226 Chapter 226: Naruto and Konan

"Poor little devil."

Upon seeing Naruto's self-deprecating demeanor, Konan shook her head and coldly said, "Your mother was Uzumaki Kushina, the second Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails from the Leaf Village, this was her home.

As for your father, the entire shinobi world revered him as the Yellow Flash of the Leaf. He was the Fourth Hokage—Namikaze Minato.

Uzumaki Naruto, you are not some cursed fox, but the son of the heroes of the Leaf."

What?

Konan's words gradually widened Naruto's eyes, his head buzzing as if a bomb had been dropped.

Equally astonished was Fu, standing nearby.

"Wow, so you're the son of a Hokage, that's amazing.

Gaara is also the son of a Kazekage, though he seems to particularly despise his father, and just like your father, his too has passed away."

As Fu spoke, her eyes shifted between Naruto and Gaara, finding their circumstances strikingly similar, almost too coincidental.

"Hmph."

Upon hearing Fu's words, Gaara snorted coldly, releasing a chilling aura of murderous intent far beyond his age.

Fu immediately shivered, hiding behind Konan while sticking her tongue out at Gaara.

However.

Although Gaara was annoyed by Fu's comparison of him to Uzumaki Naruto, learning that Naruto was both the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails and the son of the Fourth Hokage made him look at Naruto a bit more seriously.

He could feel it.

There was a destructive force sleeping within that guy, which would be terrifying once unleashed.

After a while.

Naruto finally snapped back to reality.

He thought for a moment, suspecting that the woman before him was deceiving him, and the reason was simple.

"If what you're saying is true, then why has nobody ever told me about my parents?

The Third Hokage, old man Hiruzen, often visited me. He was the kindest person to me in the village. But he too said, I was an orphan..."

Naruto stared at Konan, questioning her earnestly.

Upon hearing this, Konan couldn't help but sneer.

"It's because you were deceived by that old man.

You were called a demon fox by the villagers because your father, the Fourth Hokage, sealed the Nine-Tails fox demon within you, making you the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails.

Naruto, from childhood to adulthood, you've been living in a web of lies spun by others, enduring a life of humiliation and discrimination.

And the small favors from the higher-ups in the Leaf made you grateful, filling you with trust towards them.

In this way, the Third Hokage could keep you, the Jinchuriki, firmly under his control."

As an outsider, Konan saw the coldness and ostracization Naruto faced in the Leaf Village as orchestrated by the Third Hokage.

After all.

Apart from the Hokage, no one else had such power to distort the collective memory of the villagers, making everyone in the Leaf despise the son of heroes.

"No, the Third Hokage is a good person, I don't believe he would do such a thing."

Naruto shook his head vigorously, still not believing Konan.

But deep down, his faith was unknowingly shaken, especially after experiencing two rampages, even the naive Naruto could realize—

There truly was a monster called the Nine-Tails fox demon residing within him.

The Third Hokage is a good person?

Konan sighed helplessly, deciding to tell Naruto the whole truth:

"Naruto, do you know why the Third Hokage ordered the concealment of your identity as the son of heroes?

Because there have always been rumors both inside and outside the Leaf that the Third was power-hungry, and he deliberately forbade the Anbu and the Uchiha clan from participating in the battle during the Nine-Tails' attack.

This led to your parents being left without support, and for the sake of the village, they had no choice but to perish alongside the Nine-Tails.

The one who caused the death of your parents was none other than the Third Hokage, whom you trust the most.

His kindness towards you was both out of guilt and fear. He was afraid that one day, if you learned the truth, you would seek revenge against him."

The words from her mouth gradually shattered Naruto's perception.

At this moment.

In his memory, the always smiling, kind-hearted Third Hokage suddenly became a terrifying figure...

Naruto found it hard to accept.

"I need to ask the Third Hokage about this."

He suddenly said, jumping off the bed, bypassing Konan, and running towards the door.

However.

Once outside, Naruto realized this wasn't the familiar Leaf Village, but a land of ruins.

As far as the eye could see, there were remnants of broken walls everywhere, bathed in the blood-red sunset, exuding an atmosphere of desolation and devastation.

