At midnight, Narak did not sleep. Instead, he lay on the roof of his house, watching the stars while waiting for Naruto to steal the Scroll of Seals!
Finally, just as Narak was about to doze off, he heard the sounds of several ninjas running!
Narak opened his eyes and looked over, seeing several figures leaping across the rooftops!
"Seriously, couldn't they use the main road? Why are they jumping around on someone else's roof in the middle of the night and waking people up? What a lack of manners!"
Narak muttered to himself.
"Looks like Naruto has made his move. Ah... I'm so damn tired!"
"In that case, I'd better go take a look from the shadows. It'll be hilarious if Mizuki ends up killing him instead!"
"Though that old Third Hokage is definitely watching through a crystal ball right now, it's still too far away!"
Narak absolutely refused to believe that Naruto had stolen the Scroll of Seals so easily without the Third Hokage pulling strings behind the scenes!
Naruto was someone who could not even use the basic Three Body Technique properly, yet he had somehow stolen Konoha's forbidden scroll. Was this a joke?
If that were really possible, Konoha would have been destroyed countless times by now!
Narak believed that the Third Hokage had known about this from the start and had merely pushed the matter along by deliberately handing the Scroll of Seals to Naruto. At this moment, the Third Hokage was definitely secretly keeping an eye on Naruto!
"Summoning of the Tracking Sparrows."
Narak directly captured a trace of Naruto's presence and followed it along the way!
In a small grove inside Konoha!
By the time Narak arrived, Naruto, Iruka, and Mizuki were already facing each other!
To prevent the Third Hokage from detecting him, Narak deliberately cast Binding Art Twenty-Six—Curved Light on himself!
At that moment, Iruka was lying atop Naruto, covered in blood. A huge windmill shuriken was lodged in his back!
"Mm, looks like the first round of arguing is already over!"
Narak knew that Naruto had already learned from Mizuki why everyone called him a Fox Demon!
Why did the villagers all dislike him? Was it because he was the Fox Demon who had killed Iruka's parents and destroyed the village twelve years ago?
Naruto's mind was thrown into chaos. He shoved Iruka, who was protecting him, away and ran into the woods!
Seeing Naruto flee, Mizuki abandoned Iruka, who was staggering to his feet, and chased after him!
Narak followed unhurriedly, watching the three of them chase one another ahead!
Just as Narak knew would happen!
Mizuki transformed into Iruka to stop "Naruto," but he never expected that this "Naruto" would actually be Iruka in disguise. As a result, Iruka ambushed him and sent him flying!
Mizuki fell to the ground, then staggered back to his feet, while Iruka sat down against a large tree and returned to his original appearance!
Narak glanced from the corner of his eye and saw Naruto clutching the scroll while hiding behind a large tree not far away!
The situation had suddenly become rather critical!
Mizuki had only suffered some pain from the fall, but Iruka was completely at the end of his strength. If no one else intervened, Iruka would certainly die!
"Iruka, you're protecting that brat despite the grudge over your parents. What do you hope to gain?"
Iruka: "I'll never let the scroll fall into the hands of a bastard like you!"
"Foolish fool, you're the foolish one! Just like me, Naruto can do whatever he wants as long as he uses the techniques in that scroll!"
"A Fox Demon like Naruto could never resist using the scroll's power!"
Mizuki said smugly.
"Yes, indeed!"
Iruka muttered to himself.
Hearing those words, Naruto, who was hiding nearby, trembled.
Damn it, even Teacher Iruka doesn't acknowledge me after all? Does that mean, apart from Big Brother Narak, I can't gain anyone else's recognition?
Naruto was wallowing in self-pity when he heard Iruka continue, "If he were a Fox Demon! But that guy Naruto is different!"
"Naruto is an excellent student whom I acknowledge! He works hard and is focused, but he isn't very quick-witted! In the entire village, apart from the young heir of the Hyuga Clan, no one acknowledges him!"
"Understands the pain in other people's hearts. He isn't some Fox Demon. He is Naruto Uzumaki of Konoha!"
Iruka spoke with unwavering conviction!
Hearing this, Naruto, hiding to the side, was already moved to tears!
"You reckless fool! I originally planned to deal with you at the end, but since you've said that, you can die now!"
Iruka's words left Mizuki speechless, and he became furious from embarrassment. He pulled the windmill shuriken from his back, preparing to deal with Iruka first!
At the critical moment when Mizuki attacked Iruka, Naruto charged out from the side and slammed into him, sending him flying!
Naruto glared fiercely at Mizuki. "Don't touch Teacher Iruka! I'm going to kill you!"
Mizuki climbed awkwardly to his feet. "How arrogant! You little brat, I'll kill you with one move!"
Naruto formed hand seals. "Then try it, scumbag! I'll repay you a thousandfold!"
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
As Naruto unleashed his ninjutsu, hundreds, even thousands, of identical Narutos instantly appeared across the battlefield!
The Narutos surrounded Mizuki and taunted him one after another. "What's wrong? Didn't you say you were going to teach me a lesson? Come on! Over here! Come get me!"
Trapped in the middle and staring at the mass of Narutos, Mizuki instantly panicked!
The Narutos swarmed toward Mizuki, pummeling him with fists and kicks!
Finally, when the shadow clones dispersed, Mizuki lay on the ground, his face battered beyond recognition as his body twitched nonstop!
Naruto awkwardly rubbed his head. "I think I might have hit him a little too hard by accident! Teacher Iruka, are you all right?"
"Ah, I'm fine!"
Iruka looked at Naruto and smiled from the bottom of his heart!
"Come here for a moment, Naruto. I have something to give you!"
Afterward, Iruka handed his forehead protector to Naruto. This also officially marked Naruto's graduation, making him a Genin of Konoha!
After this incident, a bond also formed between Naruto and Iruka!
Narak watched silently from the shadows. Fortunately, things had continued developing along their original course and had not slipped from his control!
Otherwise, Narak might have been forced to reveal himself!
Narak raised his head and looked toward a certain spot in the sky!
"That old Third Hokage is still spying on me. Shameless!"
Narak primarily cultivated the power of a shinigami, so his spiritual power was exceptionally strong. Ever since he broke through to Advanced Spiritual Pressure, he had already been able to sense the Third Hokage's surveillance!
Over the past few years, Narak had discovered that the Third Hokage would spy on him from time to time!
This made him extremely unhappy, but he could only pretend to know nothing!
In the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage watched the situation inside the crystal ball and finally relaxed!
Although he had deliberately allowed Naruto to steal the Scroll of Seals, he did not want Naruto to lose control because of it. Otherwise, things would have gone too far!
"Fortunately, the situation has finally been brought under control. Naruto learned the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique and became a Genin by defeating Mizuki!"
"He and Iruka have also established a friendly relationship. That's a good thing!"
"But why do I feel as if someone was looking at me with ill intent just now?"
The Third Hokage wore a puzzled expression!
Before you continue