"Laser."
Naruto stared at the laser in his hand, feeling a mix of emotions.
Just one day ago, he was still living in a modern, science-based world. Now, he had supernatural powers.
There was no way he could feel nothing at all.
But the feeling only lasted a moment. He quickly calmed down.
After decades of living on Earth, his personality had already been shaped by the harshness of the world—his heart was as steady as Shisui's.
Superpowers? The Glint-Glint Fruit? It's no big deal…
He took a deep breath and steadied his heart completely. Then, Naruto began practicing the powers that Borsalino had in his memories:
Laser beams, light-speed kicks, the Sword of the Sky, the Mirror of Yata, and the Eight-Shaku Curved Magatama...
With the Glint-Glint Fruit at full power, Naruto used all of these abilities with no trouble at all. It was like he had practiced them countless times already.
But after testing them all, the room was a complete mess.
"If Mizuki sees this, he'll definitely get suspicious."
Naruto looked at the holes made by his laser beams and frowned. But soon, he had an idea.
He'd just bring the whole house down.
As long as Mizuki didn't move the rubble aside, he wouldn't see what was inside and would probably just think Naruto was goofing off again.
I, Uzumaki Naruto, even dared to paint graffiti on the Hokage Rock—what's the big deal about destroying a cabin?
With that thought, Naruto aimed a laser at one of the support beams and fired.
Outside the cabin, Mizuki was already getting anxious.
Hearing all the crashing and banging from inside, he was just about to open the window or door to see what was going on—
Then suddenly, boom! The house collapsed.
Then he saw Naruto crawl out from under the wooden house, covered in dirt.
"Mizuki-sensei? Why are you here?"
"Your house just collapsed on its own—I almost got crushed!"
"Hurry and help me out!"
"..."
Collapsed on its own?
You think I didn't hear all that banging from inside?
Even though he was cursing Naruto like crazy in his mind, Mizuki still honestly went to help him up.
This was the first step of his plan—without Naruto, everything he had prepared tonight would be ruined!
"I forgot something. I just came back to grab it…" Mizuki said, making up a reason while helping Naruto.
But Naruto had already guessed he never left, so he wasn't surprised at all.
He only asked to make the situation look natural.
"Thanks, Mizuki-sensei."
He said thank you, but his face was completely blank.
Clearly didn't mean it.
Mizuki took a deep breath, forced a smile, and said, "As long as you're not hurt, it's fine. The house collapsing doesn't matter—it's not like I live here anyway."
"Oh, I didn't really care either. I can't afford to fix it anyway."
"..."
Mizuki's face twitched. He held back his anger and said, "If you're fine, then hurry up and get the Sealing Scroll. Once the sun comes up, you won't get another chance!"
"I know that even if you didn't say it."
Naruto brushed the dust off his body and replied calmly.
Then he slowly headed toward the center of the village.
Mizuki watched Naruto's back, and a hint of cold cruelty flashed in his eyes.
"That demon fox better not be planning anything tricky…"
Feeling uneasy, Mizuki quietly followed him.
Luckily, Naruto didn't pull any more stunts. He went straight to the village center and walked into the Hokage's residence!
Watching Naruto just walk right into such a heavily guarded place, Mizuki started to doubt if he picked the right person for this plan.
After waiting a while with no sounds coming from inside, he got even more nervous.
"Is it a shift change? No guards inside? Or has the demon fox already been caught?"
Mizuki was confused but didn't dare go in and check.
If Naruto got caught and told on him, he could still deny it and nothing would happen.
But if he followed in and got caught himself, there would be no way to explain it.
At this time of night, he had no good reason to be here.
Even saying he was tailing Naruto out of suspicion wouldn't be convincing.
The Anbu aren't the type to just believe whatever you say.
Once they start torturing him, he won't be able to hold out!
---
Inside the Hokage's residence at that moment—
Naruto was carefully sneaking through the hallway, trying to find where the Sealing Scroll was kept.
But the place was just too big. Even after checking two floors, he still hadn't found anything that looked like where they would store it.
"Supplies room, training room, lounge… library?"
"This should be it, right?"
Naruto looked around. There didn't seem to be any guards at all.
Maybe the security here really was that loose, or maybe Hiruzen Sarutobi let him in on purpose.
Either way, it didn't matter. As long as he could get the Sealing Scroll, that was enough.
He pushed open the door.
There were candles burning inside, lighting up the whole room!
Someone had clearly been here just now.
But where were they now?
Naruto checked all the corners of the room carefully but didn't see anyone else.
Maybe it was Hiruzen and he just went to the bathroom?
That kind of coincidence was hard to believe, but it didn't matter anymore.
Where was the scroll?
Naruto looked at the bookshelves and spotted a big scroll directly across from him, with the word "Seal" written clearly on it.
"So you're not even pretending anymore, huh?"
Naruto's mouth twitched slightly.
He removed the Anbu because he was afraid they'd find him.
He turned on the lights early because he was afraid it would be too dark to see.
He put the scroll in the most obvious place in the room because he was afraid he wouldn't be able to find it.
If the original Naruto wasn't so simple-minded, he would've noticed something was off right away.
"I'm not exactly clever either,"
he muttered, jumping up to take down the scroll marked with the sealing symbol.
Even though he didn't inherit the original Naruto's memories, he did inherit his physical abilities.
And with the bonus from the system that doubled his stats, he was now pretty much a little superhuman!
"This is easy. Time to go!"
Strapping the scroll to his back, Naruto pushed open the door and started running.
But after only a few steps, he ran into Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was already waiting for him.
"Naruto, what are you doing here?"
"..."
Naruto looked at Hiruzen in front of him, feeling unsure.
The original Naruto had used the Sexy Jutsu to distract Hiruzen and escape. Now he had two choices.
One: use the power of the Glint-Glint Fruit to try to defeat Hiruzen and escape.
Two: just use the Glint-Glint Fruit to run away right now!
Naruto's eyes shifted—he decided to test the waters first.
If Hiruzen was acting, even a clumsy trick would fool him!
And if he wasn't... well, Naruto didn't believe anyone could catch up to the speed of light.
He glanced behind Hiruzen and pretended to be surprised:
"Huh? Iruka-sensei? You're here too?"
"Iruka?"
As soon as Hiruzen turned his head, Naruto knew he was right!
He was acting!
It was all just to "happen to catch" Naruto stealing the scroll, then let him leave, and finally send people after him.
Naruto didn't know if this was to lure Mizuki out or to let him secretly learn something from the scroll...
But Naruto knew one thing—this kind of chance wouldn't last long!
If he didn't run now, even Hiruzen wouldn't be able to keep the act going!
"Yata no Kagami!"
Using the power of the Glint-Glint Fruit, Naruto vanished from the Hokage's residence in an instant.
By the time Hiruzen turned his head back, Naruto was already gone!
"He runs fast!"
Even though the Scroll of Seals was gone, Hiruzen didn't panic. He even joked about it.
But that was because he hadn't seen Naruto use the Glint-Glint Fruit.
If he had, he wouldn't have stayed so calm.