23 The Graduation Exam Night Incident 2 (1/2)
Konoha was on high alert.
Every clans and shinobi families had answered the Third Hokage's call, sending their people to scour the village for that little thief.
It was no longer at the level of a prank. The scroll contained many jutsu that was proven so dangerous that it was sealed by the First Hokage himself. If it fell to the wrong hand, the consequences would be dire.
While they were busy coordinating their moves, nobody noticed two fleeting shadows leaping through the rooftops.
”Three and a half years of cultivation... so this is how far I've become!”
Hikari was beside herself with glee.
”Oi, focus! Remember our goal! We have to find Naruto before the others!”
On the other hand, Kiba was a lot more tense. He glanced down the streets, seeing a lot of people that he'd recognized. Ah, damn, that's Mr. Choza. That one was from Aburame clan. Everyone was a big-namer from their clan!
If Naruto got caught by any of them, he would be toast!
”...” Hikari had suddenly fell silent.
”Huh? You finally understood the gravity of this situation?”
”Too slow...”
”What?!”
Kiba's face turned blank.
”This is too slow! Compared to the usual pace, this is like a snail! Aaah, this is why I want to advance the ranks quickly! Traveling really isn't enjoyable until you reached Foundation Establishment Stage-!”
”That's what you're worried about?!?”
Woof!
Kiba quickly covered his mouth after getting reminded by Akamaru. Ah heck, he was getting too loud. It was this girl's fault!
”Anyway, we're really going the right way?”
”Yep,” Kiba pulled the collar of his shirt down, letting Akamaru's face to show up a bit more. ”Akamaru said that he'd remembered Naruto's scent, so he could show us. It's definitely this way.”
They were heading toward the forest at the underdeveloped part of the village. So far, none of the shinobi had searched that place yet. If they could get there on time, they might be able to do something.
”Let's increase the pace.”
”Ouh,” Kiba nodded, but the next thing that she said almost made him bit his own tongue.
”I want to see how far this body could hold out... who knows? Maybe we could advance a rank from the added strains-”
”I. Said. Focus!!”
Under the shadow of the full moon, he roared in frustration.
---
”You'd even transformed into your parent's killer, just to protect him?”
In the deeper part of the woods, two men, both instructors from the academy were facing each other. The first person, with a large shuriken on his back, was Mizuki, while the other one was Naruto's homeroom teacher, Fumino Iruka. The latter was covered in wounds, especially the bloodied cut on his back. He was leaning on a tree as he felt his energy draining out of his body.
However, he couldn't back down. Not yet.
This person, Mizuki... he had taken advantage of Naruto's sadness from failing the exam, and manipulated him to steal the forbidden scroll from the Third's house. He was the true culprit of this incident!
There was no way that Iruka would let him off. Not to mention, Naruto's life was on the line here!
”I won't hand over the scroll to someone like you!” Iruka declared, trying his best to hold up against the worsening pain.
”You idiot,” Mizuki grinned. ”Naruto and I are the same! With that scroll, we can acquire limitless power! There's no way that demon fox wouldn't pass this opportunity! You're not wrong to despise him!”
”...Yeah...”
Hiding behind a tree nearby, Naruto was listening to their conversation.
His heart was a terrible mess. He had just learned that the terrible nine-tailed fox from the legend, the monster that had brought disaster to the village in the past, was none other than himself. The Fourth Hokage had died to save the village from the demon fox, and the method he'd used was by sealing the monster inside Naruto's body.
He was... he was the reason that Iruka's parents had died. Surely Iruka had hated him from the beginning, right?
He clutched the scroll tighter, trying to repress the ugly feeling in his heart.
”I do hate the demon fox. That monster surely would use the scroll to take revenge,” Iruka continued.
Naruto closed his eyes, not wanting to hear anymore.
”However... Naruto won't do that. He's different. I've... acknowledged him as an excellent student. MY student!”
Even so, Iruka's words...
”He's a lazy idiot. He's awkward, clumsy, nobody was able to accept him. However, that loneliness made him know what it means to be in pain.”
...Little by little, had broken through the shell covering his heart.
A faint sob surfaced.
”He's not a demon fox. He's a proud member of Konohagakure, Uzumaki Naruto!”
The dam had finally broke as tears ran down the boy's cheeks uncontrollably.
For the first time in his life, he had finally felt that someone could accept him for who he really was.
”Tsk... sure, whatever you say!”
Mizuki unstrapped the shuriken on his back.
”Iruka. I wanted to take care of you after I'm done with the kid... but I changed my mind. I'll finish you first. Hurry up and die!”
