The Chunin Exam I Participated In Was Broadcast Live!

Jet-black spiky hair, golden eyes.

Delicate features—he had the makings of a handsome man.

Kakashi had already seen Kitahara Kaede before, even back when Kaede was first brought back from Orochimaru and placed under close protection, so he knew his face well.

But the other three were different.

Hashirama Senju: Hmm... so this kid named Kitahara Kaede looks like this. See, this brat doesn't resemble me at all.

Hashirama Senju: So I didn't cheat.

Tobirama Senju: True, but he's much better-looking than big brother, and especially that cold, calm air between his brows—it suits my taste.

Hashirama Senju: ??

Tobirama Senju: I mean, if I'm not mistaken, this guy's got high intelligence, same as me—the brains of the operation.

Hashirama Senju: How so?

Minato Namikaze: Lord Second is probably referring to the book Kitahara's holding. If I'm not wrong, that's [Strategy and Tactics] written by Lord Second. When I was still at the Academy, the supplementary materials the teachers handed out were exactly this.

Ah, Lord First probably doesn't know yet, but Lord Second founded the Ninja Academy, built the Hidden Leaf Hospital, and reorganized the police force to maintain order in the village, among other things.

Hashirama Senju: Ah... so Tobirama actually did all that real work.

Tobirama Senju: Hmph.

Tobirama Senju: But why is this chat group making us observe him... He's just been reading the whole time.

Tobirama was puzzled.

Just as they were thinking that, they suddenly noticed the window to Kitahara Kaede's room being pushed open.

With a bang, an orange figure rolled inside.

"Ah... landing failed..."

"No wait..."

The one who rolled in was Naruto Uzumaki.

"Kitahara, I got something great!"

Naruto rolled once, scrambled back up, and held up a big, bright yellow scroll as tall as half a person.

"I got the Scroll of Seals!"

"And... it's got a bunch of powerful jutsu recorded on it."

"I figured, since you lent me those tools during the exam, I wanted to share something good with you," Naruto said.

With that, he casually plopped the Scroll of Seals onto Kitahara Kaede's desk.

Then, with a shhhh sound, he unrolled the scroll, instantly revealing the pages recording the Forbidden Jutsu.

Observing Kitahara Kaede Small Group: ...

The air froze instantly.

Chapter 005: Third Hokage: Kakashi, don't tell anyone—Naruto is the Fourth's son!

Watching Naruto Uzumaki open the Scroll of Seals, the air in the Observing Kitahara Kaede Small Group stopped dead.

Hashirama Senju: Scroll of Seals, huh—so that's what it's called now? Isn't this the scroll I used back then specifically to ban all the crazy jutsu Tobirama kept inventing? Brings back memories!

Tobirama Senju: Big brother, you've got some nerve. I thought you were just worried about misuse causing problems, but in the end... you banned all my jutsu except Water Release.

Minato Namikaze: Well, Lord Second's Forbidden Jutsu are all pretty intense, and ordinary ninja can hardly learn them anyway.

Wait.

Minato seemed to pause.

Hashirama Senju: Fourth, what's wrong?

Minato Namikaze: When I was the Fourth Hokage, the Scroll of Seals was supposed to be kept and viewed only by the Hokage. Even learning the Forbidden Jutsu on it required wartime conditions and special permission.

Now, after all these years, is the Scroll of Seals just open for anyone to look at?

What happened? Kakashi?

Minato pressed, puzzled.

Kakashi: —No, my current body is being carried by Might Guy to the Hidden Leaf Hospital, and the timing there matches this place.

Given what Naruto said about the exam, it's probably referring to the Ninja Academy Graduation Exam.

So the Scroll of Seals is still classified as a Hidden Leaf treasure and forbidden item.

Kept and studied only by the Hokage.

So...

—Kakashi's tone seemed to darken for a moment.

Kakashi: "Naruto Uzumaki... either he stole the Scroll of Seals, or someone used him."

Minato Namikaze: "..."

Minato Namikaze: "Huh?"

Minato seemed to lose his composure in the chat group.

Hashirama Senju: "Minato, what's wrong?"

Minato Namikaze: "Um, Kakashi, is this Naruto Uzumaki the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails?"

Kakashi: "Yeah."

Minato Namikaze: "That's my son! During the Nine-Tails Attack on Konoha, I sealed the Nine-Tails inside him."

But isn't his name Namikaze Naruto? Though his mother's surname is Uzumaki. So this is Naruto. So small, so cute.

Kakashi: "Uh... Sensei, calm down."

