"As long as the team of Jonin is following him, there shouldn’t be any problem the Jinchuriki."
Sarutobi Asuma tried to ease the tension in the room.
Ever since Naruto disappeared from the crystal ball, his father’s expression had been grim and unrelenting.
In Asuma’s eyes, with that many Jonin watching, things wouldn’t go wrong.
His old man was just overthinking it again. Years of being overly cautious had made him uncomfortable with even the slightest loss of control.
"You don’t understand." Sarutobi Hiruzen glanced at his son, his voice sharp. "Matters concerning the Jinchuriki cannot be taken lightly. Not even the smallest mishap is acceptable."
"We must keep Naruto firmly under our control. He’s our hidden trump card for the future."
"I get that." Asuma nodded, though his voice still carried so doubt. "But there’s no need to worry this much, is there? It’s been less than an hour since he disappeared from your sight."
"You still don’t understand." Hiruzen frowned deeper. "There are always people scheming around Jinchuriki. If we let our guard down, another village might already be trying to manipulate him."
"I have a feeling Mizuki wasn’t acting alone when he told Naruto to steal the Scroll of Seals."
Hiruzen’s tone was cautious and firm.
"Is that so? Then what should we do?" Asuma was clearly confused now.
Having spent the past few years guarding the daimyo, he hadn’t been involved in these internal plots.
Sches and manipulation weren’t things he dealt with often.
But hearing his father now, his brows involuntarily furrowed.
From the sound of it, the situation seed far more serious than he had imagined.
"Let’s wait." Hiruzen slowly walked to the window, looking out over all of Konoha. "If sothing goes wrong, they’ll send a signal."
For now, the village was calm. No alarms. No signals. That ant things were still under control.
All they could do now was wait.
And wait.
Outside Konoha—
"Naruto... Hand over the Scroll of Seals." Mizuki stepped forward, his expression twisted into a smile that didn’t match his usual deanor. "I won’t hurt you if you give it to ."
"But if you don’t... I won’t hesitate to rip the Tailed Beast out of you."
His face was filled with killing intent.
"That’s not like you, Mizuki-sensei! You must be testing again, right?"
Naruto stared straight at Mizuki with genuine concern.
"Mizuki-sensei, co back with . Let’s go see Grandpa Hokage and apologize. He won’t do anything bad to you!"
"Naruto, you’re still too naïve."
Mizuki gave a cold laugh as he looked at Uzumaki Naruto.
"If you go back, maybe that old man Hiruzen Sarutobi won’t punish you. But ? If I return to Konoha, there’s only one ending — death, life in prison, or worse... becoming so experint for those people!"
"You don’t understand. I have no way out anymore!"
His expression twisted more and more with every word, his voice rising.
"Give the Scroll of Seals!"
"No."
Naruto shook his head without hesitation.
"In that case... I’ll take it myself!"
At so point, Mizuki had pulled out a kunai and hurled it straight at Naruto’s throat.
Naruto quickly ducked behind Iruka, even trying to move his body to shield him.
Thud!
Unfortunately, the kunai struck Iruka in the shoulder.
Already injured, Iruka winced but forced himself to endure it.
"Naruto... run! Don’t worry about !"
Even at such a critical mont, Naruto still refused to abandon him.
Iruka felt deeply moved... but he was already wounded.
All he could hope for now was that Naruto would escape quickly.
Only then would the hidden ANBU behind the scenes reveal themselves to save him.
Otherwise... he was done for.
"No, sensei! I won’t leave you behind!"
Naruto’s eyes were filled with determination.
He refused to abandon Iruka no matter what.
Without another word, he hoisted Iruka onto his back and ran toward the village.
"Trying to escape? Where do you think you’re going?"
Mizuki narrowed his eyes.
Several shuriken appeared in his hands and flew toward Naruto’s back.
But Naruto was crafty.
Even while carrying Iruka, he used Iruka’s body to shield himself completely, keeping himself protected.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
The sound of shuriken piercing flesh rang out.
Naruto could hear Iruka grunting in pain behind him.
Finally, Iruka couldn’t take it anymore.
He looked at Naruto and spoke weakly.
"Naruto... let go. If you don’t, neither of us will make it out alive!"
Swish~
Just as he was speaking, another shuriken struck his back!
"I’m fine... Sensei, I will never give up on you!" Uzumaki Naruto shouted with determination, his pace picking up again.
But... he still hadn’t escaped Mizuki’s range.
Thud thud thud~
More ca flying. Iruka’s back was nearly a pincushion at this point.
The distance made the wounds less deadly, but they were definitely painful.
Right now, Naruto was filled with excitent. You tried to use ? Then I’ll show you what it feels like to be outplayed. And the best part? You won’t even have anything to say back.
In the shadows, the observing ANBU ninja couldn’t help but be impressed as they watched Iruka take hit after hit from the shuriken.
"No wonder the Hokage chose him to get close to the Jinchūriki. He’s really going all in. After this, the bond between the Jinchūriki and Iruka will only grow stronger."
"He’s living up to Lord Hokage’s expectations."
Their faces were full of admiration. If any of them had been in Iruka’s place, they would’ve given up long ago.
But...
Iruka was still holding on!
Thinking about it now, no wonder such a valuable mission—gaining the trust of the Jinchūriki—wasn’t assigned to any of them.
Iruka deserved it.
After all, if Naruto one day gained control of the Nine-Tails, then as his ntor and closest person, Iruka’s status would skyrocket along with him.
{When Naruto becos Hokage, Iruka’s position won’t be low either.}
"Wait... isn’t sothing wrong? I think Iruka’s about to pass out!" one ANBU suddenly noticed.
Iruka’s eyes were starting to go blurry, and his expression showed he couldn’t last much longer.
"Sigh~ That’s where you’re wrong." Another ANBU nearby spoke with confidence.
"How else do you get a Jinchūriki to cry with gratitude unless you’re seriously wounded?"
With that, his admiration for Iruka grew even deeper.
No wonder Lord Hokage trusts him so much.
On a hidden tree branch, Genya watched the scene below with great interest, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
"Naruto is ssing with Iruka." Genya imdiately saw through Naruto’s little sche.
Although Naruto wasn’t that strong yet, he could already tap into so of the Nine-Tails’ power.
Even without knowing the Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu, he could easily defeat Mizuki.
But instead, he chose to run away with Iruka... even using him as a shield.
Clearly, he wasn’t being very honest.
It seed Naruto had already figured it out—Iruka wasn’t getting close to him out of kindness. He was just following Hiruzen Sarutobi’s orders.
When did this kid beco so cunning?
Genya muttered to himself, "This probably has nothing to do with ... right?"
On Naruto’s back, Iruka’s body was almost completely limp.
He had lost too much blood. His face was pale, and his whole body was ice-cold.
But his eyes barely opened as he looked toward the place where the ANBU ninja was hiding.
Gritting his teeth, he forced out two trembling words.
"Save... ..."
****
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