Inside the Sarutobi clan residence, the lights were still on.
Hiruzen Sarutobi stood before the crystal ball, pipe in hand, thin smoke drifting lazily upward as images shimmered across the polished surface. His expression was neither stern nor gentle—only thoughtful, the look of a man accustomed to weighing lives on an invisible scale.
"So that's how he chose to do it," Hiruzen murmured.
Within the crystal ball, Naruto's earlier actions replayed clearly: the deliberate provocation, the exaggerated innocence, the way he had turned the villagers' malice back onto those who had wronged him.
A faint chuckle escaped the Third Hokage.
"Clever," he admitted. "Very clever."
The shopkeeper's furious face lingered for a moment in the image before it faded.
"That man won't be able to clear his name anytime soon. Not after tonight." Hiruzen shook his head slightly. "But it's not undeserved. Selling expired food to a child… that's not something I can defend."
He took another slow pull from his pipe.
For years, Naruto had been treated as an object—feared, despised, avoided. Tonight, for the first time, Hiruzen saw him act not as a victim, but as someone who understood the rules of the village well enough to bend them.
This child really is interesting, he thought.
His gaze softened briefly.
"If only Asuma had half this sharpness when he was young," Hiruzen sighed.
His son's face surfaced in his mind—stubborn, distant, walking a path that had long since diverged from his own. Asuma's decision to leave the village's core power structure and become one of the Guardian Ninja still weighed heavily on him.
A failure, perhaps—not as a shinobi, but as a father.
Which was precisely why Hiruzen had begun placing more hope on his grandson, Konohamaru.
Maybe letting Konohamaru spend more time around Naruto wouldn't be a bad thing, he mused. He might learn things no academy lesson could ever teach.
As his thoughts drifted, the image in the crystal ball shifted again.
Naruto was moving.
Fast.
Hiruzen's eyes sharpened.
"…That direction," he muttered. "That's—"
Recognition dawned.
"My residence?"
The Sarutobi clan compound lay close to the village's commercial district, situated on valuable land near the center of Konoha. Over decades of leadership, Hiruzen had quietly secured advantages for his clan—nothing overt, nothing ostentatious, but enough to ensure stability and influence.
While the Hyūga stood proudly in the open, the Sarutobi had grown strong in silence.
Hidden strength, carefully maintained.
"That boy said he'd act tomorrow night," Hiruzen said slowly. "Yet here he is… tonight."
A short laugh escaped him.
"So he saw through Mizuki after all."
With a thought, Hiruzen shifted the crystal ball's focus.
Mizuki appeared, sprawled lazily across his bed, staring at the ceiling with a foolish grin plastered across his face. His mind was clearly elsewhere—lost in fantasies of forbidden power and effortless success.
"Pathetic," Hiruzen said flatly. "No wonder you'd try to use a child."
He turned slightly toward the shadows behind him.
"Alert Mizuki," he ordered calmly. "Let him know Naruto has already made his move."
The danger was intentional.
Naruto needed pressure. A controlled threat to test not only his judgment, but the stability of the seal within him. If Naruto couldn't face this, he wasn't ready to be unleashed upon the world as Konoha's jinchūriki.
A masked figure emerged briefly from the darkness, wearing a white tengu mask.
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
The ANBU vanished without another sound.
Hiruzen exhaled and rolled up the scroll resting on his desk—half-completed, its surface marked with careful calligraphy.
"So much for preparation," he muttered. "You really don't give an old man time to breathe."
He rose from his chair and moved toward the doorway.
"At least the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique is recorded first," he said to himself. "Once he learns that, ANBU can intervene immediately."
He paused.
"…Still, I should secure the others."
The Scroll of Seals was not a single object, but a collection—multiple scrolls containing techniques too dangerous, too destructive, or too costly to be taught freely. Some damaged their bodies. Others violated the natural order.
Naruto could barely grasp most of them, even if given months.
Except one.
With Uzumaki chakra reserves and the Nine-Tails' presence, the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique was almost inevitable.
Hiruzen stepped into the hallway, his silhouette stretching long under the lantern light.
Naruto didn't know any of that.
All he knew was that his heart was pounding harder than it ever had before.
