That evening, after parting ways with Satsuki's family and Iruka, Naruto returned alone to his small apartment building. However, as he went upstairs, he unexpectedly found a figure standing at his doorstep.
It was a figure he hadn't expected, yet one who seemed to appear as if by some 'worldline convergence'.
With white hair and a seemingly gentle smile, it was Mizuki-sensei, the first villain to appear in the Naruto story, and one of the very few who were never 'talk-no-jutsu'd' into submission.
"Yo, Naruto, do you have a moment?" Mizuki-sensei initiated, his voice as always carrying that deliberately gentle tone he cultivated.
"Oh! It's Mizuki-sensei!" Naruto immediately put on a surprised and polite expression. "Of course I have time, would you like to come in?" Although he spoke words of invitation, his body unconsciously shifted the backpack he was carrying behind him further back.
Mizuki-sensei shook his head, his perfectly feigned 'gentle' smile unwavering. "No, I came because I have something to say to you... First, congratulations on graduating, Naruto. Sorry for the late congratulations; I saw you and Iruka-sensei chatting happily just now, so I didn't want to disturb you."
He had to admit, this guy's acting was truly masterful...
Naruto secretly mused to himself. This kind of flawless, genuinely happy teacher-student camaraderie act was so convincing that even Iruka-sensei had been completely fooled by this guy since childhood.
The two stood at the door, exchanging a few more polite pleasantries. Naruto grew increasingly curious. This guy must be here to trick him into stealing the scroll of seals. But now that he had successfully graduated, what reason could he possibly use?
Sure enough, Mizuki-sensei changed the subject, his tone becoming even more'sincere' and 'earnest'. "Naruto... you are truly remarkable. I know some people in the village might still hold prejudices against you, but your talent... I, your teacher, have seen it all. In the future, you will definitely become a very powerful ninja."
"Really? Then I'll take your word for it, Mizuki-sensei." Naruto cooperatively displayed a slightly shy and hopeful smile.
Seeing this, Mizuki-sensei's smile deepened, and he continued. "But, you must not get arrogant. This is just the beginning. Actually, I came today because I have a special 'graduation gift' I want to give you."
"Graduation gift?" Naruto showed just the right amount of confusion. So this was his trick? To lure him with 'gifts' and'secrets'?
Mizuki-sensei nodded solemnly, "Your talent is undoubtedly top-notch. However, from a teacher's perspective, I believe... the knowledge you can learn at the Ninja Academy is, after all, limited and cannot fully unleash your true potential."
He leaned in a bit, "Therefore, I, your teacher, know a... 'great secret' that can truly make you an excellent ninja far surpassing your peers. How about it, do you want to accept this 'gift' from your teacher?"
— — — — — —
At the door, after 'happily' accepting Mizuki-sensei's tempting 'gift' and detailed 'action plan', Naruto, with just the right amount of excitement and anticipation on his face, watched Mizuki-sensei's figure disappear around the street corner.
Closing the door, Naruto's 'innocence' instantly faded. The reason he agreed to Mizuki-sensei's deception was naturally not for the so-called'secret', but for his own calculations. Firstly, the scroll of seals indeed contained many powerful forbidden jutsu, especially the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu, which was practically tailor-made for him.
He was determined to get this 'cheat'. Secondly, this provided an excellent, unquestionable 'fortuitous encounter' reason for him to legitimately master the Flying Thunder God Technique in the future under the identity of Uzumaki Naruto.
More importantly, Naruto was now absolutely certain that the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was definitely observing everything here in real-time through his crystal ball using the Telescope Jutsu.
The scroll of seals contained numerous vast forbidden jutsu collected and created since the founding of Konoha, representing the village's top secret, its importance comparable to a nuclear weapons codebook in his previous life.
How could the top secret of the Ninja World's largest ninja village be so easily stolen by a newly graduated Genin?
This was less of a success and more of a collective 'letting him off' by the Anbu and elite ninjas guarding it. Their mission was not to stop Naruto at all, but to ensure that the play directed by the Third Hokage could proceed smoothly.
Naruto clearly analyzed the logic of the original work. The purpose of this play was twofold: first, and most importantly, to let Naruto 'accidentally' learn the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu, which was extremely suitable for his massive Chakra reserves.
Secondly, it was to use this opportunity to induce the always ill-intentioned Mizuki-sensei to expose his conspiracy, making it convenient to clean house. The Third Hokage had probably suspected Mizuki-sensei for a long time.
However... Naruto felt that Mizuki-sensei's exposure was purely because he was too stupid...
Naruto couldn't help but inwardly mock Mizuki-sensei's 'illustrious deeds'.
During one mission, a teammate of Mizuki-sensei's suffered a leg injury. As a result, Mizuki-sensei, fearing that his teammate would slow down the mission and cause it to fail, actually killed his teammate?!
Even Kisame Hoshigaki and Sakumo Hatake would probably be silent upon hearing that.
What was even more outrageous was that he falsely claimed his teammate's leg injury was beyond saving, and then personally smothered his teammate to death... Was he treating the Hokage and Anbu's intelligence system as fools?
Then this 'divine' operation was coincidentally witnessed by Orochimaru, who was still wandering nearby at the time. Orochimaru saw it and thought, "Hoh! This kid is dark enough, without a bottom line, he's my type!" And so he was easily manipulated by Orochimaru.
However, since Mizuki-sensei remained incorrigible and came knocking on his door, Naruto was happy to go with the flow, using this opportunity to firmly grasp the first 'cheat' from the original work and, incidentally, help the Third Hokage get rid of this stupidly evil guy.