Konan followed him out, speaking softly, "I forgot to mention, the Leaf Village lost the war and has been occupied by the four major ninja villages. Your Third Hokage grandfather has become a wanted criminal, hiding somewhere unknown. Finding him for answers won't be easy."

"Then... where is this place?" Naruto murmured.

"Uzumaki Village. This is where your mother, Uzumaki Kushina, lived during her childhood, the homeland of all Uzumaki clansmen," Konan said, moving to a corner of a wall, brushing away the cobwebs to reveal the red spiral emblem on the wall.

Naruto recognized the spiral emblem.

It was on his own clothes, and on the uniforms of the Leaf ninjas.

"This is the emblem of the Uzumaki clan, once allies of the Leaf. All the Jinchuriki of the Leaf, including your mother and you, are from the Uzumaki clan, as only your robust physiques and sealing techniques could restrain the Nine-Tails. However, when the Uzumaki clan faced a crisis, the Leaf chose to stand by and watch them perish. Even after that, they hypocritically kept the Uzumaki emblem on their ninja uniforms. It's both laughable and hypocritical," Konan continued, her disdain for the Leaf evident.

Is all of this true?

Naruto stood there, unable to distinguish between truth and falsehood, unsure of what to do next or where to go.

Just then.

A sudden intense pain shot through his eyes, causing Naruto to clutch his head in agony.

Is this a rejection reaction from the transplant?

Konan observed the scene, her brows furrowed, but she didn't intervene, instead patiently watching and waiting.

Several minutes passed.

The pain Naruto was experiencing gradually subsided. He was panting heavily, soaked in sweat, and slowly removed his hands from his eyes.

What on earth is happening?

As Naruto tried to figure out what had happened to him, Konan brought out a mirror, holding it up to his face.

It was then.

Naruto realized that his originally blue eyes had turned purple, with concentric patterns resembling tree rings.

He found his reflection unfamiliar.

"My eyes... weren't like this, what did you do to me?" He asked Konan, fear evident in his voice.

"Don't be afraid. These eyes belonged to a friend of mine, Nagato, who, like you, was from the Uzumaki clan. When the Leaf betrayed its allies and watched Uzumaki Village get destroyed, Nagato and his family were forced into a life of hardship, facing numerous adversities. Nagato's lifelong dream was to maintain peace in the ninja world, to create a world without war. Now that he's gone, leaving behind only his unfulfilled ideals and these precious eyes, I decided to transplant them into you," Konan said, her gaze fixed on Naruto's eyes, her words laden with meaning.

"But I don't want these eyes. Please give me my original eyes back..." Naruto protested loudly, unwilling to accept this "gift."

"Shut up! What do you know, brat!" Konan suddenly shouted, cutting Naruto off, "These are the Rinnegan, the legendary eyes of the Sage of Six Paths, coveted by many. I transplanted Nagato's eyes into you because you are his clansman, the only one worthy of inheriting his dream!"

Stunned by Konan's outburst, Naruto instinctively retorted, "If Nagato was your friend, why didn't you transplant his eyes into yourself, to carry on his dream..."

Konan: "…"

Faced with Naruto's question, she was at a loss for words.

Indeed, her physique wasn't suitable to be a vessel for the Rinnegan, lacking the immense chakra of the Uzumaki clan.

But at the core, it was because Konan was a coward, a person without her own dreams.

She lacked the courage to work towards fulfilling Yahiko and Nagato's wishes on her own, instead pinning her hopes on the young boy before her.

Wasn't this a form of escapism?

With that thought,

Konan sighed again, her demeanor softening.

She squatted down, looking Naruto in the eyes, and said sincerely, "I'm sorry, it was presumptuous of me to want you to inherit Nagato's ideals. However, these eyes can grant you immense power, allowing you to see through the fog of fate, to pursue the truth you seek. Naruto, don't you want to unravel everything on your own?

"In the future, when you can harness the true power of the Rinnegan, you might even use it to resurrect your deceased parents and confront them face to face," Konan said, her words resonating with a hint of promise.

