Chương 24

Everyone graduated soon. Including Rei and others, like Sakura, Ino, Sasuke.. Rei wasn't surprised at that, but as expected Naruto didn't pass. Rei could only sigh at that and hope everything would go well. Though Hokage had said to keep an eye on Naruto, he didn't like spying on people 24/7, and it was exhausting. But little could be done. Seemed like his mercenary assignments had already started. Next would be the team ones.

As expected Mizuki was able to convince Naruto to steal and at the end Naruto was able to steal, of course, Hiruzen had allowed it to be stored in the least safeguarded position possible. Otherwise, who would believe that a village where Pain found it very hard to infiltrate in the beginning, [A/N: Okay fine, not that hard], was the same place where Naruto could just find Forbidden jutsus. Mizuki then went and alerted Iruka of what Naruto had done, and in return Iruka went to Hiruzen.

"You can go and search for him Iruka." Hiruzen was quite laden back when Iruka came with the information.

"Lord Hokage, but Naruto can be anywhere. We need others too looking for him.." Iruka was panicking a bit.

"Don't let this bother you so much Iruka. You have been an excellent teacher, so I am sure you will be able to find him. Besides Naruto isn't a bad kid, just a bit lost. Go and talk to him." Hiruzen said.

"What? Lord Hokage what are you saying.. I don't understand.." Iruka was more confused now. What was this old man talking about?

"You will understand soon. Now go..." Hiruzen said, without a single care in the world. Instead he was looking forward to see the reaction of Rei, once he was successful in his mission and return. He was going to give Rei an offer he couldn't refuse. Meanwhile, said child was currently crouched silently on a tree branch several kilometers away from the village center while internally questioning why his life somehow devolved into babysitting blond jinchuriki through emotional breakdowns.

Naruto sat below near a small clearing inside the forest while excitedly flipping through the fake Book of Seals. The idiot looked genuinely happy thinking he had finally found a way to become strong enough to gain everyone's recognition. But one had to give to the old man. He really did give Naruto the multi shadow clone jutsu. Rei quietly watched from above while suppressing his chakra carefully. He had already been following Naruto for nearly two hours now and honestly?

Hiding on trees for prolonged periods was significantly less cool than anime made it look. His legs hurt. Still, eventually another familiar chakra signature approached rapidly through the forest. Iruka. And almost immediately afterward, Naruto noticed him too.

"Iruka-sensei?!" Naruto quickly stood up while nervously hiding the scroll behind him instinctively.

"W-What are you doing here?!" Iruka meanwhile looked exhausted. But thankfully he had known Naruto enough to understand where he would be. After all this was one of the known places in the edges of the forest where Naruto loved to be at times.

"…Naruto…" Iruka finally exhaled heavily afterward.

"…Do you have any idea what kind of trouble you caused?" Naruto immediately lowered his head slightly afterward.

"…Sorry…" Rei quietly observed the interaction from above while remaining hidden. This was the important part. The emotional foundation. Canon or not, Naruto needed this moment. And thankfully… it still happened.

"You know…" he began softly, "…when I was younger, I used to do stupid things for attention too." Naruto blinked once.

"…Huh?"

"I pulled pranks. Acted out. Tried to get people to notice me." Iruka smiled weakly afterward.

"Because I was lonely." If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. Because despite everything else in this world, Iruka's honesty toward Naruto remained one of the few genuinely beautiful things about early Naruto storylines. Sadly it devolved into something more horrifying. Now that Rei was in this world, the things he criticized the most in his previous life, felt like a nightmare waiting to happen. The aliens. Why was both the universes obsessed with aliens.

"You're not a bad kid, Naruto," Iruka continued quietly afterward.

"You just wanted someone to acknowledge you." Naruto's eyes visibly shook slightly hearing that.

"…Iruka-sensei…" And then, another voice suddenly interrupted the moment entirely.

"Touching." Rei's eyes narrowed immediately from above. And the story happened just like it was supposed to here. Mizuki appeared and attacked Iruka. At the end Mizuki finally revealed why the village hated him. He was the Fox demon spirit. Naruto looked shattered. And Mizuki, being the absolute trash pile that he was, decided to make things worse immediately afterward.

"Honestly," Mizuki sneered while grabbing the giant Fuma Shuriken from his back, "the village would probably be happier if you just died." Iruka immediately widened his eyes.

