January 1, Konoha Year 54.
This day was the New Year's Eve of the Hokage world, equivalent to the New Year's Eve and Spring Festival of Middle Kingdom in Jokichi's previous life.
The streets and alleys of Konoha were crowded with people, and the shops and vendors were decorated with lanterns and festoons. Colorful flags fluttered, and various slogans and banners flapped in the wind.
In the azure sky, a gentle breeze blew, and colorful balloons danced in the wind.
People wore new clothes and played on the streets with festive smiles.
Naruto shuttled joyfully through the crowd, looking east and west from time to time. He played with all the goods at the nearby stalls, then put them down and headed to the next one.
Jokichi followed behind him unhurriedly, his face also brimming with a smile.
In this festive atmosphere, unless one had ulterior motives, it was hard not to be affected.
"Jokichi, look quickly, the masks at this shop are really nice!" Naruto stopped at a mask shop, holding a fox mask in his hand and turning it over to look at it.
Jokichi walked over slowly, took a glance, and nodded in approval, "This mask is indeed painted well, quite vivid."
"Right, it is not bad, right? I will take this one." Naruto looked complacent, holding the mask and asking the boss for the price.
The boss was painting a mask behind the counter. Hearing Naruto ask for the price, he looked up.
The originally smiling face instantly stiffened the moment he saw Naruto, and then turned into anger.
He put down his brush, rushed over hurriedly, snatched the mask from Naruto's hand, and roared at him, "Who let you touch my mask?"
Naruto was slightly stunned.
He looked at the boss, looking at the boss's eyes. That completely undisguised disgust and hatred made him clench his fists.
The boss's roar attracted the attention of passersby.
Everyone looked at him with the same look, and some even cursed out loud.
"Why did this demon fox brat run out here too?"
"Lord Third Hokage is really something. It is one thing on normal days, but he even lets him run around freely on New Year's Eve."
"Get lost, you demon fox who killed the Fourth Hokage!"
Why...
Naruto lowered his head, not daring to look at the people around him. His body trembled slightly, and his fists were clenched so tight his knuckles turned white.
But, even though he did not look, those eyes of disgust and hatred kept appearing in his mind, and those words of disdain and hatred kept echoing in his ears.
Why treat me like this?
What exactly did I do wrong?
Naruto felt a volcano awakening in his heart. Just as the volcano was about to erupt, a palm rested on his shoulder.
The grievance, unwillingness, and anger instantly disappeared.
Naruto suddenly woke up.
He followed the hand on his shoulder and looked back. Jokichi looked at him indifferently and shook his head gently.
"Jokichi?" Naruto looked at him in confusion.
"Since you have chosen the path of proving yourself to everyone, do not complain about the hardships on the road. When choosing this path, you should have expected this long ago."
Hearing this, Naruto was stunned for a moment, then his brows relaxed, and his smile returned. "Ah, of course."
After saying that, he turned back to look at the villagers and clamored confidently, "Listen up, all of you. I do not know why you treat me like this, but it does not matter. My name is Uzumaki Naruto, and I will definitely become Hokage in the future and make all of you acknowledge me."
"Are you kidding? I will absolutely never acknowledge you."
"That is right, still wanting to be Hokage, you cannot even be an ordinary ninja!"
"Lord Hokage will absolutely never let a demon fox like you become a ninja."
"Stop wishful thinking!"
The villagers loudly cursed one by one, but Naruto did not care.
He made a funny face at the surrounding people, and then ran away slapping his butt when the people's dissatisfaction erupted, laughing loudly as he ran.
Jokichi rubbed his nose. He glanced at the boss and noticed his attention was all on the fleeing Naruto. He suddenly made a move, snatched the fox mask from his hand, and then turned and ran.
Before finishing, he threw out a banknote and shouted, "This is the money for the mask."
The boss caught the banknote, trembling with anger.
He crumpled the banknote into a ball and threw it at the fleeing Jokichi. "You are also an accomplice of the demon fox. I will not do your business. I do not want this mask anymore."
Jokichi did not stop walking, just turned his head and caught it when the money flew over, and also showed a kind smile to the boss. "Thank you for the mask you gave, boss, you are so generous!"
"I do not need your thanks, just treat it as thrown away trash," the boss roared loudly.
"Haha..." Jokichi laughed heartily.
This laughter sounded particularly harsh to the boss. His chest heaved more intensely, and he became even angrier.
A perfectly good Spring Festival, the mood was ruined all at once.
Yamanaka Flower Shop.
Seeing Jokichi running past the shop door laughing out loud, Ino, wearing a purple kimono, could not help but let her beautiful big eyes light up.
"Mom, I have something to do, I will not help you watch the shop for now."
After saying that, without waiting for her mother to respond, she ran out from behind the counter and chased after him.
...
Jokichi found Naruto at a nearby training ground.
Because of the Spring Festival, this training ground near the bustling streets was empty. Only Naruto's lonely figure sat alone on a wooden dummy used for practicing punches.
Jokichi knew very well that although his words made Naruto act like he did not care about the villagers' attitudes, this was exactly the way one acts when they care immensely.
Naruto felt very bad inside.
"Sigh!" Jokichi sighed mournfully and came to Naruto's side. "That is why back then I told you to just live for yourself and not care about other people's opinions!"
"Jokichi..." Naruto looked at the scorching sun in the sky, his eyes wandering. "Perhaps living as you suggested would be easier, but I am exceptionally unwilling to accept this."
"I am clearly not the demon fox, and I have clearly done nothing, yet I have to endure all kinds of slander and curses, and accept everyone's rejection and disgust, even hatred."
"If I were to remain silent from now on, not care about their opinions like you said, ignore other people's attitudes toward me, and just live for myself, wouldn't I have to live my whole life carrying the charge of being the demon fox?"
"That is why I told you not to care about other people's thoughts!"
"That is impossible. As long as I still want to prove myself, I will not be able to ignore other people's thoughts."
Speaking of this, Naruto smiled.
He jumped down from the wooden dummy and said to Jokichi, "Jokichi, thank you. If I did not have your company, I do not know if I could hold on to my ideals."
"No, even without me, you would definitely hold on to your thoughts." Jokichi curled his lips and handed the fox mask over. "Take it, use it for the fireworks festival tonight. Let's go buy some fireworks and firecrackers now."
Naruto took the mask and asked, "What about you?"
"I have one too."
Jokichi took out the False Mask and waved it in front of Naruto.
"Okay, let's go buy fireworks. If we wear masks, what just happened shouldn't happen again."
"Mhm!"
The two left from another direction, heading to another commercial street.
Shortly after the two left, Ino, wearing a purple kimono, rushed over panting.
She patted her heaving chest. After calming her breath, she looked left and right, her beautiful pair of eyes opened wide.
However, the empty training ground was completely silent.
A look of disappointment emerged on her delicate little face.