Chapter 5: The Truth
After leaving the Hokage Residence, Naruto quickly headed back toward the wooden cabin Mizuki had prepared earlier.
Meanwhile, Mizuki, who had been watching the Hokage Residence intently, still hadn't seen Naruto leave. He waited anxiously in place.
As time passed and he began to fear the plan had failed, he suddenly saw several Anbu operatives hurrying away.
"Did it work?"
Not daring to waste time, Mizuki rushed back home to wait.
Shortly after he arrived, a ninja he knew came running with urgent news: the Scroll of Seals had been stolen by Uzumaki Naruto.
It had really succeeded!
But when exactly had that kid managed it? Mizuki hadn't seen him come out at all. Had he escaped through the back door?
Full of doubts, Mizuki immediately woke Iruka Umino and the two of them headed to the Hokage Residence together.
Once he met with the Third Hokage, he could openly search for Naruto, kill him, take the scroll for himself, and no one would suspect a thing.
A "perfect" plan.
...
By now, Naruto had already reached the cabin using the Yata Mirror technique. He had been waiting for a while.
Unsure when Mizuki and Iruka would arrive, he leaned against a tree and opened the Scroll of Seals.
Although he knew nothing about ninjutsu and couldn't teach himself, there was no harm in looking. Who knows — maybe he would understand it later.
He unrolled the first section. As expected, it was the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.
But aside from those few words, he couldn't understand anything.
"Did I become illiterate?"
"But why can I understand what everyone is saying and talk normally with Mizuki?"
"I'm not even speaking Japanese…"
"Unless I crossed over into the Mandarin-dubbed version?"
"But wouldn't having different writing and spoken language cause problems?"
For a moment, Naruto felt the world around him seemed strangely unreal.
Did he really have to start from zero — learning this world's writing system and then ninjutsu from scratch?
[Ding!]
"Right, I still have the system!"
[Ding!] [Master, please call me Little Ai!]
"Ahem. Little Ai, is there a way for me to learn this world's writing and ninjutsu?"
[Of course there is, Master!] [You can get whatever you want by using Little Ai's search function!]
"Search function?"
Naruto remembered that when Little Ai first appeared, it had mentioned its abilities: play music, watch movies, search, chat.
But what did "search" have to do with learning Japanese or ninjutsu?
Skeptical, he opened the function and searched for "Japanese from zero to mastery."
"Self-study Japanese course?"
"I still have to learn it myself?"
[That's right, Master. Didn't you ask if there was a way to learn the writing and ninjutsu of this world?]
"..."
"Let me rephrase. Is there a way to make me max-level instantly?"
[Of course, Master!]
"What is it?"
[Complete Little Ai's tasks!]
"Issue one?"
[Not issuing!]
"..."
"Why not?"
[Master can only receive the next task after completing the current one~]
Naruto was speechless. He closed the scroll and tossed it aside.
No way I'm studying on my own.
Why bother learning manually when he could reach max level through tasks?
[Exactly, Master! Instead of wasting time studying, it's better to focus on completing Little Ai's tasks!] [Master, you're the best!] [Master, you're the strongest!]
"Little Ai."
[Yes!]
"Be quiet."
[Okay~]
With the chatter finally gone, Naruto leaned against the tree, feeling a bit bored.
When are Iruka and Mizuki going to show up?
"Little Ai, I remember you can play music, right?"
[Yes, Master!]
"Play 'Aozora'."
[Haba-la-i-da-la...]
Listening to the music in his ears, Naruto found it rather novel.
Does this mean I can have my own BGM whenever I appear?
When he asked Little Ai, however, the system told him the music could only be heard by him — it couldn't be played externally.
The dream of becoming Konoha's BGM king died before it even began.
After waiting a little longer, Naruto finally saw someone running toward him in a hurry.
It was Iruka Umino.
This was supposed to be Mizuki's secret hiding spot, yet Iruka had arrived first. If no "higher-up" had guided him, this coincidence was too convenient.
"Hey, Naruto!"
Iruka stopped in front of him, panting heavily, his eyes full of resentment.
If Naruto couldn't see Iruka's shadow, he might have thought he was facing a ghost.
"Good evening, Iruka-sensei," Naruto said calmly.
"Good evening?! Do you even realize how much trouble you've caused?" Iruka replied, trying to mimic Naruto's blank expression but failing to hide his frustration.
"Sorry. Mizuki-sensei told me that if I learned the ninjutsu in this scroll, I could graduate."
"Mizuki?"
Iruka looked genuinely shocked — it was impossible to tell whether it was real or an act.
If Iruka was acting, then compared to him, Naruto's acting skills were like an extra versus a movie star.
"Yeah. Both this scroll and this location were told to me by Mizuki-sensei," Naruto said, directly selling Mizuki out.
"How could that be…"
Iruka seemed overwhelmed by the betrayal, unable to accept it.
At that moment, the sound of kunai slicing through the air came from behind him. Sensing danger, Iruka instinctively pushed Naruto aside.
In his haste, he failed to dodge completely and was stabbed in his right leg.
"I didn't expect you to find this place, Iruka!" Mizuki landed on a tree branch, kunai and tools on his back, staring down at Iruka with a cold expression.
"Mizuki… it really was you!" Iruka gasped, looking up in disbelief.
"Hmph."
Mizuki glanced at Iruka but quickly ignored him.
He hadn't forgotten what mattered most in tonight's plan.
"Naruto, hand over the scroll," Mizuki said coldly as he stood up straight.
"Naruto, no matter what, you can't give him the scroll!" Iruka pulled the kunai from his leg, breathing heavily. "That scroll contains dangerous forbidden techniques that were sealed away!"
"Mizuki is only using you to get it!"
Mizuki looked at Naruto with contempt and sneered, "Naruto, Iruka is just afraid you'll obtain that power."
"Mizuki, what nonsense are you spouting?!"
"Don't listen to him, Naruto!"
"Hahaha! Nonsense? Then let me tell you the truth, Naruto!"
"Shut up! You can't say it!"
Iruka panicked the moment he heard those words, but Mizuki ignored him and continued.
"After the incident twelve years ago, the village established a certain rule. A rule that no one was allowed to tell you, Uzumaki Naruto."
Mizuki's face twisted as he tried to provoke Naruto.
However, Naruto remained completely calm, showing no emotional reaction.
"Oh? What rule?"
Mizuki hadn't expected Naruto to stay so composed even after hearing such explosive information.
Could failing the graduation exam really change a person this much?
Still, he had already come this far. Even if he didn't get the reaction he wanted, he would reveal the truth.
"The rule is that no one is allowed to tell you that Uzumaki Naruto is actually the demon fox!"
"In other words — you are the Nine-Tails that killed Iruka's parents and destroyed the village!!"
The clearing fell silent.
After a long pause, Naruto finally spoke in a flat tone:
"Oh. So what?"
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