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Flying Thunder God Technique.

The desired ninjutsu appeared before his eyes, but Naruto did not stop; instead, he flipped the Scroll of Seals straight to the end.

Discovering that the Impure World Reincarnation was not recorded in the Scroll of Seals, Naruto could not tell if he felt disappointed or relieved. He did not dwell on it, however, and turned back to focus on studying the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Naruto's thoughts regarding learning the Flying Thunder God were actually quite complex.

The primary reason was, naturally, that it was the signature ninjutsu of his father, Minato Namikaze.

Whether out of affection for his father or the sheer power of the technique's mechanics, it was Naruto's top choice following the Multi Shadow Clone Technique.

But if that were all, his thoughts would hardly be considered complex. The deeper reason lay in the fact that after the long passage of time spent in the cinema, Naruto's mindset had undergone a massive transformation.

He no longer obsessed over gaining the approval of others, nor was he fixated on becoming Hokage at all costs.

"Seeing his mother" and "killing Obito Uchiha" were tasks determined by his past that he had to complete, but if those two wishes were fulfilled, and he were to consider only himself, what Naruto wanted most was to be like Sasuke at the end of the original story: to travel the world.

After all, having learned how vast the world truly was, Naruto could no longer be satisfied with staying in one village as he once had.

He had become "selfish," no longer wanting to sacrifice himself blindly.

He wanted to see the ocean, the desert, to see if there were penguins on the glaciers of this world, and to search for whether the Rōran Ruins truly existed, where magic to reverse time was said to be held...

After spending over a decade imprisoned in the cinema, what Naruto craved most was freedom.

True freedom—freedom from surveillance and interference.

Yet, Naruto was also well aware that his status as a jinchūriki meant this dream would be difficult to achieve; Konoha would never allow the village's only tailed beast to slip out of its control.

—Unless.

His thoughts came to an abrupt halt, and Naruto stopped dwelling on it.

Thinking more was useless. Because of the butterfly effect caused by Naruto's wings, the future of this world was destined to change. He could not be certain what accidents might occur, so overthinking now was merely a waste of effort.

However, Naruto made up his mind not to expose the fact that he had learned the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Let it be... a trump card for himself, one that could be used for both offense and defense.

Twenty minutes later.

Although he had been mentally prepared, the complexity of the Flying Thunder God Technique still far exceeded Naruto's imagination.

It contained not only core knowledge like hand seals and spatial perception, but also involved a whole system of summoning, ninja tool crafting, and sealing arts... One could only say the Second Hokage was truly a master of operations.

Even with the assistance of shadow clones, Naruto was still dizzy and exhausted from memorizing it.

Fortunately, just as he had finished brute-forcing the information into his mind, Iruka Umino found him.

"Naruto!"

Iruka Umino was drenched in sweat, his fists clenched tight as he glared at Naruto: "You idiot! I finally found you!"

"Hehe, Iruka-sensei..."

Naruto maintained the appearance of a hot-blooded fool, scratching his head with a sheepish grin.

"Since Iruka Umino has found me, then Mizuki must be nearby too, right?"

As Naruto expected, the figure of Mizuki slowly emerged from the shadows of the woods behind them.

Three hours later.

Inside the Interrogation Room: House of Honesty.

Ibiki Morino, the head of the Konoha Interrogation Department, looked at Mizuki—who was wrapped in bandages, his limbs twisted at unnatural angles, and drool still leaking from his mouth—and a rare look of blankness appeared on his scarred face.

"Are you saying that Mizuki was beaten into this state by that twelve-year-old jinchūriki?"

"...Yes."

Izumo Kamizuki, standing to the side, had a twitching mouth:

"According to Iruka Umino, it started normally enough. Mizuki chased the jinchūriki, and Iruka Umino tried to stop him. Then, when Iruka Umino blocked a blade for the jinchūriki—well, not really blocked, he just pushed the jinchūriki aside and got a cut on his arm that bled a little—the jinchūriki suddenly exploded. He summoned hundreds of shadow clones in one breath and swarmed Mizuki, pinning him down..."

"Wait, hundreds?" Ibiki Morino was dumbfounded. "Are you sure it was hundreds? How was the jinchūriki after the technique was dispelled?"

The reason the Multi Shadow Clone Technique was classified as a forbidden technique lay in its massive side effects.

Unlike the standard shadow clone technique, which produced a single-digit number of clones, the Multi Shadow Clone Technique produced at least dozens at once. As everyone knew, shadow clones split the user's chakra evenly. Summoning so many at once placed an immense, instant strain on the user's chakra, easily causing them to fall unconscious or even endangering their life.

