Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh!
A sharp, tearing sound ripped through the night air as more than a dozen kunai burst out from the darkness behind Naruto. The metal blades spun violently, cutting arcs through the forest as they converged on his back.
Naruto reacted on instinct.
He twisted, stumbled, and threw himself forward, the tips of several kunai grazing past his clothes by the narrowest margin. Steel bit into tree trunks behind him with dull, heavy thuds, bark exploding outward where the blades embedded themselves.
His heart slammed against his ribs.
"Who's attacking me!?" Naruto shouted as he spun around, panic and anger colliding in his chest.
Moonlight filtered through the canopy just enough for him to see the figure standing calmly on a thick branch ahead.
White hair.
A forehead protector.
A familiar, smiling face twisted into something cold and cruel.
"…Mizuki-sensei?"
Naruto's eyes widened in disbelief.
"How—how did you get here?" he stammered. "Didn't I tell you I was going to steal it tomorrow!?"
The moment those words left his mouth, Mizuki's expression contorted.
The smile vanished completely.
Veins bulged along his temple, and his eyes burned with naked fury.
Tomorrow?
This brat still dared to say tomorrow?
A chunin—a chunin—had been fooled, toyed with, led around by the nose by a failed academy student who hadn't even earned a hitai-ate yet.
If this spread…
If anyone found out…
Mizuki's teeth ground together.
"You disgusting little animal," he snarled, dropping from the tree branch with a heavy thud. "Did you really think your tricks were clever?"
He straightened slowly, shoulders tense, killing intent pouring off him without restraint.
"Hand over the Scroll of Seals," Mizuki said, his voice low and dangerous. "If you do, I might let you live."
The words promised mercy.
His eyes promised nothing but death.
Mizuki didn't want this to be over quickly. He wanted to savor it. To vent every ounce of humiliation, fear, and rage this brat had caused him before anyone else arrived.
Naruto stiffened—but only for a split second.
Inside his mind, Lock's earlier warnings echoed clearly.
He's lying.
He's here to kill you.
The initial shock burned away, replaced by something sharper.
Anger.
Resolve.
"Bleeeh!" Naruto stuck out his tongue exaggeratedly. "This is the village's treasure! I'm not giving it to some dumb spy like you!"
The words came out exactly as Lock had prepared them.
Naruto clutched the scroll tighter, spun on his heel, and bolted.
Mizuki stared after him for half a heartbeat.
Then he laughed.
A harsh, broken sound filled with malice.
"Heh… heh heh…" His face twisted. "Run, you useless little fox."
"I'll show you what a real shinobi looks like."
Mizuki's arm snapped back, muscles tensing as he ripped the massive four-pointed shuriken from his back. Chakra surged into his throat.
The weapon screamed through the air, spinning like a saw blade, closing the distance in an instant.
But Naruto had already moved.
He sidestepped sharply, the shuriken slicing past his shoulder close enough to ruffle his jacket before smashing into a tree and splitting the trunk halfway through.
Naruto didn't even look back.
Inside the shared consciousness, Lock's gaze was locked onto Mizuki, cold and focused.
"Let me take over," Lock said flatly. "You can't win this."
Naruto kept running, weaving through trees with practiced ease.
"No!" he shouted back in his mind. "I'm fine! I'm used to being chased!"
It was true.
For years, Naruto had been pursued by angry villagers, irritated shinobi, and furious teachers. He knew how to run, how to bait, how to turn pursuit into a game of frustration.
"I can lose him," Naruto insisted. "He's alone!"
There was something else, too—unspoken, but heavy.
Naruto was still afraid.
Afraid of what Lock might do if given control.
Afraid that blood would be spilledong his body.
Afraid that once he handed over control, he wouldn't be able to take it back.
"And besides," Naruto added stubbornly, "we're the same. If I can't beat him, you can't either!"
Lock didn't argue.
He didn't need to.
Because Mizuki was already closing the gap.
With a burst of speed, the chunin surged forward, his footwork sharp and efficient. In seconds, he was right behind Naruto.
"Got you," Mizuki snarled.
He lunged, kunai flashing toward Naruto's left arm in a brutal, precise strike.
Naruto's feet slid to an abrupt halt.
He grabbed a tree trunk and twisted hard, using the momentum to swing his body sideways.
Mizuki, committed to the strike, couldn't stop in time.
He shot past Naruto, skidding several meters before regaining his balance.
