Naruto easily slipped into the place where the scroll was kept. The room was pitch-black, and while he was still debating whether to climb in through a window, the door opened on its own.
"Isn't this a little too obvious? They're not even going to bother pretending?"
The whole setup was so blatantly fake that Naruto barely knew what to say.
Since the door had opened for him, Naruto didn't bother being coy. He simply strode right in.
Sure enough, an enormous scroll sat right there on the table, practically begging to be taken. Without a word, Naruto grabbed it, slung it onto his back, and dashed out of the room in one smooth motion.
After Naruto left, several ANBU emerged from the shadows. Seeing that their target had made his move, they quietly followed him.
And so Naruto ran into the Small Woods with a goofy grin.
Meanwhile, Mizuki had already told Iruka about the incident, though Iruka didn't believe him at first.
Only after he found Meihui and heard that Naruto hadn't come home did he realize something was wrong.
So Iruka took Meihui along to search for Naruto.
Of course, Meihui knew what Naruto was doing. Still, he asked anxiously:
"Iruka-sensei, where did Naruto go?"
Seeing how worried Meihui looked, Iruka tried to reassure him.
"Naruto just did something wrong. I believe that if we find him before things get serious, Lord Hokage will go easy on him."
Meihui's expression changed at those words. He nodded and said nothing more.
After searching for a while, the two finally found Naruto in a forest.
The moment they spotted Naruto, Meihui spoke first, before Iruka could say anything.
"Little brother, what are you doing? What's that in your hands?" Meihui sternly scolded Naruto while winking at him.
Naruto caught on and winked back.
"Huh? Big brother, what are you doing here? And Iruka-sensei, too?"
Seeing that Naruto knew nothing about the Scroll of Seals, Iruka was puzzled. If Naruto didn't know about it, who had told him?
Before he could ask, Meihui shouted:
"Get out of the way, Iruka-sensei!"
With that, he tackled the two of them to the ground, only to be wounded by the incoming shuriken himself.
Seeing his brother shield him and get hurt, Naruto flew into a rage. A powerful surge of chakra erupted around him.
He immediately unleashed the ninjutsu he had just learned.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"
A vast army of Naruto clones appeared, more than two thousand of them crowding the area.
Every one of them glared at Mizuki. A guy like Mizuki, who wouldn't survive the first few episodes, had never seen anything like this.
He was scared out of his wits, but Naruto wasn't about to spare him just because he had frozen in fear.
The clones charged him one after another, overwhelming him with sheer numbers. Each landed a punch, beating Mizuki until even his own mother wouldn't have recognized him.
His entire face swelled up like a pig's head. Iruka stood nearby, staring in disbelief.
Meihui had already pulled out the shuriken, and his wound was nearly healed by then.
Before long, Hiruzen Sarutobi arrived with the ANBU and arrested Mizuki.
Without saying much, he took the Scroll of Seals and left.
Iruka also acknowledged Naruto's actions that day, praising his courage in protecting his family.
He awarded Naruto a genin forehead protector, and just like that, Naruto became a genin.
As for Meihui, not only did he now have the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique Naruto had just learned, but the system also brought good news.
[Ding! Plot point detected. Plot check-in successful.] [Ding! Congratulations, host! You have obtained the A-rank ninjutsu Rasengan and the S-rank ninjutsu Flying Thunder God.]
Meihui was thrilled to hear that. These were his newfound dad's signature techniques! Just thinking about them got him excited.
"The Yellow Flash! Just thinking about it gets me excited. Once I've mastered these, I'll be the next Yellow Flash."
"System, open my personal stats panel."
Host: Meihui Uzumaki Age: 12 Ninjutsu: Three Basic Techniques (mastered), Wind Release: Great Breakthrough (mastered), Fire Release: Great Fireball (mastered) Shadow Clone (beginner), Rasengan (beginner), Flying Thunder God (beginner) Taijutsu: Elite chunin Chakra attributes: All-attribute chakra Chakra tonnage: 4.8 Bloodline: Uzumaki bloodline (enhanced version) Strength: Chunin (exact strength unknown)
"Heh, not bad. I've gotten stronger again."
Now all that remained was to wait for the main storyline to begin...
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