Naruto's consciousness space.
"Who are you? Why can you control my body?"
Opposite Naruto was a person entirely shrouded in shadows, making it hard to see clearly.
Previously, it was also this person who had controlled his body and launched a counterattack.
Although the Kushina in the shadows very much wanted to reunite with her son, in order to erase the Third Hokage's influence as soon as possible, she had to endure at this moment.
"Just treat me as Uzumaki," Kushina sighed in her heart and steeled herself to act with Naruto.
The altered voice came through, and Naruto immediately became excited.
"Uzumaki? The same Uzumaki as me?", A child's attention shifts quickly, he immediately forgot about being controlled.
"I am your clansman," Kushina added.
"Clansman?", Naruto's eyes gradually lit up.
"That's great, that's great!"
"I have a clansman! I'm not alone anymore!"
Naruto happily ran around in the consciousness space.
Seeing her son like this, Kushina trembled with heartache.
'Hiruzen, you bastard!'
When Naruto finally calmed down, he continued to ask, "Uzumaki, why are you here, why can you control my body, and how did you know someone was nearby?"
Naruto asked three questions in a row, very excited.
Maybe he didn't really care about the answers, what he cared about was having someone to keep him company.
"The reason I appeared here, I can't tell you for now, including the thing about being able to control your body."
"You mustn't tell anyone, especially the Third Hokage."
"Huh? Why?", Naruto trusted the Third Hokage very much right now.
Kushina snorted coldly, "Because the Third Hokage isn't a good person."
"That's not true! Grandpa Third is the best to me!", Naruto loudly refuted.
Rengoku had already done enough mental preparation for Kushina, so even though she heard Naruto say this, she held back her anger.
Kushina said coldly, "Those people were placed around you by the Third Hokage to monitor you."
"They would rather watch you get beaten than come out, they didn't show up. Do you still think the Third Hokage is a good person?"
"Or do you think they were just passing by?"
Naruto instinctively made excuses for them, "No way! Grandpa Third wouldn't do that! They must've just been passing nearby."
Kushina didn't argue with Naruto and just said, "If you want to know who your father and mother are, then you can't let the Third Hokage know I exist."
"Father and mother?"
"Hey! Uzumaki! Uzumaki…"
The entire world suddenly collapsed, and a hazy light appeared before Naruto's eyes.
———
Naruto groggily woke up.
Naruto found himself lying at home, and standing by the bed was the Third Hokage.
"Grandpa Third, you're here!", Naruto's first reaction upon seeing the Third Hokage was still happiness.
Because the Third Hokage regularly gave him money.
Seeing the Third Hokage meant he wouldn't go hungry for a while.
The Third Hokage looked at Naruto's happy face, feeling satisfied, 'All those years of brainwashing Naruto weren't in vain.'
He feigned seriousness and said, "Didn't I tell you not to fight? This time, you almost beat that person to death."
Naruto anxiously said, "No, it wasn't me… it was…"
He suddenly remembered what Uzumaki had said, ("If you want to know who your father and mother are, then you can't let the Third Hokage know I exist.")
"It was… they threw rocks at me."
"They even stomped on the rice ball I bought. That was the last of my money," Naruto stammered, hiding Kushina's existence.
This kind of stammering after doing something wrong didn't raise the Third Hokage's suspicion.
Because while Naruto was unconscious, the Third Hokage had already checked.
Naruto's seal was intact, and there was no sign of a Jinchūriki rampage.
From the Third's point of view, Naruto's counterattack was just too strong.
"But you still shouldn't have hit so hard. You almost beat him to death."
Naruto felt a bit wronged. He was surrounded and beaten by four people, and no one came to help him.
A child's emotions are written on their face. Seeing Naruto's aggrieved look, the Third Hokage changed his tone, "You have to be kind. Although they hit you, they've already been punished. You need to learn to forgive."
"Don't fight anymore in the future, understand?"
Naruto pouted, looking unhappy.
Kushina's voice suddenly echoed in Naruto's mind, ["Kindness built upon others' suffering is the most hypocritical kind of kindness."]
At this moment, the Third Hokage took out a thousand-yen bill, "I've been a bit busy lately and can't visit often. Spend this sparingly, okay?"
Naruto was stunned.
The Third Hokage saw Naruto dazed and thought he was touched.
Satisfied, he shoved the money into Naruto's hand.
"Alright, I bought food for you, eat first."
"I'll be going now. I'll visit you again next time," Saying that, the Third Hokage directly left Naruto's house.
The Sarutobi clan's people were moving tonight, and with so many people involved, he had to properly arrange things first.
"Uzumaki, are you still there?", After the Third Hokage left, Naruto sneakily whispered.
["Just think in your mind, no need to speak."]
"Oh, oh…", Naruto responded twice, then quickly covered his mouth.
Luckily, the Third Hokage had just left, and the Anbu were still guarding outside the house. Otherwise, Naruto would've been discovered right away.
Naruto looked around like a thief.
["Don't worry, the Anbu are all outside your room."]
After hearing Uzumaki's words, Naruto finally felt at ease.
He started asking in his head, 'Grandpa Third really assigned Anbu to watch me from outside my house?'
Kushina didn't directly answer Naruto's question but asked instead, ["You were bullied and insulted, did it hurt?"]
Naruto sat up, hugged his knees, and seemed to fall into painful memories, 'Mm.'
["Then the Third Hokage tells you to be kind and to forgive, doesn't that make it hypocritical?"]
Naruto looked a little sullen. He didn't want to forgive those people, but the Third told him not to fuss over it. Otherwise, he would've already fought back.
Right now, Naruto was only 7 years old and hadn't yet reached the age where he could cause trouble everywhere.
At this stage, he couldn't even eat enough, let alone go out painting graffiti.
["Do you know why the Anbu are monitoring you and never help you?"]
Kushina continued guiding Naruto step by step.
Naruto shook his head in confusion, 'If the Third Hokage is a good person, then why has the Anbu never helped me even once?'
["Because, as long as the Third Hokage shows up at the end to comfort you, you will feel grateful to him."]
'Why is that?', Naruto completely didn't understand why the Third Hokage would do this.
[T/N: Some of you may be confused about various punctuation in my novels, so here's a rundown—
'xxx' : The subject is thinking something.
"xxx" : The subject is saying something using their mouth.
[xxx] : The subject is reading something that is written.
("xxx") : The subject is recollecting something said in the past.
["xxx"] : Third party is saying something to the subject using indirect means.
Hope this helps, have a great read~]
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