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"You are... Uzumaki Naruto, right?"
"A faint sound calling Naruto reached his ears, and he suddenly opened his eyes in confusion."
Looking at the face before him, more handsome than Sasuke's, Naruto frowned. "You are…"
Kaito smiled slightly and said, "Just think of me as your fan... A former fan!"
"My fan?!" Naruto's eyes lit up upon hearing this. "I actually have fans too? Really?!"
Seeing Naruto becoming extremely excited, Kaito smiled and waved his hand. "Don't get too excited. You might as well sit down first!"
With a wave of his hand, a set of tables and chairs appeared between them.
Seeing this magical scene, Naruto, who had been dancing with excitement, was stunned.
At that moment, he realized he was in a space surrounded by a vast expanse of white.
Feeling dejected, Naruto sat down on the chair and sighed, "So, it was just a dream..."
"Well, do you really wish you had a fan?" Kaito asked with interest.
"No, I just wish someone would recognize me," Naruto replied, speaking freely, believing it to be a dream.
"For some reason, the adults in the village hate me. They won't let the other kids play with me. When I was younger, they even encouraged the other children to throw stones at me. Things are better at the ninja academy, at least they can't hit me there. But they still won't sell me anything, except for expired food. Sometimes when I'm hungry, I go to the river to fish..."
"For all these years, I've been alone. Even the Third Hokage only visits me once a month," Naruto recounted his experiences.
Maybe it was because he'd been alone for so long, or maybe it was because he'd never had anyone to talk to before, but Naruto kept talking for over half an hour.
After Naruto finished speaking, the space became quiet.
Looking at Naruto, Kaito suddenly remembered how lonely he'd been as an orphan. But he was luckier than Naruto because he wasn't disliked by everyone, even if some people did occasionally say mean things about him for being an orphan.
It was during that time that Kaito first encountered Naruto, and he was immediately captivated by the protagonist's sense of justice.
He was still young and didn't fully understand everything, but Naruto's passionate and determined personality had impressed him.
That was why he'd said he was a fan of Naruto's, at least when he was a child.
"But things are better now. Finally, someone is willing to talk to me, other than the Third Hokage," Kaito said. "Even if it is just a dream, it makes me happy."
After a brief moment of sadness, Naruto regained his earlier cheerfulness.
He pouted and said, "If only I could dream a dream like this every day!"
"Don't you hate them?"
"Ah?!" Naruto looked at Kaito strangely.
Kaito continued, "The villagers were so hostile to you. They even threw rocks at you for no reason when you were young. Don't you ever hate them?"
Hearing this question, Naruto fell silent. His expression became extremely complicated, and a low breath began to emanate from him.
However, at that moment, Kaito noticed an extremely strange chakra beginning to flow within Naruto.
Naruto's ferocious expression began to calm down. Seeing this, Kaito's pupils suddenly shrank.
At that moment, Naruto smiled. "Why would I hate them?"
"Maybe they just misunderstood something. Once they understand, the misunderstanding can be cleared up!"
"Right, that's it! I want to clear up the misunderstanding and make the villagers recognize me!"
Seeing this drastic change in Naruto's demeanor, Kaito's mouth twitched.
"Something is definitely affecting Naruto!"
Before entering Naruto's spiritual world with the Sharingan, Kaito had sensed an anomaly.
He could clearly feel any abnormalities within Naruto's body.
The chakra emanating from Naruto's spiritual world was accurate in its influence. Though unconscious, when Kaito touched it with his mental power, Naruto's resentment towards Hiruzen Sarutobi and others noticeably diminished.
Fortunately, it was only a light touch, so Kaito wasn't deeply affected. He was certain this chakra was the reason behind Naruto's resilience.
Familiar with the plot, Kaito knew the origin of this chakra: it belonged to Asura, the second son of the Sage of the Six Paths.
In the original work, although not directly explained, many instances suggest that Naruto's thinking was influenced by Asura.
One of the most direct indications was in the "Infinite Tsukuyomi" arc, where Naruto and Sakura were pulled into the world of the "Infinite Tsukuyomi".
The "Infinite Tsukuyomi" constructs an illusion world tailored to the inner desires of the practitioner. Everything in it aligns with the practitioner's deepest expectations while being indistinguishable from reality.
In this arc, Sakura's wish was fulfilled without her family's nagging, and her father became the Fourth Hokage of Konoha, sacrificing his life for the village. Naruto, on the other hand, found himself in a world where he had a complete family with Minato and Kushina by his side.
However, the startling part was that Naruto's face in the "Infinite Tsukuyomi" world turned black.
Under normal circumstances, with Minato and Kushina alive, Naruto would have lived a warm and protected life, shielded by their strong presence. Even as the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails, no villager would dare to mistreat him.
Yet, in this illusion, Naruto lacked the warm company of his parents and faced daily disdain from the entire village, yet he never blamed them.
Clearly, this was abnormal.
Now, Kaito has identified the root cause of this anomaly: Asura's Chakra.
Under the influence of Asura's Chakra, Naruto consistently maintained this resilient outlook. This is akin to Hashirama , who, despite experiencing numerous conspiracies and wars during the Warring States Period, naively believed that "love" could influence everything.
In an effort to maintain balance among the nations, Hashirama even distributed the Nine-Tails to other countries. But what were the results?
As soon as Hashirama passed away, the other nations were ready to strike, and war resumed. The only difference from the Warring States Period was that the multi-party melee had evolved into the current Five Great Nations chaos.
If Hashirama had heeded Madara's warnings and unified the ninja world with absolute strength, perhaps the current state of affairs in the ninja world would be different.