Mizuki

Naruto watched Hinata's departing back with a smile.

Teacher Mizuki said hypocritically, "Little Naruto, since you have such a cute fiancée, you'd better cherish her."

"Of course." Naruto said meaningfully, "I heard Teacher Mizuki's girlfriend is very beautiful too. You shouldn't let her down either."

For some reason, Mizuki's expression stiffened slightly at Naruto's words.

His resolve wavered a little.

But when he thought of certain things, his resolve hardened again.

Mizuki chatted with Naruto as they watched Hinata leave the school.

Then Mizuki naturally said to Naruto, "Little Naruto, this retest is rather special. It won't be held at the Ninja Academy. Come with me."

"Alright, Teacher Mizuki." Naruto played dumb and followed without exposing him.

Mizuki led Naruto out through the back of the Ninja Academy.

In the end, they entered a training ground and found a secluded spot.

Once there, Mizuki began to tempt Naruto.

Lowering his voice, Mizuki said to Naruto, "Naruto, I know all about your situation. Passing the assessment would be very easy for you."

"But because you missed the assessment, you weren't able to graduate on time."

"Still, don't worry. I've secured an opportunity for you to take a retest."

"As long as you enter the Hokage Building, then..."

Mizuki became more and more animated as he spoke.

By the end, he noticed Naruto's strange expression.

Watching him put on this performance by himself, Naruto really couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Ha ha ha~" Naruto shook his head slightly and asked Mizuki, "Teacher Mizuki, do you really think I'd believe you?"

Mizuki quickly fell silent. His eyes narrowed slightly as he asked Naruto, "What is it, Naruto? Don't you want to take the retest, pass the ninja assessment smoothly, and carry out missions on the same team as your fiancée?"

Naruto sighed and laid it out plainly. "Teacher Mizuki, stop pretending."

"I only want to ask you one question. Do you really think Orochimaru will give you power?"

"Or rather, will Orochimaru give you power that matches your ambition?"

Mizuki's eyes flew wide open.

In his eyes, the unremarkable Naruto suddenly became mysterious.

How did this guy...

know about that?

A thin sheen of sweat appeared on Mizuki's forehead as he asked Naruto, "Naruto, how did you know?"

Mizuki believed he had hidden it well.

He had not revealed the slightest thing.

Yet Naruto knew his greatest secret.

Naruto suddenly changed his mind.

He said to Mizuki, "I can tell you clearly that Orochimaru will not become your stepping stone."

"Someone like him is not someone you can use, Teacher Mizuki."

"What do you know?!" Mizuki suddenly snapped, baring his teeth as he said, "Even though I made up a reason, everyone assumed I killed my teammate! Shouldn't a ninja put the mission first?"

"I did nothing wrong! I did it for Konoha too, but no one acknowledged me."

What was more...

Because of this incident, Mizuki lost his position as a full-fledged teacher and was reduced to an employee doing odd jobs at the Ninja Academy.

That position had originally been Mizuki's!

This gave the already intensely jealous Mizuki wicked thoughts.

Naruto shook his head slightly. "Do you know Hatake Sakumo?"

Mizuki frowned. "What??"

Naruto said, "He was Kakashi Hatake's father, a hero who rose to prominence during the ninja war."

"But during a mission, he abandoned the mission in order to save his teammates."

"Then everyone condemned Hatake Sakumo. Even the teammates he saved cursed him, and in the end, Hatake Sakumo committed suicide."

"You..." Mizuki was somewhat confused. He asked Naruto, "Are you saying you approve of what I did?"

This made Mizuki extremely excited!

Back then, he had killed his teammate for the mission.

People had always criticized him for it.

But Naruto had brought up someone else.

That man had done the complete opposite of what he had, yet received even harsher condemnation.

"Teacher Mizuki, what I want you to understand is this." Naruto explained, "No matter what you do, you can never satisfy everyone. Whether you choose the mission or your teammates, people will gossip behind your back afterward."

"What I'm saying is that some people may not approve of you, but some people do. You understand what I mean, right?"

Hearing Naruto's words, Mizuki felt much better.

All this time, he had endured the mockery and ridicule of those around him.

Only that idiot Iruka completely believed Mizuki's fabricated lie and thought Mizuki had not harmed his teammate for the sake of a mission.

But Mizuki immediately said, "Naruto, this village is not as beautiful as you think. It is very dark."

"You've been ostracized. You should understand that feeling even better."

Naruto raised a hand to cut Mizuki off and said directly, "Teacher Mizuki, I don't want to hear you trying to turn me against the village."

"I can tell you clearly that choosing to defect to Orochimaru is the wrong path."

"I can give you two paths now."

"First: stay in Konoha. Because of what I just said, some people in Konoha already acknowledge you. Staying in Konoha shouldn't be difficult for you, right?"

"Stay in Konoha and continue playing Teacher Iruka's friend."

"I don't care whether it is out of sympathy or hypocrisy. You are Teacher Iruka's friend now, so keep acting. Never reveal yourself for the rest of your life."

"Second: you can continue choosing to defect to Orochimaru. I won't make things difficult for you, nor will I tell anyone about this."

In truth...

If Mizuki chose the second path...

Then Naruto could kill Mizuki right here.

If he chose the first, it would prove that Mizuki might truly have recognized reality.

The reason Naruto had not made the second path a dead end was to prevent Mizuki from choosing to remain in Konoha as Iruka's friend solely to save his own life.

That would put Iruka in even greater danger.

After hearing Naruto's words, Mizuki's expression became strange.

Mizuki burst into laughter. "Naruto Uzumaki? You don't actually think you can defeat me whenever you want, do you?"

"You're a genin who hasn't even graduated, while I'm an experienced chunin."

"So what if you're a monster? The Nine-Tails has already left you, and you haven't grown strong yet. Aren't you no different from those ninja students?"

Naruto's expression did not change as he calmly said, "Teacher Mizuki, how about you take a look around?"

Mizuki frowned and subconsciously began examining his surroundings carefully.

The sky was growing dark.

In the quiet forest, insects chirped.

The tree trunks, the rocks, the ground... they were all covered in Explosive Tags!

Mizuki was surrounded by Explosive Tags!

"Th-this... when did this happen?"

Mizuki panicked and looked toward Naruto in front of him.

But Naruto's figure suddenly vanished with a puff.

The next second, Naruto's voice came from the darkness. "Teacher Mizuki, you can't even see through a ninja student's Clone Technique. Do you still expect someone like Orochimaru to value you?"

"Still, I have no intention of hurting you."

"As long as you choose one of the paths I gave you, I'll let you go."