Konoha, reported by the Fourth Hokage at the start.

Chapter 380 The Way to End Hatred

"Naruto..."

On the way down the mountain, in the mezzanine, Jiraiya stayed by Naruto's side. Seeing the joyful expression on Naruto's face, he felt bitter and complicated inside.

He was pleased that Naruto and Nagato were able to reconcile, which proved that Naruto was indeed the child of prophecy.

But all of this is predicated on the fact that Nagato is real.

Moreover... thinking about the ANBU ninja's questioning and anger towards Naruto's decision just now, Jiraiya knew that hatred was not so easy to resolve.

What will Naruto do next, facing the hatred in the hearts of the survivors in the village?

Jiraiya was filled with despair. For so many years, he still couldn't see any hope of the arrival of the era of mutual understanding that he longed for.

Even though Naruto and Nagato have resolved their feud, Jiraiya still sees no hope for true peace.

"You must be feeling hopeless!"

Li Yao's voice suddenly rang out, and Jiraiya turned his head to look. He saw that the bastard who used genjutsu to control Tsunade and keep arguing with her was walking next to him at some point.

"That damned bastard!"

"Everything is you!"

Jiraiya angrily threw a punch at Li Yao, but stopped just a fist's distance away. No matter how hard Jiraiya tried, he couldn't land the punch; his body automatically stopped him from attacking Li Yao.

Li Yao kept walking and followed behind Naruto. Seeing the seemingly happy look on Naruto's face, he was looking forward to seeing what interesting things would happen next.

Jiraiya followed, walked to Li Yao's left, and turned to stare at him fiercely.

"If it weren't for you, Konoha wouldn't have suffered such a great loss!"

"Naruto wouldn't..."

If Li Yao hadn't used some unknown means to manipulate Pain's Six Paths and cause massive casualties in Konoha, Naruto would definitely have won the trust of everyone in Konoha after reconciling with Nagato.

But now, because of Li Yao.

Konoha suffered heavy casualties, and the intense hatred prevented the survivors from treating Naruto like a hero.

Because Nagato did not die.

If the news that Naruto let Nagato go were to spread, the hatred that the surviving villagers had for Nagato would very likely be transferred to Naruto instead.

The culprit behind all this is this bastard in front of me.

Jiraiya's murderous gaze was fixed on Li Yao.

Heh... Facing Jiraiya's murderous gaze, Li Yao put his hands behind his head, leaned back slightly, glanced at Jiraiya with a relaxed expression, and said with a smile, "Do you know how to end hatred?"

Upon hearing this, Jiraiya was taken aback, his hateful gaze softening. He carefully examined Li Yao, noticing the guy's knowing expression. "This bastard wants peace too?" Jiraiya couldn't help but wonder, then asked curiously, "How do you plan to resolve this?"

"Haha!" Li Yao laughed loudly, then said matter-of-factly, "Then of course we should kill all the enemies who hate you. If no one hates you, the hatred will naturally end."

The idiom "to cut the grass and remove the roots" vividly illustrates the simplest way to end the spread of hatred.

Mutual understanding is all nonsense; the only way to end hatred is to nip it in the bud.

However, it is clear that Jiraiya does not agree with Li Yao's statement.

"You're the devil!"

Jiraiya abruptly stopped, staring at Li Yao's retreating figure, and said something with a heavy expression.

Ha ha!

Li Yao shook his head and chuckled, neither confirming nor denying.

There's nothing wrong with the devil!

He was just a person, a selfish person.

He is also good to his friends and family.

But clearly, there is no one in this world who is a friend to him, let alone family to him.

Even his so-called eldest son has now been possessed by him. Li Yao doesn't care how many people die in this world.

After watching the show, Obito will extract the Nine-Tails from Naruto's body and make Obito's clone the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, mastering the Bloodline Limit. Then he can go back to the original Naruto world and enjoy his revenge journey.

How many years!

That guy from the third generation has been living well for so many years. If he continues to live so leisurely, the hatred that Li Yao has been accumulating in his heart will soon be uncontrollable.

……

"Naruto, you're back!"

"Very good."

As soon as Naruto returned to the village, Sakura, Tenten, and the others rushed to his side, and the worry on their faces could finally be put down.

"Where's Payne?"

"Did you kill Payne?"

Faced with the angry questions from the crowd, Naruto fell silent. Seeing this, Shikaku quickly said, "Naruto defeated Pain, but he didn't capture Pain's true form. They flew away from the sky, and Naruto couldn't do anything about it."

Ah... Hearing Shikaku's words, the people who gradually gathered around looked disappointed, but they did not blame Naruto for it, after all, everyone knew how powerful Pain was.

Naruto was already quite impressive for defeating his opponent and letting him escape.

The fact that Pain was still alive remained a thorn in everyone's side, constantly reminding them that their enemy was still alive, and their hatred for Pain continued to grow.

Naruto felt a pang of sadness upon seeing this and opened his mouth as if to say something.

"Naruto, come with me!"

Shikaku guessed what Naruto wanted to say, so he quickly pulled Naruto away and told him to come with him and not to say anything out of line.

"Uncle Shikaku..."

"Don't talk, just watch."

Shikaku said in a deep voice, leading Naruto along the ruins.

Along the way, he was pushed by Shinra Tensei into the ruins outside the high walls of Konoha. Blood had seeped to the edges, and pieces of blood-stained stones and flesh could be seen on the rubble.

These scenes once again stirred Naruto's heart.

He fell silent, knowing why Lu Jiu had told him not to say anything more.

This hatred is too heavy to be resolved with just a few words.

"Naruto, do you know?"

Shikaku's voice suddenly rang out. Naruto looked over, and Shikaku coldly said, "Konoha's permanent population is about 220,000. In Sage Mode, you can sense everyone's chakra. How many people do you think are left in Konoha compared to 220,000?"

Dong dong dong

In an instant, Naruto's heart pounded like thunder, and he froze on the spot. Shikaku's simple math problem once again shattered Naruto's resolve.

He doesn't know what 220,000 means.

But he knew that there were definitely no more than 100,000 people still alive in Konoha, which meant that at least half of Konoha's people had died at Nagato's hands.

Iruka!

Kakashi!

Ino!

Konohamaru!

Hinata, and the Ichiraku Ramen family... familiar figures flashed through Naruto's mind again.

The anger and hatred that had been suppressed so hard surged up in Naruto's heart again.

Shikaku didn't speak, but simply looked calmly at Naruto.

With so many people dying, Pain's escape could be somewhat explained, but if Naruto deliberately let them go, then it's impossible to explain.

The anger and hatred in the hearts of the survivors would instantly devour Naruto. This was something Naruto could not bear, nor could the current Konoha bear.

Therefore, the villagers must never know that Naruto deliberately let Pain go.

"I know what to do, Uncle Shikaku!"

After a moment of silence, Naruto looked up and spoke, then set off again with Shikaku. The two spent several hours walking around the ruins.

Needless to say, Naruto already knew exactly how many people in Konoha had died because of Nagato's sneak attack.

Most of them were ordinary people with only a little chakra in their bodies, and some didn't even have any chakra. They were all ordinary people in Konoha, and some of them had even helped Naruto.

Thinking about the deaths of these people, Naruto couldn't help but ask himself a question.

"Can I truly find peace?"

(End of this chapter)