Yamashiro Aoba glanced at Mizuki, who now looked more like roadkill than a ninja, then turned his eyes to Naruto—scratching his head with that dopey grin—and finally at Iruka, who was smiling like a proud auntie. His brows furrowed as Iruka's words echoed in his mind.
"Naruto made thousands of shadow clones?"
Something felt off.
"Wait a minute… this was Naruto's first time looking at the Scroll of Seals, right?" Aoba asked aloud. "How the hell did he learn a forbidden technique so quickly—and then use it to beat down Mizuki like this? Look at the state he's in—another five minutes and he'd have been dead! And Mizuki's a trained shinobi!"
Aoba crouched down to check Mizuki's pulse and heartbeat.
"Yes! He chased me the whole time!" Naruto answered immediately, no hesitation. "I couldn't outrun him, so I hid in the bushes. I had just opened the scroll and was glancing through it when Iruka-sensei arrived… and Mizuki ambushed us!"
"Then why didn't you warn Iruka that Mizuki was following you?" Aoba narrowed his eyes slightly, his tone laced with doubt.
But Naruto was ready.
"Sensei, I'm just a kid!" he said, putting on an innocent, slightly teary look. "I was running for my life! My brain was scrambled! When I saw Iruka-sensei, I got excited and forgot for a second… I was about to warn him, but by then it was already too late. Mizuki had already jumped out! I'm sorry, Sensei!"
Naruto bowed his head, looking as guilty as a puppy that'd chewed up the family scroll.
"Don't blame him! Blame me for reacting too slowly!" Iruka jumped in to defend Naruto, ruffling his hair comfortingly. "He did try to warn me. I was just too slow to react and got caught off guard. If it weren't for Naruto, Mizuki would've taken the Scroll of Sealing… and you would've found nothing but our corpses!"
Iruka forced a laugh, trying to lighten the mood—but inside, he was dying of embarrassment.
A teacher getting saved by the dead-last student? How was he supposed to show his face in the academy ever again?
Yamashiro Aoba, you bastard—could you stop rubbing salt in the wound?!
"It's perfectly normal," Ebisu added, stepping in to smooth things over. "When a child sees their teacher, they naturally feel safe and let their guard down. They don't expect the teacher to be the weakest link."
"Excuse me?!" Iruka snapped, his face twitching. "You trying to throw me under the bus now?!"
Still sore from his wounds, he nevertheless leapt to his feet and lunged toward Ebisu, ready to brawl again.
Aoba sighed as the others started laughing. He didn't push the issue further. After all, everything did check out—mostly.
"Alright, alright, forget it." He turned to Naruto. "Where's the Scroll of Sealing?"
Naruto quickly turned and pulled the massive scroll—almost as big as he was—from the bushes. He plopped it on the ground with a grin.
"Right here! I didn't even get through much of it—I only skimmed a little bit."
Aoba raised an eyebrow. "There are dozens of jutsu sealed in this thing. Besides the Shadow Clone Jutsu, what else did you learn?"
Naruto scratched his head and gave an exaggerated sigh. "The rest was way too hard! There were weird symbols and complicated hand seals I couldn't even follow. The only one that made any sense was the Shadow Clone Technique. I remembered it because it was straightforward!"
Iruka nodded in agreement. "I was there almost right after he opened it. He barely had time to try anything. Even learning one forbidden jutsu is incredible—people train for years and still can't master most of what's in there."
At that moment, two masked ANBU operatives dropped from the trees. They were clearly sent by the Third Hokage, though they said nothing of the sort.
"No need to question him any further," one said, standing straight. "Naruto really only managed to learn the Shadow Clone Technique—and only barely. He had very little time with the scroll. Learning even that much shows incredible aptitude. Not everyone can grasp forbidden jutsu just by looking at them."
Iruka and the others relaxed. If the ANBU said so, it must be true.
Even Aoba nodded to himself. Iruka might lie to protect the kid—but ANBU? They follow the Hokage's orders to the letter. If they say Naruto only learned one jutsu, then that's that.
Ebisu, ever sharp, narrowed his eyes. "So… if you're here, that means the Hokage already knows about what happened?"
One ANBU stepped forward and shook his head. "No. We were on a different assignment and just happened to be nearby. But after reporting in, the Third Hokage reassigned us. Our new orders are to return the Scroll of Sealing to the Hokage's office—immediately."
He paused, then looked at Naruto intently.
"You're a genius, kid. I've never seen anyone use Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu so naturally. Even the Second Hokage, who invented the technique, didn't wield it as instinctively as you just did. It's like this jutsu was created for you."
Of course, that wasn't the whole truth.
In reality, the two ANBU had been specifically assigned to monitor Naruto from the shadows by the Third Hokage himself. Their orders were clear:
If Naruto was about to be killed, eliminate Mizuki.
If Naruto opened the scroll, let him read it.
If Naruto accidentally killed Mizuki, observe closely to see whether he would succumb to temptation—and run off with the Scroll of Sealing.
And finally…
There was a third, unspoken possibility—one they chose not to mention.
The third contingency was this: if Naruto had been swayed by Mizuki's manipulation and defected from Konoha alongside him, then the ANBU's orders were simple—secure the Scroll of Sealing and return to the village.
As for Naruto and Mizuki?
They would be considered expendable.
The ANBU didn't know why the Third Hokage had issued such a cold directive—but their job wasn't to question orders. As part of the ANBU, their only duty was absolute obedience to the Hokage.
So they carried it out, without hesitation.
But what they hadn't expected… was Naruto.
Not only had the boy survived, but he had overwhelmed Mizuki with brutal efficiency—summoning over three thousand shadow clones with almost no training and beating a trained ninja so badly that Mizuki's own mother wouldn't recognize him.
One of the ANBU couldn't help but think to himself:
"This kid… has terrifying talent with the Shadow Clone Technique."
Was this what the Third Hokage had intended all along?
Had the old man deliberately arranged for Naruto to access the Scroll of Sealing, knowing that he'd gravitate toward the Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu—the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique? A technique most shinobi couldn't handle due to its extreme chakra cost… but one perfectly suited to Naruto, whose chakra reserves were monstrous even by jonin standards?
After all, not just anyone can learn a forbidden technique.
And there's a vast difference between a basic Shadow Clone and the forbidden Multiple Shadow Clone Technique. The former splits chakra evenly between clones, while the latter recklessly creates dozens—hundreds—thousands.
A dangerous jutsu… unless wielded by someone born for it.
But why go to such lengths? Why orchestrate such an elaborate setup for a twelve-year-old child?
Was it because of the Nine-Tails sealed inside him?
Or… was it because of that person?
The ANBU didn't know. And it wasn't their place to ask.
Their job was done. The Scroll of Sealing was recovered. Naruto hadn't defected—in fact, he'd shown power and character far beyond expectations.
Mission complete.
One of them glanced at Naruto again, still amazed.
"To perform a technique like that with such ease… even most jonin would hesitate to try. But this kid—he made it look natural."
...
TN:
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