"You... You actually did something so utterly insane..."
Hearing Kazeka's words, Naruto clamped his thighs together in fright. But soon, the sense of justice in his heart dispelled his fear.
With the protagonist's aura on his side, once Naruto had steeled his resolve, his body stopped trembling, and his mind cleared.
A faint orange-yellow trace even appeared over his body. It was the Nine-Tails Chakra, which could greatly boost his combat strength!
"Kazeka, put Mizuki down and surrender quietly. I'll stop you, even if it costs me my life!"
"Tch, I knew you'd say that..."
Seeing Naruto's expression, Kazeka put Mizuki down, but made no move to surrender.
Instead, he snapped his fingers and pulled the Scroll of Seals from behind him in a cloud of white smoke.
"Naruto, you must have had some questions while reading the Scroll of Seals, right?
"Other than the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, you could barely understand anything else. I just took a quick look, and it turns out that aside from the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, all the other jutsu in here are fake!
"I've always said that cutting corners wouldn't work. And yet that idiot Mizuki was still congratulating himself, thinking he'd come up with a flawless plan..."
Kazeka shook his head. Seeing Naruto tense up, he continued:
"Still, even if there's only one jutsu recorded in here, it's extremely important. I'm sure you'd be in quite a bind if it were destroyed..."
Kazeka tossed the Scroll of Seals to the ground. A conspicuous black seal appeared on its surface.
"I placed a seal on it. If it isn't delivered to the Hokage's office soon, it'll self-destruct.
"And although Iruka-sensei was given an anesthetic, leaving him unattended for too long could put his life in danger.
"So, Naruto, it's a simple choice: stop me and save Mizuki, or return the important scroll to the Hokage's office in time and save Iruka-sensei..."
Kazeka looked at Naruto.
"You know which to choose, don't you?"
"Uh..."
Kazeka had said so much that Naruto's head was spinning, but he had still understood the main point.
However, Naruto had always been the kind of person who wanted to have it all.
He wanted to save both Iruka and the Scroll of Seals, and rescue Mizuki too. He was utterly torn.
Fortunately, just then, an Anbu member arrived. He wore a mask and had white, spiky hair. The Third Hokage, who had been watching from afar the whole time, had finally had enough and sent reinforcements.
Seeing help arrive, Naruto finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Kazeka, give yourself up! Now that I have backup, I'll save Iruka-sensei and the Scroll of Seals, and Mizuki too!"
"Iruka and the Scroll of Seals can certainly be saved..."
The arriving Anbu member wasn't as excited as Naruto. He watched Kazeka standing motionless for a few seconds, then suddenly struck. A Kunai pierced Kazeka's forehead in an instant!
Seeing this, Naruto wasn't horrified. He just stared in disbelief.
"Could he have been a clone too?!"
The burst of white smoke confirmed Naruto's guess. Watching it, all he could do was let out an angry roar.
At that moment, he suddenly understood: Kazeka had seen right through his indecisive nature from the start.
Under those circumstances, the two of them could only have remained at a stalemate. Naruto didn't dare waste time, and Kazeka was just as unwilling to.
So, while Naruto was distracted, Kazeka had created a clone to hold him back. His real self had already taken Mizuki and fled!
"Lord Hokage, I was ordered to capture Hyuga Kazeka.
"When I arrived at the initial scene, I discovered that the Kazeka left there was only a clone, used to keep Naruto occupied.
"I used the Summoning Jutsu to search for Hyuga Kazeka.
"After going to considerable lengths, I finally found Hyuga Kazeka and the rogue ninja Mizuki in a laboratory that looked abandoned from the outside but had been renovated by Kazeka..."
In the Hokage's office, an Anbu member with white, spiky hair and a cat-faced mask was reporting on his mission. A pug wearing a Konoha Forehead Protector perched atop his head.
"When I found him, Hyuga Kazeka used a number of tactics to hinder me, but they were all focused on trapping me.
"After I countered each of them, Hyuga Kazeka cooperated fully and surrendered.
"He even handed over his experimental subject—Mizuki. He didn't resist at all. It was just that..."
The Anbu member gave an honest account of what had happened.
"Mizuki seemed to have undergone some extremely brutal experiments. When I found him, he was utterly terrified.
"Although an examination at Konoha Hospital showed that his physical condition was fine, judging by the amount of blood I saw on the operating table and floor, his body seemed to have undergone a great many surgeries!"
"Hmm. He sent the other ninja away, and it wasn't long before you found him, yet Kazeka managed to conduct so many experiments on Mizuki..."
The Third Hokage took a puff from his pipe and rubbed his temples with a pained expression.
"That boy is genuinely talented, but his temperament and that reckless mind of his are a real headache. Kakashi..."
There was no one else in the room, so the Third Hokage called the Anbu member by his real name.
"Would you mind keeping an eye on the boy? I'll assign him to your team tomorrow."
Kakashi: "..."
Kakashi didn't answer right away. He seemed to stiffen for a moment before finally replying.
"Lord Hokage, one of them is Naruto Uzumaki, the Nine-Tails Fox's Jinchuriki. The other is Sasuke Uchiha, the last of the Uchiha clan.
"Just looking after those two will take all my energy.
"If you add the even more troublesome Kazeka to the mix, I honestly don't have the energy to manage them!"
"That's true..."
The Third Hokage didn't scold Kakashi for his response. Instead, he nodded in agreement.
Then he asked again:
"What about Asuma?"
"I strongly advise against it!"
Meeting the Hokage's questioning gaze, Kakashi continued:
"For one thing, it would be best not to split up the Ino-Shika-Cho Squad that Asuma leads.
"And besides, Asuma is upright by nature.
"Because he's so upright, someone like Kazeka could easily lead him astray without his even realizing it.
"Lord Hokage, you don't want a son who sides with Kazeka and pesters you every day, do you?"
"Yikes!"
At the thought of the possibility Kakashi had described, the Third Hokage felt awful.
Having Kazeka torment him had already cost him half his life. If his own son joined in, Konoha might soon have a different Hokage!
"If you can't handle him, and Asuma can't either, then the only one left is Kurenai..."
The Third Hokage pictured Kurenai Yuhi.
"Come to think of it, Kurenai is gentle on the outside but firm within, and she's dealt with plenty of troublesome ninja before. In that case, let's make her suffer a little this time!"
Before you continue