Chapter 6: Graduation
"So what?"
Mizuki's expression froze for a moment, then twisted into rage. "What do you mean 'so what'?! You're the demon fox! The entire village fears and hates you! Even Iruka hates you! He despises you!"
"No one will ever accept you!"
Iruka, exposed by Mizuki's words, lowered his head guiltily.
"I said, so what?"
"Whether you lied to me, hate me, or fear me — I don't care. Uzumaki Naruto doesn't need anyone's approval."
Naruto stared coldly at Mizuki. The icy look in his eyes actually made Mizuki feel a flicker of fear.
Realizing he had been intimidated by a child, Mizuki became furious with embarrassment.
"Stop talking nonsense! You think you don't want recognition?"
"You're just lying to yourself!"
"Go to hell, Naruto!"
Mizuki shouted as he pulled out a large Fuuma Shuriken from behind his back and hurled it at Naruto.
The spinning shuriken was about to pierce through him when a figure suddenly stepped in front, taking the hit with his back.
"Cough!"
Iruka spat out a mouthful of blood. He looked at Naruto with eyes full of apology.
"I'm sorry, Naruto."
"You've suffered so much all these years."
"It must have been painful, never being acknowledged by anyone. You must have felt so lonely without friends."
"If… if I had been more reliable, you wouldn't have had to endure those painful memories."
Looking at Iruka's tear-streaked face, Naruto couldn't tell whether the emotion was genuine or just excellent acting.
Either way, it didn't matter.
Naruto walked behind Iruka and pulled the Fuuma Shuriken out of his back. "It was nothing more than a bit of wind and frost."
Iruka was stunned by those words.
Twelve years of deception, hatred, and isolation from the entire village… and he called it "just a bit of wind and frost"?
When had the loud, prank-loving Naruto become this strong?
Indeed, I realized too late. If I had been more reliable and given him more attention, maybe he wouldn't have had to become this strong so early.
Compared to Naruto's resilience, Iruka's emotional outburst suddenly felt overly dramatic.
"Rest here. I'll finish this quickly."
Naruto suddenly spoke, then casually tossed the Fuuma Shuriken aside and walked straight toward Mizuki.
"Naruto…"
Seeing the small but steady and reliable back of the boy, Iruka felt even more guilty.
At the same time,
On the rooftop of the Hokage Building, the Third Hokage watched everything through his telescope technique.
He stared at Naruto's familiar silhouette and fell into a brief daze.
"Minato…"
...
Mizuki watched Naruto walking toward him and burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! Are you trying to protect him? Iruka is just lying to you! He only wants to convince you to return the Scroll of Seals!"
"Shut up."
Naruto had no interest in wasting more words. Golden light flashed around his leg as he said indifferently, "Mizuki, have you ever been kicked at the speed of light?"
"Light speed?"
Before Mizuki could process the words, he felt a devastating kick slam into his lower back. His body flew off the tree and crashed hard into the ground.
Boom!
The impact created a small crater.
Both Iruka and the distant Third Hokage were shocked.
When did Naruto gain this kind of power?
And what was that golden light?
Inside the crater, Mizuki lay paralyzed from the waist down after the single kick.
He struggled to get up, but his lower body refused to obey.
Naruto approached step by step. The steady sound of his footsteps felt like a demon's whisper.
"Im… impossible. How could you have this kind of strength?"
"You're just a dead last!" Mizuki screamed desperately, trying to convince himself this was a nightmare.
But the pain in his body told him it was all real.
"Being a dead last was only because I wasn't good at ninjutsu. Did you really think I was bad at everything?" Naruto looked down at Mizuki, who now resembled a dying dog, and spoke calmly.
His explanation wasn't particularly convincing. It would be hard for anyone to fully believe.
After all, he wasn't the same person as the Naruto of the past twelve years.
A sudden change in personality and a massive increase in strength — no excuse would completely satisfy others.
But as long as the fact that he was the jinchuriki remained unchanged, and the Nine-Tails was still sealed inside him, no matter how much he changed, he was still Uzumaki Naruto.
Naruto stepped in front of Mizuki and delivered a precise light-speed chop to the back of his neck, knocking him unconscious.
He had no intention of killing Mizuki.
A slightly colder personality wasn't a big issue, but becoming bloodthirsty might make Iruka hesitate to give him the forehead protector — or even prevent the Third Hokage from allowing him to graduate.
The Will of Fire would never accept someone so dark.
Besides… he wasn't a bloodthirsty person by nature.
"Iruka-sensei, are you alright?"
Naruto returned to Iruka's side. The man was still stunned by how quickly Naruto had defeated Mizuki.
"Are you… really Naruto?"
"The one and only."
Naruto gave a casual reply and examined Iruka's wound.
"It looks pretty bad. Let me take you to the hospital."
"…Alright."
"But I can walk on my own. You just carry Mizuki."
"Fine. Here, take the Scroll of Seals, Iruka-sensei. I can't learn the techniques inside anyway — it's useless to me."
Naruto handed the scroll to Iruka, then walked over to Mizuki.
Iruka looked at Naruto's back, then down at the Scroll of Seals in his hands.
Can't learn it?
Is he really Naruto?
But then why did he have that kind of speed and power?
While Iruka was still lost in thought, Naruto returned with Mizuki on his back.
"Let's go, Iruka-sensei!"
"Oh… right."
Iruka started to follow, but then glanced at the scroll and said, "Naruto, why don't you take Mizuki to the Konoha Hospital first? I need to return the Scroll of Seals to the Hokage."
Naruto was about to agree when he suddenly realized something — if Iruka left now, who would give him his forehead protector?
After a brief hesitation, he asked, "Iruka-sensei… can someone who can't perform the Clone Technique really not become a ninja?"
"Well…"
Iruka looked at the expectant look in Naruto's eyes and didn't know how to answer.
Could they make an exception?
Konoha had pure taijutsu specialists like Rock Lee, so it should be possible.
But without a Jonin's recommendation, he didn't have the authority to decide.
Should he refuse Naruto?
Yet Naruto had just defeated Mizuki and saved him.
Refusing now would feel too heartless.
After thinking it over, Iruka decided to make an exception.
If someone who could defeat a Chunin like Mizuki still couldn't graduate, then the academy's standards were far too rigid.
"Naruto, close your eyes."
Hearing those words, Naruto felt a surge of excitement.
Is he going to give me the forehead protector?
Does this mean I've graduated?
Though excited inside, he kept his face calm, showing only mild confusion before returning to his usual blank expression.
A moment later, he felt Iruka remove his old goggles and tie something hard and cool onto his forehead.
"Alright, open your eyes!"
"Congratulations, Naruto. You've graduated!"
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