After leaving the Hokage's place, Naruto quickly made his way to the small wooden house where Mizuki was.
Meanwhile, Mizuki, who had been watching the Hokage's place closely, didn't see Naruto leave and was still waiting nervously.
As time passed and he started thinking the plan had failed, he saw a few Anbu rush out.
"Did it work?"
Not daring to waste time, Mizuki rushed back home.
Not long after he got home, a ninja he knew came running to tell him that the Scroll of Seals had been stolen by Uzumaki Naruto!
So it did work!
But when exactly did Naruto get away?
Why didn't I see him leave?
Did he go out the back door?
Still confused, Mizuki immediately went to wake up Iruka, who hadn't fallen asleep yet, and they headed to the Hokage's place together.
Once he met the Third Hokage, he could openly go look for Naruto, then kill him and take the scroll for himself—without anyone suspecting a thing!
It was a "perfect plan"!
...
At that moment, Naruto had already been at the wooden house for a while, thanks to the Yata no Kagami.
He didn't know when Mizuki and Iruka would show up, so he sat up in a tree and opened the Scroll of Seals!
Even though he didn't understand ninjutsu at all and couldn't possibly learn it by himself, there was no harm in taking a look.
Who knows? Maybe someday he *would* be able to understand it.
He opened the first section—sure enough, it was the Shadow Clone Jutsu.
But other than those few words, Naruto couldn't understand a thing.
"Did I… turn into someone who can't read?"
"But why can I understand what people are saying and talk to Mizuki just fine?"
"And I'm not even speaking Japanese."
"Don't tell me I landed in the dub version?"
"But if I can't read the writing even though I can speak the language, isn't that going to be a problem?"
Naruto suddenly felt like this world was kind of fake, not all that real.
And does this mean he has to start from scratch—learning to read, and then learning ninjutsu on top of that?
[Ding!]
"Oh, right! I still have the system!"
[Ding!]
[Hello, Master! You can call me AI-chan!]
"Ahem… AI-chan, is there a way for me to learn the writing and ninjutsu of this world?"
[Of course there is, Master!]
[Just use the AI-chan Search and you can find whatever you need!]
"AI-chan Search?"
Naruto remembered that when AI-chan first appeared, it listed a few features—
Listening to music, watching movies, searching, chatting.
But what does searching have to do with learning Japanese or learning ninjutsu?
Half-doubting it, Naruto opened the search feature and typed in "learn Japanese."
"Learn Japanese from zero to fluent?"
"So I still have to learn it myself?"
That's right, Master. Didn't you ask if there's a way to learn the writing and ninjutsu of this world?]
"…"
"Let me put it another way—
Is there a way to instantly max out my skills?"
Of course there is, Master!]
"How?"
[By completing AI-chan's missions!]
"You're giving me quests?"
[Nope, not giving—]
"…?"
"Why not?"
[Master, you only get the next mission after finishing the current one~]
Naruto was speechless. He rolled up the scroll and tossed it aside.
Forget it.
There's no way he was going to learn this stuff on his own.
If I can max out directly, why bother learning it myself?
[Exactly, Master! Instead of wasting time learning on your own, it's better to focus on completing missions from AI-chan!]
[Master, you're the best!]
[Master, you're the strongest!]
"AI-chan."
[Yes, I'm here!]
"Quiet."
[…Okay!]
Finally, things were quiet again.
Naruto leaned against a tree, starting to feel a bit bored.
When were Iruka and Mizuki going to show up?
"AI-chan, I think you can play music, right?"
[Yep, Master!]
"Play Blue Bird."
[Habata itara…]
With the music playing in his ears, Naruto found it kind of fun.
So he could have his own BGM whenever he showed up now?
But when he asked, AI-chan told him that the music couldn't be played out loud—only he could hear it.
So the dream of being Konoha's BGM king was over before it even started.
He waited a little longer.
Finally, Naruto saw someone running toward him in a hurry.
It was Umino Iruka!
Even though Mizuki had picked this secret spot, Iruka somehow showed up earlier than him.
Unless someone tipped him off, that was way too much of a coincidence.
"Hey, Naruto!"
Panting heavily, Iruka stopped in front of Naruto, looking a bit annoyed.
If Naruto hadn't been able to see Iruka's shadow, he might've thought he was looking at a ghost.
"Evening, Iruka-sensei," Naruto said calmly, watching Iruka's expression.
"'Evening, Iruka-sensei'? Do you even know how much trouble you're in?" Iruka tried to mimic Naruto's flat tone while scolding him.
"Sorry. Mizuki-sensei told me if I learned the jutsu on this scroll, I could graduate."
"Mizuki?"
Iruka looked like he couldn't believe it. It was hard to tell if his reaction was real or fake.
If Iruka was acting, then Naruto's acting next to his would look like some background extra trying to copy an Oscar winner.
"Yeah. This scroll, and this place—Mizuki-sensei told me about them," Naruto said, completely throwing Mizuki under the bus.
"What… how could that be…"
Iruka seemed to be overwhelmed by Mizuki's betrayal and couldn't process it right away.
Just then, the sound of a kunai came from behind him. Feeling the danger, Iruka instinctively pushed Naruto out of the way.
But because he reacted in a rush, he ended up getting stabbed by the kunai himself!
"Didn't think you'd actually find this place, Iruka." Mizuki crouched on a tree branch, carrying a load of ninja tools on his back. He looked down at Iruka with a cold expression.
"Mizuki… it really was you!" Iruka gasped, staring at him in disbelief.
"Hmph."
Mizuki glanced at Iruka once, then stopped paying attention to him.
He hadn't forgotten what the most important part of today's plan was.
"Naruto, hand over the scroll." Mizuki stood up and stared coldly at Naruto.
"Naruto, don't give him the scroll, not even if it costs you your life!"
Iruka pulled the kunai out of his leg, breathing hard. "That scroll contains forbidden jutsu that were sealed away because they're too dangerous!"
"Mizuki used you just to get his hands on it!"
Mizuki looked at Naruto with a mocking smile and said coldly, "Naruto, Iruka's just scared of what you'll become if you get that scroll."
"Mizuki! What are you talking about?!"
"Naruto, don't listen to him!"
"Hahaha, listen? Let me tell you the truth, Naruto!"
"Shut up! You can't say it!"
Iruka panicked when he heard that, but Mizuki ignored him and kept talking on his own.
"After the incident twelve years ago, the village made a rule. A rule that was meant to be kept from you, Uzumaki Naruto!"
Mizuki's face twisted as he spoke, trying to stir up Naruto's emotions.
But Naruto still looked as calm as ever.
"Oh? What rule?"
Mizuki hadn't expected Naruto to stay this calm after hearing such a shocking secret.
Could a graduation exam really change a person this much?
Still, since he'd already come this far, even if Naruto didn't react the way he wanted, he was going to tell him everything anyway.
"The rule is that no one is allowed to tell you that you're actually the Nine-Tails!"
"In other words, you are the one who killed Iruka's parents and destroyed the village—the Nine-Tailed Fox!"
The whole place fell silent.
After a while, Naruto calmly said, "So what?"