Chapter 5: C4: The Cold Night, The Rescue Team Arrives
BANG!
A fist crashed into Mizuki's jaw.
"ARRRGH!!"
His face twisted grotesquely as his teeth flew from his mouth. His scream barely left his throat before—
BOOM!
His body rocketed sideways like a cannonball.
CRASH!
Mizuki slammed through three thick trees, his mutated body tearing through the wood before he skidded across the dirt, leaving a long trench in the ground.
Naruto planted his feet firmly, exhaling. The Third Gate's speed had pushed his body to its limit.
WHOOSH!
Before Mizuki could even catch his breath, Naruto appeared over him in a blur.
BAM!
He landed on Mizuki's chest, straddling him.
Then—
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Naruto's fists rained down, slamming into Mizuki's face over and over.
Each hit was faster than the last. Harder. Stronger.
Flesh split.
Blood spattered.
Bones cracked.
Mizuki's once feral, tiger-like face was reduced to a swollen, bruised mess.
He had no strength left to fight back.
---
High above in the trees, the ANBU agents watched in shock.
The bear-masked ANBU swallowed hard. "Ryosuke… What the hell was that?"
The tiger-masked ANBU trembled slightly. "That… looked like the Flying Thunder God, right?"
The bear-masked ANBU nodded, his voice shaking. "But how?! That's a forbidden technique only the Fourth Hokage mastered… And Naruto just read the Sealed Scroll once and used it?! Not to mention the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu and the Eight Gates…."
The two ANBU exchanged looks.
"Since when did forbidden techniques become this easy to learn?!"
---
RUSTLE.
Footsteps.
Multiple figures rushed through the trees, flickering between the branches.
At the front—Umino Iruka. His face was tense with worry, scanning the forest.
Behind him, several familiar shinobi followed: Yamashiro Aoba, Ebisu, Kotetsu Hagane.
Iruka's chest was tight.
This morning, the Third Hokage had spoken to him.
Told him the truth.
Naruto wasn't a demon. He was just… a lonely kid.
A child, just like Iruka had been. Someone who acted out only to be noticed.
And now, knowing that Naruto had been tricked into stealing the Sealed Scroll, Iruka felt a deep worry gnaw at his heart.
Then—his eyes widened.
"There! It's Naruto!"
He accelerated, rushing toward the clearing.
---
Naruto exhaled, shaking the soreness from his fists. The Eight Gates' effects were wearing off, leaving a dull ache in his muscles.
Nothing he couldn't handle.
Behind him, Iruka burst into the clearing.
"Naruto! Why would you do something like this?!"
He ran forward—only to freeze mid-step.
His eyes landed on Mizuki.
Or rather, the unrecognizable, swollen, unconscious thing that used to be Mizuki.
Iruka's breath caught in his throat. "This… is Mizuki?"
Yamashiro Aoba crouched beside Mizuki, pressing two fingers to his throat. His brows furrowed.
"He's still alive… but barely."
Then, Aoba's gaze turned to Naruto.
"Naruto… you did this?"
Naruto nodded casually. "Yeah. He wouldn't shut up, so I beat him up."
"NANI?!"
Every ninja in the group nearly fell over.
What kind of explanation was that?!
A kid who couldn't even graduate… just beat a Chūnin senseless?!
Iruka's brows knitted in disbelief. "Naruto… Stop joking. Tell us the truth. How did you take down Mizuki?"
Naruto sighed, rubbing his neck. "Man, why don't you guys ever believe me? I already said—"
Before he could finish, two figures dropped down from the trees.
The ANBU agents.
The bear-masked ANBU stepped forward, removing his mask.
"Iruka. Aoba. Don't question him. Naruto is telling the truth."
The group stiffened.
"Nani?! Impossible!"
But the ANBU ninja nodded grimly.
"Ryosuke and I witnessed the entire fight.
Naruto really did beat Mizuki like this."
The silence that followed was staggering.
Even with ANBU confirming it, Iruka and the others struggled to believe it.
The bear-masked ANBU continued. "And it wasn't just luck. Naruto mastered multiple forbidden techniques tonight—Multiple Shadow Clones, Flying Thunder God, and the Eight Gates."
"NANI?!"
Aoba staggered back.
Iruka's jaw dropped.
Every ninja present stared at Naruto like he was some kind of monster.
---
In the distance, several ANBU operatives retrieved the Sealed Scroll, safely tucking it away.
Seeing this, the bear-masked ANBU nodded. "You guys handle Mizuki. We'll escort Naruto back to the Hokage."
Naruto stretched, grinning. "Heh. Old man Hiruzen's not gonna punish me. He's probably happy about all this."
Iruka frowned. "Naruto… you don't seem worried at all."
Naruto chuckled.
Of course he wasn't worried.
He knew the truth.
The Sealed Scroll was never left unguarded.
It had an ANBU barrier. Hokage's protection. There was no way a single academy student like him should've been able to steal it.
Which meant—
This whole thing was planned.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had allowed him to take the scroll.
Why?
Because Mizuki was a traitor.
Because the Third Hokage felt guilty.
Naruto's fists clenched.
For years, Danzo Shimura had spread rumors. Convinced the villagers that Naruto was just the Nine-Tails, not the Fourth Hokage's son.
And Hiruzen let it happen.
This whole scroll incident?
It was just Hiruzen's way of "compensating" him.
Naruto sighed.
"Old man… You're just trying to make yourself feel better, huh?"
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