Mizuki had tailored the plan to steal the Scroll of Seals

"Want to improve your chances of passing the graduation exam?"

One day, just as the bell rang to end school, Mizuki kept Naruto behind in the classroom.

Naruto paused while packing his books and looked up at the podium.

"Of course I do!"

He answered quickly, and the excitement on his face looked genuine.

Mizuki gave him a gentle smile.

"You've made clear progress."

Naruto rubbed his nose, his grin growing brighter.

"Of course!"

"I'm Konoha's second Dream Training practitioner!"

Something flickered in Mizuki's eyes.

In the past, a little praise had been enough to make Naruto wear every thought on his face.

That hadn't changed.

But his abilities could no longer be dismissed as those of a "dead last."

When Naruto had run up the tree trunk, Mizuki had been watching from the school building.

His movements were rough, and he sometimes cracked the wall by pouring out too much chakra, but he had indeed mastered Tree Climbing.

That meant Naruto might well pass the graduation exam normally.

Once he graduated and was assigned to a team, with a Jonin leading him, exploiting him would become much harder.

Mizuki set those thoughts aside, his voice growing warmer.

"Unfortunately, your weakness is just as obvious."

Naruto froze. "What weakness?"

"The Clone Technique."

Mizuki walked over to Naruto.

"The exact contents of the graduation exam aren't announced in advance, but the Three Basic Techniques have always been a major focus. Your Transformation Technique and Substitution Technique barely pass muster, but your Clone Technique still isn't consistent enough."

Seeing his reaction, Mizuki softened his voice at just the right moment.

"However, the graduation exam doesn't judge you on a single score."

"If a student has mastered other sufficiently impressive ninjutsu, the examiners will take that into consideration too."

Naruto scratched his head.

Didn't Mizuki-sensei know how much I'd improved lately?

A simple ninjutsu like the Clone Technique had long since become second nature to him.

But he didn't say that outright.

Naruto had a vague feeling that something was off about Mizuki-sensei.

"I know a way."

Mizuki lowered his voice and glanced outside the door.

There were no other students left in the hallway.

He looked back at Naruto.

"There's an instructional scroll kept in the Hokage Building that contains many advanced ninjutsu."

"If you borrow it for one night, learn one of them, and quietly return it before dawn, you'll improve your chances of passing the graduation exam."

"An instructional scroll?"

Naruto blinked.

"If there's something that good, why doesn't the school use it to teach us?"

Mizuki's expression remained unchanged.

"Because the ninjutsu in it are too difficult."

"Ordinary students who recklessly try to learn them will only waste their time. They might even suffer chakra backlash."

"But you're different."

Mizuki patted Naruto's shoulder.

"You've already mastered Tree Climbing, and you have far more chakra than the other students. As long as you choose a suitable ninjutsu, you might just succeed."

Naruto grinned, his eyes shining brilliantly.

"So that's it!"

"What's the scroll called?"

"The Scroll of Seals."

After giving him the name, Mizuki continued his instructions. "You mustn't tell anyone about this."

"Especially not Iruka."

"He's always placed great importance on school rules. Even if he knew this could improve your chances of graduating, he wouldn't let you take the risk."

Naruto nodded emphatically.

"Don't worry, Mizuki-sensei!"

"I definitely won't tell Iruka-sensei!"

Mizuki smiled in satisfaction.

He took out a simple map, marked where the Scroll of Seals was stored, and told Naruto about that night's patrol schedule.

Naruto listened with great attention, even taking out a notebook to jot down a few notes.

Once Mizuki finished explaining, Naruto stuffed the map inside his clothes and dashed out of the classroom, unable to wait.

"Thank you, Mizuki-sensei!"

Mizuki stood where he was, watching the orange figure disappear down the hallway.

His smile slowly faded.

"Still the same idiot after all."

Naruto raced out of the school.

After turning the street corner, the excitement vanished from his face.

The Scroll of Seals.

Just from the name, there was no way it was an ordinary instructional scroll.

What school would keep an instructional scroll in the Hokage Building and forbid teachers and students from knowing about it?

Not to mention Mizuki had specifically told me to keep it from Iruka.

I, Naruto Uzumaki, am no fool!

Besides, Cangyue had only recently taken him to meet Kurama.

After discovering that even a Nine-Tailed Demon Fox was sealed inside him, Naruto had become particularly sensitive to the word "secret."

Instead of going to Iruka, he headed straight for the river.

Sure enough, Cangyue was there.

But what he was doing today was even stranger than sleeping in a downpour.

A long, flat stone sat on the riverbank.

Cangyue sat cross-legged at one end, the Flame and Thunder Swords laid across his lap.

He had placed a palm-sized fish on a sword's blade.

The fish was dead, but not quite completely dead.

