Kyoko, disheveled, ran out from a thatched hut by the side of the road, chasing a man with a fierce face and a deep scar on his face.
"No, didn't you agree that you would give me food? Why?"
"Are you kidding me? Why would we waste food on a woman like you? Get the hell out of here."
"My lord, I really need this food. I have a younger brother who hasn't eaten for two days. Please."
Kyoko hugged the scar-faced man's thigh: "Please."
"I told you to go away." The scar-faced man slapped Kyoko's face forcefully.
Kyoko's petite body flew out all of a sudden, a trail of blood was thrown in the air, and two white teeth also fell to the ground and danced, and finally rolled to the side. Kyoko lay dizzy on the ground after this slap and did not get up.
"You still dare to ask me for something? Let me tell you, my uncle is Gato's subordinate. If you dare to bother me again, I will kill you."
The scar-faced man frowned and looked at the blood on his body: "Disgusting. It stained my clothes." As he said that, he kicked Kyoko again, and Kyoko curled up in pain and got up.
"Hurry up and apologize to me" The scar-faced man pointed to the blood on his body and stepped on Kyoko: "You see, you ruined my clothes."
Kyoko's eyes were covered by her messy hair, so others couldn't see her expression clearly. One could only hear her gritted teeth as she said with difficulty, "Yes, sorry."
"Hahahaha." The scar-faced man laughed unscrupulously.
"Why does such a humble life like you live in this world?" He continued to step on her.
Boom — "Ah!"
The scar-faced man was trampled to the ground by Haruto, who fell from the sky.
"The one who should say sorry is you, bastard."
Haruto had never been so angry. He understood that in this world, the strong bully the weak, and it is inevitable for people to fight and take advantage for their own interests.
But after all, there is a purpose—even if it's excessive, it's to survive. But people like this, who enjoy bullying the weak, were in a class of their own. Scum among scum.
"The person who's less qualified to live than her is you, bastard." Haruto took out a kunai and nailed the scar-faced man's limbs to the ground.
Haruto stared cruelly into the man's eyes: "I wanted to kill you immediately, but that would be too cheap. Just bleed to death bit by bit."
Ignoring the wailing behind him, Haruto walked up to Kyoko and gently helped her up. Using the simple medical ninjutsu he knew, he began to treat her wounds—after all, his mother was a medical ninja, and he had picked up a few techniques.
Gathering chakra, he gently healed the wound on Kyoko's face.
"Does it still hurt?"
"No, it doesn't hurt very much." After staring blankly at Haruto for a moment, Kyoko hurriedly adjusted her clothes. For some reason, compared to the pain she had felt earlier, seeing this side of her own vulnerability made Haruto feel even more distressed.
After a while, Kyoko gave up trying to hide her emotions, covering her face with her hands as she began to cry.
Looking at the people who had gathered around, Haruto frowned.
"Uncle Tazuna, you go back first."
Immediately, Haruto took off his imperial robe and draped it over Kyoko, lifting her gently into his arms and carrying her away from the scene.
On the way to Kyoko's house, Kyoko, still in Haruto's arms, suddenly asked a question.
"Why do people live in this world?"
Haruto looked at her, sensing the depth of the despair in her voice. "Since people like me are born to suffer, why do we live in this world?"
Hearing the heavy intent behind Kyoko's words, Haruto felt a twinge of discomfort. "Don't think about it, everything will be fine."
Kyoko, lost in thought, continued, "If it wasn't for my younger brother, I think I would have died a long time ago. Living is really tiring."
Haruto paused. "I've heard people say there's no point in living. But as long as you're alive, you can find interesting things."
Haruto looked into Kyoko's eyes. "I don't know if that's true. To be honest, I don't really understand the meaning of life. But I do know one thing—I don't want to die."
"I want to see more scenery. I want to be with the people who matter to me for a longer time. I still have dreams I want to fulfill. I carry a lot of expectations. In short… I don't want to die."
Kyoko was silent, seeing this he hurriedly replied, "Maybe living itself is meaningless. But everyone gives it their own meaning, and that becomes the reason to keep going. Don't you have something you want to achieve?"
