43 Scroll of Seals (2)

I gulped. This was the person I had to defeat? An elite chuunin more 30 levels higher than me, not to mention a decade more experience and an entire arsenal of chuunin-level jutsus and other techniques available to him. Plus I had to do so without revealing the secret of my Sharingan. How in the world did Naruto succeed in the anime? It should have been impossible!

My thoughts raced through the possibilities and plans. I had little to no chance in a direct confrontation, so I had to be smart about it. A sneak attack was the most likely scenario I would have even the slightest chance of succeeding, but how likely was it that I could sneak up on an accomplished chuunin?

Furthermore, I had to intervene before Iruka would foolishly throw himself against the giant shuriken Mizuki was going to throw. If I was going to act, I had to get into position now! The Tortoise Breathing technique only worked when I was motionless – that meant my stealth would reduce considerably the moment I moved. Hopefully, they would be distracted by their conversation enough not to notice me.

"So that's how it is huh, Mizuki? I should've known…" Iruka breathed out while clutching the bleeding wound on his arm.

"Naruto! Give me the scroll now!" The traitorous chunin demanded.

Said blonde, having been knocked to the ground by Iruka's push earlier, trembled at what just happened. "Wait a minute. What's going on here?"

Iruka gripped the kunai that was embedded in his thigh and with a grunt, pulled it out of his leg. "Naruto! Don't let Mizuki get the scroll! It contains forbidden jutsu that could put this village in grave danger. Mizuki tricked you to get the scroll for himself!"

"Naruto, Iruka's just trying to scare you because he doesn't want you to have the scroll.", the blue haired chuunin explained.

"Stop lying, Mizuki! Don't let him trick you, Naruto!"

Mizuki smirked and laughed, "Hahaha! Oh, I'll tell you who's really lying…"

Iruka widened his eyes in realization at what his traitorous friend was intending to do, "No, Mizuki!"

Continuing, Mizuki explained, "They've been lying to you your whole life, Naruto… since the decree twelve years ago."

"W-what decree?"

"Everybody knows except you. Iruka's trying to hide it from you even now. He'd do anything to shut me up."

"What is this decree! Why does everyone else know about it but me?" Naruto asked, confused beyond measure yet he was also deeply curious at the apparent giant secret everyone had constructed around him.

Iruka struggled to take a step forward, the blood spilling profusely from his thigh the moment he did, "Don't tell him! It's forbidden!"

Ignoring his ex-friend's desperate plea, Mizuki continued exposing the village's S-ranked secret, "The decree is that no is allowed to tell you the nine-tailed fox is inside you!"

Naruto gasped, his eyes chocked full of emotion ranging from surprise, disbelief but even a hint of realization.

"That means, the demon fox that killed Iruka's parents, destroyed our village and killed all those people is you! You are the Kyuubi!"

"Stop it!" Iruka protested weakly, but neither Mizuki nor Naruto was even listening to him anymore.

Gleefully, Mizuki continued, "They've all been sneaking around, hiding things from you your whole life. Didn't you think it was strange how they treated you? Like dirt, like they hated you for just being alive!"

Tears welled up in Naruto's eyes as he recalled all those instances the villagers had shunned him or told their children to avoid him. There was no blatant abuse, nor any overt maltreatment but… it was the loneliness that got to him. "No… it can't be… damnit!" Naruto exclaimed as his chakra flared furiously around him.

"That's why you will never be accepted in this village. Even your beloved Iruka-sensei hates your guts! That's why…" Mizuki started before removing a giant shuriken from his back and began spinning it in his hands, "…you should just die, Naruto!"

As Mizuki poised himself to fling the giant weapon at the shell-shocked blonde, at that moment I jumped down from my hiding spot above him and stabbed Kotetsu no Ryu, strengthened by [Power Strike], deep into his shoulder.

"Kuagh!" The chuunin yelled out before turning the spinning shuriken on me, but I had already leapt off at that point and used [Flash Step] to reappear on the opposite side. Now that I was out in the open and no longer needed to hide my presence, chakra surged through my body and weapon as I activated [Chakra Enhancement] and [Chakra Flow], along with using [Whirlwind Steps] to double my speed.

I flashed forward and tried running through the chuunin with my Katana, key word being tried. The blade sank two or three inches deep before I was met with a kick that threw me back, but I managed to negate any damage by jumping back the moment it did.

Throughout the entire exchange between the three of them, I was stealthily moving into position above Mizuki. Once I did, however, the traitor was already about to throw the giant shuriken at Naruto, so I was forced to attack right away. And since I did not want to give away the sneak attack less he discovered me, I refrained from reinforcing myself with [Chakra Enhancment] or [Chakra Flow].

Furthermore, that first strike was aimed at Mizuki's neck, however he must have sensed something and moved just slightly out of the way, resulting in my sword stabbing his shoulder instead. Otherwise, I could have ended him right there and then. And that kick too. If my Sharingan was activated at that moment I not only could have avoided the kick, but I could've also cut his foot right off.

I jumped down on the forest floor in front of Iruka and Naruto, before holding up my sword protectively, which elicited dual cries of "Shinji!" from the two of them.

"What? How? Why?" Iruka stumbled out while Naruto just watched me silently, which was out of character from the blonde. He must have still been too shocked at the double whammy that was the revelation of his jinchuuriki status and my sudden appearance.

"You fucking brat!" Mizuki screamed while clutching at the deep wound on his shoulder. I knew from the sensation of blade carving through bone the moment I had stabbed him that his left shoulder was functionally disabled from that, which meant jutsu should be out of his capabilities at the moment. "I'm going to kill you!"

