ryosuke's words.

"Compared to other people in the village who have lived a mediocre life and have never made any contributions to the village, you have been carrying the mission of protecting the village since you were born."

"The tailed beast in your body is indeed a very powerful being. Any frenzied riot could directly annihilate a small country, but since you have been the prison that holds it, our village has not suffered any loss. This is what you have done."

Ryosuke stretched out his finger and pointed at Naruto.

"And the current situation is that the villagers don't know what you are carrying. They don't understand what the tailed beast is. Because this matter is a secret, I think the Third Hokage has also reminded you that your existence is very important to the village."

"They are laughing at your dream because of their stupidity and ignorance, thinking it is something impossible to accomplish. But what if one day they understand?"

"If they understand the truth about you one day, will they agree to let you become Hokage?"

"...I."

These few words directly touched Naruto's heart deeply.

His originally dull eyes now shone with light, and he felt his blood boiling. He couldn't wait to see that day, to see the scene in the sun with everyone surrounding him.

At the same time, these words made Sarutobi Hiruzen outside the door have deeper thoughts.

(End of this chapter)

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