Moriya (Last Blade) is a samurai who trained with his best friend, Kaede. When his master is murdered, Kaede returns to find Moriya standing over his lifeless corpse. Realizing that he's been framed, Moriya leaves without a word, allowing his lifelong friend to think that he's a murderer. He dedicates the rest of his life to finding the real killer, and avoiding confrontation with Kaede. Rather than defend himself, he took the fall to avoid conflict, and was fully willing to let himself be seen as a monster.
Itachi (Naruto) is seen as a villain for most of the series. He killed his entire clan, and his brother, Sasuke - the sole survivor - has dedicated his life to taking revenge. There's a flashback sequence where it shows Itachi murdering his clan, and his family. He tells Sasuke to hate him before leaving. He then joins a criminal organization. It's hard to take it any other way. However, we find out later in the series that his father, the head of the clan, was planning a Coup D'etat, and it would have likely ended up in many casualties on both sides. Rather than risk an all out war, Itachi sided with his village rather his clan, and undertook a secret mission to wipe out the clan during the night, while they slept. He was unable to kill his brother, who he loved, so he asked him to hate him - partially because of guilt, and partially to help Sasuke deal with what he had done. The reason he joined the organization is to keep tabs on them. He never defends himself, and we discover that he went to extreme lengths to hide the truth from everyone. Most of the world sees him as a monster, and he is described by the author as living in "Hell."
Both characters eventually reconcile with their loved ones, but there's something about the way that they so willingly jump into darkness, without showing even a hint of a desire to defend themselves, that is much more noble than any story of heroism or valor. The truest hero doesn't do it for the reward, or for themselves, but to protect others or a higher cause. Being seen as a villain was a side effect of how these people chose to follow goodness. Even while in darkness, both characters upheld their virtue.
The Last Blade and Naruto are a video game and a comic book, respectively. Hardly high brow fiction. Yet, both of these characters represent something admirable that can be translated over into life. If you are going to do good things, do them in secret. Don't let the world or anyone else know. Let nobody praise you for your actions. Let people curse you instead. By doing this, you can bring yourself closer to truth. You can do good to do good, not only when it gives no reward, but punishes you for doing so.
The best way to reach the essence of goodness is to reject rewards for your actions. The best way to reach the essence of goodness is to use your free will to reject evil while in its own domain. The best way to reach the essence of goodness is to pursue goodness even as the world hates you for it.
Of course, you'd have to be insane to say that the only way to be good is to be hated by everyone, and the above paragraphs are clearly romanticized. Choosing goodness despite adversity is something that can be done in reality, however. And it's one of the things most worth doing.
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