The pursuit squad chased Mizuki relentlessly, finally driving him into a corner!
Seeing that he could no longer escape, Mizuki turned around, gripped his kunai, and took a defensive stance.
A burly Anbu ninja wearing an animal mask and a white cloak stepped forward. "Surrender, Mizuki. We were fellow villagers once, so we don't want to kill you!"
Mizuki suddenly burst out laughing. "Hahaha, perhaps! But maybe I'm not the one you should really be arresting!"
The Anbu asked, "What do you mean?"
Mizuki said, "If I confess, will you go easier on me?"
The Anbu considered it. "That depends on whether your information is worth enough!"
Mizuki said, "Don't worry. It's a real bombshell. You might not even believe it!"
The Anbu raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Let's hear it, then!"
Mizuki said, "That. Little. Brat. He has..."
Bzzz!
Suddenly, a pair of Byakugan reigned supreme within Mizuki's mind!
-Secret Technique: Aura Pressure!
A crushing pressure descended on him, several times more terrifying than Naruto's earlier Tailed Beast Transformation!
"Uh, uh, uh..." Mizuki trembled all over, unable to make his tongue work!
The white-cloaked Anbu urged him, "Hey, spit it out!"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Above them, an invisible little black bat turned into a streak of black light and burrowed into the top of Mizuki's head, taking complete control of his mind!
-Earth Grudge Fear: Domination!
Mizuki's eyes filled with blood vessels. He raised his kunai and turned it toward his own neck!
The Anbu sensed something wrong. "Something's off!"
"He's going to kill himself to escape punishment!!!"
"Stop him!!!"
Several of them rushed forward, but they were already too late!
Slash! Mizuki slit his own throat and collapsed to the ground!
After examining him, the white-cloaked Anbu shook his head. "He's dead!"
That left them with a question.
"What was he about to say? 'That little brat, he has...' Was he talking about Naruto Uzumaki?"
"Who else among Konoha's brats would make a convenient scapegoat besides Naruto?"
"He was going to say Naruto has the Nine-Tailed Fox inside him, right? How ridiculous. Did we need him to tell us that?"
The white-cloaked Anbu rubbed his chin, doubtful. "Something feels a little odd to me. From the way he looked just now, he really did want to tell us something to get himself off the hook. But then he suddenly killed himself. It doesn't add up..."
"Now that you mention it, Captain, that does seem true."
"Maybe something was wrong with his mind. According to that bald little girl, hadn't Mizuki been skipping work for days? And look at his face. He looks like he's possessed..."
They took a closer look.
Sure enough, the area between Mizuki's eyebrows was dark, his face was bloodless, and dark circles surrounded his sunken eyes!
"Yes, that makes sense. His mental state really was abnormal, so nothing he said is worth taking seriously!"
With his doubts dispelled, the white-cloaked Anbu gave his final verdict. "Mizuki killed himself to escape punishment while fleeing arrest. That's what we'll report to our superiors!"
In front of the grove, Yu finished copying the Scroll of Seals with his Sharingan and set it aside.
"Mm..."
Iruka woke up and saw Yu sitting nearby, with Naruto lying on the ground!
After a moment of shock, he asked urgently, "What happened to Naruto!!!"
Yu said, "Don't worry, Sensei. Naruto is fine..."
Iruka sighed in relief. After taking stock of the situation, his face filled with suspicion.
"Yu, why are you here? Where did Mizuki go?"
Yu said, "Naruto drove Mizuki-sensei off. The ninja who came to rescue us have already gone after him!"
Iruka was stunned. "Naruto... defeated Mizuki??"
Yu scratched his head. "I'm not sure exactly what happened, but Naruto seemed to use that thing Ebisu-sensei told me about before... Q, Q-Bee chakra?"
Iruka exclaimed, "You mean the Nine-Tails' chakra?!!"
