Turning off the device, the dragon woman felt dirty after seeing such comments and even videos of people who did not hold back their hatred against the shinobi. There were thousands of comments, and apparently almost all of them were bad, with the purpose of harassing the blue-eyed student.
"..." The students were not any better off, as some felt bad about the way their classmate was being attacked.
"How can he still be at UA?" Mirko asked herself, feeling a pang of guilt. She wouldn't deny that she might have thought the same as those who wrote those comments, but to say it so bluntly and with such personal insults was too much. "How can I bear such harsh hatred against you?" the white-haired girl thought silently, looking at the teenager, who remained impassive.
"Naruto-kun…" Ibara worriedly approached the shinobi a little closer to look at him sadly. "What they said… isn't true," she said confidently, looking into the eyes of the Uzumaki, who only remained silent.
"Yeah, dude, they're just a bunch of idiots. You shouldn't listen to them," Kirishima said cheerfully, and the others followed suit.
"Even if you're a little crazy, it doesn't mean you're not great."
"Yes, you saved our skins several times. You're our hero."
"Mr. Bigotes is undoubtedly a great person who, although he has his imperfections, is a good person at the end of the day."
Several students from Class A, and a few from Class B, didn't hesitate to cheer up their classmate, who didn't deserve to be discriminated against in such a low way by the rest of the class. Naruto just sat there, blinking in surprise that the students were trying to cheer him up. Unable to help himself, the shinobi simply nodded, offering a small smile to his classmates.
"Thank you for your support..." he said sincerely.
"I... I'm sorry..." Taking the floor, the heroine wanted to apologize to her blond student. She should have checked his public image before showing it to his classmates. She felt like a fool. "I think it's best if I go to sleep..."
"Why?" Stopping Ryukyu from leaving, Naruto just smiled reassuringly. "There's no need to leave just for that... you wanted to know what I think of heroes, right? Well, since we're here, I don't see why not."
"Seriously?" The hopeful dragon woman sat down next to Mt. Lady and Mandalay.
"Yes..." With a sigh, Naruto crossed his arms and closed his eyes for a moment. "What does it mean to be a hero? That's a difficult question, since few ever become one, because that title isn't one you give yourself, but rather one the people around you give you... Although sometimes people can be hypocritical."
"Hypocrites?" asked Ochako curiously, who, like her other companions, listened expectantly to the shinobi.
"Yes, there are people who will say that some only want to be heroes because they expect something in return—money, admiration, recognition—these are the most basic things any human being would like to obtain…" Naruto said calmly, keeping his gaze on the fire. "And they're not wrong, since the hypocrisy of a hero is expecting something in return for a good deed. Why put so much effort into something if you won't receive any recognition?"
"Well, that's part of being a hero. For every good deed, something good should happen to you," Sero questioned doubtfully, gaining the support of several of his companions.
"That's what should happen... but what if it doesn't?" The shinobi's question confused several of them. "What if you try to do only the right thing, but only earn people's contempt, their hatred, and dislike? Would you still be heroes? Even if you weren't paid or admired by the population? Would you stay in a job that doesn't value you? Even when you know that what you did was right?"
"..." Several of the students looked at each other doubtfully. Would it be worth being a hero, saving people who would then treat you like garbage? Maybe it sounded crazy, but it was a possibility.
"The path of a hero is not easy; sometimes you must even sacrifice yourself for the greater good, thinking that perhaps you changed the world for the better... or you just die like a nobody whom no one will remember or mourn..."
"You don't have to say it so bluntly," complained Aizawa, who had heard the Uzumaki's words. He wouldn't deny that he was impressed, as were his colleagues, who were silently listening to the shinobi.
"You chose to be heroes of your own free will," the blond shinobi said, looking up at the students. "Some of you did it because you don't want others to go through the same thing, to prevent them from experiencing the pain you yourselves have endured..." His gaze briefly shifted to Shiori. "It could also be simply because you want recognition and money." The shinobi didn't hesitate to glance at Bakugo and Ochako, the latter smiling awkwardly. "Or others who do it simply because, above all else, even above their own lives, they do this because it's the right thing to do..." Smiling, the shinobi gave Izuku a discreet look.
