Chapter 41: Is Everyone in Konoha a Prisoner?
The Third Hokage stared at the twelve-year-old boy before him, his heart filled with mixed emotions.
Even though he had witnessed everything with his own eyes, it still felt unreal.
How could a child of this age possess such terrifying strength?
From what he knew, even the God of Shinobi, the First Hokage Hashirama Senju, and Uchiha Madara did not have this level of power at Naruto's age.
"Naruto… Grandpa… Grandpa wants to ask you for something. Is that okay?" the Third said somewhat awkwardly.
After everything that had happened these past few days, he no longer knew how to face Naruto.
Even the word "Grandpa" came out stiff and unnatural.
"No," Naruto refused without hesitation.
This almost heartless answer made the Third even more embarrassed.
Having been Hokage for decades, this feeling of being looked down upon was something he hadn't experienced in a long time.
The Third's eyes dimmed. He felt a pang of sorrow at how insignificant he had become in Naruto's eyes.
But for the sake of Konoha, he still decided to set aside his pride and do everything in his power to persuade him.
"Wait, Naruto."
"Grandpa knows that you have suffered a lot over the years, and all of it was caused by my decisions."
"Those villagers… they were just deceived. Can we change the condition of imprisoning them for twelve years? They don't deserve that."
"If you're still angry, then as punishment, you can deal with me—the main culprit—however you want."
"Also, with your talent, in a few years I can recommend you as a candidate for Hokage. When you become Hokage, those villagers who once cursed you will all look up to you."
"Please, Grandpa is begging you, okay?"
The Third's tearful and sincere speech even moved himself.
However, what he received in return was Naruto's laughter.
"Me? Become Hokage? Hahahaha!"
The more Naruto thought about it, the funnier it seemed. Tears even welled up in the corners of his eyes.
Since coming to this world, he had never laughed so heartily before.
Seeing Naruto laugh, the Third initially thought that the position of Hokage — something every villager in Konoha dreamed of — had sparked desire in Naruto.
But gradually, he sensed something wrong from that laughter.
Naruto laughed for more than ten seconds before stopping.
"So your idea is to make me become Hokage, work myself to the bone, and protect such a group of repulsive idiots?"
"Hokage? Even dogs wouldn't want that job!"
These heart-piercing words left the Third frozen in place.
[Hokage… even dogs wouldn't want it?]
The Third chewed on this extremely mocking sentence in his mind.
To say something like that meant the speaker truly didn't care about the position of Hokage at all.
In fact, he felt deep disgust toward it from the bottom of his heart.
But why?
This was the leader of an entire village — respected and admired wherever he went.
With the Third's narrow mindset, trapped behind the walls of power, he simply couldn't understand Naruto's way of thinking.
The Third looked a little lost and brought out his final "trump card."
"Naruto, do you still remember the 'Will of Fire' that Grandpa taught you when you were little?"
"Where the leaves of Konoha fly, the fire burns eternally… Your way of doing things is not…"
"Fly my ass! It's more like trash!"
Before the Third could finish, Naruto interrupted him.
"Sending five-year-old children to the battlefield while you old fossils hide safely in Konoha — that's your Will of Fire?"
"Sacrificing others to illuminate yourself — that's the Will of Fire, right? How truly noble!"
Naruto's merciless words pierced straight into the Third's heart like arrows.
His face turned pale. He opened his mouth, wanting to refute something.
But Naruto didn't give him the chance to waste more words. After leaving one final sentence, he activated Flying Thunder God and disappeared from the spot.
"Three days later, I will give you the list. Within one week, I want to see all those people escorted to the islands of the Land of Whirlpools!"
After Naruto disappeared, the Third felt as if all his strength had left him.
That night, the commotion caused by Naruto was seen by many people from the outskirts and quickly spread throughout all of Konoha.
And the statement Naruto made about imprisoning Konoha's "criminals" also inexplicably spread everywhere.
In less than half a day, it had reached every corner of the village!
For a while, Konoha was filled with panic. Everyone felt uneasy and in danger.
Especially those who had once cursed Naruto or thrown stones and garbage at him — they were even more worried.
But there were also stubborn people who simply refused to believe Naruto would dare do such a thing.
"What are you afraid of?! It's just a demon fox — can it really turn the sky upside down? The Hokage will definitely take action!"
"Yes, yes! There are so many great clans! With so many of us, are we really afraid of it?!"
"Want to imprison us? How ridiculous! The one who should be locked up is that damn demon fox!"
By afternoon, some people even started organizing a protest march!
As the march continued, the number of participants grew larger and larger, forming a dense crowd.
Among them were people filled with hatred toward Naruto, anger, and fear…
They held banners of all sizes and shouted slogans in unison.
"Exterminate the demon fox! Bring peace back to Konoha!"
"Kill the demon fox! Seek justice for the dead!"
It even sounded a little rhythmic at first!
Inside the Hokage Building, the Third, who was already overwhelmed and thinking of countermeasures, heard that the residents had started a march to exterminate the demon fox. His eyes immediately rolled back and he nearly fainted on the spot.
"Quick! Immediately send people to stop them! Use force if necessary! Hurry!"
The Third's voice trembled with rage!
The Anbu in front of him was about to accept the order and leave.
But as he stood up and prepared to use the Body Flicker Technique to depart, a streak of golden light flashed into the Hokage's office.
A fair, slender hand gently pressed down on the Anbu's shoulder, easily interrupting his Body Flicker.
The Anbu subconsciously tried to break free from that hand, but when his gaze shifted and saw the energetic, blond-haired boy's face beside him, his momentum instantly vanished.
He was one of the Anbu who had survived last night's battle.
Naruto's terrifying strength was still fresh in his mind.
That oppressive feeling — he had never even felt it from the Hokage.
At this moment, he no longer had any will to fight. It all turned into cold sweat on his forehead.
"Lord Hokage, I know you're anxious, but don't rush just yet."
"Come, let's have a cup of tea together and let the bullet fly for a while."
Even though the protest march outside was clearly targeting him, Naruto looked relaxed and carefree, as if none of it had anything to do with him.
As he spoke, he lightly chopped the back of the Anbu's neck with a hand blade, knocking him unconscious.
Familiar with the place, he walked over to the Hokage's desk and picked up the teapot.
Finding it empty, he flicked his finger and used an extremely subtle and delicate Water Release technique.
In mid-air, a small stream of water appeared out of nowhere.
Then came Wind Release, which lifted the teapot into the air. The lid opened by itself.
The water, as if coming to life, jumped with delight and poured into the teapot.
After that, a small flame appeared at the bottom of the teapot and began boiling the tea.
The Third stared blankly at the bizarre scene before him.
As the Professor of Ninjutsu, he had perfect control over all five nature releases.
But even he could only watch in awe and feel ashamed of his own inferiority at Naruto's exquisite and flawless technique.
From creating Tailed Beast Bombs to using ninjutsu to make tea — what a terrifying talent…
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