This fish had already grasped the laws of life and death.

Its tail twitched occasionally, making the blade sway slightly.

Cangyue's eyes were closed, his hands resting flat on his knees. He neither steadied the sword nor held down the fish.

He maintained the balance of the sword and fish using only chakra and minute adjustments of his arms.

A pile of firewood had also been set up nearby.

Clear water bubbled in a pot, giving off faint wisps of steam.

Naruto watched from a distance for a long while but still couldn't make sense of it.

"Cangyue, what are you doing?"

"Practicing with my swords."

Cangyue didn't even open his eyes.

Naruto looked at the fish on the sword, then at the pot beside him.

"What about that fish?"

"Dinner."

"So you're cooking?"

"And practicing with my swords."

Naruto walked around the stone.

The fish's tail suddenly flicked.

The blade tilted to the right.

Cangyue's wrist showed no obvious movement, but the Flame and Thunder Swords quivered gently over his lap and regained their balance.

The fish slid half an inch along the edge, stopping right at its thinnest point.

The sharp blade slit the fish's belly without letting it fall.

Only then did Cangyue open his eyes, grip the hilt, and give it a flick.

The cleaned fish flipped halfway over and dropped into the boiling pot.

Not a single drop splashed out.

Naruto stared in amazement.

"You can cook like that?"

"Swinging a sword ten thousand times is worth less than cooking yourself one meal."

Cangyue made that up on the spot.

Naruto would probably believe him anyway.

Sure enough, Naruto stared at the fish in the pot and nodded thoughtfully.

"I get it."

Cangyue's gaze shifted slightly.

What exactly did you get?

"True swordsmanship has to be useful in everyday life!"

Naruto punched his palm.

"No wonder your cooking tastes so good!"

Cangyue fell silent for a moment and didn't correct him.

Judging by the result, there didn't seem to be anything wrong with that.

"Need something?"

Only then did Naruto remember why he'd come, and he hurriedly looked around.

After making sure no one else was nearby, he leaned toward Cangyue and lowered his voice.

"Mizuki-sensei told me to steal the Scroll of Seals."

Cangyue's hand paused on the sword hilt.

It was finally happening.

Only earlier than it originally had.

Originally, Naruto had failed the graduation exam, and Mizuki had lured him into stealing the Scroll of Seals with a supposed secret test.

Now Naruto was improving so quickly that Mizuki had lost his patience before the graduation exam had even begun.

"What did he say?"

Naruto repeated everything Mizuki had told him, from beginning to end.

Advanced ninjutsu.

Better chances of graduating.

Borrowing it for just one night.

Returning it before dawn meant no one would hold him accountable.

The more Cangyue listened, the flimsier Mizuki's pitch sounded.

But for Naruto, it did hold a certain appeal.

His greatest weakness in the past had indeed been the Clone Technique.

If he could learn an advanced ninjutsu before the graduation exam, it might genuinely improve the examiners' opinion of him.

More importantly, Naruto desperately wanted to become a ninja.

That was precisely what Mizuki had seized upon.

But clearly, he had no idea that the current Naruto, free of the Nine-Tails' interference, was a genius through and through.

"Should we tell Iruka-sensei?"

Naruto crouched beside the stone.

"If we tell him now, Mizuki-sensei will definitely get arrested, right?"

"And then?"

"Then?"

Naruto scratched his head.

"Then he won't be able to trick anyone else, of course."

"He told you to take the Scroll of Seals, but he isn't touching it himself."

Cangyue lifted the pot lid with his scabbard and glanced at the fish soup.

"Without evidence, all he has to do is say you misheard him."

Naruto frowned.

Mizuki really hadn't left any written instructions.

The map only marked the routes inside the Hokage Building. It revealed nothing about its actual purpose.

If he went to Iruka now, Mizuki could deny everything.

Cangyue continued, "If he fails this time, he'll try again."

"Then what do we do?"

Cangyue lifted his scabbard, and the pot lid settled neatly back into place.

"Do as he said."

Naruto sprang to his feet.

"Actually steal it?"

"Yes."

"But that's the Hokage Building!"

"So?"

"So... it'll be really bad if I get caught, right?"

"Grandpa Third Hokage will string me up."

Naruto imagined the Third Hokage hanging him from Hokage Rock and shuddered involuntarily.

Cangyue glanced at him.

Just string you up?

Anyone else would've already been handed over to Ibiki Morino for some tender loving care.

The golden boy really did get special treatment.

"You're just scared."

Who wouldn't be?

But Naruto clearly didn't want to lose face in front of Cangyue.

"Who's scared?!"

Naruto immediately puffed out his chest.

"I just think that if I know Teacher Mizuki is lying and still do what he says, doesn't that make me a real idiot?"

"Who said you had to sneak around?"

