Chapter 24 Naruto, do you want a brother? (Part 2)
"Because when Yiyong grabbed my hand, it didn't hurt as much as before."
After Naruto said this, he lowered his head in embarrassment. This was the first time that he expressed this kind of almost dependence to his peers, as if volunteering was his pillar of escape from loneliness.
"Of course."
Yiyong looked like he was expecting it, and said matter-of-factly, "Because I can make your hand slightly numb by pressing on the place where I live now, that's why you feel this way."
For him who has a clear vision, it is not easy to do this.
But this answer was completely beyond Naruto's expectations.
In the brief silence, Hatake Kakashi, who was responsible for "protecting" Naruto outside the house, slapped his ANBU mask on his face, gaining a new understanding of Giyuu's ability to stand aside.
[Shouldn’t I answer something more comforting at this time?]
At the same time, when Naruto was injured, the shadow clone sent by Kakashi to the Hokage's office for instructions on how to act was also released on its own, and he received a piece of news that he didn't know whether it was good or bad.
Danzo is back. He called the third generation to go to the root.
[In other words, the Third Generation still doesn’t know anything about what happened here...? 】
Tsk.
If things don't go well, it will become troublesome.
inside the house.
"Ehhhhh?"
Hearing Giyuu's almost absolutely rational answer, Uzumaki Naruto shrank into beady eyes.
I always feel that my emotional expressions are not responded to, and I feel a little disappointed, but it seems completely normal, because this is what Yiyong can say with this expression.
"Your injury itself is not serious. It only damaged the epidermis. It looks a bit scary."
Giyu pointed at the back of Naruto's hand and said, "But now, I have to take out these wool residues from the wound, which is very painful.
"Still don't want to be knocked unconscious?"
"No, no need."
Naruto Lu said a little bravely, "I aim to become the Hokage of the village, of course there is no problem."
He was just worried that once he fainted, the long-awaited time with Yiyong would pass in vain.
"All right."
Yiyong did not persuade him again.
He used tweezers to draw a circle over Naruto's injury, and finally hovered it over a more conspicuous hair fiber.
Looking at the metal edge so close at hand, a layer of cold sweat broke out on Naruto's forehead. His body tensed up again, and his tongue was pressed firmly against the roof of his mouth to welcome what was about to come.
Severe pain.
"I'll count to three and take it out."
Yiyong reminded him, as if to prepare him mentally.
"……good."
A gurgling sound came from Naruto's throat.
["Naruto, ninjas must learn to be patient, especially if you want to become Hokage. Whether it is pain or loneliness, it is a test that sharpens us..."]
The old man's words came to Naruto's mind, making him secretly determined not to scream in pain at least in front of Giyuu.
"Don't pull your hands away. One, two."
Before it was three, Yiyong had already taken action, quickly and precisely.
"Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah!
"You obviously said you should count to three!"
At this point, Naruto's plan to show "Hokage-like perseverance" completely failed.
"This is just a tactic to distract you."
Yiyong explained coldly.
"Then if you tell me, will it still work - ah! Why are you here again -"
"It seems to be working."
Just like that, during the chaotic conversation between the two, Yiyong had accurately and quickly picked out all the hair fibers stained on the wound.
It was only then that the ulceration on Naruto's hand skin completely stopped.
The severe pain gradually subsided to a normal level, and the body that was almost stiff and rusty also relaxed a little, and there was even an unreal feeling of surviving the disaster.
His entire shirt was soaked with sweat.
Yiyong, on the other hand, made a judgment about what was mixed in the detergent.
[It is a substance that specifically corrodes the human body.]
The tweezers, the iron bucket for washing the mop, the cloth mop, and the floor of Naruto's house were all stained with the stuff, but they were intact. This showed that they were not common acids and alkalis, and should only be effective on the human body.
But what kind of person dares to do such a thing?
It was said that someone wanted to hurt Naruto intentionally, but if he had some common sense and wore rubber gloves when washing the mop, such a thing would not have happened.
But even if the other party didn't mean it, the hidden dangers this cleaning agent may bring are huge.
Imagine if Naruto didn't just get it on his hands, but splashed it into his eyes or mouth...
