Chapter 122: The Story's First Villain
That evening, after parting with Satsuki's family and Iruka-sensei, Naruto returned alone to his small apartment building. However, after he went upstairs, he unexpectedly discovered a figure standing at his front door.
A figure he hadn't expected, yet seemed to appear according to some sort of "worldline convergence."
White hair, wearing what appeared to be a gentle smile on his face—it was none other than the first villain to appear in the Naruto story, and one of the very few who was never ultimately "talk-no-jutsu'd" into submission: Mizuki.
"Hey, Naruto, do you have a moment?" Mizuki spoke first, his voice carrying that same deliberately cultivated gentleness as always.
"Oh! It's Mizuki-sensei!" Naruto immediately put on an expression of surprise and politeness. "Of course I have time. Would you like to come in and sit down?" Though he spoke words of invitation, his body instinctively shifted the backpack behind him further back.
Mizuki shook his head, the flawlessly disguised "gentle" smile on his face not changing in the slightest. "No, I came because I have something to say to you... First, congratulations on graduating, Naruto. Sorry the well-wishes are a bit late—I saw you chatting happily with Iruka-sensei earlier and didn't want to interrupt."
I have to admit, this guy's acting skills are truly masterful...
Naruto silently complained in his heart. This completely flawless performance of seemingly genuine happiness for your success, this teacher-student bond facade—no wonder even Iruka-sensei had been completely deceived by this guy since childhood.
The two exchanged a few more polite pleasantries at the door. Naruto grew increasingly curious. This guy came looking for me, it must still be to tempt me into stealing the Scroll of Sealing. But now that I've graduated successfully, what excuse could he possibly use?
Suddenly, Mizuki changed the topic, his tone becoming even more "sincere" and "earnestly caring." "Naruto... you really are remarkable. I know that perhaps some people in the village still harbor prejudices against you, but your talent... I've seen it all. In the future, you will definitely become a very powerful ninja."
"Is that so? Then I'll take your kind words to heart, Mizuki-sensei." Naruto cooperatively showed a slightly shy and expectant smile.
Seeing this, the smile on Mizuki's face deepened, and he continued speaking. "But don't get proud now. This is only the beginning. Actually, the reason I came today was because I have a special 'graduation gift' I'd like to give you."
"A graduation gift?" Naruto showed just the right amount of confusion. So this is his angle? Using "gifts" and "secrets" to tempt me?
Mizuki nodded seriously. "Your talent is undoubtedly top-tier. However, from a teacher's perspective, I believe... the knowledge that can be learned at the Ninja Academy is ultimately limited and can't fully bring out your true potential."
He leaned in closer. "Therefore, I know of a... 'tremendous secret' that can make you truly become an outstanding ninja far superior to your peers. How about it? Would you accept this 'gift' from your teacher?"
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After "gladly" accepting Mizuki's tempting "gift" and detailed "action plan" at the door, Naruto wore an appropriately excited and expectant expression as he watched Mizuki's figure disappear around the street corner.
Closing the door, the "innocence" on Naruto's face instantly faded. His reason for agreeing to Mizuki's temptation naturally wasn't for any so-called "secret," but had his own calculations.
First, the Scroll of Sealing did indeed record many powerful forbidden techniques, especially that technique tailor-made for him—the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu.
This "cheat" was something he was determined to obtain.
Second, this provided him with a perfect, unsuspicious "fateful encounter" excuse for reasonably mastering the Flying Thunder God Technique as "Uzumaki Naruto" in the future.
More importantly, Naruto was absolutely certain at this moment—the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, was definitely observing everything here in real-time through that crystal ball using the Telescope Technique.
The Scroll of Sealing contained numerous massive forbidden techniques that Konoha had collected and created since the village's founding—it was the village's highest classified information, with importance comparable to nuclear weapon codes from his previous world.
How could the highest classified information of the ninja world's number one village be so easily stolen by a "Genin" who had just graduated?
Rather than calling this a success, it would be more accurate to say that those guarding Anbu and elite ninjas had collectively "gone easy." Their mission wasn't to stop Naruto at all, but to ensure that this play directed by the Third could proceed smoothly.
Naruto clearly analyzed the logic from the original story. This play had two purposes. The first, and most important, was to let Naruto "accidentally" learn the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu, which was extremely suited to his massive chakra reserves.
The second was to use this opportunity to induce the perpetually ill-intentioned Mizuki to actively expose his conspiracy, making it convenient to clean house. The Third had probably suspected Mizuki for a long time.
However... Naruto felt that Mizuki's exposure was purely because he was too stupid...
Naruto couldn't help but mentally complain about Mizuki's "glorious deeds."
During one of Mizuki's missions, a teammate had injured his leg during the course of the mission. As a result, this guy Mizuki actually killed his teammate directly because he was afraid the teammate would slow down the mission progress and cause mission failure?!
Even Hoshigaki Kisame and Hatake Sakumo would probably fall silent hearing this.
Even more ridiculous was that he claimed his teammate's leg injury was beyond saving, then personally smothered his teammate to death... Was he treating the Hokage and Anbu intelligence systems like fools?
Then this "genius" operation happened to be witnessed by Orochimaru, who was wandering nearby at the time. Orochimaru took one look and thought, "Ho! This kid is dark enough, lacking enough moral boundaries—he's my type!" Then Mizuki was easily seduced by Orochimaru.
However, since Mizuki remained incorrigible and came knocking on his door, Naruto was happy to go with the flow. He could use this opportunity to steadily obtain the first "cheat" from the original story, while helping the Third clean up this stupidly evil traitor.