Hashirama Senju: "What are you talking about? That Nine-Tails thing invaded the village? And Minato, did you die because of that?"

Minato Namikaze: "I'm very sorry. That's how it was. I couldn't find a way to protect the village, so I died with my wife Kushina to seal the Nine-Tails."

Tobirama Senju: "See, Big Brother? Just sealing the Nine-Tails won't work. You should have listened to me from the start and spent time taming it. Keeping a tailed beast as a pet is safer."

Hashirama Senju: "Ah... looks like Konoha isn't as peaceful as I thought."

[Special Notice: 4 group members have disconnected. If they don't return within 30 seconds, one random member will be given the title 'Low on Chakra.']

Hashirama Senju: "Damn it, low on chakra... that's slander. My chakra is clearly as much as the Nine-Tails'."

Tobirama Senju: "Let's focus on the matter at hand. So now, Minato's kid, uh... Naruto, stole the Scroll of Seals? And he's going to share it with this Kitahara Kaede?"

Everyone quickly refocused.

And they noticed that Kitahara Kaede had just lifted the scroll and tucked it away.

"Naruto, this is the Scroll of Seals. A forbidden item."

"You stole this, didn't you?" Kitahara said.

"Well..." Naruto paused. "Then... you won't learn from it?"

"No," Kitahara said. "But you can."

"Huh?" Naruto blinked.

Everyone in the group blinked too.

Then Kitahara Kaede continued, "The Scroll of Seals is a treasure of Konoha. Getting it stolen means the Hokage allowed it."

"Oh... so the Third Hokage knew I was stealing this?" Naruto paused.

"Probably," Kitahara Kaede said.

"And he might be watching us right now."

"I can sense someone's presence."

Observing Kitahara Kaede Small Group.

Tobirama Senju: "This kid has strong perception."

Minato Namikaze: "Does that mean he sensed us watching him?"

Hashirama Senju: "Didn't he say he thought it was the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, watching?"

Tobirama Senju: "Looks like Hiruzen is decent after all. He deliberately let Naruto see the Scroll of Seals to learn something."

Kakashi: "Uh... there's something I'm not sure if I should say."

Tobirama Senju: "Say it."

Kakashi: "Well... I only recently found out that Naruto is Minato-sensei's son."

Minato Namikaze: "Huh?"

Minato froze.

Minato Namikaze: "Wait, Kakashi, weren't you protecting Kushina until Naruto was born?"

So you didn't recognize Naruto? Did your brain... get injured?

That's the polite way to put it. The real question is: did you lose your memory?

Kakashi: "I didn't know. After the Nine-Tails Incident, when you and your wife died, Konoha lost a lot of Jonin and Chunin."

Naruto was announced to the village as the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails. But no one knew he was your son.

I only found out recently when I was transferred out of the Anbu and told by the Third Hokage.

Tobirama Senju: "So... this is how Hiruzen treated the Fourth Hokage's son? The Fourth and his wife died for the village, and this is how Hiruzen treated him!?"

Tobirama Senju was an elder. He knew well how the village treated a Jinchuriki.

That was human nature at its worst.

Most people feared and loathed the Jinchuriki, so being one was tough. And according to Minato and Kakashi, the Nine-Tails had attacked the village before being resealed, which cost most of the chunin and jonin their lives.

That meant the Nine-Tails was hated.

But ordinary people wouldn't dare hate the Nine-Tails itself, so instead... they'd hate the small, pint-sized Naruto Uzumaki.

So... Naruto became the scapegoat.

Minato Namikaze: "Not necessarily. How should I put this... I kind of understand why the Third Hokage did it. The village lost the Fourth Hokage and most of its chunin and jonin. If they hadn't announced the Nine-Tails was still in the village, other villages would have come sniffing around."

So it was a stopgap measure.

Kakashi: "Uh... Sensei, you might be too optimistic."

Minato Namikaze: "Huh?"

Minato had a bad feeling.

Meanwhile, Kitahara Kaede handed the Scroll of Seals to Naruto.

PS: Please send some data.

Power's out tomorrow during the day, so I'm writing through the night.

Chapter 006: Adamantine Sealing Chains!

Kitahara Kaede handed the Scroll of Seals to Naruto. As a Kage-level powerhouse, the scroll was useless to him.

But for Naruto, it was a different story.

Kitahara Kaede said, "Since the Third Hokage tacitly allowed you to steal the Scroll of Seals, go ahead and learn whatever you can."

"Mm..." Naruto scratched his head.

As if he'd made up his mind, he sat down with his knees pressed tightly together.

"Actually... I failed today's Graduation Exam," Naruto said.