c3 — The Book of Sealing
Yes, the thing Naruto thought of was the Book of Sealing, the very same Scroll of Seals recorded in Konoha's history as a legacy of the First Hokage, containing many forbidden techniques accumulated across generations from the so-called "basic" multi-shadow clone technique that only someone with Naruto's monstrous chakra reserves could use safely, all the way up to terrifying fūinjutsu such as the Dead Demon Consuming Seal created by the Fourth Hokage. However, stealing the Scroll of Seals was no trivial matter in Konoha; it was normally stored inside the Hokage Residence and was protected by multiple layers of ANBU monitoring, barrier sealing arts, and hidden alarms only accessible to the village's upper echelons.
Yet Naruto remembered clearly that in the original timeline he had obtained it with almost laughable ease. Thinking back, he realized that the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, had always looked at him with the same complicated expression the villagers showed fear mixed with guilt. Naruto recalled that Hiruzen had known his parents: the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, and the former Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, Uzumaki Kushina. Considering that, Naruto suspected that the Third Hokage had intentionally left a "gap" in the surveillance that night, hoping Naruto could strengthen himself and awaken the potential hidden within him as the son of the Fourth and the container of the legendary Nine-Tails. A Jinchūriki who was too weak would be a disaster waiting to happen.
With that thought, the Scroll of Seals no longer seemed as unreachable as before.
However, one person was indispensable in this matter—Mizuki.
That night, Naruto deliberately went to bed early to conserve as much stamina as possible, knowing he would need peak physical condition for everything planned. The next morning, he walked straight toward Mizuki's temporary office in the Academy building. Naruto didn't bother with detours and spoke bluntly, "Mr. Mizuki, I heard that the Scroll of Seals contains powerful ninjutsu techniques far beyond what we can learn at the Academy but I don't know where it is kept."
Just as Naruto expected, Mizuki's expression darkened for a split second. In canon, Mizuki had long harbored resentment toward the village and had been greedily eyeing the Scroll for years, hoping to gain power equal to the elite jōnin. "Naruto," Mizuki said quietly, lowering his voice and glancing around the corridor as if afraid someone might overhear, "I know exactly where the Scroll of Seals is kept. But you must never tell anyone that I told you. Understand? This is a secret between us."
Naruto almost laughed out loud. Mizuki's desire practically leaked from his face; he clearly thought Naruto was the perfect pawn. But Naruto maintained the same naive expression people expected from him and nodded solemnly. "I understand, Mr. Mizuki." Mizuki, fully convinced of his manipulation, whispered the Scroll's storage location, unaware that Naruto was memorizing every detail while also analyzing Mizuki's expressions to confirm his intentions.
After Naruto confirmed the location, he decided he would infiltrate the area that very night.
When the sky turned dark and the Hokage Residence fell into its usual late-night silence, Naruto stealthily approached the guarded section where the Scroll was kept. True to his suspicion, the sealing barrier felt weaker than it should have been, as though someone deliberately disabled part of the alarm system. Perhaps the Third Hokage wanted to observe him. Or perhaps ANBU were secretly watching, prepared to intervene only if Naruto was in real danger. Either way, Naruto moved quickly.
There were two chūnin-level guards stationed near the storage room. Whether it was because Mizuki had tampered with patrol rotations, or because Hiruzen had subtly altered the night-watch schedule, Naruto managed to slip past with surprising ease, just like in the original story. After entering the storage chamber, he saw the massive scroll wrapped in cloth and sealed with the Sarutobi clan's fūinjutsu crest. Naruto lifted it, feeling the heavy weight of generations of knowledge pressing against his arms.
Of course, his intrusion was discovered shortly after either a triggered minor seal, a delayed alarm, or simply that the Hokage had been watching from the Crystal Ball technique. As Naruto sprinted through the forest with the Scroll of Seals strapped to his back, he thought to himself, "This scroll definitely won't stay with me for long. Mizuki will show up soon, just like before. But this time, I'm not the clueless idiot he thinks. I have to hurry and get everything ready before the real confrontation begins."
Naruto's footsteps pounded against the forest floor as he disappeared deeper into the night, clutching the forbidden legacy of Konoha in his arms.
So he immediately went into the woods and hid himself. After confirming through his senses that no ANBU were directly tailing him, Naruto unrolled the massive Scroll of Seals, the same forbidden legacy created by the First Hokage and guarded for generations. The first ninjutsu recorded was indeed the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique a high-level kinjutsu classified as forbidden not because it was dangerous to others, but because its chakra consumption could easily kill an ordinary shinobi by overdrawing their reserves. For someone like Naruto, however, whose body housed the chakra of the Nine-Tailed Fox sealed within him, this technique was practically tailored for him.
