The days passed quickly, while Louis continued his usual training without stopping, as if time itself was struggling to keep up with his pace.
During that period, he finally managed to have a real talk with Sasuke… or rather, he forced him into it. It was not a friendly conversation, but one supported by fists, along with a clear warning that the Hokage would keep bothering him endlessly if he stayed stubborn.
After Sasuke's face turned into a rainbow of bruises from the beating, he finally nodded, gave in, and agreed to listen.
At that time, Sasuke's talent had not awakened yet. With Louis's intense focus on taijutsu, he was able to teach Sasuke easily, without any resistance. The difference between them was clear, not only in strength, but also in discipline and control.
*** ***
A few weeks after that incident, the academy graduation day finally arrived.
Without any drama, everyone passed… including Louis. Naruto's failure, however, was expected, as if it were a fixed part of fate. At that moment, Louis knew that his chance had come.
That same day, Mizuki skillfully took advantage of Naruto's innocence and suppressed emotions. After Naruto failed the exam again, Mizuki approached him, pretending to sympathize with him. With a voice full of lies, he planted false hope in Naruto's heart. He told him that there was a "secret way" to pass the test and earn everyone's recognition...
by stealing the forbidden secret techniques scroll of Konoha from the Hokage's building.
Mizuki made it seem like it was not a crime, but a "special test," and that learning just one technique from the scroll would be enough to become a real ninja.
To prepare for this, Louis set his sights on a completely different target.
He did not watch Naruto, and he did not follow Mizuki, because there was a high chance the Hokage had already placed people to monitor them.
Instead, he watched his former academy teacher… Iruka.
He quietly followed Iruka's movements until he confirmed his exact location, then quickly returned home.
He told Sasuke that he planned to train his chakra in his room and asked him not to disturb him that night.
Once inside, Louis locked the door tightly and closed the curtains to block any possible observers.
He knew the Hokage would not remove his surveillance easily, but at the same time, he would not spy on him constantly either.
Using this gap, Louis put on the clothes he had prepared, wore the mask he bought earlier, and used a teleportation technique to instantly return to the same place where Iruka was still present.
A few hours later, driven by his deep desire to prove himself, Naruto carried out Mizuki's plan without hesitation.
He successfully stole the scroll and escaped into the forest.
At almost the same time, Mizuki suddenly appeared next to Iruka and whispered something to him in a tense voice. The effect was immediate. Iruka rushed straight toward the nearby forest.
It was very clear that Mizuki had told Iruka about Naruto stealing the scroll, trying to use Iruka's hatred toward the Nine-Tailed Fox to push him into killing Naruto himself.
The plan was simple: the child would die, then Mizuki would step in, take the scroll, and escape.
But the ending did not go as Mizuki hoped.
In the end, Iruka's feelings as a teacher overcame his old hatred.
*** ***
For Naruto, running into the forest was not just an escape from those chasing him.
It was an escape toward a hope he had waited for a long time.
As soon as he moved far away from Konoha's walls and disappeared among the thick trees, he sat down, breathing heavily, holding the forbidden scroll of secret techniques like a priceless treasure. His heart was beating fast, not from fear, but from excitement.
If I learn just one technique… just one… I will become a real ninja!
He repeated this thought again and again in his mind.
He opened the scroll with shining eyes and began to read. Sometimes he stumbled over the words, sometimes he stopped for a long time at difficult parts. He tried once and failed. Then again. Then a third time.
Minutes passed… then hours.
He trained without rest, falling, standing up, shouting, laughing, and trying again.
It was past midnight when he finally felt something different.
His chakra was moving in a way it never had before.
When he finished, he stared at his shaking hands, then smiled a wide, tired smile.
He succeeded.
He learned a technique!
A few moments of silence passed…
Then suddenly, he heard the sound of heavy breathing behind him.
Naruto froze in place.
The sound was very close… even louder than his own breathing.
He quickly turned around and smiled naturally, sweat pouring down his face.
Iruka was standing there.
He was breathing hard, his eyes wide, his expression torn between anger and worry.
Naruto spoke excitedly, as if nothing was wrong:
"Hello, Iruka-sensei! How are you? I just finished learning one of the techniques in the scroll, so you can practice it yourself if you want. There are some really amazing techniques..."
Iruka did not let him finish.
"What do you think you're doing, Naruto?!"
Iruka shouted loudly, using the Head Enlargement Technique he learned to control troublesome students.
"Why did you steal the forbidden scroll?! Do you realize that every ninja in the village is chasing you because of what you did?!"
Confusion was clear on Iruka's face, a mix of anger, fear, and deep concern.
