Inquiring

Naruto walked on the road towards the forest behind the mountain, countless memories of dealing with Mizuki across his reincarnations flashing through his mind.

In the first reincarnation, he had ignored Mizuki completely and gone straight to the Third Hokage to expose him.

In the second reincarnation, Naruto had simply beaten Mizuki up to vent his anger.

By the third reincarnation and onwards, with the rapid growth of his mind and strength, a minor character like Mizuki had long become insignificant in Naruto's heart.

He would usually subtly reveal a clue to the Third Hokage or the Anbu, and Mizuki would naturally be taken away without anyone noticing.

For this reason, Naruto didn't even bother to inquire about the aftermath.

However, Naruto vaguely recalled that in his first life, he seemed to have heard that Mizuki wanted to defect to Orochimaru?

And that he and Iruka-sensei had some kind of special grudge?

He had never delved deeply into it before, but now that he had decided to pay attention to overlooked details, perhaps it was time to interrogate him properly.

As he approached the edge of the forest, Naruto stopped and formed hand seals.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Bang! Bang!

With two soft sounds, two clones appeared.

At Naruto's signal, one of them quickly transformed into a giant scroll, taking on the appearance of the "Scroll of Seals."

The other clone turned and quickly ran towards the direction of the village.

Inside the Hokage's office.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was monitoring with his crystal ball, almost choked on his smoke when he saw this.

"This brat... he didn't steal it, he made one himself?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi muttered to himself, his face first showing surprise, then a hint of relief. "As expected, under my wise guidance, Naruto still knows what's important."

Then, Hiruzen Sarutobi carefully examined the scroll transformed by the clone and had to admit that the Scroll of Seals Naruto had created with the Transformation Jutsu looked almost identical to the real one.

Next, Hiruzen Sarutobi saw another clone of Naruto running towards Iruka's house, and he inexplicably felt a bit disappointed.

"Hmm? He went to find Iruka? Am I, your Hokage grandpa, not as reliable as Iruka-sensei?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head, dismissing the somewhat childish thought, and refocused his attention on Naruto in the forest.

Back to Naruto.

Naruto himself, carrying the fake Scroll of Seals, arrived at the agreed-upon location early and found a tree root to lean against, closing his eyes as if dozing.

He pondered in his heart that although Iruka-sensei was only a Chunin, he held considerable sway in whether Naruto could graduate.

Even though the exam was over, he could decide to let Naruto graduate directly, though it was likely with the Third Hokage's tacit approval.

Dealing with Mizuki privately was simple, but it was less troublesome than handing him over to Iruka-sensei to handle, as it would directly lead to graduation.

Explaining to the Third Hokage would be more complicated.

Not long after, the sound of hurried footsteps approached.

Mizuki appeared, carrying his signature large shuriken. The moment he saw the Scroll of Seals in Naruto's arms, his eyes immediately gleamed with greed.

"Naruto! Quickly! Hand over the Scroll of Seals to me!"

Mizuki shouted eagerly, reaching out to snatch it.

Naruto hugged the Scroll of Seals tightly, deftly dodged to the side, and asked with feigned innocence, "Mizuki-sensei, if I give this to you, will I be able to graduate?"

"Stop the nonsense! Hurry up and give it to me!"

Mizuki missed and became somewhat flustered. He couldn't be bothered to maintain his hypocritical facade anymore and directly cursed, "You demon fox! Stop dawdling!"

Hearing the words "demon fox," Naruto's heart remained unmoved, and he even found it somewhat amusing.

After experiencing so much, Naruto now realized Mizuki's foolishness more clearly.

If Mizuki had been more patient and tried to trick him a little longer, perhaps the Naruto of the first life would have actually believed him.

Of course, Iruka-sensei's timely appearance was also a variable.

Naruto's face still showed feigned confusion. "Demon fox? What demon fox?"

"Hmph! Still playing dumb!" Mizuki said fiercely. "You're the Nine-Tails demon fox that destroyed the village and killed Iruka's parents twelve years ago! You disaster!"

The Third Hokage, in front of the crystal ball, felt his heart tighten, fearing that Naruto would be provoked and lose control.

However, Naruto in the forest merely sighed softly, his tone carrying a calm that was the complete opposite of Mizuki's agitation. "Sigh, what's the point? What's the point of all this?"

Mizuki hadn't yet understood the meaning of this reaction when Naruto raised his arm and threw the Scroll of Seals in his hand towards himself.

"You know what's good for you!"

Mizuki was overjoyed and quickly opened his hands to catch it.

The moment the Scroll of Seals was about to enter his embrace.

Bang!

A puff of white smoke exploded.

The Scroll of Seals instantly transformed into the likeness of another Naruto!

This clone showed no mercy, smashing a fist hard into Mizuki's face!

"Ugh... Ah!"

Caught completely off guard, Mizuki screamed and was sent flying to the ground, blood instantly gushing from his nose.

He lay on the ground, his mind a complete blank, utterly unable to comprehend what had just happened.

That dead last... that demon fox... actually hit me?

How is that possible?!

Naruto's true body slowly walked forward, ignoring the shock and fear in Mizuki's eyes, and directly grabbed Mizuki's throat with his right hand.

"Wh-what do you want?! You bastard!"

Mizuki struggled to get up, but the suffocating sensation in his throat made him unable to muster any strength.

"Tell me what I want to know, and I'll let you go."

Naruto slightly loosened his grip, his tone flat, as if discussing a trivial matter. "Otherwise, I don't mind crippling your arms and legs. I have some experience in prying information out of people."

"Don't doubt my words, I'm serious. After all, I'm the 'demon fox' you mentioned..."

"You... you're so young... yet your heart is so wicked! You want to torture me to death?! Are you even a child? How vile!"

Mizuki tried to reprimand Naruto using morality, his voice trembling.

Upon hearing this, Naruto, without a second thought, slapped him across the face.

"Slap!"

The crisp sound echoed through the quiet forest.

"Nonsense," Naruto flicked his hand, a hint of mockery in his tone. "I'm a demon fox who does all sorts of evil. Can you compare?"

"You..."

Mizuki's face instantly turned red, but he was left speechless.

He looked into Naruto's terrifyingly calm blue eyes and finally slumped down like a deflated ball, resigned. "What do you want to know?"

"Why did you want to get the Scroll of Seals?" Naruto cut straight to the chase. "Were you planning to defect to Orochimaru?"

Mizuki's cheek twitched violently, a flash of unconcealable horror in his eyes.

This was his deepest secret, how could this brat possibly know?!

But Mizuki felt the grip on his throat tighten slightly, and the fear of death instantly seized him.

Mizuki swallowed with difficulty, his weak breath answering, "N-no... that's right. If I got the Scroll of Seals and offered it to Lord Orochimaru, perhaps he would accept me..."

Naruto wasn't surprised by this answer and continued to press, "So, it was for power? To defect to Orochimaru in exchange for greater strength?"

"Yes! That's it! Don't you already know all this? Why are you still asking me!"

Mizuki's emotions were somewhat out of control, his voice laced with anger at being seen through and cornered.

"I... don't know everything."

Naruto shook his head, leaning closer, his gaze falling on Mizuki's face, slightly distorted by anger. "I want to know the deeper reason. Why do you crave power so much that you'd betray the village and steal a forbidden scroll?"

"You're a teacher at the Ninja Academy, you don't have to undertake dangerous missions, and you receive the superficial respect of students and some villagers. What's wrong with that stability? What made you feel you had to take such a risk?"