Brother Nine-Tails, Mizuki Had Too Much to Drink

"Naruto!"

Iruka's voice rang through the woods.

In the clearing, dozens of shadow clones looked up at once.

A moment later, clouds of white smoke burst one after another.

Pop! Pop! Pop!

The shadow clones dissolved into chakra, and a flood of memories rushed back into the original at once.

Naruto clutched his head and swayed twice, nearly falling flat on his face.

"Not again..."

Repeatedly receiving his shadow clones' training experiences in such a short time was almost more than he could bear, even with his stamina.

Cangyue flipped down from a branch, putting away the paper bag of dumplings as he landed.

"He's here."

"I know."

Naruto rubbed his temples and looked toward the voice.

Iruka soon rushed out of the woods.

His forehead was sweaty and his breathing labored. He had clearly been searching for a long time.

When he saw the Scroll of Seals spread out on the ground, his expression darkened instantly.

"Naruto!"

"Do you know what you've done?"

Naruto instinctively shrank back.

Compared with Mizuki's smile that concealed ill intent, he was actually more afraid of Iruka's genuine anger.

"I know."

"And you still dared to steal the Scroll of Seals?"

Iruka strode forward, grabbed the edge of the scroll, and carefully checked whether the seal had been damaged.

Only after confirming that the Scroll of Seals was still there and its contents were undamaged did he breathe a little easier.

Then he noticed the densely packed formulas all around them.

Tree trunks, rocks, and leaves were covered with the Flying Thunder God markings Naruto had just left.

Iruka froze.

"What are these?"

"Flying Thunder God Formulas!"

Naruto immediately puffed out his chest.

"I just learned it!"

Iruka whipped his head around.

"What did you say?"

"And the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, too."

Naruto formed hand seals.

Pop!

The white smoke cleared, revealing a solid shadow clone beside him. It raised a hand to greet Iruka.

"Good evening, Iruka-sensei."

Iruka stared at the shadow clone, speechless for a long while.

It wasn't an ordinary clone.

This clone had a physical body, and its chakra distribution was very stable.

When Naruto used the ordinary Clone Technique before, he usually produced nothing more than a pale figure sprawled on the ground.

Now, he could perform the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique with such ease.

Even more absurd was the Flying Thunder God.

Iruka lowered his gaze to the crooked formulas.

"Have you really managed to teleport?"

"Of course!"

Naruto pointed at a patch of grass nearby.

"I just came out of there!"

Iruka looked in the direction he was pointing.

There was a clear, human-shaped dent in the grass, with a few drops of blood beside it.

That landing had clearly been anything but graceful.

But if Naruto had truly crossed space, whether he had landed awkwardly didn't matter at all.

Iruka quickly suppressed his shock.

"Explain everything first."

"Why did you steal the Scroll of Seals?"

"Mizuki-sensei told me to."

Naruto dismissed his shadow clone and recounted everything from beginning to end.

Improving his chances of graduating.

Learning advanced ninjutsu ahead of time.

Borrowing the scroll at night and returning it before dawn.

There was also the route map Mizuki had personally given him, and the patrolling ninja who had been lured away beforehand.

Iruka's expression grew increasingly grave.

"Then why didn't you tell me first?"

"I was going to."

Naruto scratched his head.

"But Cangyue said that if we exposed Mizuki-sensei now, he could just deny it."

"So you decided to actually steal the Scroll of Seals?"

Iruka turned an incredulous gaze on Cangyue.

Cangyue leaned against a tree trunk with the Flame and Thunder Swords in his arms, looking utterly unbothered by the questioning.

"You even left graffiti where the scroll was kept?"

"Yep!"

Naruto nodded as though expecting praise.

"I drew my name, Mizuki-sensei's name, and Ichiraku Ramen on there."

"I made sure anyone could tell it was me at a glance!"

The corner of Iruka's eye twitched hard.

Stealing the village's forbidden techniques and leaving his own name and his referrer's at the scene.

Only Naruto could pull something like that.

No.

Under normal circumstances, even Naruto wouldn't be that foolish.

"You deliberately left your identity behind so the guards would realize something was wrong?"

Iruka looked at Cangyue.

Cangyue didn't answer.

But his silence was answer enough.

Iruka calmed down and quickly noticed something unusual about the woods.

Some time had passed since the Scroll of Seals had been stolen.

Given the Anbu's response speed, it was impossible for no pursuers to have arrived by now.

Unless they had already found this place.

And simply hadn't shown themselves.

Iruka's gaze swept across the dark woods around them.

The Third Hokage already knew.

The Anbu were watching, too.

They were also waiting for the person who truly wanted to seize the scroll to appear.

Once he understood this, Iruka's anger eased a little, though he still glared at Cangyue.

"Even so, you shouldn't have let Naruto read the Scroll of Seals without permission."

