"Iruka-sensei, what are you doing here?"
Naruto smiled innocently.
"Because of you!!!" Iruka took a breath, then exploded with rage.
At first, he hadn't tried to attack Naruto.
After all, he knew what his student was like.
No matter how bad he got, he wouldn't be that bad!
His mischief and pranks were just a way to attract the attention of those around him.
"Do you even know what you've done?! You stole the Scroll of Seals! Do you have a death wish?" Iruka said heatedly.
Naruto blinked, looking like a victim himself.
"Teacher Mizuki told me to do it. He said there was a powerful inheritance inside, and that if I learned it, I could graduate from the Ninja Academy."
"The other students have parents and people at home to guide them, so they improve much faster than I do. You know I've been an orphan since I was little, Sensei."
"I wanted to get stronger, but there was no one to teach me."
At those words,
Iruka felt his nose sting.
Most of his anger melted away.
Your parents were heroes. They died defending the village.
The son of two great heroes was doing worse than ordinary people!!!
That just wasn't right!
"Alright, I understand. From now on, I'll give you more guidance on your path of training. For now, hand over the Scroll of Seals, then come with me to apologize to Lord Third Hokage."
Iruka said.
As he spoke, he started to reach for the Scroll of Seals.
Whoosh, whoosh—
Several sharp whistles cut through the air.
They were aimed straight at Naruto.
"Look out!!!" Iruka shouted as he rushed forward, intending to shove Naruto out of the way.
Naruto grinned, as if he'd expected this.
He leaned back, planted his feet, and pushed off hard, springing backward.
He dodged the Kunai.
"Hahaha... What a touching bond between teacher and student. I thought you'd start fighting the moment you saw each other!"
"Looks like I underestimated your kindness, Iruka!"
Mizuki, whose surprise attack with the Kunai had failed, jumped down from a large tree.
"Mizuki, let us go. I'll pretend this never happened. If Lord Third Hokage finds out you were behind all this..."
"You're trying to scare me with the Third Hokage? I'm terrified. We're far from the emperor here. I'll kill you both, frame someone else, and run off with the Scroll of Seals. Who's going to catch me?"
Mizuki laughed loudly, looking at Iruka as if he were an idiot.
Ding! Choice One: Kill the traitor Mizuki. Reward: Puppet Shadow Clone Technique. Chakra cost: 0. The summoned Shadow Clones will have the same strength as the host. (No Hand Seals required.) Note: Puppet Shadow Clones have no consciousness or thoughts of their own. The host can control their actions at will, and decide whether they live or die with a single thought. Puppet Shadow Clones must stay within a certain distance of the user. Otherwise, they will disappear if they get too far away. A maximum of ten Puppet Shadow Clones can be controlled at once. Ding! Choice Two: Beat the traitor Mizuki to a pulp. Reward: Ordinary Shadow Clone Technique.
Huh?? A Puppet Shadow Clone Technique that didn't even require Hand Seals.
It sounded insanely powerful!
The biggest drawback of Shadow Clones
was that the clones had their own consciousness and thoughts.
Sometimes, they wouldn't even obey you.
After all, they were all equally strong, so none of them would submit to the others.
But now, the Puppet Shadow Clone solved that problem perfectly.
Just imagine having an endless supply of free labor.
The thought was incredibly satisfying!
"I choose the first one!"
"Puppet Shadow Clone Technique reward being issued. Reward issued successfully."
As soon as Naruto finished speaking, he came to a sudden stop, and his entire body vanished from where he stood.
When he reappeared, he was behind Mizuki.
He hadn't actually vanished. Naruto had simply moved so fast that it created the illusion of disappearing.
Mizuki was dumbfounded.
At first, he'd only felt a gust of wind sweep past him.
Then a ripping pain shot through his back.
His heart had been pierced!
A surprise attack, catching him off guard.
Naruto could freely use half of the Nine-Tails' chakra.
Killing an ordinary ninja was as easy as killing a chicken.
Iruka was stunned.
Was this really my student?
When had Naruto gained this kind of ability?
How come I didn't know?
Just a moment ago, he'd been ready to risk his life to give Naruto time to escape.
But now, it seemed that wasn't necessary.
His consciousness gradually faded.
The traitor Mizuki felt his eyelids growing unbearably heavy.
In the instant of his death,
he had no idea what had killed him.
At the same time, Naruto felt a new memory appear in his mind.
The method for using the Puppet Shadow Clone had been perfectly ingrained in his bones.
All he had to do was think about it.
And he could use the technique flawlessly.
Best of all, it didn't require any chakra.
"Naruto... you... you killed someone?" Iruka gaped.
Since when was Naruto so bold?
I'm insanely bold...
He'd killed a Chunin in a single blow.
It was unbelievable.
At that moment, Iruka was mostly panicking.
Naruto couldn't possibly have this kind of power... unless the Nine-Tails Demon Fox sealed inside him had been released...?
The more Iruka thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
Cold sweat ran down his face. He put a hand on his ninja tools pouch, ready to flee back to the village and find help.
"Don't worry so much, Iruka-sensei. I'm not scary."
Naruto shrugged.
Not scary???
You killed a Chunin in one hit, and you're telling me you're not scary?
Who do you think you're fooling?
"Huh? Naruto, what's wrong with your eyes?"
Iruka looked utterly confused.
Naruto revealed his mutated, enhanced Golden Rinnegan.
"Iruka, forget what just happened!"
The system's prompt appeared.
His Rinnegan could also make people forget a stretch of memory.
It was similar to hypnosis, or blacking out after drinking too much.
He had to admit, this ability was incredibly useful!
Otherwise, Naruto wouldn't have dared to use the Nine-Tails' power in front of Iruka without holding back.
Iruka's gaze grew hazy, and he seemed dazed and disoriented.
Smack—
Then,
a crisp clap rang out.
Iruka completely forgot the scene of Naruto killing Mizuki in an instant.
"Naruto, hurry and run! I'll cover you. There's no time to explain... Just run, and whatever you do, don't look back..."
Iruka had only gotten halfway through his sentence
when he fell silent.
He stared, bewildered, at Mizuki lying in a pool of blood, completely dead.
What was going on?!!
How had this guy died?
Why couldn't he remember anything?
"Iruka-sensei, you're finally awake... A powerful ninja wearing a mask appeared out of a twisted space and killed Teacher Mizuki."
"Oh, and his eyes were red. He looked at you once, and you just stood there, frozen."
"I called out to you for ages, but you didn't react."
Naruto's eyes returned to normal, and he pinned the blame on Obito.
I'll kill that bastard sooner or later.
The murder of family demanded blood.
Naruto was him, and he was Naruto. Some things simply had to be done.
Until then, he'd let Obito take the blame a little more. Consider it interest.
Before you continue