Naruto froze.

Cangyue picked up his chopsticks and stirred the pot twice.

"Just walk right in. Prepare a few things beforehand that only you would use, and leave some clues."

"Like what?"

"Graffiti."

Naruto's eyes gradually lit up.

That was something he knew all about.

Everyone in Konoha knew who had created that masterpiece on Hokage Rock.

"You mean I should draw in the room where they keep the scroll?"

"Yes. The more obvious, the better."

Cangyue remained calm.

"Preferably something they'll recognize as yours at a glance."

Someone who truly wanted to steal the Scroll of Seals would do anything to erase every trace.

Naruto, on the other hand, would leave a trail of markings.

As long as the ninja guarding it weren't idiots, they would immediately realize something was off about this theft.

No matter how much Naruto liked pranks, he couldn't possibly be stupid enough to steal an important scroll and leave his identity at the scene.

Konoha would naturally keep an eye on him.

If the higher-ups didn't arrest him immediately, it would mean they had realized someone else was behind this.

After that, Mizuki would expose himself completely the moment he appeared.

Naruto rubbed his chin, giving it some serious thought.

"I could draw a really big spiral."

"And a bowl of Ichiraku Ramen!"

"No, that still isn't obvious enough."

He suddenly clapped his hands.

"I'll just write 'Naruto Uzumaki is borrowing this book for the night and will return it tomorrow morning' on the wall!"

Cangyue watched him for two seconds.

Not bad.

Even more obvious than I'd expected.

At that point, it would look less like stealing a book and more like checking one out in the middle of the night.

"That works."

"But..."

Naruto's excitement faded a little.

"Once they know it's me, won't they come arrest me right away?"

"If they do, tell them exactly what Mizuki said."

Cangyue ladled out a bowl of fish soup.

"If they don't, it means you aren't the one they want to watch."

Naruto paused.

He followed Cangyue's line of reasoning and finally understood.

"They want to see who comes looking for me!"

Cangyue took a sip of soup without replying.

He finally caught on.

Naruto crouched down again, his gaze fixed on the bubbling fish soup.

"Then what do I do after I get the Scroll of Seals?"

"Am I really supposed to learn the jutsu in it?"

"Why wouldn't you?"

Cangyue answered with a question.

Naruto froze again.

He had thought leaving markings and luring Mizuki out was the whole plan.

He hadn't expected Cangyue to actually intend for him to read the Scroll of Seals.

"But isn't that something you're not allowed to learn whenever you want?"

"Mizuki is the one telling you to read it."

Cangyue hooked the lunch box beside the pot with his sword tip, and fish soup slowly flowed along the blade into the box.

The blade tilted, but the box didn't wobble in the slightest.

"With someone else taking the blame, why wouldn't you read it?"

Naruto felt there was something not quite right about that statement.

But when he thought it over, it seemed to make sense.

Mizuki had told him to steal it.

Mizuki had given him the route.

And Mizuki had told him to learn the jutsu on the scroll.

If anyone was going to be held responsible, Mizuki should obviously come first.

"Once you get the scroll, look for shadow clone jutsu first."

Cangyue handed Naruto the lunch box full of fish soup.

"Why?"

"When a physical shadow clone is dispelled, its experiences and memories return to the original."

Naruto's eyes slowly widened.

"So that means..."

"If one of you reads too slowly, get a few more of yourself."

Cangyue laid the Flame Thunder Sword across his knees again.

"Once you learn the Shadow Clone Technique, split up and read through the scroll."

"Learn whatever you can."

Holding the lunch box, Naruto was already picturing dozens of himself gathered around the scroll, studying.

One would read about Fire Release.

One would read about Wind Release.

One would read about Sealing Jutsu.

The rest could keep watch, while the original only had to handle the eating.

So shadow clones could be used like that!

Until now, Naruto had never seriously considered the value of shadow clones.

But with just one sentence, Cangyue had shown him an entirely different way to use them.

If they really could share memories, wouldn't he be able to turn one night into dozens of nights?

Still, only he could use this method.

Without the immense chakra reserves and recovery provided by nine-tails chakra...

Using the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique to study would be more trouble than it was worth. The fatigue fed back to the original could exhaust a person to death.

There was a reason it was called a forbidden technique.

[Valor Points +20]

Cangyue looked at the notification, pleased.

"I get it!"

Naruto clutched the lunch box tightly.

"I'll go get the paint for the graffiti right now!"

The night deepened.

An orange figure clung silently to the outer wall of the Hokage Building, hidden in the shadows.

Naruto poked his head out and looked down at the street.

Mizuki was speaking quietly with several patrolling ninja.

A moment later, the entire patrol changed direction, and he led them away.

Naruto narrowed his eyes.

Mizuki really was clearing the way for him.