Cangyue lifted his eyes.

"He's already read quite a bit."

Iruka's face darkened.

"That's not the point!"

"Iruka-sensei."

Naruto hurriedly stepped between them.

"Stealing the scroll was my own decision."

"Cangyue only told me how to leave evidence. If you want to yell at someone, yell at me."

Looking at Naruto shielding Cangyue, Iruka finally let the matter drop.

At least Naruto was no longer the child who would blindly charge ahead whenever someone egged him on.

He knew to question things and seek confirmation.

He had even learned to leave himself a way out.

It was just that this way out was far too conspicuous.

"Roll up the scroll first."

Iruka bent down and took hold of the Scroll of Seals.

"We'll discuss the rest when we get back."

"I'm afraid you won't get that chance."

Another voice suddenly came from a tree.

Iruka's expression changed sharply, and he spun around.

Mizuki stood on a high branch with an enormous Fūma Shuriken strapped to his back. His usual gentle smile was nowhere to be seen.

"Mizuki..."

"It seems you've already told him everything."

Mizuki looked down at Naruto, his gaze cold.

Naruto frowned.

"So you really were lying to me."

"Lying to you?"

Mizuki sneered.

"If it weren't for me, would you have had a chance to see the Scroll of Seals and learn its forbidden techniques?"

"I only asked you to do one small thing that was well within your abilities."

"Now, hand over the scroll."

Iruka stepped in front of Naruto.

"The Scroll of Seals belongs to Konoha."

"Using a student to steal forbidden techniques is a serious crime against the village."

Mizuki ignored him, his gaze still fixed on Naruto.

At this point, there was no reason to keep up the act.

As long as he seized the Scroll of Seals and left Konoha immediately, he still had a chance to survive.

The problem was that Naruto's changes had far exceeded his expectations.

The Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.

An early form of the Flying Thunder God.

And Kambara Sogetsu, who had been standing beside him the whole time, his abilities impossible to gauge.

Mizuki's gaze swept over Cangyue before finally returning to Naruto's face.

Since he could no longer trick Naruto into cooperating, he would break him mentally.

Once the nine-tails chakra went out of control, chaos was certain to follow.

Then he would naturally find an opening to seize the Scroll of Seals.

"Naruto, do you think Iruka really cares about you?"

Mizuki suddenly smiled.

"Shut up!"

Iruka's expression changed sharply.

He had already realized what Mizuki was about to say.

But Mizuki raised his voice.

"There's a rule in this village that only you don't know about."

"Twelve years ago, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox attacked Konoha and killed countless ninja."

"Iruka's parents died that night, too."

The look in Naruto's eyes changed.

Iruka clenched his fists.

"Mizuki, shut up!"

"That rule is that no one is allowed to tell you!"

Mizuki grinned.

"You're the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox!"

The woods fell abruptly silent.

Iruka stared at Naruto's back, worry flickering in his eyes.

He knew all too well how much those words carried.

The villagers' hatred.

A lonely childhood.

Countless cold stares without any apparent reason.

Everything Naruto had endured would receive its cruelest explanation at this moment.

Mizuki was waiting, too.

Waiting for Naruto to feel fear, anger, or even break down completely.

Yet Naruto merely blinked.

"You mean Kurama?"

The smile on Mizuki's face stiffened slightly.

Naruto scratched his head.

"I've already met him."

"What?"

Not only was Mizuki stunned, but Iruka also turned sharply toward Naruto.

Inside the sealing space.

The Nine-Tails abruptly opened his eyes in the darkness.

A flicker of irritation crossed his scarlet beast eyes.

That brat promised not to tell anyone about the sealing space.

Although he hadn't mentioned Cangyue or the lingering consciousness of the Sage of Six Paths, the Nine-Tails was still deeply displeased that Naruto had spoken his name so casually.

Mizuki stared hard at Naruto.

"Impossible!"

"How could you possibly know about him?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

Naruto sounded perfectly justified.

"Kurama lives inside me. We've already met."

Everything Mizuki had prepared to say caught in his throat.

He had intended to crush Naruto by revealing his identity as the Nine-Tails.

But Naruto wasn't afraid at all. He even sounded as though he were talking about someone he knew.

Unwilling to accept this, Mizuki roared, "Do you know what he did?"

"Twelve years ago, he destroyed Konoha!"

"He killed countless ninja, including Iruka's parents!"

Naruto instinctively looked toward Iruka.

Iruka didn't look away. He only nodded slowly.

"The Nine-Tails did attack Konoha twelve years ago."

Naruto's fists slowly clenched.

Inside the sealing space, the Nine-Tails fell silent.

He couldn't deny it.

That night, he had destroyed buildings, killed ninja, and plunged all of Konoha into disaster.

