Naruto: I, Naruto, don't want to try anymore.

Chapter 11 The So-Called People

"Don't do that... Naruto, they are your parents after all."

Looking at Naruto's distant demeanor, Jiraiya sighed, a hint of guilt flashing in his eyes.

"I've been away from the village these past few years, and I know you've suffered because of it. I know you've been upset, and it's all my fault. As Shuimen's master, I haven't fulfilled my responsibilities."

"But no matter what, now that I'm back, I will never let you suffer like that again! And look, the village has announced your identity, and everyone is starting to accept you. Everything is moving in a good direction, right?"

As Jiraiya spoke, a fawning smile unconsciously appeared on his face, his tone as if he were coaxing a child.

Naruto was shocked to hear this, as if he had seen something incredibly stupid.

"Holy crap... So people can actually laugh when they're completely speechless."

After several seconds of silence, Naruto finally couldn't keep his cold expression any longer and burst out laughing.

"You said...accept me? Why should I need their acceptance? Do I look like some lowly person? Or do I owe them something?"

Jiraiya's smile froze instantly: "That's not what I meant, Naruto, listen to me..."

"No, you've said enough. Now it's your turn to listen to me."

Naruto rubbed his head, looking a bit of a headache: "First of all, Jiraiya... you're a brainless piece of trash. If you weren't still somewhat useful to me, I wouldn't even want to talk to you."

"Trash...trash?!"

Upon hearing this, Jiraiya's mouth dropped open, and his entire demeanor darkened.

"Yeah, trash. Calling you trash is giving you too much credit..."

Naruto scoffed lightly, slowly pulled a piece of jerky from his pocket and put it in his mouth, then put his hands in his pockets and looked at Jiraiya with an air of arrogance.

"You're not even trash, who are you? What gives you the right to lecture me and point fingers? Because of the warts on your face?"

"A large wart..."

Jiraiya looked even more gloomy; he had never heard such sharp insults before.

Even though Naruto didn't think he was swearing at all, for Jiraiya, who was experiencing the art of Chinese language for the first time, the impact was no less than being hit by a Remington shotgun at close range.

"Secondly... just like I said, what the fourth generation is like has nothing to do with me. I don't acknowledge any so-called parents, so naturally I don't care how these people see me. Therefore, whether it's the son of the fourth generation or a fox spirit, I don't care."

As Naruto spoke, he slightly turned his head and glanced at the passersby who were secretly eavesdropping around him. A hint of mockery flashed in his eyes: "Unfortunate? Wronged? What good will it do you to make me laugh to death? Jiraiya... would you care about the opinions of ants? Actually, quite the opposite. I love the sight of them disliking me but being unable to do anything about it."

"Naruto, you..."

Jiraiya hesitated, but Naruto held up a Rasengan. Seeing this, Jiraiya once again kept his words to himself.

"If someone you've hated for so long suddenly becomes the Hokage's son, how many people do you think could adapt to this kind of drastic change? And where will they direct their hatred?"

Naruto dispelled the Rasengan and shook his head slightly: "Very few people in this world can reach the transcendent state of self-reflection; the vast majority of people just muddle through life."

"And the vast majority of these are the so-called masses. They have the ability to think as human beings, but their so-called thoughts are tragically limited by their perspectives, unable to find a direction to move forward, thus giving rise to a new word: confusion."

"Like a startled rabbit, people instinctively flee from this unsettling unease, and when there is no escape, they force themselves to ignore the root of their unease and pretend that nothing has happened—just like this quiet street."

"Did they think announcing the identity of the fourth generation's son would change the status quo? It seems those high-ranking officials have been playing politics for too long and have lost their humanity. It's a pity, Jiraiya... Truth often runs counter to ideals."

"Two extreme identities, two different emotions, after rubbing against each other, will gradually become sharp, eventually leading to a split, just like the change of wind attributes..."

The streets were deathly silent. Some passersby who had been eavesdropping lowered their heads, their faces showing embarrassment at having their thoughts exposed.

Jiraiya was also deeply moved; he had never considered the possibility that Naruto had mentioned.

However, as it turned out, Naruto was right. The lingering awkward atmosphere around them when the two appeared on the street said it all.

He thought time would ease the awkwardness, but judging from the reactions of those around him, it was clear that the awkwardness would only eventually turn into another form of indifference and disregard over time.

"Why...did you say it?"

Once words are spoken, they can't be taken back...

Gazing at the small face before him, so strikingly similar to Minato's, Jiraiya's expression was complex: "The future can be changed, Naruto. What you've said is just one possibility..."

"How Konoha's future changes is none of my concern, because my future does not lie here."

Naruto chuckled lightly: "The reason I brought it up is simply because I'm curious about what choices people make when their own ugliness is laid bare before them and they can't avoid it."

"Of course, in my opinion, the most likely scenario is that gratitude and conscience will be gradually eroded, and people will take all of this for granted, eventually leading to complete decay and collapse. After all, this kind of thing has happened to Konoha more than once or twice, hasn't it?"

Upon hearing this, Jiraiya stood there dumbfounded, lost in thought.

He suddenly realized that Naruto was right.

The village's darkness has a long history, and people's hearts are gradually crumbling; it's not something that can be explained by Naruto alone.

The reason I've been wandering for so many years is, just as Naruto said, because I chose to escape from it because I didn't want to face it.

Jiraiya only snapped out of his daze when Naruto's figure disappeared around the street corner, and hurriedly chased after him.

Soon, Naruto arrived at a ninja tool shop and pushed open the door to enter.

Do you have chakra paper?

"Yes, yes."

"How much?"

The shop owner hurriedly handed over a chakra paper, waving his hands repeatedly and laughing awkwardly, "Oh dear, how could I possibly accept this—"

Before he could finish speaking, Naruto slammed all the banknotes in his pocket onto the table and turned to leave.

He's never really needed money.

For the past two years, he has relied on hunting for food and drink, and only occasionally asks Ino to help him buy some seasonings.

The clothes she wore were all bought by Inoichi and his wife, but Ino always said that one of her cousins ​​had bought the wrong size...

As Naruto left the ninja tool shop, the shopkeeper spat and muttered under his breath, "What's so great about him? The Demon Fox is indeed the Demon Fox..."

Outside the shop, Jiraiya looked embarrassed. Both of them were quite strong, so the shopkeeper's voice naturally reached them.

Naruto looked at Jiraiya with a half-smile, his eyes filled with undisguised mockery: "Did you hear that? You think they're trying to be nice to me because they feel bad for me? No, they're just trying to make themselves feel better."

"People always like to blame others for their own mistakes, and when their mistakes are not forgiven, that guilt turns into hatred, and the so-called gratitude and righteousness naturally become insignificant."

"It would be somewhat one-sided to define it directly as human nature, but it is not biased to use it to describe the general public."

"Jiraiya, I don't hate Konoha, because I don't care about the opinions of ants. But if anyone dares to stand in my way, that's a different story..."

"If the Hokage can't do it, neither can you."

This is the first update for today! It's a bit slow, mainly because the dialogue in this chapter was difficult to write; I was worried it would be too sharp. I spent a long time revising it. There will be another update later. Please vote and follow along! Thank you everyone!

(End of this chapter)