"MIZUKI STOP!" Too late. The massive shuriken launched directly toward Naruto instantly. Iruka came forward to take the hit at the back, but before that could happen Rei appeared and caught the huge shuriken just at the right angle and even in high speed he was able to catch it at the middle.

"Rei.."

"REI..." Both Naruto and Iruka were beyond surprised to see the young 12 year old stop such a huge shuriken casually. Their eyes were wide now. Meanwhile, Hiruzen who was looking all of this through that crystal ball, couldn't help but smile. He was right all along. Meanwhile, Mizuki himself looked completely horrified seeing the giant Fuma Shuriken casually stopped by a twelve-year-old child.

Mizuki immediately jumped backward afterward while staring at Rei like the child had suddenly transformed into some kind of monster.

"Y-You—!" Rei however simply tossed the giant shuriken aside casually before looking toward Naruto and Iruka.

"Hide." Both of them blinked.

"…What?" Iruka looked confused for a second.

"I'll handle him." Rei replied calmly afterward while already stepping forward.

"You are injured and Naruto isn't ready for any kind of fight.. Goo.."

"Hey... I can fight too.." Naruto felt offended by Rei.

"Naruto.. No.. We need to get to Lord Hokage and give the Scroll/Book back." Iruka meanwhile still looked deeply confused internally because honestly? A few minutes ago Rei was just another Academy student and now suddenly the kid was stopping giant weapons barehanded while casually taking command of the situation. The transition was emotionally difficult to process. But Rei had always been a bit different from the rest. Still, before either of them could properly argue, Rei vanished forward instantly.

Not Body Flicker level. That would be excessive. Just enough speed enhancement through chakra to make Mizuki panic properly. And panic he did. The traitorous chunin immediately turned and fled deeper into the forest afterward. Which honestly Rei expected. Mizuki wasn't some elite assassin or missing-nin monster. The man was ultimately just a bitter opportunist who suddenly realized his target situation became catastrophically worse.

Rei followed silently through the trees afterward while deliberately keeping the chase controlled. Because despite everything… Naruto still needed his moment. And honestly? That was the annoying part about knowing canon sometimes. Rei knew exactly how important the Multi Shadow Clone breakthrough was psychologically for Naruto. That wasn't just some cool jutsu scene. That was Naruto's first real step toward believing he wasn't worthless.

And he also wanted to know if he would get the jutsu as his contract grew up with the ones who held it. Though it was a half contract and Rei could probably learn it too, but who would refuse free items. And just like expected, when Rei returned near the clearing again, Mizuki had already doubled back toward Iruka and Naruto. Honestly… predictable trash remained predictable trash.

"See?!" Mizuki laughed cruelly while appearing again atop one of the branches.

"Even now everyone hides things from you!" Naruto visibly shook slightly afterward.

"…Naruto…" Iruka tried speaking softly. But Mizuki immediately interrupted again.

"You're the Nine-Tails Fox!" he shouted.

"A monster! Nobody will ever truly accept you!"

"You're wrong." Mizuki frowned slightly.

"I don't care what happened twelve years ago," Iruka continued while looking directly toward Naruto.

"Naruto isn't the Nine-Tails Fox." Naruto froze completely.

"He's Naruto Uzumaki of Konoha." Iruka smiled weakly afterward despite the pain.

"A loud idiot who pulls stupid pranks and talks too much… but also someone who works harder than anyone else I know." And slowly… Naruto's expression changed. Because for the first time since hearing the truth… someone acknowledged him. Not the fox. Not the burden. Him. Unfortunately Mizuki immediately ruined the emotional atmosphere again by launching another giant shuriken downward. Honestly, the man really lacked creativity in combat too. But before Iruka could move again, Naruto stepped forward instead.

And suddenly… the chakra around him exploded outward violently. Rei's eyes narrowed slightly from the shadows nearby. There it is. Naruto's hands formed the sign instinctively afterward while rage and emotion completely mixed together.

"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Even after knowing this scene for years, actually seeing it in real life still felt absurd. The sheer amount of chakra required for this at Naruto's age was monstrous. Completely inhuman by Academy standards. And Rei had half of it. Hehe... And then the beating started. Naruto's clones descended upon Mizuki like divine punishment itself while the traitorous chunin screamed in absolute horror.