After thinking for a while, Kyoko looked at Haruto and said, "I want to live peacefully with my brother. I want to watch him grow up, get married, have children… does that count?"
"Of course." Haruto smiled gently. "Hope for a better future is also a form of meaning. As long as there's hope, life is never meaningless."
Kyoko hesitated. "But what's the use of unfulfilled expectations?"
Haruto looked at her with determination. "It will happen, trust me."
Kyoko stared at him for a moment, her eyes slowly lighting up with a faint glimmer of hope.
"Brother Haruto, you're here."
Haruto's expression turned concerned as he heard Wakamaru's weak voice. "What's going on?"
Kyoko's face was filled with sorrow. "Gato sent people to find out about you. Wakamaru ran into them and was beaten up, and all the money you gave me was taken away."
Haruto clenched his fists tightly. "So I've hurt you."
"It's none of your business. Even without you, these things happen quite often. We were lucky, People are often killed." Haruto hoisted Wakamaru onto his back. "Come on, let's go to my place. I killed Gato's men today, so he might come after you."
As he left the city, Haruto glanced back at the lifeless town, his eyes filled with a dangerous gleam.
Gato, You must die.
Haruto lay quietly on the roof, gazing at the clouds drifting by. He had to admit that Shikamaru's love for watching clouds made sense. Under such circumstances, his heart felt extraordinarily peaceful. The recent events weighed heavily on his mind, and he couldn't help but think about them. When he had watched Naruto, he thought Shinobi world was cruel. Every now and then, a character he liked died. But now, reflecting on it, he realized that most of the deaths in Naruto were brief mentions in the story. Few were as impactful as the small group of powerhouses with halos. In reality, their strength was quite average. Neji survived, so could his arrival alter the plot?
Reality was often more brutal than imagined. The tragedy of the Land of Waves, which was only briefly mentioned in the anime, was far worse in reality. Yet, Haruto knew the situation in the Land of Waves wasn't the worst. At least there was no ongoing war, and they had the sea, which provided food through fishing. Even in a relatively peaceful era, many smaller countries were at war, with some of the warlords even including Konoha in their struggles.
Food scarcity had always been a problem in this world. The major countries—Fire and Thunder—were relatively prosperous. But the other nations, like Wind and Earth, had harsh environments—sand, rocks, and extreme weather. Even small countries dealt with hardships like constant rain or snow. They paid high taxes and were forced to act as cannon fodder for the larger countries. The world was much harsher than it appeared in the anime.
Haruto suddenly understood Nagato's thoughts. Nagato probably wanted to create a superpower in each of the five major villages to break the monopoly of the big countries. Small nations couldn't survive without challenging this dominance. Looking back on history, Konoha had always been on the defensive because the Land of Fire had no survival pressure—it was rich and surrounded by small countries paying tribute. They wouldn't instigate wars unless they had an advantage, only swooping in to claim victory at the right time. On the other hand, the initiators of wars were the poor villages—Sand, Mist, and Stone—because they couldn't feed enough people.
In every war, in addition to the ninjas, samurai and logistics corps were sent by the various daimyos to aid the villages, looting supplies and establishing stations. The big countries couldn't feed the small ones, which made the struggles even worse.
Haruto's thoughts shifted to the so-called peace that Naruto would bring. The peace in the original story felt more like a ceasefire after everyone had nearly been wiped out. It wasn't true peace but a lull between wars. It was akin to the great wars in ancient China, where too many people died, only for a period of peace to follow. But Haruto wondered, what was the difference between that peace and what the First Hokage or Madara sought? True peace wouldn't come from the top down. To achieve real peace, change had to start from the bottom. He realized his path was different from Naruto's, Madara's, or even the First Hokage's. It was a brand-new way of thinking.
"Boss, what are you thinking? You've been acting weird these days," Naruto said as he climbed up beside Haruto."If you need anything, I'm here to help," Sasuke added, though his face was turned away as if speaking to the air.
Haruto's heart warmed at their concern. "It's nothing. Just worried about one thing."
The two immediately grew curious. "What's the matter?"
Haruto sighed softly, his tone deliberately low. "Hey…"