Mizuki lunged toward the weakened Iruka, who was too weakened to avoid his attack. The shuriken on his hand was swung in full force, threatening to slice Iruka's head off.
'Teacher!'
Naruto quickly sprang out from his hiding spot, trying to tackle Mizuki away from his blind spot.
Before the boy could reached him, however, his attack was abruptly stopped.
An ear-splitting noise was produced as the edge of a ninjato was pushed onto the shuriken, halting it from moving any further. The short sword was then twisted to the side, prying the shuriken away from Mizuki's hand. With a flick of the wrist, the shuriken was thrown into the bushes in the distance.
”W-what?!”
Two people wearing porcelain masks had suddenly landed in front of Iruka, blocking Mizuki's path.
The one wielding the ninjato had a dolphin-faced mask covering her face. She was wearing a thin white robe with mesh armor underneath. With her long hair left flowing down messily and her skin faintly reflecting the moonlight, she looked like a wandering spirit.
The other person had a dog-faced mask, He was wearing a black shirt and shorts. The thing that stuck out from his appearance was the waist-length black wig that was covering his entire back, making him look like a kabuki performer.
”Teacher Iruka! Are you alright?”
”Ah, yeah, I'm fine- wait, teacher?”
”Oh fu-”
Hikari slapped him on the back of his head.
”You moron!” She whispered.
”S-sorry, I was just worried...” Kiba groaned in response.
Iruka blinked several times, still unable to believe what had just happened. At the very least, they were allies, right?
”Teacher!”
Naruto had also come over with the scroll still dangling on his back. When he saw that Iruka was still alive, he almost cried again from joy.
”That idiot, he finally showed up,” Kiba sighed.
”I guess the mission is done, then.”
”Not yet,” he shook his head slightly. ”Right, teacher?”
Anyway, he already screwed up once by calling him teacher. It shouldn't make a difference even if he called him like that again.
”I have no idea who you guys are...” Iruka slowly got up to his feet. ”However, our priority right now is to catch that guy. Please give us your assistance.”
”Ou!”
”Well... might as well see it until the end.”
Hikari and Kiba took their fighting stance, with the latter copying the one that the girl had taught him over the past couple of years.
She had told him not to use Four-Legs Technique, since it would immediately gave out that he was an Inuzuka. As a safety precaution, Akamaru was also not coming along. He was watching from above the trees somewhere in the distance.
'No Human-Beast Taijutsu, huh... let's see how far I can go.'
Mizuki was thoroughly pissed. His plan was supposed to be perfect, yet annoyances kept on coming one after another. These guys playing heroes in masks... judging from their short height, they should be children, right? Shouldn't be older than Naruto. He was a Chuunin, damnit! He should be superior to a bunch of kids!
However, what was this pressure? It was so strong that it had made him tremble unconsciously. He quickly shook his head, forcing himself to focus.
”Heaaah!”
Naruto jumped out first and then threw a straight punch at Mizuki.
”Heh, too slow!”
He pulled out a kunai, intending to avoid the boy's attack and strike back with a slash toward his neck.
To his surprise, he found that he couldn't move his kunai.
Hikari had suddenly appeared on his side. The ninjato on her hand was pressing down on his kunai. Strangely, the two sharp edges didn't create a grinding noise like before. Instead, it was as if her ninjato was gently guiding the kunai to move against Mizuki's will. Downward, sideway, in the end, she gave the kunai a sudden flick, knocking it out of Mizuki's hand.
”Damn y-!”
He couldn't finish his sentence because Naruto's punch had landed right on his cheek.
At the same time, Kiba had arrived right in front of him. His body was covered in a thin layer of chakra to emulate the effect of Four-Legs Technique, even though it wasn't as efficient as the Inuzuka clan's prized jutsu.
Legs put apart, his body dropped down slightly as he shot his right arm forward in breakneck speed.
<<Wudang Sect Unarmed-Style: Heaven Shaking Iron Palm>>
When the palm connected with Mizuki's chest, he swore that he'd heard a faint sound of something breaking.
”Guaah!”
The force of Kiba's palm strike was so strong that it had thrown Mizuki several feet away. He rolled on the ground until he crashed on a nearby tree.
Kiba was left aghast. He quickly turned to Hikari.
”That... oi, that technique, if it hit someone, what will happen?”
”Nothing much,” she shrugged. ”At your level, if it cleanly hit someone who didn't guard their chest with chakra, it'll just break their ribcage at best.”
”The heck did you teach me?! That's really dangerous!”
”When you're an expert, one hit can make a hole on someone's body. It's normal.”