"And you... why do you want to be a hero?" Shinzo asked, looking at the Uzumaki, who remained motionless for a moment.
"I don't know... I guess now it's just... because I want to do it," he said dismissively, shrugging his shoulders. "That's why I don't care how many times they insult or hate me. I'm not a 'hero' seeking admiration or fanaticism from the population. I only do it because I want to... because I know there are people worth saving."
"He's a saint~" More than one person moved away from Ryukyu, who was crying her eyes out, fascinated by the teenager's words. She used a handkerchief that Mt. Lady extended to her and sniffed loudly.
"I'll give it to you." Mt. Lady just smiled in a forced way when she saw that the dragon woman wanted to return her used handkerchief.
"I'm not," Naruto said, smiling at the unusual heroine's reaction. He shrugged. "But anyway, being a true hero is difficult, and the few people I consider true heroes... are All Might and Midoriya."
"Me?!" the freckled teenager screamed in panic, feeling the gazes of all his classmates and the pro heroes on him.
"All Might is a symbol, a being who has risen so high that people consider him a messiah, someone who will always be there to save the day and whose mere presence gives you confidence that everything will be alright… I've never met anyone like him," admitted the shinobi, who frankly knew that if someone like All Might came to the shinobi world, he would be ridiculed by many, since wishing for and maintaining peace in such a chaotic world would be impossible, or at least that's what they would think. "I've researched enough to know that since All Might appeared, the crime rate has fallen. I know he has defeated great villains who were previously untouchable and who have only wreaked havoc on the world. He certainly deserves the name 'Symbol of Peace.'"
"Why me?" Drawing attention, Midoriya met Uzumaki's gaze. "Why would someone as weak as me be compared to All Might?" he asked, almost annoyed. He had been a nobody his whole life, and to be compared to his greatest hero was almost painful for him.
"Since when does being the strongest or most powerful mean being a hero?" Naruto asked mockingly, looking at his student. "Don't confuse power with being the best... many people have had power and only shown how low they can sink." With a more serious tone, the teenager looked at his classmates. "Everyone remembers people like Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great, and Hernán Cortés from legends or stories. They were people who proclaimed themselves heroes, but nothing could be further from the truth. They only spread violence, hatred, and pain throughout the world..."
"I never saw it that way..." Kaminari whispered ruefully, rubbing his neck uncomfortably, thinking of those who achieved so much in the past and were called heroes, but in truth were just people who looked out for themselves.
"Hercules... Achilles... Hector." Drawing the attention of several, a static Yui looked thoughtfully at the shinobi. "In their time, they were glorified as heroes... but from the current perspective, they were monsters who left a bad image in their own nations," explained the black-haired, blue-eyed girl, curious about the course of this conversation, which was very much to her liking.
"Yes..." Hearing what the teenager said, the shinobi nodded, continuing, "...it's sad to know that with all the power they had, they only used it to carry that emptiness within themselves, although the source of all evil will always be thinking that we are the heroes of our own stories."
"What do you mean?" asked a curious Tokoyami this time.
"Do you think heroes are the only ones with conviction?" Shaking his head, Uzumaki sighed and rubbed his eyes. This conversation was dragging on longer than necessary, or perhaps not. "You may not see it this way... but even villains are people who had their pasts, where perhaps they only knew suffering. As a consequence, this will lead them down a bad path, or worse, they will just be people who want to watch the world burn."
"What?" One of the students in Class B shuddered, uneasy.
"In this world, there will be people who, since childhood, have grown up with the idea that breaking the rules... is fun; as they grow up, they will only want to see the world around them crumble, so that it becomes as twisted and dark as themselves."
"Have you ever come across people like that?" Bakugo's question, his first of the night, caught everyone's attention and made them look at the Uzumaki, who remained still for a moment.
[ If you want to read advance Chapters then go to Pat reon and support me there as I have already uploaded advance Chapters there.
PAT REON I'D:- Skythe ]