"Shut your mouth you traitor! Iruka-sensei, can you fight? Because I don't think I can take on Mizuki-teme on my own." I asked while still keeping an eye on the blue-haired chuunin.

Iruka still look confused but he cautiously put weight on his injured leg and immediately hissed at the shooting pain, "I can't move well, the kunai must have damaged some nerves or a tendon. But why are you here, Shinji?"

I nodded, "We can talk about that later! For now, protect Naruto and the scroll, support me from a distance with jutsu and throwing weapons. I will manage somehow."

The brown-haired chuunin hesitated slightly but nodded all the same.

Turning my attention to Naruto, I spoke. "Naruto, are you okay?"

The blonde flinched and looked at me teary-eyed, "I… Shinji, did you hear? Did- did you know? I… I'm the Kyuubi!"

"Huh? Are you stupid?" I bluntly asked.

"W-what?"

"What are you even talking about? You're Naruto. Always have been and always will be."

"No, you don't understand! The Kyuubi is inside me! I- I killed Iruka-sensei's parents and all those people! It was me; I did that!" Naruto bawled, a complete 180 of the cheerful loud mouth he usually was.

"Naruto…" Iruka muttered, his concern for the blonde growing.

I rolled my eyes, "Hey baka, if you're the Kyuubi, then I must be hallucinating or something because you don't like a fifty-storey tall demon tailed beast to me."

"But Mizuki said-"

I cut him off, "You seriously gonna believe anything that traitor says? He could be lying through his teeth to try and get that scroll for all we know. Listen to me, you are Naruto – the loud, prank-loving, optimistic kid who takes every chance he gets to say he's going to become the next Hokage. You're the person who no matter what others say, always tries his best even when people try to put you down. You're the person who picks himself back up, laughs at adversity and punches the living daylights out of whatever knocked you down in the first place! Anything other than that is irrelevant, I don't care about it, and neither should you! So get your head out of your ass and go help Iruka-sensei already, you dumbass!"

Naruto widened his eyes in realization and understanding before wiping away the snot and tears that had been dribbling out of his orifices. "You're right… My name is Uzumaki Naruto, and I AM GOING TO BE THE NEXT HOKAGE DATTEBAYO!"

Iruka's gaze softened and he gave a bitter smile. Looking down, he muttered to himself, "That's right… Naruto is Naruto. Anything other than that doesn't matter." He looked back up gritted his teeth before moving in front of the blonde protectively.

"Naruto, I'm sorry. I… I should've been there for you more. You feel lonely and it hurts you inside. No child should have to suffer that much alone. I let you down." Half way through his words, Iruka was already crying. "Naruto, you're not the Kyuubi. You're my precious student, and nothing anyone can say will convince me otherwise!"

"Iruka-sensei…"

However, their tearful exchange was cut short by a giant shuriken flying at them, which I leapt at and knocked it away with my katana.

"You bastards are really ignoring me, huh?" Mizuki shouted out, while retrieving his last remaining giant shuriken from his back. "Don't make me laugh! Iruka has always hated you, Naruto! He was orphaned because the Kyuubi killed his parents, and that beast is now inside you. He's just saying anything to get the scroll from you! Did you really think he could forgive the monster who murdered his parents!?"

"Shut the hell up Mizuki!" Iruka angrily yelled back before turning to Naruto to see if the traitor's words had any effect while I stayed vigilant against any further attacks. This was a breakthrough moment for Naruto, and as much as I wanted to carve out Mizuki's tongue and chop off his head, this was necessary for the kid. This would be the moment he learned to accept his jinchuuriki status and forgive the village for lying to him all these years.

"Don't listen to him, Naruto! He's just lying to you!" Iruka implored.

Naruto appeared down casted for a moment, and my heart twitched, wondering if my intervention had screwed things up somehow. Should I have let Iruka take the giant shuriken in the back? Was the trigger for Naruto to summon up his army of clones and avenge his wounded sensei now missing?

However, my worry was unnecessary as the Naruto looked back up with his eyes shining in conviction, "Shut the hell up Mizuki-teme! I am me, Kyuubi is Kyuubi! Stop trying to confuse me because I know who I am! I am Naruto Uzumaki, the next Hokage! Believe it!"

I smiled. As expected of the one and only Uzumaki Naruto. It seems saving Iruka was the indeed the correct decision and trusting Naruto to have his breakthrough was something I hadn't needed to worry about after all.

Seeing that his plan to stir up conflict between Naruto and us had failed, Mizuki gritted his teeth but calmed down. "Yeah? So fucking what. A half-baked, injured chuunin, a rookie genin and the deadlast of the academy. All I need to do is kill the three of you and take the scroll from your dead bodies. Then I can leave the village and attain ultimate power with the forbidden techniques in it!"

The smile on my face turned into a smirk, "Aren't you injured as well, Mizuki-teme? I know how deep I stabbed you, your blood must be gushing out right now. I don't know how the hell you're still standing but I do know you won't last long without medical attention. What I can say is this – in the name of Konohagakure and the Sandaime Hokage, I hereby place you under arrest! Let us take you in and bring you to a medic nin, otherwise you're going to bleed out in another few minutes. Jail time is much more preferable to dying, wouldn't you agree?"

Mizuki snarled before laughing, although his laughter had a hollow, desperate tone to it. "Not even one day since you graduating and you presume to lecture me? A snot-nosed rookie placing me under arrest? You must be out of your mind! Even if I die, I will all of you down with me!"