Mastermind of the Akatsuki

After leaving the Hokage Tower, Jiraiya strolled aimlessly down the street by himself. Besides wanting to find a nice bathhouse to unwind after months of traveling, he also wanted to check in on Naruto, see how he was doing, and if there was any way he could help him out.

Although the old man (the Third Hokage) was surely doing his best to look after Naruto, he was a busy man with little time to spend with him personally.

Not long into his walk, Jiraiya spotted Naruto. The boy was helping an elderly woman cross the street, guiding her to the other side. Afterward, Naruto wiped the sweat from his brow and flashed a bright smile.

Jiraiya stopped in his tracks, feeling his vision blur as he was struck by the sight. For a moment, he could see a young Minato, who was just as kind-hearted and eager to help anyone in need. Naruto and Minato's images seemed to overlap, merging into one.

Noticing Jiraiya staring, Naruto quickly ran up to him and handed him a tissue. "Hey, mister ninja, you don't look so happy. Are you going through something tough?"

Taking the tissue, Jiraiya chuckled and replied, "Just some memories from the past came up. But you, kid—do you help people cross the street every day?"

"Not just that," Naruto counted off on his fingers, "I've also helped push carts, carried stuff, and even run errands. Don't let my age fool you; I know a lot of things!"

Jiraiya guessed one reason Naruto might be doing all this. "Is it because you don't have enough food to eat?"

Naruto shook his head. "The Hokage gives me enough allowance, but the shopkeepers usually sell me food that's about to expire, and it goes bad quickly. I started wondering if I'd done something to offend them. But since I started doing good deeds every day, their looks have softened a bit. I think maybe now they see me as part of the village."

Listening to Naruto's experiences, Jiraiya's heart felt heavy. He couldn't understand why Naruto had faced such discrimination—Naruto hadn't done anything wrong. Minato and Kushina were heroes who saved the village.

Even so, Jiraiya was relieved to see that, despite the prejudice he'd faced, Naruto had earned the villagers' acceptance through his own efforts. It showed that Naruto's strength of character was no less than Minato's, though he was still just a child forced to think about these things. Jiraiya couldn't help but feel some heartache for his young protégé.

Moved, Jiraiya pulled out a few bills from his wallet and said grandly, "Consider this a reward for all the good you've done. It's yours."

Naruto, however, shook his head and refused. "I don't do good deeds for a reward, mister. Keep your money; I can't take it."

Jiraiya was taken aback but soon broke into a smile as he put the money away. "You're right, kiddo. How about this—I'll treat you to a meal at the Akimichi family's barbecue place?"

---

After some gentle insistence, Naruto agreed and went along with Jiraiya to the barbecue restaurant. After a hearty meal, Naruto left with a full belly, while Jiraiya quietly disappeared after paying the bill.

Looking around, Naruto couldn't find any trace of him and muttered to himself, "What a strange guy. Suddenly complimenting me, then treating me to a meal… It's like he knows me or something."

Even though it was their first time meeting.

As if sensing Naruto's thoughts, a voice murmured in his mind. It was the enigmatic Black Zetsu, "Naruto, the ninja who was with you just now is very strong. Even in my time, people like him were rare. He seems to care about you deeply; perhaps he knows something about your past."

Naruto paused for a moment before sighing softly to himself. "If he does know my past… he probably won't tell me, either."

Naruto sighed, frustrated by the familiar feeling of knowing that another powerful ninja might know the truth about him but would likely never share it, just like the Third Hokage. The Hokage always promised that he'd reveal everything once Naruto proved himself, yet despite all his efforts, that moment still hadn't come.

With a hint of exasperation, Naruto murmured, "Oldman Black, what should I do next? I'll listen to you."

"Keep doing good deeds," Black Zetsu's voice echoed in Naruto's ear. "One day, you'll earn everyone's approval."

Though Black Zetsu himself was uncertain why he was guiding Naruto to spread kindness rather than revealing the harsh realities of the ninja world, he was simply following Byakuya's orders. In the past, Black Zetsu would have driven Naruto toward a darker path, exposing him to the worst of the ninja world to manipulate him, much as he had done with past reincarnations of Indra.

But Byakuya's plan seemed intent on crafting a fairytale-like world for Naruto, one where he would see only the good in others.

As Naruto rested by the roadside, night began to fall. Just as he was about to return home, the sound of a scuffle caught his attention. He paused, then decided to follow the noise.

Arriving at a small park, Naruto saw a group of children surrounding a girl, apparently bullying her. Unlike the other children, this girl had unique, pale eyes that seemed almost alive.

Noticing the distinctive white eyes, Black Zetsu felt a flicker of surprise—those eyes were the Byakugan, a symbol of his ancient Ōtsutsuki clan. But the true Ōtsutsuki bloodline had long since vanished from the ninja world, and the Hyūga clan in Konoha were mere descendants of Hamura.

Still, he thought, the descendants of Hamura had fallen rather low to let themselves be cornered by ordinary humans.

Naruto, seeing the situation, turned to Black Zetsu and asked, "Oldman Black, what should I do? Should I step in and stop them?"

Black Zetsu nodded. "Of course. Ignoring bullying isn't the behavior of a good person. Don't you want to be accepted by everyone in the village?"

Naruto hesitated, biting his lip. "But… if I interfere with that group, will they still accept me?"

Faced with this moral dilemma, Naruto felt conflicted. His desire for acceptance was so strong that it made decisions like this challenging.

Uninterested in dealing with Naruto's indecisiveness, Black Zetsu replied coldly, "This is your choice, not mine."

Taking a deep breath, Naruto resolved himself and rushed over to the group, shouting, "Hey! I already called your parents! If you don't want a bamboo-stick stir-fry, you'd better scram!"

At his words, the children scattered in fear, leaving Naruto standing next to the girl with the pale eyes.

Watching the scene, Black Zetsu narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. Naruto's instinct to save the girl was certainly influenced by Asura's chakra, but there was something different about him. Unlike previous incarnations, Naruto seemed to genuinely want to help others, not just because of his lineage or destiny, but from his own desire to make a difference.