Naruto… how far you can go will depend entirely on your own fate.
Inside a dimly lit room, the Third Hokage slowly drew a deep breath from his pipe.
Chunin Mizuki had betrayed the village, and the Scroll of Sealing had been stolen—all right under the watchful eyes of Konoha's leadership.
In truth, Konoha had already gathered evidence of Mizuki's treachery beforehand. His daily life and every one of his movements had long been under surveillance by the Anbu.
When Mizuki encouraged Naruto to steal the Scroll of Sealing, the Third Hokage simply played along with the scheme, allowing events to unfold.
His goal was to give Naruto a chance to learn at least one or two techniques from the forbidden scroll.
In doing so, he also cleverly avoided the decision made by other members of the leadership—one that strictly limited Naruto's growth in strength in order to better control the Jinchūriki.
The old and cunning Hokage also intended to use this incident to strengthen Naruto's sense of belonging to Konoha, ensuring that he would wholeheartedly devote himself to the village.
That was why Iruka—someone close to Naruto—had been sent out specifically.
Otherwise, if the entire Anbu force and elite jonin had searched at once, how could Iruka, an ordinary chunin of average ability, possibly have been the first to find Naruto?
Everything had gone according to plan.
Iruka's willingness to risk his life had earned Naruto's absolute trust.
Naruto himself had surpassed his limits, successfully performing a forbidden technique he had just learned from the Scroll of Sealing—
The Shadow Clone Jutsu.
First, the traitor Mizuki was dealt with.
Second, Naruto had "accidentally" mastered a forbidden technique.
Third, Naruto—the Jinchūriki—had strengthened his loyalty toward Konoha.
It was a plan that achieved three goals with a single move.
However, right at the very end, something unexpected happened—something even the Third Hokage had not anticipated.
After being beaten mercilessly by Naruto's swarm of Shadow Clones, Mizuki, filled with rage, swallowed a forbidden drug—one of Orochimaru's experimental creations.
His strength exploded instantly.
Naruto was quickly defeated.
The situation had turned around far too quickly.
Even the Third Hokage felt a chill run through his heart.
To prevent others from finding Naruto too early, he had specifically instructed the search teams to follow a strict route and timing sequence.
Which meant that at this moment—
Facing the rampaging Mizuki, both Naruto and Iruka were in grave danger.
"Die, you demon fox brat!"
With a powerful stomp, Mizuki leapt high into the air.
After consuming the berserk drug, his chakra surged violently throughout his body. His muscles swelled to monstrous proportions.
If that full-force attack landed…
Naruto might very well lose his life.
The Third Hokage abruptly stood up.
Sensing that something had gone terribly wrong, he immediately used a secret technique to contact the nearby search teams and ordered them to rush over.
But it was already too late.
"Hm?!"
The Third Hokage suddenly noticed Iruka lying in a pool of blood.
In the next moment, Iruka forced himself to stand.
His expression was filled with determination.
Without hesitation, he threw himself forward, pushing Naruto down to the ground and using his own body to shield him from Mizuki's furious attack.
The Third Hokage quietly exhaled in relief.
Iruka's desperate act would at least delay Mizuki for a moment.
And that brief moment was enough.
By now, the other searching ninja had nearly arrived.
Any one of them would be more than capable of defeating Mizuki.
Even if Mizuki was in a berserk state and his strength had increased, it would only go so far.
But that meant Iruka would have to sacrifice himself.
The Third Hokage couldn't help recalling the Nine-Tails incident over ten years ago.
Back then, Iruka's parents had been among the ninja sent to delay the Nine-Tails—a group that ultimately died as expendable forces.
Now, the last remaining member of that family might have to follow the same fate.
Even so—
If he had to make the choice again, the Third Hokage would not hesitate.
He would still choose the Jinchūriki.
Compared to Naruto, Iruka was merely an average Konoha ninja of modest strength.
The world was simply that cruel.
No matter how kindly the old man appeared in front of others, no matter how warm and gentle he seemed—
When it came to the fundamental interests of Konoha, the Third Hokage would never waver.
The title of "Hero of the Shinobi World" had not been earned by accident.
Yet at that very moment—
The situation suddenly took another dramatic turn.
"Die—Guh?!"
Just as Mizuki's furious strike was about to land, his body froze abruptly in midair.
A sword had pierced straight through his heart from behind.
His eyes widened, glowing with feral red light.
Looking down at the blade protruding from his chest, his expression twisted with rage and disbelief.
He seemed to try to turn his head, wanting to see who had struck the fatal blow.
But his neck tilted weakly to the side.
Life left his body instantly.
"Shhk!"
The sword was pulled out violently.
Blood sprayed out in a large burst.
As Mizuki's body collapsed to the ground, it revealed the figure standing behind him.
"Ki… Kirito?!"
Naruto lay on the ground with the severely injured Iruka still draped over him.
His eyes widened in shock at the person standing before him.
There stood Kirito—
Holding a straight sword in his hand.
Kirito gave Naruto a friendly smile.
"Yo, Naruto. I came to save you."
"Damn it!" Naruto groaned. "That was supposed to be my moment to make a cool entrance!"
For the first time in his life, Naruto had exploded with power and beaten a chunin like Mizuki into submission.
And yet, in the end, Kirito had finished the enemy off with a single cool sword strike.
How was that fair?
Who was the main character here anyway?!
Still, despite his complaints, Naruto was genuinely grateful for Kirito's help.
As for how Kirito had managed to kill a chunin like Mizuki…
Naruto didn't even bother thinking about it.
"Kirito… the child from the Hyuga branch family."
Watching everything through a crystal ball, the Third Hokage narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.
Kirito's bright and gentle smile gave the impression of someone completely detached from the conspiracies and schemes of the world.
Because the Hokage's attention had been entirely focused on Naruto, he hadn't even paid much attention to Iruka—let alone Kirito.
He had completely missed how Kirito had appeared behind Mizuki and delivered such a clean, fatal strike.
Soon, the rest of the jonin and Anbu arrived at the scene.
Everyone's attention immediately focused on Naruto—the village's important Jinchūriki.
Very few people even noticed Kirito.
Despite being the one who had made the greatest contribution to resolving the situation, he was largely ignored.
But Kirito himself didn't seem to care in the slightest.
Without a sound, he quietly slipped away.
The moment he struck down Mizuki with that single blow, the system mission had already been completed.
The reward notification had appeared.
Now, Kirito was eager to find a quiet place—
So he could properly claim his reward.