For the past six years, Mizuki had hidden the jealousy and hatred in his heart well, often going to chat with Iruka as if nothing was wrong.
From his conversations with Iruka, Mizuki often heard the name Uzumaki Naruto. Although Iruka always looked troubled whenever he mentioned Naruto, Mizuki, who knew Iruka well, understood that this brat was an extremely important student to him!
Thus, Mizuki devised a "perfect" plan: use Naruto to steal the Hokage's Scroll of Sealing, then kill Naruto and keep the Scroll of Sealing for himself!
That way, he could take revenge on that old bastard, the Third Hokage, make Iruka suffer, and grow stronger himself—three birds with one stone!
Mizuki was sincerely proud of and impressed by his own intelligence.
At that moment, Mizuki looked down at Naruto, awaiting his answer.
"Umm..." Naruto pursed his lips and hesitated for a while before firmly refusing. "No!"
"That's right, as long as you get—huh?" The smile on Mizuki's face froze. "What... did you say?!"
"No." Naruto turned his head away.
Mizuki was left utterly bewildered.
He refused?
How could he refuse?
How dare he refuse?!
Although Mizuki had never interacted with Naruto, he had long learned Naruto's personality from Iruka.
Competitive, stubborn, persistent—how could someone like that give up his only "path" to becoming a ninja?
Mizuki's mouth twitched slightly as he hurriedly said, "Naruto, this is your only chance to become a ninja! Isn't your dream to become Hokage? Right? You can't become Hokage without becoming a ninja!"
"I've never even heard of any Scroll of Sealing. Who knows if you're lying to me?" Naruto did not even look at him as he muttered, "As long as I get that box and learn the ninjutsu inside, I can become a ninja anyway!"
"A box? What box?"