Chapter 791

So, let those who once bullied her also be hurt by public opinion and then taste the bitter fruits of their actions—she wouldn't consider that excessive at all, would she? As for what comes after, will it unfold just as she hoped?

As long as the one in power is on their own side, rumors are just rumors—manipulating them is no problem at all. After all, the Third Hokage must have done plenty of such things himself.

"Third Hokage, my lord, is this how you fulfilled what you once promised me?"

Kushina, who had already been crying aggrievedly, only handed Naruto over to Bofengshui Sect after saying her piece, then her entire body erupted with chakra as she glared at Sarutobi Hiruzen, ready to throw a punch at him.

Her son—now a daughter—was still her child. Her love could never change with the passage of time. Those who dared bully her child truly deserved a lesson!

"Kushina, calm down. At a time like this, we still need to let the Third Hokage, my lord, explain himself. Who knows, maybe he was so busy peeping at the scenery of the women's bathhouses all over the village that he forgot to take care of Naruto!"

That was truly vicious—peeping at the women's bathhouses all over the village? That was practically making an enemy of the entire village! Who would willingly let themselves be spied on?

Which household would allow their daughter, or wife, or even mother to be seen by a lecherous old man! That single sentence alone pushed the Third even further into danger than exposing his underhanded dealings against certain ninja.

The struggles of ninja were not necessarily something ordinary people cared about, but now, it might very well involve their own families.

"Orochimaru, you are slandering me!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen nearly choked and spat blood from rage. He had anticipated that the appearance of these people would cause trouble, but he had never imagined it would be like this.

This would smear his entire lifetime's reputation black with this single bucket of filthy water.

"Third Hokage, my lord, need not worry. We do not care who you peeked at in whose bathhouse. The two of us have returned from the Pure Land only to know what grudge you hold against us, that you would use such a method to hurt Naruto. Back then Naruto was only a newborn child—what hatred could be so great as to make you do such a thing, Bofengshui Sect?"

Ever since Lin Cheng used the Kotoamatsukami on him once, his heart now held only his wife and daughter. He still cared somewhat about the village, but compared to his wife and daughter, it mattered far less. Let alone the fact that the Third Hokage could never represent the village in the first place.

Now he glared at the Third Hokage, his questioning voice after voice stirring many feelings in the hearts of the ninja nearby. Especially those who had once worked alongside Bofengshui Sect now looked at the Third Hokage with a measure of strangeness.

Back when the Fourth had just become Hokage, not long passed before these later events occurred.

Some had already begun to wonder whether the outbreak of the Nine-Tails incident might also have some connection to the Third Hokage.

Conspiracy theories would always surface in the hearts of many people.

And beyond this group, aside from neutral onlookers, there were also some die-hard loyalists of the Third. Some of these were trying to find ways to notify Danzo, while others had already rushed off to find others capable of resolving the situation.

"I did it to protect Naruto. His identity should not be known. If people learned he was the Nine-Tails jinchūriki, he would face a great crisis."

The Third Hokage calmed his emotions a little. What he needed to do now was first let the couple Minato calm down.

As for the matter of peeping at the women's bathhouse, as long as his position remained unshaken, there would always be ways to clear his name in the future.

But the Fourth's reputation had always been too great. He could not let Bofengshui Sect continue standing against him here.

"Everyone calls Naruto a demon fox, and yet you say you were concealing her identity? Third Hokage, my lord, the part you concealed was only Naruto's parents, wasn't it? If you truly wished to conceal her identity as a jinchūriki, why not let her grow up as an orphan in an ordinary household? At the very least it would have spared her a bullied and miserable childhood—yet you deliberately let people bully her."