"So that's how it is!" Mizuki rose to his feet with a dark expression, cold killing intent flickering in his eyes. Looking down at Iruka, who was already too weak to move, a cruel smile curled across his lips.
"Hehehe..." Mizuki let out a chilling laugh, his voice seeming to rise from the depths of hell. "That monster killed your parents, yet you're risking your life to protect him? How utterly ridiculous!"
Iruka forced himself to raise his head. Blood ran from the wound on his forehead, but his gaze was remarkably clear. A mocking curve appeared on his lips as well. "How could I let the Scroll of Seals fall into the hands of trash like you?"
"Between me and Naruto, you're the real idiot!" Mizuki's expression twisted further, veins bulging across his forehead as contempt filled his voice. "Once you master the ninjutsu in that scroll, you'll gain supreme power. Do you think that Demon Monkey could resist such temptation?"
Hearing that, Iruka relaxed instead, a resolute expression appearing on his face. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. Though weak, his voice was firm and forceful. "Maybe the Demon Monkey would... but Naruto is different." He drew a deep breath, as though pouring all his strength into his next words. "He is an outstanding student I acknowledge!"
Naruto, hiding behind the tree trunk, trembled from head to toe. His azure eyes contracted sharply. This was the first time... the first time anyone had acknowledged him so wholeheartedly! His fingers dug deeply into the bark, his heart pounding wildly in his chest as if it would burst through his ribs. All those days and nights of isolation, all those lonely moments of rejection, all those humiliating memories of being