Naruto grinned.
"Hahaha! Big dummy!" he shouted. "Big stupid donkey!"
This wasn't panic.
This was confidence.
The same confidence he used when dragging half the academy staff across rooftops during his pranks.
"Usually it takes a bunch of chunin to catch me!" Naruto taunted. "You really think you can do it alone?"
Mizuki's face darkened.
"Damn fox demon…"
"Fox demon?" Naruto laughed, skidding backward. "Mizuki-sensei, you've really lost it! Can't catch me, so now you're just making stuff up?"
He stuck his tongue out again and turned to run.
"Bleeeh! Eat my dust!"
This time, Mizuki didn't explode.
Instead, he smiled.
A slow, ugly smile crept across his face as he watched Naruto retreat.
"Heh… heh heh…"
"Naruto," Mizuki called softly. "There's something you don't know yet."
Naruto's steps faltered.
A cold feeling crawled up his spine.
Inside, Lock felt it immediately.
The shift.
The hesitation.
"Oh?" Lock murmured. "Here it comes."
Mizuki walked forward leisurely, like a predator that knew its prey was already wounded.
"Do you know," Mizuki continued, "why I call you a fox demon?"
"Do you know why everyone in the village hates you?"
Naruto's breathing grew shallow.
His legs trembled.
Something deep inside him screamed that he didn't want to hear the answer.
But he couldn't move.
"Because," Mizuki said clearly, savoring every word, "you are the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox."
The world shattered.
Naruto froze completely.
His body locked up, trembling violently as if the forest itself had turned hostile.
"What…?" he whispered.
The name echoed in his head.
Nine-Tails.
The monster from twelve years ago.
The disaster.
The thing everyone feared.
"I—I'm…?" Naruto's eyes went wide, unfocused. "I'm… the demon fox?"
His knees buckled.
He collapsed backward onto the dirt, staring up at the canopy with empty eyes.
He remembered the stories.
The destruction.
The deaths.
He remembered the way people looked at him.
The way they recoiled.
The way they whispered.
Suddenly, it all made sense.
"No…" Naruto shook his head weakly. "That's not true…"
"I'm not a fox demon…"
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto…"
Mizuki's grin widened.
He stepped closer, enjoying the sight far too much.
"If you're not the demon fox," he said mockingly, "then why does everyone hate you?"
"If you're not the demon fox, why did no one ever tell you who your parents were?"
Naruto's breathing turned ragged.
Mizuki leaned down, his voice dripping poison.
"Touch your face," he whispered. "You can feel them, can't you? Those whisker marks."
Naruto's hand rose shakily to his cheek.
He felt them.
Always had.
His fingers trembled.
Mizuki was right there now.
In one swift motion, he grabbed Naruto by the throat and lifted him off the ground effortlessly.
Naruto gasped, fingers clawing uselessly at Mizuki's arm.
With his free hand, Mizuki ripped the Scroll of Seals from Naruto's grip and slung it over his shoulder.
"Disgusting demon," Mizuki sneered. "The village raised you for one reason only—to use you as a weapon."
"Even that Iruka who pretends to be kind to you?" Mizuki laughed. "His parents died because of you."
Naruto's eyes widened in horror.
"You think he actually cares?" Mizuki continued relentlessly. "Every time he smiles at you, he's probably thinking how much he wants you dead."
"How much he hates you."
Naruto stopped struggling.
His arms went limp.
His eyes lost all light.
"I… don't want to… exist…" he whispered.
Mizuki's face twisted in satisfaction.
"Exactly," he said, drawing a kunai. "Everyone wants you gone."
"So hurry up…"
"…and die."
The blade descended, aimed straight at Naruto's forehead.
Inside the depths of consciousness, everything collapsed.
Naruto's mind shattered under the weight of truth, guilt, hatred, and despair.
Control slipped.
Barriers broke.
Lock stepped forward.
"System," Lock said calmly. "Switch."
The response was immediate.
[Primary personality has completely collapsed. Emotional control lost.]
[Personality switch successful.]
Mizuki's arm stopped.
Not because he chose to.
A small hand clamped around his wrist like a steel vice.
Mizuki's eyes snapped wide in shock.
"What—!?"
Naruto's head lifted slowly.
But the eyes looking back at him were no longer the same.
They were cold.
Focused.
Alive with something far darker than despair.
Lock smiled.
"Oh?" he said softly. "Who did you say should go die?"
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