Resurrect my parents?

Naruto was once again stunned. Did these eyes really possess such miraculous power?

He was tempted.

Growing up devoid of love, Naruto always envied other kids who had their parents by their side, while he could only watch from afar.

He had fantasized more than once about what his parents looked like. If they were alive, perhaps he wouldn't have been bullied by the villagers.

With these thoughts, Naruto touched his eyes again, feeling less resistant to their presence.

Konan wasn't lying.

Nagato had told her that at a certain cost, the Rinnegan could cast a jutsu called "Rinne Rebirth," summoning the souls of the deceased from the Pure Land, bringing them back to life.

Konan believed that when Naruto discovered the whole truth one day, realizing he had been living in lies and deceit,

He would despise Konoha, accept the ideology of Akatsuki, and eventually walk the same path as Nagato.

She was willing to be patient, to witness Naruto's growth and metamorphosis.

Seeing Naruto calm down, Konan turned around and noticed Fu and Gaara had also come out.

Gaara was a troubled youth, his situation even more severe than Naruto's, and the cause of his problems was his own father—the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa.

Rasa was a cold man who, in his quest to create the ultimate weapon for Sunagakure, implanted the One-Tail Shukaku into his son without hesitation.

Later, to observe whether his son could suppress Shukaku's power, he even sent Gaara's uncle Yashamaru to assassinate him, resulting in Yashamaru's death at the hands of his nephew, leaving Gaara with an indelible psychological scar.

That incident deemed Gaara a failure in Rasa's eyes.

Disappointed, he sent assassins after Gaara time and again, turning Gaara's personality darker, bloodthirsty, and nihilistic.

Konan couldn't believe there could be such a beastly father in the world.

In retrospect, Rasa's death by Pain's black rod seemed too merciful.

A day ago, Gaara lost control and unleashed Shukaku, and it took a lot of effort for Konan to reseal it.

Nevertheless,

Konan never thought of abandoning Gaara, leaving him somewhere to fend for himself. Instead, she showed motherly tolerance and gentleness towards him.

Because Gaara's tragic childhood deeply touched Konan's heart, making her determined to heal the young boy.

Gaara didn't try to leave either.

To him, whether returning to Sunagakure or staying with Konan made no difference.

He loved no one and was a soulless walking corpse.

As for Fu, compared to Naruto and Gaara, she was much luckier.

Although she was a Jinchuriki, her childhood wasn't as tragic as theirs, which was evident from her optimistic and cheerful personality.

Worth mentioning, Fu chose to stay with Konan willingly.

Because Konan promised to teach her ninjutsu, train her to become an excellent ninja, and help her seek revenge against her enemies in Takigakure.

At that moment,

A paper crane flew through the ruins, landing in Konan's palm.

"As expected, besides Kirigakure, other ninja villages have sent their forces here, and in quite a number. The last time it was this bustling here was when various powers besieged Uzushiogakure years ago," Konan said solemnly, a cold light flashing in her eyes.

Hearing this, Fu became anxious and complained to Gaara,

"Gaara, it's all your fault for not controlling the beast within you. Now you've attracted the enemies here."

"I'll kill them all," Gaara said indifferently, having done this many times before.

Naruto beside them said nothing, but he was reminded of his past days.

Back then, he was confined in a small room by Konoha's Anbu, unable to see sunlight for several months.

Then he was manipulated into transforming into the Nine-Tails Fox, causing havoc in the village, which left a huge scar on his psyche.

Those were nightmarish days he never wanted to return to.

Konan glanced at Naruto and said,

"They not only want the Nine-Tails inside you but also the Rinnegan in your eyes. Neither of these can fall into anyone's hands, or it will bring a great disaster to the shinobi world."

"Sensei, let's escape quickly," Fu urged anxiously.

But Konan slowly shook her head.

"Uzushiogakure is the homeland of Nagato and Naruto. Those who destroyed it back then have returned. Today, I will avenge the Uzumaki clan and pay homage to the souls who died on this land."

Her eyes were burning as she spoke.

It turned out, Konan had been prepared all along.