novelraw Chapter 41 Bullying Incident
Chapter 41 Bullying Incident
After saying goodbye to Might Guy at noon, Naruto went to the place where he usually spent time with Sasuke, but unfortunately, Sasuke wasn't there today. However, this wasn't unusual; Sasuke was absent one or two days every week. With no other option, Naruto spent the afternoon training in ninjutsu by himself.
After finishing his ninjutsu training, Naruto walked briskly home in the setting sun, a smile unconsciously playing on his lips. His encounter with Might Guy today had gone even more smoothly than he'd expected; that passionate man's popularity was unbelievably high.
After just one meeting, their bond level skyrocketed to level 3, second only to the speed at which Hizashi and Neji, the father and son who had saved his life, leveled up.
2400 points is enough for two 10-pulls.
Thinking about the upcoming lottery, Naruto quickened his pace. His anticipation made his steps exceptionally light. After turning a few corners, he entered a relatively quiet street. It was still early, and this alley was rarely visited before dinnertime.
However, the cheerful atmosphere was suddenly broken by a shrill noise.
"What is this? Such ugly eyes, so sinister, it looks like a monster!"
"That's right! A white-eyed monster!"
"Get out of here, you white-eyed monster!"
Naruto abruptly stopped in his tracks. Not far ahead, three unruly children, about his age, were forming a circle, with a trembling little girl crouching in the middle. Their increasingly vehement insults were particularly jarring in the empty street.
"Waaah...I'm not..."
The little girl's attempts to defend herself were mercilessly drowned out by laughter. She hugged her knees tightly, tears streaming down her pale face. This reaction seemed to further provoke the bullies, who intensified their circling around her, exaggeratedly mimicking her comical antics.
"Hey, you three annoying guys up ahead."
The voice suddenly rang out on the deserted street, and the three brats turned around abruptly like startled rabbits. When they saw that the newcomer was just a blond child about their age, their tense shoulders immediately relaxed, and that nauseatingly arrogant expression reappeared on their faces.
"What? Just a kid," the leader mocked in an exaggerated tone. "He thought the adults had arrived. Daring to meddle all by himself, what an idiot!"
"Idiot! Idiot!" The other two children immediately echoed, making exaggerated faces on purpose.
To their surprise, the blond boy showed no fear or anger, but instead wore a calm smile. The smile was eerily calm, and gradually, the three boys' shouts subsided. They looked at each other in bewilderment—this was a completely different reaction from what they had expected.
Just as the atmosphere became strange, Naruto slowly spoke.
"It's really strange. The difference between humans and animals is that animals act on instinct, while humans restrain themselves through upbringing. But some people are no different from animals, which is truly astonishing."
The three children were stunned, their expressions gradually shifting from confusion to shame and anger. Although they didn't fully understand the meaning of those words, they clearly realized that they were being humiliated in front of their eyes.
"You, you idiot!" The boy in the lead blushed, and after struggling for a long time, he could only squeeze out this poor curse.
Faced with this level of attack, Naruto almost burst out laughing. The "purity" of this kind of insult was far too low; if it were in the online forums of his previous life, it wouldn't even qualify as beginner level.
While adults shouldn't bully children, he's still just a child. And Naruto hates bullying the most.
"I said," Naruto glanced disdainfully at the three of them, "do you usually get ignored by everyone? So you can only try to get attention from people weaker than you?" He shook his head with feigned regret, "but this forced attempt to get attention is really ugly."
In this world without the internet, Naruto hadn't even used a tenth of the power of the forum users. But even so, these remarks were enough to completely humiliate the three brats.
"What?! You bastard! Let's teach him a lesson!"
The leader of the brats, enraged, turned bright red. He suddenly swung his fist and charged at Naruto without any strategy or even the most basic stance.
"Bang."
With a soft thud, Naruto caught the punch with one hand, a smile on his face. His palm wasn't even fully open, but internally, Naruto was already ranting and raving.
The range of battles is too extreme... He was fighting the Raikage not long ago, and today he's fighting these little brats?
Naruto certainly understands the principle of respecting the elderly and caring for the young, but only if the other party deserves respect. He has absolutely no pity for this kind of bullying child.
"Wow!"
With a gentle squeeze from Naruto, the boy whose fist was gripped immediately let out a pig-like scream. His ugly face contorted instantly, and tears and snot streamed down his face. Naruto released his grip at the opportune moment, and the boy staggered backward, clutching his wrist and crouching on the ground, sobbing.
"Alright." Naruto clapped his hands, his voice icy. "Now, disappear from my sight immediately."
However, the other kid didn't seem to give up. He gritted his teeth and shouted, "Don't be afraid! He's just one person! There are three of us! And there aren't any adults around! Let's all go together and beat this nosy bastard to a pulp!"
The three mischievous kids, emboldened by each other, charged forward again, baring their teeth and claws. Naruto sighed helplessly. He didn't want to bully children, but if they were both bullies and unrepentant, then that was a different story.
------
"Ouch...it hurts so much..."
"Mother......"
"We're sorry...we'll never do it again...please stop..."
The three brats curled up on the ground, their faces snot and tears streaming down their faces, their previous arrogance completely gone. They were the ones who started the fight, yet now they were putting on a pitiful act of victimhood. Naruto had only used a little force, and these pampered brats, who had never experienced hardship, immediately revealed their true colors.
Naruto slowly crouched down, calmly looked at them, and spoke.
"It seems you've finally learned a little manners."
The three children nodded frantically, tears streaming down their faces.
"That's good, you can go now. But..."
He reached out and placed his hand on the leader's shoulder, his fingers tightening slightly. The brat who had just been yelling about "tearing him a lesson" immediately trembled as if he had been electrocuted.
"babble--!"
Naruto leaned down and whispered in his ear, "If I see you bullying people again... next time, you might get one or two hands, or three or four legs... you'll be in trouble."
These words were like a bucket of ice water poured over the three children's heads. They stared in horror, scrambling to their feet without even bothering to brush the dust off themselves.
"I...I understand!!"
Before the tearful reply could even finish, three figures had already darted away like startled rabbits. They stumbled and ran, not even daring to look back, and quickly disappeared at the end of the street.
Naruto stood up and turned around, his gaze falling on the little girl who had just been bullied. She stood there blankly, her shoulder-length hair slightly disheveled, and her pure white eyes still brimming with tears. Naruto recognized the person in front of him.
Hinata Hyuga, the daughter of the Hyuga clan head.