The hand seals for the shadow clone were deceptively simple just the Ram → Snake → Tiger sequence, an advanced derivation of the basic Clone Technique. With his enormous chakra pool, Naruto mastered it after only a short attempt, each failed try bursting into unstable clones that immediately popped like bubbles. He quickly realized the technique's drawback: it consumed enormous chakra per clone, which explained why even elite jōnin rarely used it in battle.
After successfully forming dozens of stable clones, Naruto moved on to read the next entries. He wasn't planning to learn them here—not with Mizuki arriving soon but he wanted to memorize training methods for the future. He skimmed through the description of the Rasengan, Minato's masterpiece that he would one day rely on constantly, and paused briefly at the intricacies of the Flying Thunder God Technique, the teleportation method that made the Fourth Hokage feared across the entire shinobi world. As he was finishing the last line of the second stage requirement, Iruka suddenly appeared between the trees.
"Naruto, come back with me."
Naruto stood up, dusted off his knees, and walked toward him while thinking bitterly, This came too fast… I didn't even get to study half the ninjutsu on this scroll.
But just as he took a step, a rustling wind sounded behind them—Mizuki's ambush. Several shuriken sliced through the air, and Iruka took the hits head-on, his chūnin vest stopping some of the damage but not enough. Naruto could have pushed Iruka aside in time, but he held back, wanting to see whether Iruka truly cared for him the way he always acted. The blood on Iruka's shoulder confirmed it.
Seeing Iruka wounded, Mizuki immediately shifted his target to Naruto. A massive Fūma Shuriken spun toward Naruto, gleaming under the moonlight, and Iruka despite being injured—threw himself in front of Naruto again and yelled, "Naruto, run!"
Even though Naruto was not originally from this world, he still felt a deep warmth from Iruka's selfless actions. He picked up a kunai, tightened his grip, and walked toward Mizuki. Mizuki, noticing Naruto approaching instead of fleeing, gave him a sinister grin. "Hand over the Scroll of Seals, and maybe I'll spare your life." Naruto didn't answer. Instead, he dashed straight at Mizuki with determination burning in his eyes.
Mizuki laughed mockingly until Naruto's kick flew at him with precise timing. Caught off guard, Mizuki quickly raised his kunai to parry. Naruto's movements flowed smoothly, connected like water every punch and kick continuous and sharper than any Academy student should be capable of. Mizuki's expression changed from arrogance to fear. This kid… this isn't Academy-level at all. I underestimated him!
Even then, Mizuki was still a chūnin on par with Iruka. After the initial surprise, he gradually steadied his stance and pushed back. But Mizuki was anxious; he knew jōnin or ANBU might arrive any moment. So he switched tactics and targeted Naruto's emotions.
Stopping on a tree branch, Mizuki sneered, "Naruto, do you even know? Iruka despises you. You are the vessel of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox that killed his parents."
Iruka tried to shout, but Mizuki spoke too fast. Naruto, however, felt almost nothing from the words. He simply glanced at Iruka, remembering the blood he shed moments ago, and answered calmly, "Someone who hates me wouldn't risk his life twice. You're the one who used me to steal the Scroll of Seals. The one who wants to learn the forbidden techniques… is you, Mizuki."
Realizing Naruto had seen through everything, Mizuki roared with anger. "So you know! Fine, brat then die here!"
As Mizuki charged forward, Naruto smirked and swiftly formed hand seals.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"
With a massive burst of chakra, thousands of clones exploded into existence around the forest clearing, filling every branch, trunk, and patch of ground. Mizuki froze instantly. His kunai slipped in his trembling hands as he realized he was surrounded by an army.
Naruto grinned. "What's wrong? Weren't you going to kill me? Come on!"
All the clones rushed forward at once, and Mizuki was overwhelmed in seconds, beaten into a swollen, unrecognizable mess by the storm of fists and kicks. By the time the clones vanished, Mizuki was barely conscious.
Iruka, despite his injuries, felt happiness and pride seeing how far Naruto had come. Naruto rushed back to Iruka's side, checked his wounds, and breathed a sigh of relief they were painful, but not fatal. Supporting each other, they dragged the half-dead Mizuki back toward the Hokage's office.
When the Third Hokage saw Iruka covered in blood, he lowered his pipe and sighed deeply. "This is all because of Mizuki… Iruka, you should return and rest."
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