Naruto's POV (Old Training Ground - Hidden Leaf Village)
"I know it may sound unyouthful, but I suspect that was more than mere sparring. It was as if Mizuki, our dear teacher, had planned something against us…" Lee said with a frown, seemingly seriously conflicted by this.
"I know what you mean. Mizuki was playing for keeps." Choji said, pain in his voice as he examined his left ribs where the burn was. "If you two hadn't stopped that fire jutsu, I would've been roasted alive…"
"He said he was gonna kill me outright!" Naruto stated angrily. "This sure as hell wasn't part of the test. Why the hell would a Remedial Exam have the risk of death? He just wanted to kill us."
"Oh, I will." All three boys tensed as Mizuki slowly and seemingly painfully stood up. He was bleeding from his mouth and nose. Though he stood, his legs shook, crooked and obviously broken. The man must've been standing through willpower alone. "I should've done this from the start. But how was I to guess you low scorers would be capable of this!" Mizuki monologued excitedly. "I had intended to maim you two and then kill Naruto, but since you want to play rough, you all can die!"
As he said this, he pulled a syringe from his pouch on his hip and savagely stabbed into his own neck. "I had intended to use this to bust out of this pathetic village, but I suppose I'll start by killing you!" He suddenly stood up, ramrod straight, and he cackled wildly. The air seemed to swirl around him; the three could suddenly feel his chakra, and veins throughout his body pulsed violently, seemingly threatening to burst out his skin. There was silence as they wondered what he had just done.
He looked at them calmly, smirking before blitzing the three and standing between them within a second. Lee quickly attempted a spinning elbow; Naruto was a beat or two later but countered with a kunai thrust to his jugular. Mizuki chuckled as he caught both their blows and slammed them violently into each other headfirst. Then, he casually whipped both across the clearing with a flick of his wrist. Choji, flinching due to the burn and shock, stumbled back, but Muziki quickly stepped into his guard with an uppercut to his chin. Choji flew upwards, but Mizuki caught his foot, stopping his flight.
"You broke my legs." He said hatefully as he slammed Choji into the ground, nearly leaving the man buried in the rubble. He drew a kunai to finish him off before he heard several pops and was tackled by what must be twenty Naruto. He rolled through, stabbing two of the clones into nothing. Two more came from in front while four on each of his sides ran to surround him. The two in front came from high and low, unleashing dual-flying roundhouses. Mizuki smiled as he allowed both to hit, neither managing to damage him. He grabbed both and smashed them together, destroying them. Two charged in from the left, and two more followed from the right, all wielding tanto. Mizuki growled at this. Naruto had never shown this before. He ducked under the thrust of one and blocked two more with his forearms. The blades cut in only shallowly as if the clones were hacking at the stone instead of the skin. The fourth clone looked for a downward slash for his head. Mizuki spun quickly, disarming the lot as he drew a kunai and promptly slashed the clones to pieces.
The four closest to him charged from his blind spot. Mizuki whipped around to kill them, but it had been a feint. The four clones jump back to avoid his wrath. The eight remaining clones in front instead launched a massive conjoined kick, sending Mizuki back into the remaining four, who attempted to hold him down while the rest ran forward; they would simply keep slashing and stabbing till he stayed down. Mizuki yelled angrily and managed to dispel the four simply by flexing. Charging the rest, he clotheslines two into another two, grabs two more by the faces, and slams them viscously into the ground. The last two stood guarded and defiant. "I'm gonna enjoy killing you, you monster!" Mizuki screamed as he charged the two. "I could do this all day!"
"Any ideas on how we will do this, Bushy Brows?" The two watched as Mizuki finished the clones. Naruto flinched and summoned another twenty clones to surround them.
"Yes, keep him busy for just a moment. I have the most youthful technique that should work!" Lee answered as he stood, seemingly bracing for something. But Muzuki, laughing as he landed, stood before them confidently.
"Are you sure you wanna help that monster, Lee?" Mizuki asked with glee. "I don't think you know how much blood is on his hands." Lee froze for a second. Confused by what he said.
"I've never killed anyone, you ass!" Naruto countered. But in truth, he panicked. He knew he had never killed someone, but if someone were to be technical…
"Well, of course, you did! You killed the fourth Hokage, after all. You even killed my family, didn't you, Nine Tails!" Mizuki screamed manically. Lee looked back at Naruto, not quite believing it, but to his shock, Naruto looked panicked. Looking at Lee almost pleadingly. Lee's own face was of confusion, nearly a silent question.
"Naruto?" Lee asked. His voice was questioning and confused. Of course he was, he had just been told his "friend" was nothing more than a monster. Naruto hated the little bit of doubt he could hear from Lee at that moment. He wanted to respond, but he had dreaded this day for years. His mother had warned him the day might come when his secret was exposed. He warned how many would resent him for his status, even those he'd never thought so petty.
Naruto was so enraptured by the shock he barely reacted when Mizuki charged them, frozen in indecision. Luckily, the clones seemed slightly less affected and met the Chunins' charge in a suicidal clash. As the Chunin slowly dispatched the clones, Lee stared into his eyes. Naruto knew he should explain; Mizuki had made it sound much worse than it was. But Naruto didn't choose this; he hated the monster within him. Why should he be judged for something out of his control? Worse yet, technically, the man had spoken the truth; maybe Naruto was responsible-
"Naruto!" Lee said, his voice surprisingly sternly.
"Listen, Lee, it's not… l-"
"Are you my comrade Naruto?" Lee said calmly.
