The air in the forest seemed to solidify.
Iruka's heart pounded in his chest; he could hear the roaring of his blood rushing against his eardrums.
"Naruto! Stop!"
He croaked, his voice distorted by fear.
"He was once our comrade! You can't kill him! This is the Village's rule!"
Naruto didn't turn back, not even sparing a glance for Iruka behind him.
In his world, there was only the "target" sprawled on the ground, trembling violently from fear.
"Betrayal of the Village is heresy."
Naruto's voice was calm, as if stating a formula.
"Heretics must be purified."
The moment his words fell, he moved.
There were no hand signs, no violent fluctuations of Chakra.
He simply took a step forward, his right hand forming a blade with his fingers, and with a speed so simple yet impossible to react to, he precisely stabbed Mizuki's heart.
"Pfft."
A slight, grating sound of flesh tearing.
The horror on Mizuki's face was forever frozen; the light in his eyes rapidly dimmed, and his body completely collapsed like a pile of mud.
Dead.
No screams, no struggles.
Clean, efficient, and horrifyingly so.
Naruto slowly withdrew his hand, shaking off the blood.
Throughout the entire process, his expression didn't change in the slightest, as if he had merely flicked away an annoying bug.
A deathly silence hung in the forest.
Iruka stood rooted to the spot, his body cold.
He looked at Naruto's indifferent profile, at Mizuki's still-warm corpse, and a chill from the depths of his soul made him tremble uncontrollably.
He couldn't understand.
He couldn't accept it.
How could the child who would grin foolishly for half a day over a single compliment from him, the idiot who would use pranks to attract everyone's attention… how could he, with such a cold method, unhesitatingly take a person's life?
"Why…" Iruka's voice was tearful, filled with confusion and pain, "Why would you do something like this…"
Naruto finally turned around, facing him directly.
Those blue eyes were like two polar glaciers that would never melt.
"Iruka-sensei, I am fulfilling my duty."
His tone was devoid of any emotion, merely stating facts.
"Eliminating internal threats and ensuring collective safety is the highest priority."
Duty? Elimination?
These cold words were like heavy hammers, shattering all of Iruka's perceptions.
Just then, several dark figures flashed out from the shadows of the forest, silently landing on the surrounding tree trunks.
They wore animal masks and exuded an aura of death and blood.
Anbu.
Immediately after, an aged figure, leaning on a walking stick, slowly emerged from the path cleared by the Anbu.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
His gaze swept over Mizuki on the ground, finally settling on Naruto, and his normally benevolent face was now clouded with gloom.
The pressure in the air suddenly intensified; even the wind seemed to stop flowing.
"Naruto."
The Third Hokage's voice was low and hoarse, carrying an undeniable authority.
"Did you kill him?"
Naruto calmly met the Hokage's scrutiny, standing ramrod straight, like a spear.
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
"Do you know what you're doing? You killed a Konoha Chunin!" The Third Hokage's voice rose a few octaves, and the pipe in his hand creaked as he gripped it.
"I eliminated a traitor," Naruto corrected him.
"He betrayed the Village, stole classified information, and incited the Jinchuriki. Any one of these is sufficient for the highest level of execution. My handling of the situation is not inappropriate."
The Third Hokage was choked by his words.
He found himself unable to immediately refute him.
Because logically, every word Naruto said was factual.
But he couldn't accept it.
"Konoha is not a cold, legalistic machine! We have the will of fire!" The Third Hokage took a step forward, attempting to overwhelm the young man before him with his aura.
"We believe in comrades and cherish bonds! Even if a mistake is made, it should be judged by the Village, not by you carrying out a private execution!"
Naruto's brain calmly analyzed the other party's words.
[will of fire: A collectivist ideology based on emotional connections and idealism, loosely structured, lacking enforcement, easily swayed by personal emotions, poor stability.]
[Comrade bonds: Emotional ties within a small group; their reliability is questionable when facing greater interests or life-threatening situations.]
Conclusion: Inefficient governing tool.
"Hokage-sama, emotions are noise in decision-making, and comrades are potential variables."
Naruto's response stunned everyone present.
"Mizuki's betrayal exposed multiple loopholes in the Village's ideological monitoring, internal review, and confidential information management."
"His existence, every second, could place Konoha at immense risk. A potential intelligence leak could lead to war, leading to the deaths of thousands of 'comrades'."
"In such a situation, the most rational choice is to completely eliminate the source of risk as quickly as possible, with the least cost."
Naruto paused, his ice-blue eyes fixed on Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"My actions are based on the supreme principle of 'protecting Konoha.' Does this not align with the ultimate goal of the will of fire?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi opened his mouth, and his pipe slipped from his trembling hand, falling to the ground.
He found himself caught in a trap.
This child's logic formed a perfect closed loop.
He interpreted and executed the concept of "protecting the Village" in an extremely utilitarian and ruthless way, viewing all human sentiment, morality, and procedures as dispensable costs.
This Naruto… he didn't care about the definition of "comrades" at all; he only cared about the survival of the "collective."
"You… you…" Iruka pointed at Naruto, his body trembling even more violently, "You… you're terrifying…"
His former student had now become a monster that filled him with fear.
Hearing Iruka's voice, a subtle change finally appeared on Naruto's face, which had been like ten thousand years of ice.
He turned to Iruka, his tone one ten-thousandth softer than before, though still devoid of any discernible emotion.
"Iruka-sensei, the threat has been eliminated. You, and everything you cherish, are temporarily safe."
"My actions are protecting you."
This clumsy, emotionless "comfort" instantly left Iruka speechless.
From the depths of those cold eyes, he seemed to glimpse a familiar shadow.
It was a kind of… misunderstood, solitary protection.
Naruto no longer paid attention to the others; he bent down, picked up the giant Scroll of Seals, walked over to an Anbu, and handed the scroll to him.
The Anbu instinctively reached out and took it, his body somewhat stiff.
Having done all this, Naruto seemed to have completed a trivial task.
He turned, his steps as precise as if measured by a ruler, and walked directly past the Third Hokage and Iruka, heading towards the Village.
He didn't ask for instructions, nor did he wait for orders.
For him, the mission was over, and it was time to return to his unit.
Leaving behind the stunned Anbu, the trembling Iruka, and the Third Hokage lost in deep thought.
Hiruzen Sarutobi watched Naruto's retreating figure disappear into the darkness, feeling for the first time that things had completely slipped out of his control.
The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, whom he had always thought he could easily manipulate, had become an existence he completely failed to understand, and could not predict….