More importantly, even if one survived the casting, once the technique was dispelled, the memories of all those clones would flood the brain simultaneously. The more clones, the stronger the impact and the greater the burden on the nervous system. A headache was the bare minimum; one might even accidentally become an idiot... Generally speaking, an average person would be reduced to a vegetable after fifty clones. The jinchūriki actually summoned hundreds?

Even if the jinchūriki was a special existence, he must have paid a terrible price.

"The jinchūriki is fine."

Izumo Kamizuki said with a complicated expression: "He even had the energy to hug Iruka Umino and cry afterward... He cried with such vigor that it sounded like Iruka Umino was the one dying."

...My own jinchūriki.

Ibiki Morino fell silent, and only after a long while did he say softly:

"It seems the rumors about the jinchuriki being a dead last are inaccurate."

He immediately turned his head to look at Mizuki, who lay on the table like a pile of sludge, his entire demeanor turning cold and grim once more.

"Let's get down to business."

Ibiki reached out toward the cold instruments on the tray.

"By the way, the reason Mizuki is drooling isn't because of the jinchuriki; the Yamanaka Clan searched his brain first, causing a temporary neural overload," Izumo Kamizuki added. "He can't answer questions right now. Although the medical team has kept him alive, they emphasized that the methods shouldn't be too intense... What do you think? Is there a way, or should we wait until he regains his senses and his vital signs stabilize before you proceed?"

"No need. Intelligence has a shelf life. If he truly possesses information we need, we must obtain it as soon as possible."

Ibiki remained expressionless, save for the crisscrossing scars on his face, which seemed to carve a terrifying mask that was neither crying nor laughing.

"Interrogation is not limited to torture... A ninja's body itself records a great deal of information."

Hokage's office.

Nine hours had passed since Naruto stole the Scroll of Seals.

Having not slept all night, Sarutobi watched the rising sun outside the window, his weary eyes glinting with sharp light.

Naruto's performance last night—refusing to run and fighting to the death after Iruka Umino was injured—undoubtedly proved that he was a good child who valued his comrades and possessed the Will of Fire.

Under the threat of life and death, a person cannot lie about their true nature.

Furthermore, Naruto had learned the A-rank Multi Shadow Clone jutsu in such a short time. Even Sarutobi, who held the title of Professor of Ninjutsu, couldn't help but gasp when he saw Naruto summon hundreds of clones at once to beat up Mizuki in his crystal ball.

One must realize that now, in his old age, even summoning three shadow clones was a luxury for him, so Naruto's hundreds of clones were truly exaggerated... Such terrifying chakra reserves were something Sarutobi had only ever seen in the First Hokage.

Of course, compared to the First Hokage, Naruto still had a long way to go, but in terms of chakra volume alone, Naruto likely possessed far more than the average jonin...

As expected, a ninja requires the tempering of battle.

At this thought, Sarutobi's hunched back straightened significantly.

Although the threat of the tailed beasts from the Stone Village and Cloud Village remained undiminished, so what? The jinchuriki of our Konoha has also begun to grow.

"I still have time."

Sarutobi took a heavy drag of his pipe. Looking through the window at Konoha, he seemed to see the faces of the new generation.

"I can still protect them until they grow up..."

"Lord Hokage!"

The Anbu who entered interrupted Sarutobi's thoughts.

"What is it? Are the results of Mizuki's interrogation in?"

"No." The Anbu handed over a scroll. "It is a secret letter from Jiraiya. He also said he will be returning to Konoha soon."

"Jiraiya..."

Sarutobi widened his eyes slightly. This long-absent name stirred his memories, and the faces of the new generation vanished like bubbles, replaced by those old friends who were no longer there.

Jiraiya, Orochimaru, Tsunade, Minato, White Fang, Dan, Nawaki...

They were once the new generation of Konoha, and they should have been the pillars of the village by now.

Some of them had died, but those who remained alive had, without exception, left Konoha.

To be precise, his three disciples had all left Konoha, distancing themselves from him, their teacher.

As for the reason...

"..."

Taking the scroll, Sarutobi's back returned to its previous curve. He sat back in his chair in silence, his clouded eyes finally filled with exhaustion, revealing an indescribable complexity.

"Lord Hokage, there is one more thing," the Anbu continued to report.

"The jinchuriki's surveillance team sent word that the jinchuriki has been acting strangely since waking up."

"What kind of strange?" Sarutobi frowned.

"He is somewhat..." The Anbu tilted his head, "strangely hardworking?"