Naruto jumped out of the window of the Hokage's Office, excitedly heading towards the northern forest, when he unexpectedly bumped into a figure descending from above.
"Ouch!"
Caught off guard, he landed hard on his backside, still clutching the scroll nearly as big as himself. The scroll tumbled away.
"Don't you watch where you're going, idiot!" A cold voice came from above.
Rubbing his sore backside, Naruto looked up angrily.
"Hey, Sasuke, what are you doing here? You almost scared me to death, believe it!"
He complained, then suddenly remembered Mizuki's warning and quickly covered his mouth.
Naruto looked around warily, then lowered his voice. "Sasuke, you absolutely can't tell anyone I'm here!"
Sasuke looked at the idiot's antics, glanced at the massive scroll on the ground bearing the words 'Scroll of Seals'.
'The Hokage's Office, the Scroll of Seals...'
Suspicion grew in Sasuke's heart.
'The usually heavily guarded building was completely dark, and Naruto just happened to be emerging with the legendary Forbidden Techniques scroll.'
'This is all too much of a coincidence.'
He bent down and casually picked up the scroll.
"Did you steal this?" Sasuke asked coldly, trying to fish for information from Naruto.
"It's not stealing!" Naruto immediately retorted, scrambling up from the ground to try and grab the scroll back, "This is a secret test from Grandpa Hokage! As long as I learn the Forbidden Technique inside, I can become the village's hero!"
'Secret test?'
A flicker of mockery passed through Sasuke's eyes. He was certain this idiot was being used by someone.
Ignoring Naruto's struggles, he simply unrolled the scroll in his hands, his gaze quickly scanning the recorded Forbidden Techniques.
He memorized the entire contents with just a few glances.
He rolled the scroll back up and casually stuffed it into Naruto's arms.
"Hero?" he sneered. "You can't even tell what a trap is, and you want to be a hero?"
"What trap? Mizuki-sensei told me this himself!" Naruto jumped up and down in frustration, wanting to defend the teacher he trusted.
"Mizuki?"
Sasuke chewed on the name but couldn't recall who that was.
'He probably wasn't anyone strong.'
Just as Sasuke was pondering, a figure emerged from the woods not far away, a trace of anxiety on his face.
"Naruto, why are you still here? Didn't I tell you to go to the northern forest?"
The newcomer was none other than Mizuki.
When he saw Sasuke was also present, his pupils contracted almost imperceptibly, but he quickly regained his gentle demeanor.
"Oh my, isn't this Sasuke-kun? What are you doing with Naruto so late at night?" Mizuki asked with feigned surprise.
Seeing Mizuki, Naruto seemed to find his anchor and immediately said loudly, "Mizuki-sensei, Sasuke doesn't believe this is a secret test! Explain it to him quickly!"
"Explain?"
The smile on Mizuki's face became a little subtle. He stepped forward slowly, his gaze passing over Naruto to land on Sasuke, his tone turning somewhat cold.
"It seems our little genius has discovered something he shouldn't have, hasn't he?"
Having reached this point, he stopped pretending.
Since he'd been caught, there was no need to keep up the act.
Sasuke didn't respond to his words, just looked at him calmly.
Seeing this, Mizuki turned to the confused Naruto, his eyes growing even more sinister.
"Naruto, do you know why everyone in the village hates you so much?"
"Mizuki-sensei, you..." Naruto was bewildered by this sudden change.
"Because you are that demon fo..."
Before Mizuki could finish his sentence, the fierce grin on his face abruptly froze.
He only felt a chill in his chest.
He looked down and saw a slender line of blood, stretching from his left shoulder all the way to his right waist, slowly appeared.
"Guh..."
Mizuki opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but only blood gushed out.
His upper body slid slowly along that bloodline.
"Mizuki-sensei, he..."
Naruto was terrified by the sight, his voice trembling.
Sasuke slowly sheathed his sword and turned his face to look at Naruto.
"I told you, it was a trap."
He looked up, staring into the darkness ahead, "Open the scroll and see what you can remember. They'll probably send someone soon."
"Them?"
Naruto was confused, but seeing the look in Sasuke's eyes, he instinctively opened the scroll and did as he was told.
Suddenly, Sasuke saw a beam of white light emanating from Mizuki's corpse. The light stretched upwards, connecting to an unknown place.
Then, a spirit slowly materialized… it was Mizuki's soul.
He looked bewildered at first, but the moment he saw Sasuke, his expression turned ferocious.
"Bakudo #4, Hainawa."
A rope-like beam of light shot from Sasuke's hand, swiftly binding Mizuki's entire spirit.
Panic instantly replaced the ferocity on Mizuki's face. He hadn't expected a Ninjutsu that could affect souls.
Ignoring Mizuki, Sasuke looked at the pillar of light, thinking to himself, 'The Pure Land?'
He suddenly remembered the Forbidden Technique he'd just seen in the Scroll of Seals, 'Impure World Reincarnation'.
According to the description, it was a technique that could recall souls from the Pure Land.
Sasuke took a step forward, intending to examine the difference between a Shinobi's soul and a Shinigami's soul.
But a terrifying suction force suddenly came from the light pillar, and the spiritual rope began to slowly turn transparent.
Seeing Mizuki was about to break free, Sasuke didn't hesitate. A crescent-shaped blade light swept out.
Mizuki's soul dissipated amidst the blade light, and the pillar connecting to the Pure Land faded away.
He glanced at the still-dazed Naruto and the scroll in his hands, frowning slightly.
"Are you finished?"
"Huh? Oh..." Naruto was jolted awake by the question.
But everything that had just happened left his mind in chaos. He only remembered the name of the first technique, Multiple Shadow Clone Technique).
Suddenly, two Anbu materialized from the shadows.
"By order of Hokage-sama, the Scroll of Seals is to be retrieved immediately. Additionally, Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, you are to come with us for questioning."
Naruto was at a loss, instinctively looking at Sasuke, a wave of grievance washing over him.
'I was the one who was tricked. Why was I being treated like a criminal?'
Sasuke expressionlessly tossed the scroll over, then turned to leave.
"Please stay, Uchiha Sasuke."
The Anbu instantly stopped Sasuke, "This is an order."
Sasuke's footsteps halted. A flicker of disgust passed through his eyes.
"Just with you?"
The moment the words fell, an indescribable, terrifying pressure erupted.
The two Anbu, upon coming into contact with this pressure, their pupils contracted sharply. Their bodies froze uncontrollably.
"Dare to block my path again."
Sasuke's voice was soft, but it hit the two Anbu's hearts like a heavy hammer, "...and I'll kill you."
Having said that, he paused no longer, walking step by step into the darkness and disappearing.
Naruto hesitated for a moment beside him, then hurriedly followed Sasuke's retreating figure.
A long time later, when the suffocating pressure had completely dissipated, the two Anbu finally seemed to lose their strength, falling to one knee, gasping for air heavily.
One of them tremblingly raised a hand, wanting to remove his mask, but found his arm too weak to lift.
"W-What was that just now..." His voice was full of fear.
The other didn't answer, just lowered his head and looked at his own hands, which were still trembling uncontrollably.
As Anbu, they had seen many powerful individuals and faced countless life-and-death crises.
But never once had they been unable to even muster the will to resist, like they had just moments before.
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