While Naruto was stealing the Scroll of Seals, Mizuki wasn't sitting idle.
After confirming that Naruto had sneaked off to the Hokage's residence, he returned to his apartment, packed his things, and began preparing to defect.
In his view, the odds of Naruto stealing the Scroll of Seals were extremely low.
Unless the Akatsuki Organization intervened behind the scenes, there was no way a student from the Ninja Academy like Naruto could sneak into the Hokage's residence and steal the Scroll of Seals without anyone noticing. It was nothing but a pipe dream.
So, barring any surprises, Naruto would be discovered the moment he tried to sneak into the Hokage's residence, and then captured by the ANBU.
Mizuki figured that since he had only mentioned the Scroll of Seals, even if Naruto gave him up after being captured, the village would probably punish him with no more than a verbal reprimand.
But if the Akatsuki Organization had made some kind of move behind the scenes, and Naruto somehow succeeded...
Then, once the truth came out, the village would undoubtedly investigate his role in telling Naruto about the Scroll of Seals. And that would mean more than just a verbal reprimand.
So he had to be ready to defect at any moment.
Fully armed, Mizuki was about to leave when the corner of his eye caught a shadow that had suddenly appeared in the room.
"Who's there?!"
He spun around. The moment his gaze met the intruder's, he offered no resistance and instantly fell into a daze.
Just then, Shinji stepped out of the shadows.
He had seen Mizuki manipulate Naruto with his own eyes. Now that the plan had reached this point, the village could arrest Mizuki at any moment, so Shinji had to complete the final step before it