"What?"
"Are we comrades, friends, allies, fellow men in the prime of our youth?" Lee asked. Naruto felt slight confusion at his weirdness but decided to simply be honest.
"Of course, Bushy Brows, but what is your point?" Naruto asked the confusion, managing to cut through his panic.
"Then nothing else matters. A youthful man judges a man by nothing but by his actions. To discount another due to something they may not be able to control would be foolish. Not when you have shown me your youth so plainly. If you wish to discuss this, we may; if not, then your secret is safe with me. But first, we must defeat this treacherous man. The rest can be discussed later." Lee said, his teeth shining as if they were sheening metal. Naruto couldn't help but match his smile. "Now, can you stall him for a bit? I could normally end this much easier, but I'm at less than my best! However, given some time to garner my youth, I can end this!"
"Heh, screw stalling!" Naruto said as he wielded his tanto, grinning crudely. "I owe this loser for years of hate! I'm gonna kick his ass!"
Naruto then charged toward the Chunin, who had managed to dispel the last clones right as he closed in. As he turned his head, Naruto slammed his knee into Mizuki's face with perfect timing. The blow sent the Chunin stumbling back but wasn't hurting him. Naruto followed up determinedly regardless; with a burst of chakra, he summoned more clones, surprised that the ten he intended to summon merely came out as eight. Naruto's chakra was lower than he thought. The testing, training, and now this fight was waning on the jinchuriki's juice. But Naruto would die before he let Mizuki hurt his new friends!
Naruto and the clones worked together wordlessly, they were of the same mind. The decision for them to all draw kunai from all around Mizuki and mercilessly pepper the man had been an impulse truly. However, whatever Mizuki had taken had truly made him inhumane; his skin acted like stone, and the kunai couldn't pierce the skin, ultimately bouncing off harmlessly. Mizuki was annoyed however, the man growled hatefully at Naruto, then charged forward at the nearest blonde, swinging in with a right hook. A clone leaped forward, catching the hook and pulling the arm back. Another blonde kicked Mizuki in the face, while a third used a slide tackle to sweep out his legs. The real Naruto smirked as he jumped into the air, another clone joining him, then grabbing him by the hands before violently spiking him, feet first, at the downed Mizuki.
"Naruto Hammer!" he called as he released a vicious double kick to the ribs as he landed, causing the ground beneath Mizuki to crack and crumble. The blonde jumped back, however; whatever the creep had taken made him tough. Naruto knew this was far from over, so he retreated within his clones and shuffled himself within them.
True to form, Mizuki leaped from his resting spot, immediately catching a clone and snapping its neck with a wrench of his wrist. He ignored a jab sent from another one while he drew and used a kunai to gut another. The clone tried to pull back his arm to fire off another attack, but Mizuki caught his hand and kicked him hard in the chest, dispelling it. A clone from behind tackled his legs, dropping him to his knees. In time for two clones to land, powerful kicks to his chin simultaneously. This sent Muzuki flying back, chuckling wildly, clearly unharmed.
'Damn him!' Naruto thought with a curse as he and his band of clones shuffled as they pursued Mizuki. 'I always thought he was a pushover, but whatever he took made him a damn juggernaut!'
As Mizuki climbed to his feet, the remaining clones surrounded him and attacked quickly, slashing at him with their copies of Riptide, but only causing superficial damage. The Chunin willingly tanked these; as he was battered, he merely waited, caught the occasional strike, and destroyed the perpetrator. It was a slow and deliberate game, and Mizuki knew the real Naruto would eventually try.
However, the real Naruto took a breather; as he did, he glanced back at Lee to check his progress. Lee's chakra was palpable around him, and it was clear he would become significantly stronger from his ritual, but he was still channeling. Naruto sighed at this; he would need to buy even more time.
Mizuki was ridiculously amped ever since the syringe. Most attacks didn't faze him. Even blades would cut shallowly, but none of it was sticking. He'd probably need a damn bomb to keep him down. Not to mention his new freakish strength and speed. Naruto thought about his supplies, but none of them seemed helpful. Even with the shadow clones, Naruto was struggling to do anything. He needed power! Something that knocks this bastard into next week. A bomb… shadow clones… Naruto could feel his mind forming a rough plan. When he had been training with shadow clones, he had overloaded them, leading to an explosion… what if he did it again?
If he tried to overload shadow clones again but ensured they were a tiny bit stable, he could have… an explosive clone. Naruto's grin turned feral. Not only did he have a new weapon in this fight, but it would be perfectly subtle enough to ensure it landed and possibly took down this traitor!
Naruto formed the shadow clone sign and charged his chakra, working overtime to create the explosive clone. The clone looked mindless, swaying in place and not genuinely moving. Naruto would have to perfect it later; it did the job.
"Hey, you damn sore loser!" Naruto called. Mizuki's eyes hatefully landed on the blonde. "Catch!" Naruto grabbed the clone by the arm and leg and, with an impressive feat of strength, threw it like a spear directly at Mizuki.
"Pathetic as always, monster!" Mizuki called with glee. He caught the clone by the throat and began to strangle it. "Summon as many clones as you want!"
"That's just a setup for my new technique!" Naruto stated confidently. Mizuki eyed the clone, and an alarm erupted on his face as he realized it was heavier. He may not know what the blonde planned, but it was likely something with the clone. He started to throw the clone, but it was too late. The blonde sealed the attack with a shout of "Shadow Clone: Walking Landmine Jutsu!"