Testing the Sheep Talisman

In the woods behind the village, Hiruzen Sarutobi delivered his final verdict.

"Tonight's incident was a plot by the rogue ninja Mizuki."

"The Scroll of Seals has been recovered without any loss. I'll handle everything that follows personally."

"Root is not to interfere again."

"You...!" Danzo trembled with rage. He stared at Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression, as if the matter were already settled.

Then he looked at Naruto, sheltered behind Iruka, the headband on his forehead gleaming.

It felt as though Hiruzen had brushed aside every scheme and warning Danzo had made, trampling them under the Hokage's authority and the absurd excuse of a "prank."

Danzo had thrown a punch with all his strength and hit nothing but cotton. Worse, Hiruzen had turned it to that Demon Fox brat's advantage. The fury in Danzo's chest nearly burst.

But Danzo knew he could not openly defy the Hokage's decision.

In the end, Danzo could only fix Hiruzen Sarutobi with a vicious glare from his lone eye. After a moment, an angry, resentful snort rose from deep in his throat.

"Hiruzen, you'll regret your foolishness and mercy today!"

He forced the words through clenched teeth, then spun around, snapping the sleeve of his robe. Seething with resentment, he disappeared into the darkness.

The two Root ninja released Naruto at once and vanished as silently as they had appeared.

Only then did Iruka finally breathe a sigh of relief. His legs nearly gave out beneath him.

Hiruzen Sarutobi turned to Naruto. The boy was still shaken, with traces of tears and anger on his face. Hiruzen's gaze grew complicated before he let out a deep sigh.

He stepped forward. Instead of scolding Naruto, he reached out and gently ruffled his bright blond hair.

"It's all right now, Naruto."

After a lecture from Hiruzen Sarutobi, Naruto came to understand what he had done wrong and was allowed to go home.

Just like that, Hiruzen Sarutobi brushed aside the serious crime of stealing the Scroll of Seals.

Any ninja who had ever been punished for stealing the Scroll of Seals would have had only one thing to say: What the hell?

The streets of Konoha were deserted late that night. Naruto walked home alone.

The night breeze brushed past him, and the cool headband against his forehead kept reminding him of everything that had happened.

He touched it without thinking. The feel of the metal gave him a little reassurance, easing some of the terrible pressure Danzo had left behind.

"I'm home."

Naruto pushed open his familiar, battered door and called out to the empty room, as he always did.

The room was as messy as he had left it, yet the sight made him relax with the relief of someone who had survived a disaster.

He threw himself onto his small bed and let out a long breath. Every bone in his body felt ready to fall apart.

Excitement and exhaustion washed over him together. He wanted to shut his eyes and sleep for three days straight.

But as he rolled over to get comfortable, something hard in his clothes dug into his side.

"Mm... what's this?" Naruto mumbled sleepily. He fumbled through his clothes and soon pulled it out.

In the dim light, the hexagonal Sheep Talisman lay quietly in his palm.

Naruto shot upright. Most of his drowsiness vanished.

"That's right! This thing!" He stared wide-eyed at the little object he had swiped on his way out, his heart sinking.

"Oh no, oh no! I was so caught up in the Scroll of Seals and graduating that I forgot about it! I took this from Grandpa Third's place too!"

A wave of guilt hit him.

Maybe I should sneak it back tomorrow? He scratched his head, wavering. But curiosity soon won out.

"What does it even do?" He held the talisman up and examined it from every angle.

"It looks important. Anything kept in Grandpa Third's room can't be ordinary, right? Could it be some incredibly powerful ninja tool?"

At the thought of a powerful ninja tool, Naruto's eyes lit up again.

He remembered how it had felt to use the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique. He couldn't get enough of that rush of power.

"I'll give it a try! Just once! If it works, I'll tell Grandpa Third tomorrow. If it doesn't, I'll put it back without a word!"

Having found the perfect excuse, Naruto was eager to begin.

And so, in the dead of night, Naruto Uzumaki began his "function test" of the Sheep Talisman.

First, he clasped the talisman tightly between his hands as though weaving hand signs, closed his eyes, focused, and shouted, "Ninja Art! Activate!" Nothing happened.

Next, he pressed it to his forehead and tried to awaken its power, imitating the way some Kekkei Genkai worked. His face turned red from the effort, but all he got was a sore forehead.

He tried channeling Chakra into the talisman. It vanished without a trace, and the talisman did not so much as glow.

He set it on the floor, backed up a few steps like a long jumper, then charged forward to poke it, imagining that he might trigger some hidden mechanism. Instead, he tripped and nearly knocked out his front teeth.

He even whispered a wish to the talisman: "Let me eat a hundred bowls of ramen tomorrow!" The room stayed quiet. All he could hear was his own breathing.

Naruto kept at it for nearly an hour, trying everything he could think of: dripping blood on it to claim it, soaking it in water, leaving it in the moonlight, even biting it.

But the Sheep Talisman might as well have been an ordinary stone. No matter what he did, it never responded. It just lay there, practically radiating a sense of You're wasting your time.

"What the heck? It's just a useless piece of junk!" Naruto collapsed onto the floor, panting. "I got excited for nothing. I thought I'd found treasure."

Then sleepiness surged over him again, stronger than before.

All that fruitless effort had drained the last of his energy.

Naruto could not even muster the strength to crawl into bed. He lay sprawled on the floor, still clutching the unresponsive Sheep Talisman.

"Tomorrow... gotta remember... give it back to Grandpa Third..." he mumbled. His eyelids closed, and his breathing grew slow and even.

Yet the moment Naruto fell into his deepest sleep, the Sheep Talisman in his hand suddenly gave a faint glow.

Naruto smacked his lips in his sleep. His body felt strangely light, as though every burden had been lifted from him. It felt wonderful.

Then he rolled over and saw something impossible.