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[Flying Thunder God Technique].

The technique Naruto had been longing to learn appeared before him, but he didn't stop there. He pulled the Scroll of Seals straight to the very end.

When he found that the Scroll of Seals didn't contain [Impure World Reincarnation], Naruto couldn't tell whether he felt disappointed or relieved. But he didn't dwell on it for long. Instead, he turned back and focused on studying [Flying Thunder God Technique].

Naruto's feelings about learning Flying Thunder God were actually rather complicated.

The first reason, of course, was that it was the signature technique of his father, Minato Namikaze.

Whether out of love for his father or because of the technique's formidable mechanics, it was Naruto's obvious first choice after Multi Shadow Clone Technique.

But if that were all, there would be nothing particularly complicated about it. The deeper reason was that after spending so many long years in the movie theater, Naruto's outlook had changed completely.

He was no longer as fixated on earning other people's approval, nor did he still dream of becoming Hokage at all costs.

[Seeing his mother once] and [killing Obito Uchiha] were things his past had made him feel he had to do. But once those two wishes were fulfilled, if he thought only of himself, what Naruto wanted most was surprisingly what Sasuke did at the end of the original story: to travel the world.

After all, once he learned just how vast this world was, Naruto could no longer be content to stay in a single village as he had before.

He had become "selfish." He no longer wanted to keep giving everything of himself.

He wanted to see the ocean, the desert, and whether there were penguins on the glaciers of this world. He also wanted to find out whether the Rōran Ruins really existed, and whether they held magic capable of reversing time...

After spending more than a decade imprisoned in the movie theater, what Naruto wanted most was freedom.

True freedom, free from surveillance and interference.

But Naruto also understood that his identity as a Jinchuriki meant this wish would be difficult to fulfill. Konoha would never allow the only Tailed Beast in its village to slip beyond its control.

Unless...

His thoughts came to an abrupt halt, and Naruto stopped himself from thinking further.

There was no point in overthinking it. With the flutter of his wings, the butterfly that was Naruto had already set the future of this world on a different course. He couldn't predict what might happen, so worrying too much now would be a waste of effort.

Still, Naruto had made up his mind not to reveal that he was learning Flying Thunder God Technique.

He would treat it as... a trump card he could use to advance or retreat as needed.

Twenty minutes later.

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

It involved not only core knowledge such as Hand Seals and spatial perception, but also a whole range of other disciplines, including summoning, crafting ninja tools, and Sealing Jutsu... The Second Hokage really had been something else.

Even with Shadow Clones helping him, Naruto's head spun as he memorized everything.

Fortunately, after he had finally crammed it all into his head, Iruka found him.

"Naruto!"

Iruka was drenched in sweat. He glared at Naruto with clenched fists. "You idiot! I finally found you!"

"Hehe, Iruka-sensei..."

Naruto still kept up his hot-blooded idiot act, scratching his head with an awkward grin.

"Since Iruka-sensei found me, Mizuki must be nearby too, right?"

Just as Naruto had expected, Mizuki's figure slowly emerged from the shadows of the trees behind them.

Three hours later.

Inside the Interrogation Room: House of Honesty.

Mōri no Ibiki, head of Konoha's Interrogation Department, stared at Mizuki, who was sprawled across the interrogation table. Bandages covered him, his limbs were twisted at all sorts of angles, and drool dribbled from his mouth. A rare look of bewilderment crossed Ibiki's face, covered in horrific scars.

"You're saying that the twelve-year-old Jinchuriki did this to him?"

"...Yes."

Izumo Kamizuki, standing beside him, also looked a little dumbfounded.

"According to Iruka, things started out normally. Mizuki chased the Jinchuriki, who ran away, and Mizuki chased Iruka, who tried to stop him. Then, when Iruka took a slash meant for the Jinchuriki—well, he didn't exactly take it. He just pushed the Jinchuriki aside and got a small cut on his arm, with a little blood. Then the Jinchuriki suddenly went berserk and summoned hundreds of Shadow Clones all at once. They swarmed Mizuki and piled on him, pinning him down..."

"Wait, hundreds?" Ibiki stared at him in disbelief. "Are you sure it was hundreds? How was the Jinchuriki after the technique was released?"

The reason Multi Shadow Clone Technique was classified as a forbidden technique was its horrendous side effects.