Once the shock passed, he lowered his gaze in thought. My memory is a little hazy, but after I fell, red chakra really did seem to pour out of Naruto. So that was the Nine-Tails' power after all!
Yu followed his lead. "Ah, I think that was it. When I arrived, Mizuki had already been driven off, and Naruto was using that Nine-Tails chakra to do something to your back, Iruka-sensei..."
"My back!" Iruka suddenly remembered. "That's right! Mizuki badly wounded my back!! But now I'm completely fine. Did Naruto do that too?!!!"
His heart swelled with emotion. So that's what happened? Naruto controlled the Nine-Tails' power, defeated Mizuki, and even healed my wounds... It turns out the Nine-Tails' chakra isn't only good for destruction and taking lives! It can also protect and heal others! Power itself isn't good or evil. What matters is how the person wielding it chooses to use it!
I'm sorry, Naruto... It took me until now to realize something so simple. I've truly failed as a teacher!
Hearing Iruka's thoughts, Yu's lips curved slightly.
"Say, Sensei, could you keep Naruto unleashing the Nine-Tails' power a secret? And please say you were the one who defeated Mizuki, too."
Iruka was puzzled. "Why?"
Yu said, "Before Naruto collapsed, he specifically asked me to tell you that."
Iruka said, "That's what Naruto wants? I don't mind, then. But I'm worried. What if Mizuki gets caught and tells the truth?"
Just then, footsteps sounded from the exit of the woods.
The Anbu who had pursued Mizuki returned. A thinner Anbu in a black cloak carried Mizuki's body.
Iruka stood up. "Mizuki..."
The white-cloaked Anbu said, "He killed himself to escape punishment."
Iruka's expression darkened. Mizuki had been his friend for years. He had never imagined that his friend would do something so utterly heartless.
He thought, All these years, I never understood who he really was. If I'd noticed the signs sooner, could I have stopped him from going astray?
Yu understood perfectly. No, you're truly wrong about that, Iruka. Not everyone can be moved by genuine affection. A person's background and experiences growing up determine what they want, and those desires differ from person to person...
For someone like Mizuki, only tangible benefits can put his mind at ease, and he'll stop at nothing to get them. He's what you'd call a born egoist!
The white-cloaked Anbu stepped forward, slung the Scroll of Seals over his shoulder, and said, "We'll be taking this back. But Iruka, you were the one who drove Mizuki off, correct?"
Iruka hesitated briefly, then said, "Yes, that's right!"
The white-cloaked Anbu surveyed the ravaged woods and cratered ground around them, then said meaningfully, "You're really something, then. Your talents are wasted as a chunin..."
Yu felt a little troubled. This guy is a bit too sharp. Can't he act like a proper background character (▼ヘ▼#)!
"We'll go report in, then. You should head back as soon as possible, too! Konoha is under lockdown these days, so don't wander around at night without a reason..."
The white-cloaked Anbu gave Naruto, who lay on the ground, a long look. After leaving them with those words, he led the black-cloaked Anbu away!
On the Anbu's way back.
The black-cloaked Anbu carrying Mizuki's body asked, "Captain Zō, those signs of battle back there..."
Zō, the white-cloaked Anbu captain, said, "Yes. They certainly weren't something two chunin like Iruka and Mizuki could have caused. Those traces looked more like a fight to the death between jonin. If Mizuki had gotten caught in that, he wouldn't even have known what killed him! But if Naruto used the Nine-Tails' power and wreaked destruction indiscriminately, that would explain it..."
"Shouldn't we report this to our superiors??"
Zō considered it. "Let's leave it. If he could suppress it on his own, it wasn't serious enough to trouble Lord Hokage. Besides, this is a crucial time. We can't let anything else distract Lord Hokage..."
His black-cloaked subordinate chuckled. "That doesn't sound like you."
Zō gave a noncommittal smile and thought, I can understand how he feels, wanting to protect his own student. This time, I'll turn a blind eye!
And so... a world in which only Mizuki got hurt was complete!
Before you continue