【It’s time to go to the place where things are sold.】
Thinking of this, Giyuu crushed all the wool residue and gloves he had removed from the wound into a ball, and threw it into the trash can under Naruto's pityful eyes.
Naruto also knew that he could no longer wear those gloves. He just didn't like to see something that accompanied him disappear like this.
When no one paid attention to him before, he would talk to almost all the objects in the house, and those objects were like substitutes for the friends he never had.
【However, now I have real friends.】
This made his mood slightly better.
At this point, the most difficult step in treating the wound is over.
The questions that Yiyong didn't ask just now because he was worried that it would affect the treatment can now be asked.
"Are the shops in the village willing to sell you things now?"
Yiyong took out the pill box from his pants pocket and asked expressionlessly, as if he was just chatting.
"Yeah. Grandpa Hokage's words are very useful."
Naruto didn't want Giyu to worry about his other things, so he made his words quite ambiguous.
His positive tone and fake smile can make any neutral word or even bad thing sound like a good thing.
This was a unique talent, and Naruto didn't even realize that he was avoiding those truly unpleasant experiences.
"oh."
Yiyong responded noncommittally.
He unscrewed the cap of the medicine box, and a faint fragrance of wisteria flowers (for a little more knowledge, the seeds of wisteria flowers are poisonous) came out, which calmed his originally slightly impetuous mood.
This medicine was originally prepared for Sasuke who often burned his mouth black, and it was extremely effective in cauterizing injuries.
Recently, Giyuu was given a bottle to prevent spontaneous combustion and injuries while practicing Yanhu. Unexpectedly, he had the opportunity to use it on Naruto. What he didn't know was that the bottle given out during the first meeting was actually taken away by Hinata.
.
In addition, Yiyong also noticed something——
The red energy that could repair Naruto's injuries before was very little flowing out of his abdomen today, as if the source of that power was deliberately trying to make Naruto suffer for a while longer.
So after thinking about it carefully, it was best for him to personally help Naruto apply a full set of medicines and bandages to prevent further trouble.
While applying the first ointment to Naruto, he asked again: "What happened to the expired milk and the bottle of detergent in your refrigerator?"
Naruto's right hand shook like an electric shock.
Yiyong has discovered the cause of his injury.
He didn't want Yiyong to always see him pitifully being bullied. But things went against his wishes, and it happened like this every time...
Unconsciously, his hair had drooped down like the ears of a drowned cat.
"Tell the truth."
Giyuu remembered that he was like this when he first met Qio Usagi. It was rare that he could truly understand what Naruto was thinking right now.
【If it were Qiang Tu, he would probably "comfort" me like this.】
"I didn't come to you because I felt sorry for you.
"But if you don't even dare to admit and face what has happened, it's really hard for me to treat you as an equal person."
Yiyong really couldn't say this sentence in the original and inspiring tone of Qiu Rabbit, so it seemed very harsh and even sounded a bit sarcastic.
However, the first half of the sentence still touched Naruto's fragile heart.
【I didn’t come to you because I felt sorry for you.】
At least, one of the doubts in his mind was answered, and the answer made him very happy, so he naturally agreed with the second half of Yiyong's sentence.
"In the end what happened?"
Seeing that Naruto cheered up a little, Giyuu asked again.
"Why choose such a product..."
He wanted to inspire Naruto to protect himself just as he inspired Tanjiro's determination to heal Nezuko. Therefore, it was necessary for him to tell the injustice he encountered personally.
"that……"
Naruto looked at the translucent ointment spread on the back of his hand and said in a slightly lower voice: "Although everyone is willing to sell me things, I am not allowed to enter the store.
"After they collected the money, they would pack the things for me and take them out. I only discovered the problem after I got home..."
"Milk on expiry date can only be sold at half the original price. How much do you pay them?"
Yiyong knows this because he occasionally buys milk that has expired and then goes home to make cream and eat it on the same day. This does not require the milk to be very fresh.
"100 taels (original price, purchasing power equivalent to 60 yuan)..."
Naruto was a little dazed. This was the first time he knew this knowledge.
"The other hand."
"good."
Next, both Uchiha Giyuu and Uzumaki Naruto were immersed in silence.
