Lin Fan gazed from afar at Mizuki, whose face was pale, eyes darting uncertainly, and expression lecherous. The corner of his mouth twitched.
It seemed Orochimaru liked recruiting this sort of sickly, brooding man as a subordinate.
People like Kabuto Yakushi, Kimimaro, and Sakon and Ukon, for example.
And Sasuke, whom Orochimaru would risk infiltrating Konoha to get his hands on in the future.
Orochimaru's taste had remained consistent throughout the Naruto World.
Before long, Lin Fan called over Shikamaru and Ino, who were nearby on the playground, and asked them to look after the unconscious Hinata.
Then he used Taijutsu Body Flicker to hide in the woods behind the swing.
Naruto and Mizuki were sitting opposite each other on the swing.
"Thank you for sticking up for me earlier, Mizuki-sensei, but I really don't understand why Iruka-sensei is picking on me."
Naruto clasped his hands behind his head, unable to hide his disappointment.
"Naruto, don't blame Iruka. I'm sure he's just trying to make up for your parents' absence by holding you to high standards. He wants you to become an excellent ninja."
Mizuki pretended to comfort Naruto.
After listening to Mizuki, Naruto recalled all the warm memories he shared with Iruka: eating ramen together, soaking in the hot springs, and cleaning the paint-covered Kage Rock.
Iruka really was the person in the village who treated him best, aside from Lin Fan.
"But I want to graduate from the Ninja Academy too!"
"If I can't even become a Konoha Genin, how will I ever achieve my goal of becoming Hokage?"
Naruto said, looking downcast.
"All right. Seeing how upset you are, I don't want to crush your dream of becoming a ninja either. I'll let you in on a secret: if you get your hands on that thing, you'll definitely become a Konoha Genin!"
Mizuki hopped off the swing and gave Naruto a deeply troubled look.
He was practically an actor possessed by the spirit of drama itself.
"Really? What could help me?"
Naruto's eyes widened in shock.
Mizuki soon told Naruto all about the forbidden techniques recorded in the Scroll of Sealing, what it looked like, and where it was hidden.
Naruto's eyes lit up at once.
[ Ding! Guidance mission issued: Go with Naruto to steal the Scroll of Sealing from the Third Hokage's office and successfully copy its contents. Reward: All-Attributes Chakra Lv. 1 (including Kekkei Genkai and Kekkei Tōta). ]
"Looks like I can't sit this one out either!"
Lin Fan chuckled to himself in the woods.
"Damn, I can't believe that kid was so easy to fool!"
Mizuki turned around, thought to himself, and left.
Naruto remained alone on the swing, rocking back and forth as he hesitated.
"Heh heh, Naruto, what were you and Mizuki-sensei whispering about here? So you were plotting to do something bad!"
Lin Fan stepped out of the woods, patted Naruto on the shoulder, and grinned.
Naruto looked flustered. "Lin Fan, you heard us just now, didn't you?"
Lin Fan nodded. "Yeah, I heard everything. Want me to help?"
"No, you don't have to. I'm the one holding back the Truant Five and keeping us from graduating. I can't drag the top student in our year down with me."
Naruto waved his hands repeatedly.
After all, he'd just learned that the Scroll of Sealing contained forbidden techniques invented by the Second Hokage, and that only past and present Hokage were allowed to read it.
No one knew what punishment someone would face for secretly learning from it.
So Naruto didn't want to drag Lin Fan, who was like a real older brother to him, into trouble.
"Come on, Naruto. Have you forgotten that we've always gotten into trouble together?"
"Win, and we'll be living it up with beautiful women. Lose, and we'll be working our butts off."
Lin Fan gave him a warm smile.
All the things they'd been through together replayed in Naruto's mind like a movie.
They'd scribbled on Kage Rock and peed on it together.
They'd sneaked into the women's bathhouse to watch the beauties bathing.
They'd stuffed mustard and chili powder into the pipe Grandpa Third Hokage liked to smoke.
They'd done so many things like that.
"I heard that only the Hokage can read the Scroll of Sealing, but isn't your goal to become Hokage?"
"Remember, you're borrowing it, not stealing it."
"Besides, once you become Hokage, you can just not read it, and that'll make up for it, right? I'm sure Grandpa Second Hokage would support you from beyond the grave!"
Lin Fan continued to egg him on.
"Oh, right! That actually makes sense!"
Naruto slapped his forehead, his expression shifting from troubled to cheerful.
Since Lin Fan knew the entire Naruto storyline, he could naturally guess what was really going on with the Scroll of Sealing incident in the original story.
Naruto, who couldn't even graduate from the Ninja Academy, had somehow managed to steal the Scroll of Sealing from the Hokage's office with ease?
If that were possible, Konoha's elite Jonin and Anbu could all put in for early retirement.
So Lin Fan was certain that the Third Hokage had allowed and arranged for Naruto to steal the Scroll of Sealing.
After all, Naruto was the son of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, and had impeccable Konoha credentials.
On top of that, he had the Uzumaki Constitution. As long as he trained hard, he was the perfect person to carry on the Will of Fire.
With talent like his, surely no one would let him fail to become even a Genin.
Lin Fan's goal was simply to tag along with Naruto, take advantage of the situation, and complete the mission.
Night soon fell over all of Konoha. Lin Fan and Naruto met in a patch of woods behind the Hokage Building.
"666, they haven't even turned on the lights in the Hokage's office!"
"Grandpa Third Hokage probably went off to some bar to drink and flirt with older ladies again. We're in luck, believe it!"
Naruto saw that the Hokage Building was pitch-black and couldn't help but beam.
He and Lin Fan, who had come from another world, had spent over a week together. He'd already gotten quite good at using internet slang like "666" and "YYDS."
Lin Fan didn't respond. He simply gestured for Naruto to move, and the two of them dashed to the door of the Hokage's office.
They gently pushed the door.
It opened easily.
Just as Lin Fan had expected.
Once they'd entered the office without meeting any resistance, Lin Fan caught Naruto off guard with a chop to the neck, knocking him out.
He'd used just the right amount of force, and Naruto was likely to wake up soon.
Time was short. Lin Fan immediately retrieved a flashlight and a Polaroid camera from his Other-Dimensional Scroll.
He found the Scroll of Sealing in the office and quickly unfurled it.
Click, click, click.
Picking up the Polaroid, he photographed all the forbidden techniques in the Scroll of Sealing, including Multi Shadow Clone, Impure World Reincarnation, Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags, Eight Inner Gates, Flying Thunder God, and Reaper Death Seal.
After Lin Fan finished, Naruto slowly opened his eyes a little while later.
"Lin Fan, what just happened? I came in and suddenly felt a pain in my neck, then blacked out."
Naruto asked, full of suspicion.
"It seems someone cast a genjutsu on the Hokage's office. I only just broke free myself."
Lin Fan pretended to rub his eyes and gave a wry smile.
"Hmph! Grandpa Third Hokage plays dirty, ambushing two twelve-year-old comrades!"