But he had been controlled by the Sharingan then, robbed even of his own will.

Strictly speaking, the true responsibility shouldn't have fallen on him.

But humans never cared about that.

They remembered only the Nine-Tails' claws, his Tailed Beast Bombs, and the people who had died.

Seeing Naruto remain silent, Mizuki thought his words had finally taken effect.

"Do you understand now?"

"The thing inside you is the monster that took Iruka's parents from him!"

"You don't deserve to be a Konoha ninja!"

Naruto snapped his head up.

"Kurama wouldn't do something like that for no reason!"

Mizuki froze.

"What did you say?"

"I said there must be another reason!"

Naruto pointed at his stomach, his voice firm.

"Kurama has a terrible temper, a nasty mouth, and always acts like he doesn't want anything to do with anyone."

Inside the sealing space, a vein bulged on the Nine-Tails' forehead.

Was this brat defending me or insulting me?

"But if he really wanted to kill me, he would've done it already."

Naruto continued, "He even pulled back his chakra earlier to help me learn tree climbing."

"So he's not some monster that only knows how to destroy everything, like you said!"

The Nine-Tails froze.

His enormous body lay in the darkness, motionless for a long time.

He hadn't expected Naruto to defend him.

Even less had he expected this child, who had suffered cold stares because of him since childhood, to react to the truth about twelve years ago not with resentment, but with the belief that there must have been another reason.

Naruto was right.

That night, he really had been controlled.

Yet such unreserved trust still felt foreign to the Nine-Tails.

It had been far too long since any human had stood on his side after the Sage of Six Paths died.

"Stupid brat."

The Nine-Tails closed his eyes.

His voice remained disdainful, but his nine tails quietly drew in a little.

More pure Nine-Tails chakra surged into Naruto.

Mizuki could no longer comprehend anything happening before him.

Naruto knew the Nine-Tails existed.

He knew the Nine-Tails' name.

He had even spoken with the Nine-Tails.

All of this was completely beyond Mizuki's understanding.

"You're insane..."

"You really have been bewitched by that demon fox!"

[Valor Points +20]

[Valor Points +20]

[Valor Points +20]

"Huh? This pays?"

Cangyue paused in surprise.

He opened the breakdown of their sources and saw that the Nine-Tails had contributed the most, followed by Mizuki and Naruto.

Cangyue began to understand. Was this being credited to him because he had let Naruto meet the Nine-Tails ahead of time?

Interesting.

Mizuki yanked the Fūma Shuriken off his back.

"In that case, I'll kill you and that monster together!"

The corner of Cangyue's mouth twitched.

Here comes a chunin to fight the Nine-Tails.

Iruka instantly gripped his kunai.

"Naruto, get down!"

The Fūma Shuriken flew from Mizuki's hand.

The enormous metal blades tore through the air with a piercing howl, heading straight for Naruto and Iruka.

Iruka stepped in front of Naruto.

He was already prepared to take the attack with his own body.

"Kurama?" Naruto's face lit up as he felt the abundant chakra.

"Hmph. I just don't want you dying so soon." The Nine-Tails' voice was as irritating as ever.

Naruto pushed Iruka aside to keep him from getting hurt.

"Leave the rest to me!"

His gaze passed beyond the spinning shuriken and locked onto a nearby tree trunk.

A crooked formula was marked there.

It was the mark he had left with his own hands while practicing earlier.

He could feel it.

That wisp of his own chakra was right there.

The Fūma Shuriken was already upon him.

Naruto brought his hands together, forcing himself to ignore the shrill whistle of the wind.

His chakra connected to the formula.

Space seemed to be pulled together in an instant by an invisible thread.

"Flying Thunder God Technique!"

Whoosh!

Naruto vanished into thin air.

The Fūma Shuriken slashed across the spot where he had stood and embedded itself deep in the tree trunk behind him.

Iruka whipped his head around.

The savage grin on Mizuki's face froze as well.

There were no footsteps from high-speed movement.

No log left behind by a Substitution Technique.

Naruto had truly vanished from where he stood.

Thud!

Several steps away, Naruto tumbled out beside the formula and landed on his backside.

His landing was still clumsy.

His head also spun from the spatial transfer.

But he had dodged the attack.

He had successfully used Flying Thunder God in a real fight.

Mizuki's pupils abruptly contracted.

"How is that possible..."

"How long has this kid even been studying it?"

"He can already use Flying Thunder God in actual combat?"

Naruto pushed himself up from the ground and shook his dizzy head.

The excitement of his first success in actual combat quickly overwhelmed the dizziness.

He looked up at Mizuki and crossed his hands to form a hand seal.

"Now..."

"It's my turn!"

"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"

A huge cloud of white smoke erupted.

Over a hundred Narutos appeared in the woods at once, surrounding Mizuki on every side.