In the room, the two people's breathing and applying medicine were all quiet. They could only hear the slight friction between the broken door and the door frame, and the occasional whistling of cold air, as if someone would be there next moment.
He suddenly broke in and broke the quiet atmosphere.
"What's going on with the detergent?"
"I, I don't know."
Naruto opened his mouth and shook his head in confusion.
"Maybe it's because it's expired."
In fact, this was the most serious injury he had ever suffered. But because Giyuu arrived here in time and distracted his attention, Naruto didn't take it seriously.
But Giyuu could no longer trust anything Naruto bought from the village.
If this continues, how can Naruto solve the problem of malnutrition before the ninja school starts?
Apart from the fact that he urgently needs to resurrect Purgatory Anjuro, he cannot just sit back and watch this child continue to live like this.
[If Naruto can't count on it, then he can only fight for it on his own. 】
"Then go to them and ask them clearly. If it was an accident, they should compensate you."
[But if not...]
Yiyong unfolded the gauze and cut it into long strips, and covered the back of Naruto's hand with a suitable elasticity. He circled it around and around, inevitably irritating the wound, but Naruto showed no reaction.
When Yiyong raised his head, Fang Yuan's round face was pale, and he was obviously thinking about some unacceptable scenarios.
"You're scared."
This is not a question.
"I have no idea……"
Naruto's lips trembled slightly.
"Anyway...you said it, Yiyong, it just looks serious, doesn't it? Otherwise, let's forget it..."
Even if it was just one person's malicious sight, it was already unbearable for him. If he really did what Yiyong said...
He had already imagined the situation where he came to the door, but was surrounded by people, and then was unanimously targeted.
What will those people say and how will they look at him?
If you can't even enter the store, you will be kicked out...
"Do you still want to continue eating expired instant noodles and drinking expired milk?"
Yiyong asked.
"No, I don't want to."
Naruto shook his head. The feeling of diarrhea every night was really uncomfortable.
"I don't want to live the way I did before."
"In that case..."
A cloud of white steam came out of Yiyong's nose.
"Then don't give up the power of how you want to survive to others casually!"
His expression became unusually ferocious, and his sudden high-pitched tone frightened Naruto to death.
"Don't treat what has happened as if nothing has ever happened. If accepting it helps, then you won't be hurt like this today!
"Even if the Hokage has given the order, they still dare to do this because they know that you will not resist and will only accept it silently. It is precisely because you dare not stand up for yourself that these people will bully you even harder!"
"I don't even have the courage to protect myself, and I said that I don't want to live like before! I also said that I want to become the strongest shadow in this village, and I want to be recognized by everyone..."
On the last sentence, Yiyong's voice was particularly loud and harsh, almost as if it was squeezed out from between his teeth.
"Don't make people laugh so hard!"
Peng's voice came.
The increased wind pressure outside the room pushed the door violently open, and the chair blocking the door was overturned on the spot and lay helpless on the ground, making constant squeaking and rubbing sounds.
The warmth in the room was instantly filled by the cold wind, and the fine snowflakes were like flying pure white butterflies, whirling at the door, as if to invite Giyu and Naruto to walk out.
"I know that maybe in the past few years, no one has been on your side."
Looking at Naruto who was frozen in his seat, but couldn't hold back the tears that kept falling from his cheeks, Giyuu continued to add: "But I will support you. I will go with you to ask clearly."
Naruto raised his head in disbelief, and snowflakes poured into the room and stuck to his face, as if trying to wipe away his tears.
"As long as I am by your side, no one can hurt you.
"This is my promise, Uchiha Giyuu."
After saying that, he placed the remaining half of the cut gauze in front of Naruto and said with a serious face: "I have demonstrated to you the technique of bandaging the wound. You have to wrap the remaining hand yourself."
After saying that, he walked to the door, holding on to the door frame that was shaking due to the wind pressure, "I will wait for you outside for half an hour. If you are willing to go, come out before I leave. I will call the door as soon as possible.
Someone will come and fix it for you."
After saying that, he grabbed the broken handle and pulled the door to the outside of Naruto's house. There was no cold wind outside the house to rush in from here.