Unlike ordinary Shadow Clone Technique, which created only a handful of clones, Multi Shadow Clone Technique created at least dozens at once. As everyone knew, Shadow Clones divided the user's chakra evenly among themselves. Creating so many clones at once put an enormous strain on the user's chakra reserves and could easily leave them unconscious or even threaten their life.

More importantly, even if you survived the technique itself, all those clones' memories would flood back into your mind at once when the technique ended. The more clones there were, the more intense the shock and the greater the strain on the nervous system. A headache was the least of it. One careless mistake could even leave you an idiot... Ordinarily, creating fifty clones was already enough to turn a person into one. And the Jinchuriki had created hundreds?

Even if a Jinchuriki was a special case, surely he must have paid a terrible price.

"The Jinchuriki is fine."

Izumo Kamizuki's expression was complicated. "He even had enough strength afterward to hold Iruka and cry... He was crying with such vigor that anyone listening would've thought Iruka was dying."

...Good grief, he was a Jinchuriki.

Ibiki fell silent. Only after a long while did he murmur,

"Looks like the rumor that the Jinchuriki is a dead-last isn't entirely true."

He then turned to Mizuki, who lay on the table like a puddle of mud. His entire bearing grew cold and grim once more.

"Let's get down to business."

Ibiki reached for the cold instruments on the tray.

"By the way, Mizuki's drooling isn't because of the Jinchuriki. The Yamanaka Clan searched his mind first, and his nerves are temporarily overloaded," Izumo Kamizuki added. "He can't answer questions right now. The Medical Corps has kept him alive, but they stressed that we shouldn't use anything too extreme... What do you think? Can you do anything, or should we wait until he regains consciousness and his vital signs stabilize?"

"No need. Information has a shelf life. If he really has information we need, we have to get it as soon as possible."

Ibiki's face remained expressionless. Only the intersecting scars that crisscrossed it seemed to form a terrifying mask, neither smiling nor crying.

"Torture isn't the only way to interrogate someone... A ninja's body itself records all sorts of information."

The Hokage's Office.

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

The Third, who hadn't slept all night, watched the rising sun outside the window. Though his eyes were tired, they gleamed.

Naruto's actions the night before—standing his ground and fighting instead of running away after Iruka was injured—had undoubtedly proven that he was a good child who valued his companions and possessed the Will of Fire.

People couldn't lie about their true nature when their lives were on the line.

Moreover, Naruto had learned the A-rank Multi Shadow Clone Technique in a short time. Even the Third, who held the title of [Professor of Ninjutsu], couldn't help drawing a sharp breath when he saw Naruto summon hundreds of clones to gang up on Mizuki in the crystal ball.

The Third was already old. In battle, even creating three Shadow Clones was an extravagant move for him, so Naruto's hundreds of clones were truly absurd... The only person the Third had ever seen with such terrifying chakra reserves was the First Hokage.

Of course, Naruto was still far from the First Hokage's level. But in terms of chakra alone, he probably had much more than an ordinary Jonin...

Sure enough, a ninja needed the tempering that came from battle.

At the thought, the Third's stooped back straightened a little.

The threat posed by the Tailed Beasts of Iwagakure and Cloud Village remained undiminished, but so what? Konoha's Jinchuriki was growing stronger too.

"I still have time."

The Third took a long drag on his pipe. Through the window, he gazed over Konoha and seemed to see the faces of the new generation.

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

"Lord Hokage!"

An Anbu entering the room interrupted the Third's thoughts.

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

"No." The Anbu handed him a scroll. "It's a secret message from Lord Jiraiya. He also said he would be returning to Konoha soon."

"Jiraiya..."

Sarutobi's eyes widened slightly. The long-unheard name stirred his memories, and the faces of the new generation before him dissolved like bubbles. In their place appeared the faces of those old friends he had lost.

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

They, too, had once been Konoha's new generation. They should have become the village's pillars by now.

Some of them had died, but every one of those still alive had left Konoha.

More precisely, all three of his students had left Konoha, distancing themselves from him, their teacher.

As for the reason...

"..."

After taking the scroll, Sarutobi's back returned to its former curve. He silently sat back down, his cloudy eyes finally filling with weariness and revealing a complicated expression that was hard to describe.

"Lord Hokage, there's one more thing," the Anbu continued.

"The Jinchuriki Surveillance Squad sent word that the Jinchuriki has been acting strangely since he woke up."

"What's strange?" The Third frowned.

"Somewhat..." The Anbu tilted his head. "Strangely hardworking?"