Chapter-11

"That you're not prepared for reality. Do you think the people you'll face in the future will care if they're girls or boys? No, they'll grab you by the neck and rip off your head. That's the best-case scenario," he stated in a solemn tone. Pressing the sword against Bakugo's head, tension rippled through the onlookers. The Uzumaki turned his gaze toward Midoriya, causing him to stiffen. "Midoriya, pick up the kunai from the ground," he instructed, and the green-haired youth hesitantly obeyed, taking the knife. "Now, either kill Uraraka, or I kill Bakugo."

A heavy silence settled over the area, but before anyone could react, All Might intervened, forcefully separating the shinobi from Bakugo. The Uzumaki calmly sheathed his sword, looking at the terrified students. He had just presented them with a choice: to kill a friend or an innocent girl.

"You're a monster," Ochako whispered, her words audible to everyone. She stepped back, avoiding the gaze of the blonde, who casually adjusted his bandages around his forehead and right eye.

"I'm a survivor. If you're determined to pursue this hero path, know that you'll face such decisions frequently. If you lack the courage to make the right choice, someone else will decide for you, and you won't like the outcome," he warned. Without further ado, the shinobi left at a leisurely pace, leaving the bewildered students in his wake.

"Class is over for today. You may go," declared All Might, and the teenagers departed, heaving sighs of relief. All Might rubbed his forehead wearily. There were cameras throughout the room and the training area where the fight had taken place. The boy's abilities were astonishing, but his ideals…

They weren't what such a young boy should have.

….

As hours passed in the lower areas of the city, in the apartments where the shinobi resided, he sat on his bed wearing only the lower part of his clothing. The teenager had removed his bandages, contemplating them for a moment. "Are you going to cry, or are you just thinking about the thrashing you gave those kids?" Kitsune's comment earned a sigh from the shinobi, and he flopped back onto the bed.

"They're just children... It's better for them to enjoy this stage. All I did was give them a small taste of what awaits them," the shinobi spoke aloud, unconcerned about speaking to himself when he was alone.

"You're sentimental... I'm going to sleep," Kitsune declared before cutting the mental connection, leaving the blonde alone as he sat on his bed.

The Uzumaki gazed into the distance, his sword in hand, contemplating it. How much time had passed since he arrived? Closing his eyes, he let the sword fall onto the bed beside him and decided to rest.

He had just broken one of his most important rules, and now he was paying the price.

At the borders of the Land of Water, near the Village of Rain, the dark sky was momentarily illuminated by lightning from an ominous storm that only deepened the darkness. Amidst the gloomy landscape, numerous fallen trees and large craters scarred the terrain.

In proximity to this scene lay a badly injured teenager with blonde hair. His left arm hung limply from serious fractures, dressed only in dark pants that exposed his torso, marred by dark bruises. One of his eyes remained closed, leaving the other to shine brightly with his Sharingan.

The teenager breathed heavily, his right hand retrieving a parchment from his backpack. Struggling with the rain-soaked parchment, he let it fall, allowing the heavy rain to drench it. With exhaustion evident, he used his blood-stained fingers to write upon it. After a few moments, he closed the parchment.

With his only available arm, he formed hand seals, causing a crow to appear amidst an explosion of smoke. "Take it... now." Following the command, the crow grasped the scroll with its talons and took flight. Gazing at the sky, the blonde observed his summoning disappear into the rain. Weakened, he leaned against a nearby tree, closing his eyes.

" Tired?" The teenager reacted instantly, leaping away to avoid an unseen force that obliterated the tree and left a crater. In the distance, he spotted a dark silhouette draped in a cloak adorned with red clouds emerging from the trees. The assailant was an adult man with orange hair and facial piercings, small dark steel cylinders. His silver eyes bore a ringed pattern around the pupils.

" If there is a God... it wouldn't be you, Pain." Wearily, the blonde sank to his knees, gazing at his attacker who displayed nothing but indifference. "So, are you going to kill me now, huh? After all these years of friendship and service... What a lousy friend." The Shinobi's mocking words only prompted the Rinnegan user to raise his right hand and point it at him. In response, the teenager gulped and adopted a defensive stance.

" I've always been impressed by your sense of humor. It's been a pleasure, Uzumaki Naruto." With a glint in his eyes, he conjured an invisible force from thin air, obliterating more than 400 meters of forest beside the blonde Shinobi, who was flung away by the gravitational slingshot. As he soared through the air, the teenager controlled his movements, eventually landing safely. Lowering his hand, the orange-haired man turned and sauntered at a leisurely pace back towards the Village hidden in the Rain.