Everyone inside the room paled after hearing his words. Even the bandaged man Danzo was no exception. If Nine-Tails tries to attack the village head-on, he could possibly use Mangekyo to control it.
But if the beast tries to play dirty, he will lose a lot of people.
"And, I learned another secret from Nine Tails. Old Man, let's say you are given food. But half of that food is edible while the other half is wasted. After eating the edible food, what would you do with the other half?"
Naruto asked.
"Throw it in the garbage." Old Man answered slowly calming down his mind.
"Exactly! Unfortunately, I don't have garbage dumb so all of that hatred and anger has been stored inside my mind. If I remain weak, that persona of mine will take over."
"You have to understand. The power of Nine Tails is easy to use, especially for the person who doesn't have any morals. You should understand what I mean, right?"
"The weaker I remain, the stronger it will get. Of course, there is one easy way to counter Nine Tails' power."
Hearing his words, everyone suddenly asked at once.
"What?"
Naruto was startled but he still honestly answered. He wasn't sure if he was correct but when he felt the love for Hinata, his body relaxed like never before.
Whenever he thought of his family, he felt like no amount of hatred could change him. He slowly understood that the power of love can truly counter Nine Tails Hatred.
Of course, he didn't want to count Nine Tails' hatred but rather remove it.
"It's love. And, the coincidence is that the entire village hates me. Clap! Clap! Clap! Isn't it awesome? The only way I can counter Nine Tails' power is forbidden by the village."
At this moment, Naruto noticed an intense killing intent. This was so powerful that even Nine Tails' Killing Intent looked weak.
And, it was directed at one person.
Bandaged Man, Danzo!
It was Hiruzen's killing intent.
Not to mention Danzo, even two elders, and Shikaku were turning pale even though this Killing intent wasn't directed at them.
"I told you a hundred times, a hundred times that you are wrong. Lady Mito was true and I knew it from the beginning but because of you, we are in a situation that we could easily change."
Suddenly, Naruto opened his mouth and said.
"It's okay, Old Man. You can't change the past. If we could, I would go back in time and slap Lord Fourth for putting Nine Tails inside me. But, unfortunately, we can't."
"But, we still have a way out of this situation."
Only then, did Hiruzen's killing intent disappear. He sighed a breath of relief and smiled.
"If only others could be the same as you, Naruto. With or without that seal, you were always ahead of us just like Lord First."
Without any hesitation, Hiruzen put Naruto in the same standard as Hashirama which not only brought shock to the people inside the room but also to those Anbu.
"Well, Naruto, what do you have in mind?" Shikaku smiled and asked.
"Harder and better missions outside the village!" Naruto answered.
"Ab…"
"Shut up!" Just when the elderly woman tried to speak, Hiruzen's voice rang throughout the room, startling everyone.
He turned to Naruto and said.
"Explain, Naruto!"
"Well, I already told you that I need to be stronger, right? The best way to get stronger is to fight. If I hadn't fought Mizuki with my life depending on it, I wouldn't have grown stronger."
"In Academy, I never had to fight for someone so I never tried to improve. Only when I fought for Iruka Sensei, I realized that you can get true strength by fighting for others."
"I know I am being a little bit selfish by putting my team a risk. But, I can not fight other ways to improve at a faster rate not when every teacher in the academy tried to decrease my strength."
When he said that, Hiruzen clenched his fist while Shikaku frowned and his expression turned a bit gloomy. Naruto didn't stop though.
"Since everyone in the village hates me, it is better for me to go outside. Maybe I will find more friends or people who won't hate me. These two are the only way for me to stop Nine Tails' power."
"And, if anyone is thinking of the third way that I thought, I would ask them to stop. By erasing my emotions or completely suppressing them, you are only making it easier for Nine Tails to influence my mind."
"The person who thinks like this is a complete idiot. I learned it the hard way. One minus one would make it zero but one minus zero would make it one."
When he said that, Danzo's face was turning red. It was hard to tell whether he was angry or embarrassed.
Hiruzen tried not to laugh or kill Danzo at this moment.
At this moment, he knew some of the hard decisions that he would need to make during the next council meeting.
At the same time, he also made sure that he wouldn't hesitate to make some decisions.
After thinking about it, he focused on Naruto's answer. It was a good idea.
Even he improved a lot after the death of his sensei and all of that had to do with the pressure he faced due to the war.
So, he could say that Naruto wasn't wrong about using that same method to grow stronger.
And, the other thing also made sense. Not only Naruto wouldn't be hated outside the village, but he would also be surrounded by people who like him.
And, in Hinata's case, love him.
"When you are determined to become a Shinobi, you must put your life on the line. That is the key to being a Shinobi."
Tap!
Naruto stared at Hiruzen and muttered.
"I feel 'But' coming."
"But, I can't send my shinobi to a battle that they can't win. So, before any mission, I must make sure that you are ready to be pushed to your limits while also remaining safe."
"It would be hard and the number of missions would only make it harder. But, I believe being the Strongest Village even in name, we would have enough missions with such conditions."
"Do you think it is acceptable for you?"
Naruto thought for a moment and nodded.
"Well, it wouldn't be a problem. I can always increase the difficulty simply by fighting my opponents with some handicaps."
Hiruzen chuckled.
"That you can do. And there is another thing that I want you to learn. The Anbu that picked you up can help you control Nine Tails Chakra because of his special circumstances."
"So, whenever you want to train with Nine Tails Chakra, you can train with him. Though, even with him, I want you to remain cautious."
Naruto nodded and said.
"Don't worry, Old Man! I am not planning to die before I become Hokage and marry a beautiful girl."
"Hahaha! That's right, my boy." Hiruzen burst into laughter while Shikaku chuckled. The Elders and Danzo simply got ignored.
"You can leave, Naruto. I will see you with your team. Before you get a C-rank mission, you still need to finish a certain number of D-rank missions."
"I understand, Old Man." Naruto nodded his head and walked out.
Hiruzen turned to face his old friends and sighed.
"I always thought after I chose Minato as a Hokage, I wouldn't need to make any more mistakes but again and again, I was proven wrong."
"But I will make no more mistakes, my friends. From now until my last breath, I will do whatever is good for the village without involving my personal feelings just like Minato."
As he said that, he turned away and gestured for them to leave.
Only Shikaku remained and looked at Hiruzen who was not just disappointed but also sad.
"Lord, you have kept this village safe for over forty years. Lord First left then Lord Second left, even Lord Fourth left, but you kept defending your village."
"You might have made some mistakes but you still kept our village safe. And, that's all it matters. As for those mistakes, like Naruto said, we can't change the past."
"But, we can make the future better."
Hiruzen took a deep breath and said.
"After talking to Naruto, I learned one thing. Old people are not meant to make a decision, they are meant to guide."
"I can't hold this position for long. Even if I have to force Jiraya, we will have a new Hokage for the village soon. Until then, I will clear up every obstacle for the new Hokage."
"We have a lot to do, Shikaku. And, I need your mind for most of them."
At this moment, Hiruzen's expression was more serious than ever.