Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 338 Awakening

The assassination plot was revealed, and the hidden evil surged forth like a torrent, presenting Timothy with the cruel truth.

Just as the old man had said, Hyde really did wipe out Timsey's village in order to seize Grell's secret, leaving only two innocent children. Over the years, he had done too many things like this. To ensure the absolute loyalty of his subordinates, he always destroyed first, then brought hope to the children in the guise of a great saint, and so on, in an endless cycle.

“Those who truly yearn for peace will not force their children to ‘sacrifice.’ They will often lead by example, setting a good example for others.” Naruto patted Timothy on the shoulder, comforting him, “Don’t be sad for this kind of person. Go save your friends; they need you more.”

Timothy shuddered as if just waking up, and murmured, "Yes, my friends, they're still inside the machine..."

He leaped into the tower's entrance and fled like the wind, unable to accept this reality for a while.

"Where do you think you're going?" Qu Gen tied the escapee up again. Although only half of his face was visible, his gloom was still so clear. Anyone with a conscience would find Hyde's actions unacceptable.

Hyde shouted like a madman, "What right do you have to arrest me! Without me, those children would have starved to death long ago! They should be grateful and serve me for the rest of their lives!"

The foul language was incessant, and after enduring it for a long time, Qu Gen finally punched Hyde to give him some peace and quiet.

"How dare he say such things?" It was already a sign of good manners that Qu Gen didn't spit in Hyde's face; he was genuinely furious.

"Brainwashing, you have to brainwash yourself first, otherwise how can you pretend to be so convincing?" Naruto didn't even want to spare a glance. "They talk about slogans and honor, but they cower behind the kids and instill wrong ideas in them, making them think that sacrifice is right, conspiracy is innocent, and obedience is a must... Hmph, just a coward's usual trick."

Qu Gen was still angry, so he nodded in agreement without hesitation. But after that period of anger passed and they started to take stock of their spoils, he suddenly realized what was going on.

Glory and slogans.....

"For Konoha."

Huddled behind the child...

"Defend headquarters to the death."

The sacrifice was right...

"We are the 'roots' of Konoha, and even in decay, we will become nourishment for Konoha."

Conspiracy is not a crime...

"Go and give that thing to Nine-Tails."

Obedience is a must...

"My orders are paramount, do you understand?"

Naruto Uzumaki, are you actually cursing Hyde, or did you already see through... Danzo's true nature?

The hatred for the destruction of their hometown and the gratitude for years of raising them intertwined in a complex mix of emotions. Naruto had initially worried that the children might be too soft-hearted to truly kill them. Unexpectedly, Timoshi proved to be decisive and ruthless. After rescuing everyone and telling them the lies he had told them for so many years, he was the first to raise his hand and vote for the death penalty.

Even after his friends were imprisoned in machines and became the control center for the Black Armor Robots, Timothy still treated them as friends. He simply believed that everyone there was a like-minded comrade-in-arms, just with different abilities and thus different uses, without any distinction of rank or status. Therefore, the vast majority of people trusted Timothy immensely. After recovering from the shock of the truth, many joined Timothy, ultimately leading to a narrow victory in sentencing Hyde to death.

Logically, this verdict should have been reported to the Land of Fire's government. However, Hyde was a foreigner, and a foreigner who had secretly invaded the country. All the children he harmed were from foreign lands. Torune and Naruto actually had the right to kill the invader on the spot; they were simply more patient, giving the children the opportunity to learn the truth and make their own decisions.

However, they had no intention of letting the child's hands get stained with blood. Qu Gen volunteered to throw a wisp of poisonous insect at Hyde, causing the man to slowly die in extreme pain.

"Oh dear, I'll never dare to mess with you again." Naruto, who was used to death, broke the silence first to lighten the atmosphere.

"Really? I think we'll still get into trouble." Surprisingly, Torune chimed in. After this incident, his attitude towards Naruto had softened considerably, and he was even willing to ask for his opinion. "By the way, what should we do with these kids?"

Timothy then stepped forward and asked, "My name is Timothy. Thank you for saving us. I don't know your names yet."

"We are Konoha ninjas, names don't matter." Naruto asked with a smile, "What are your plans for the future?"

“…I want to see that old man again. He said he was one of my people.” Timothy didn’t insist, but tentatively made a request.

"That's easy, then what?"

Timothy said firmly, “Actually, we still have a ship anchored on the shore. I plan to take my friends and my people back to our homeland to start over. Of course, whether they are willing to come with me remains to be seen.”

The meeting went smoothly, and the two sides reached an agreement quickly. With Naruto there, transferring the caravan and children was a breeze; they were quickly put on the ship. The only thing left on this land was the dilapidated tower. Oh, that thing was called a land-based machine by them, and there was only one on the ship. Nobody knew where Hyde had found it.

"Aren't you afraid I'll report you for letting them leave like this?" Qu Gen suddenly threatened, looking at the large ship in the distance.

Naruto smiled broadly and asked, "Can you?"

“Unless you tell me what happened that night.” Toru tried to appear dignified by putting on a stern face, but it had no effect on Naruto, whose relaxed demeanor spoke volumes.

"Hmm... When I went down, the array that devoured the ore vein had already been activated. It was an extremely dangerous spatial array that could create a spatial rift with extremely strong suction, devouring everything."

Storytelling is already Naruto's forte. Back then, he couldn't even explain information clearly, and it was all thanks to Kakashi's exceptionally intelligent mind that he could understand what he was saying.

"I can't handle that, so I can only get the person out first. Who knew that the aftershocks from the mine would fall in the opposite direction?"

"Is that going in the opposite direction? It's turning in mid-air!"

"Because I hit it!"

In the end, the two of them went to investigate the explosion site. Surprisingly, it was lush with green grass and covered in fields of flowers, completely unlike the scorched earth left after other explosions—it was quite miraculous. Torune not only held Naruto down but also searched the area thoroughly himself, but unfortunately, he couldn't find even half a piece of Grell's Stone. If they excluded the stones taken by Timothy and the others, it seemed that only the two pieces of this legendary mineral remained in their possession.

How do you plan to report this?

"Are you going to admit that you left the team during the mission?"

"But we can't not report it."

"I only plan to tell Granny Tsunade, what about you?"

After much deliberation, Takemoto finally passed the hot potato to Naruto.

"We only took out a few foreign enemies who tried to sneak into the Land of Fire; the threat has been eliminated."