Naruto took a step back and said with slight hesitation:
"But… Iruka-sensei, Mizuki-sensei said that if I could take the scroll and learn a technique from it, I would become a genin. So that's what I did. I already mastered one technique… that means I'm a genin now, right? When will I get my headband, sensei? Can we go get it now?"
Before Iruka could answer, they heard a cold voice from behind.
"That's enough nonsense."
Iruka turned quickly and saw Mizuki standing on a tree branch, spinning a large shuriken in his hand. His face was twisted with open hatred.
"Mizuki… what does this mean?" Iruka said in shock.
"What are you really planning? What do you gain from this?"
Mizuki let out a short, dark laugh.
"You have no idea, Iruka… I have everything to gain from this!"
In the next moment, he threw the spinning shuriken straight at Iruka.
Naruto's eyes widened in horror.
He saw Iruka suddenly bend over him, pain clear on his face.
He couldn't see clearly… but he understood the truth immediately.
The shuriken was stuck in Iruka's back.
"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto screamed.
"Why didn't you dodge it?! Why didn't you move out of the way?!"
Iruka gave a weak smile as he coughed blood, which splattered onto Naruto's shaking face.
"Because… if I had moved, you would have been hit instead. As your teacher… and as someone who cares about you… I didn't want you to get hurt."
Mizuki laughed madly.
"Hah! That's the biggest nonsense I've ever heard. Iruka doesn't care about you. No one cares about you. They all hate you. The village hates you… even the Hokage hates you."
Iruka shouted weakly:
"No! That's not true, Naruto! I care about you like the little brother I never had… I could never hate you!"
Mizuki shook his head mockingly.
"Keep saying that nonsense, Iruka. Maybe you'll convince him someday… if you live long enough!"
Then he looked at Naruto with shining eyes.
"I'll tell you why everyone hates you, Naruto. They're afraid of you… of what's inside you."
"No, Mizuki! Don't tell him!"
Iruka tried hard to stand up while pulling the shuriken away.
But Naruto shouted in confusion:
"Wait! What's inside me? Why am I not supposed to know? Tell me!"
Before Mizuki could speak, Iruka threw the shuriken at him.
Mizuki easily dodged it and caught it.
He spoke in a cold, deadly voice:
"I'll tell you why… because the Nine-Tails wasn't killed all those years ago. It was sealed inside a baby. That baby… was you, Naruto! You are the Nine-Tails!"
Naruto stepped back again and again until he almost reached the other side of the clearing.
He shook his head violently as tears streamed down his face.
"Now die, you demon!"
Mizuki shouted as he tried to throw the shuriken that Iruka had thrown at him moments earlier toward Naruto.
At that moment… while Mizuki was drunk on his near victory, a shadow burst out of the darkness.
A brutal strike crushed Mizuki's back.
A scream of pain tore through the forest.
Then another blow… and another…
Mizuki could not even see his attacker.
The pain was unbearable.
Each scream was louder than the one before.
Iruka and Naruto could not look away.
The scene was horrifying… like a terrible accident you cannot stop watching.
It was Louis.
With his exceptional talent in taijutsu, and after weeks of training, he looked like a true demon compared to an ordinary chunin like Mizuki.
Mizuki's limbs shattered one after another.
Broken bones, twisted limbs, bruises and wounds that would take a very long time to heal… if they healed at all.
"Please… oh God… please stop!"
Mizuki screamed in a hoarse voice. No matter how hard he tried, he could not see who was attacking him because of the darkness.
But the attacker did not say a single word.
He continued until Mizuki became a broken doll, unconscious.
Louis stood up, looked at the creature that had once seemed human, and spat on him.
Then he turned toward Naruto and Iruka.
Iruka struggled to stand up, trying to protect Naruto.
"There's no need for all this emotion,"
Louis said in a hoarse voice from behind his mask.
He used teleportation for the second time that day and appeared where the forbidden scroll was.
Iruka and Naruto were shocked by Louis's sudden disappearance, then his sudden return.
Louis successfully took the scroll from Naruto's arms, and before Naruto could object, he said in a rough voice,
"Goodbye!!"
He used teleportation for the third time that day and escaped, returning to his room.
Iruka and Naruto looked at each other in silence for a moment, before a voice interrupted them,
"What the hell happened here?!"
It was the voice of the ANBU members whom the Hokage had sent earlier to chase both Mizuki and Naruto.
Somewhere else,
"What happened? Who is that person?… And how did things reach this point?"
The Hokage asked in shock and confusion as he watched the recent events unfold through his crystal ball.