The Sarutobi compound was quiet—too quiet. Lanterns cast soft pools of light across stone paths, and the air smelled faintly of incense and old wood.
"This is… Grandpa Third's place?" Naruto whispered.
Inside his mind, Lock's attention was razor-sharp.
"Yes," Lock replied calmly. "And that's why no one expects you to be here."
Naruto swallowed.
Before he could hesitate further, a shadow moved.
"What are you doing here this late?"
A startled guard stepped into view.
Naruto reacted instantly.
"Sexy Jutsu!"
The transformation hit in a burst of smoke.
"Aaah—!"
The guard's scream cut off abruptly. Blood sprayed. A body hit the ground with a dull thud.
The transformation dispersed.
Naruto stood there, breathing hard, eyes wide—but not panicked.
He felt… exhilarated.
"Good," Lock said quietly. "Don't linger."
Naruto rushed forward.
There it was.
A large wooden shelf set against the inner wall, marked clearly with a prominent plaque.
Scroll of Seals.
"Found it!" Naruto whispered excitedly.
He didn't hesitate.
He grabbed the large scroll from its compartment, slung it over his back, and bolted.
At that exact moment, a figure landed on the roof behind him.
Mizuki.
His eyes were bloodshot, fury twisting his face beyond recognition.
"You damn fox brat!" Mizuki snarled. "You played me!"
If not for Iruka—if not for the sudden warning—he would have waited calmly until tomorrow.
Instead, he'd been made a fool of.
The rage burned hotter than reason.
Mizuki didn't alert anyone.
Didn't hesitate.
He gave chase.
I'll kill him myself, Mizuki vowed. And take everything.
Naruto sprinted across rooftops, scroll bouncing against his back.
"Where are we going now?" he asked breathlessly. "Home?"
"Don't be stupid," Lock replied. "You can't practice there."
A direction formed instinctively in Naruto's mind.
"Forest of Death," Lock said. "Northeast. Fewer people."
Naruto veered without question.
As they moved, Lock's focus turned inward.
Something was different.
The moment Naruto had taken the scroll, a surge of information flooded Lock's awareness—clear, undeniable.
The techniques recorded inside were real.
Not a decoy.
Not incomplete.
Four names stood out, heavy with meaning.
Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.
Flying Thunder God Technique.
Impure World Reincarnation.
Rasengan.
Lock's breath caught.
The real one, he realized. He stole the real thing.
The implications were staggering.
Any one of those techniques could alter the balance of power in the shinobi world. Together, they were terrifying.
But reality intruded quickly.
Not enough, Lock thought grimly. I still don't have enough.
The potential was right there—within reach—but the cost remained out of grasp. It was like standing before a treasure vault with empty hands.
"Damn it," Lock muttered. "This is torture."
Naruto didn't hear the frustration beneath the words.
He was too busy grinning.
Once they reached the edge of the Forest of Death, Naruto ducked into the undergrowth and finally stopped.
The forest loomed around him—dark, dense, alive with unseen movement.
"This place gives me the creeps," Naruto muttered, then shrugged and sat down anyway.
He unrolled the scroll eagerly.
"Multiple Shadow Clone… Flying Thunder God… Edo Tensei… Rasengan…"
His eyes glazed over halfway through the second entry.
"…I don't get any of this," Naruto admitted cheerfully. "I'll just learn the first one."
He grinned wider.
"As long as I master this, I'll totally crush the graduation exam tomorrow. Sasuke won't know what hit him!"
He began reading carefully, forming seals, channeling chakra.
Surprisingly, it felt smooth.
Natural.
His chakra responded eagerly, flowing in ways it never had before.
Inside, Lock watched closely.
This really is an Uzumaki body, he thought. Monstrous reserves.
Naruto was halfway through his first successful attempt when Lock's voice snapped sharply and urgently.
"Behind you," Lock warned. "Hidden weapon—dodge!"
Naruto's instincts screamed.
He twisted sideways just as a shuriken tore through the space where his head had been a moment earlier, embedding itself deep into a tree.
The night air trembled with killing intent.
From the shadows, Mizuki stepped forward, eyes burning with madness.
"Found you," he growled.
The real test had begun.
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