“I have something I want to talk to you about.”
“Talk to me?” Hearing this, Naruto showed a puzzled look.
Although Mizuki-sensei and Iruka-sensei were the only two people in the whole school who did not discriminate against him.
But…
Privately, Mizuki-sensei and he had no interaction at all.
“It’s not very convenient to talk here.” Mizuki turned his head to look around, lowering his voice, “Want to go sit over there?”
“Alright.” Naruto nodded.
The two of them walked side by side along the roadside for a few steps and sat down on a bench under a tree.
Mizuki sat at one end of the bench, his body slightly leaning toward Naruto, both hands resting on his knees, and his tone sounded very easygoing.
“Ever since the day you enrolled, I have been paying attention to you.”
“Iruka’s care for you is out in the open, and everyone can see it,” Mizuki continued, lowering his voice a bit, “but I’m different.
I’ve been keeping an eye on your every move from the shadows.”
“Iruka-sensei is a good person, but sometimes he is too straightforward, and instead misses some details.”
Hearing this, Naruto blinked.
Mizuki-sensei’s words sounded strange, as if there was some difference between him and Iruka-sensei.
“Thank you for your concern, Mizuki-sensei.” Naruto’s tone was very polite.
Mizuki smiled and raised his hand to pat Naruto’s shoulder.
“I’m really glad that you were able to pass today’s exam.”
Naruto nodded and didn’t pick up the conversation.
Mizuki’s smile lingered on his face for two seconds, then restrained slightly, and his gaze became serious.
“However, Naruto, have you ever thought about one thing?”
“What?”
“Growing up, has anyone ever mentioned your parents?”
Naruto’s expression stiffened for a moment.
This question was like a sharp blade, stabbing into a place in his heart that he had gotten used to not touching.
“No one has ever told me.” Naruto spoke, his voice a bit lower than before.
Mizuki nodded, his expression turning solemn.
“You should have felt the villagers’ attitude toward you all these years, right?”
“They avoid you, don’t let you get close, and children are pulled away by adults to walk around you.”
“Then do you know the reason, Mizuki-sensei?” Naruto nodded silently, a hint of tension he didn’t even notice himself in his voice.
The expression on Mizuki’s face looked like he was hesitating about something.
He looked left and right, confirming that no one around was paying attention here.
“This is a secret.”
“A secret?”
“Yeah, a secret recorded in the sealing scroll.” Mizuki lowered his voice, “Hokage-sama won’t tell you, and Iruka doesn’t know either.”
“Those who truly know the truth are deliberately hiding it from you.”
“You can only go to the Hokage Building and steal the sealing scroll.”
As the words fell, the surroundings fell silent for several seconds.
Naruto looked at Mizuki’s face.
That expression was serious, and his gaze was sincere, looking as if he were truly thinking for his own good.
But a thought flashed through Naruto’s mind.
“Steal?”
Why use such a sneaky method?
“Naruto,” the voice of the Nine-Tailed suddenly came from the mental space, carrying a layer of vigilance, “don’t believe him.”
“If you want to know the answer, I can tell you.”
“But if you really go steal it and get caught, not only will you not get the answer, but you will also face severe punishment.”
Naruto’s gaze flickered slightly, and he replied in his heart: “Rest assured.”
“After three months of teaching from Master, besides magic, I also understand a truth…”
“Pies won’t fall for free from the sky.”
The Nine-Tailed snorted and said nothing more.
Naruto raised his head, his gaze falling back onto Mizuki’s face, and spoke in a calm tone: “Mizuki-sensei.”
“You said these things to help me?”
Mizuki nodded, his expression sincere: “Of course, seeing you kept in the dark all this time, I can’t bear it either.”
“So you told me a plan to make me steal something, and also told me this is a secret?” Naruto retorted.
Mizuki’s smile froze for a second.
But he quickly adjusted, a hint of helplessness in his tone: “I know this sounds a bit risky, but Naruto…”
“Some truths are obtained this way.
If you don’t actively fight for it, you will never know.”
“Is that so?” Naruto tilted his head.
This movement was very light, but landing in Mizuki’s eyes made his heart skip a beat.
Wrong.
The reaction is wrong.
According to his original plan, upon hearing news about his parents and the reason why the villagers alienated him, Naruto should have been instantly stimulated to the point of not being able to sit still and readily agreed.
If successful, he could snatch the scroll from Naruto, then kill him to silence him and frame him.
If he failed, there was no loss; he just needed to push all the responsibility onto the ‘demon fox’.
This was a high-stakes gamble with almost no cost.
But the blonde teenager in front of him sat on the bench with an expression too calm to be normal.
Naruto asked again: “Mizuki-sensei, where did the information you know come from?”
Have you seen it yourself?”
Facing the fatal triple-question.
Mizuki opened his mouth, failing to find a suitable answer for a moment.
“I…” He quickly organized his language in his mind, his voice pausing for a moment, “I heard about it.
Of course I know some inside information…”
“Who did you hear it from?”
Mizuki could no longer maintain his smile, and his tone sank: “I kindly told you these things, and you treat me with this attitude?”
“Forget it, just treat it as me doing a bad thing with good intentions.”
Speaking, he stood up from the bench and turned to leave.
Naruto looked at Mizuki’s back and suddenly sighed softly.
The past self, upon hearing such words, would definitely have chased after him, grabbed the corner of Mizuki’s clothes, and desperately asked for the truth to the end.
But now it was different.
“Mizuki-sensei.”
This voice stopped Mizuki’s footsteps.
“I really want to know who my parents are, and I also really want to know why the villagers treat me like that.”
“But if the truth can only be obtained through a theft that is obviously a trap…” Naruto stood up from the bench and took two steps forward, “Then I have to think about whether it’s truly worth me doing this.”
Mizuki turned around, his expression no longer as gentle as before, the corners of his eyes slightly tense.
“You say this is a trap?”
“Isn’t it?” Naruto stood two steps away, his gaze unflinching, “A teacher who usually has no intersection with me suddenly runs over to tell me my parents’ secret, and even asks me to go to the Hokage Building to steal the scroll.”
“What will happen to me after doing this?
Get caught by someone, and then bear the crime of stealing secrets?”
Mizuki’s throat moved.
Neither denying nor admitting.
Looking at his appearance, Naruto had already confirmed most of it in his heart, and said softly: “Let’s go, Mizuki-sensei.”
“Where to?”
“Go with me to see Grandpa Hokage.”
“What did you say?” Mizuki’s pupils shrank abruptly.
“Since you know so much inside information, then right in front of Grandpa Hokage, say what you just told me all over again.” Naruto’s tone was calm, but his gaze was very firm, “Just take this opportunity to ask him why he has been hiding it from me.”
Mizuki’s expression changed.
He could imagine what kind of scene it would be if he stood in front of the Third Hokage and let Naruto spell this matter out.
Anbu, interrogation, and then the cell.
“If the Third Hokage wanted to tell you, he would have told you long ago.” Mizuki squeezed out a sentence, his voice already starting to tremble, “What’s the use of you going to find him?”
“Whether it’s useful or not, we’ll only know after seeing him.”
Seeing that Naruto was quite serious, Mizuki secretly felt unlucky while choosing to walk away quickly.
“In that case, I can only go by myself.” Naruto’s voice was very light, but every word was clear, “I will tell Grandpa Hokage the conversation just now word for word.”
Hearing this, Mizuki directly turned around, the gentleness on his face completely gone, replaced by a cold killing intent.