Chapter 273: The Forbidden Scroll Incident 04

Chapter 273: The Forbidden Scroll Incident 04

Hokage's Room

Hiruzen watched in anger as Mizuki broke the rule and revealed the secret about the nine tails to Naruto and unknowingly his classmates as well. 'Now that Naruto knows the truth, what will he do?'

The old kage turned his attention to Shikamaru and the rest. 'Shikaku said his son already knew. Yet he hasn't shown any hostility to Naruto. So I don't have to worry about him. But what about the rest? Will their hearts and minds be strong and clever enough to separate Naruto and the beast and see them as two entities?'

Hiruzen kept observing the group and even after the revelation he saw that the rookies jumped in to save Iruka and Naruto. It brought relief and a small smile to his face. 'They all make a great team. Still, they'll have questions when this is all over. I'll need to explain everything carefully. Still, if Mizuki becomes desperate and tries something there is the possibility of someone getting injured or worse. It's best if I send someone over there now.'

Having made a decision Hiruzen was about to call forth his personal guards but at that moment something else happened.

BOOM!

A sudden explosion from the village caught Hiruzen's attention. The windows of the Hokage tower slightly rattled from the winds and every ninja was on alert. The kage stood from his chair and went to look outside. He saw many people rushing towards the explosion. The smoke and fire were coming from the market district.

"Bull." As Hiruzen said the name, an Anbu appeared behind him on one knee. "Find out what's happening and the ones responsible."

"Sir." The Anbu vanished and Hiruzen's eyes roamed the village looking for anything else happening.

Several seconds later just when things didn't seem like it could get worse three more explosions went off in three different locations. The three guards in the room and two remaining Anbu appeared beside the Hokage.

Hiruzen turned to his two Anbu members. One of them had a mask resembling a wolf while the other a lizard.

"Wolf! I'm putting the village on a level 1 emergency alert. Coordinate with the Jonins and get the situation under control. Evacuate the civilians if needed. Make sure of their safety."Read latest chapters at nov(e)lbin.com Only

"Yes sir."

"Lizard. Go to the locations that were just hit. Assess the damage and casualties and report back to me as soon as possible."

"Sir."

The two ninjas vanished and the old kage turned his attention to the village.

"Who would do something like this?" Raido saw the fire and smoke and could help but ask.

"Someone who thinks it's worth it to make an enemy out of an entire village." Genma said with narrowed eyes.

"It can't be a coincidence that these attacks happened just on the night Mizuki planned to take the scroll. He must be behind this." Iwase theory made sense to everyone.

At that moment the guards and the Hokage sensed the presence of two ninjas rushing towards the tower. They quickly recognized the two ninjas as part of the patrol unit.

"Lord Hokage. I have terrible news! The prisoners have escaped."

"What?" The kage was surprised as he knew the possibility of a prison break was very very slim.

"It's true. The Leaf Correctional facility has been compromised. The prisoners are on the loose. Our team came across a few of them. We captured them and found out about it just a short while ago."

Hiruzen groaned hearing that. "They must be the ones behind the explosion. But for them to escape, gain access to paper bombs and go unnoticed through the village They must have had outside help."

He went to his crystal ball and altered the chakra flow of his Telescope jutsu. The images immediately changed from Naruto and his group to the outskirts of the village. He saw several escapees in their prison uniform making their way out of the forest. 'If they get outside the border this could become more problematic.'

Hiruzen turned to one of his personal guards. "Iwase. Take these two and spread the word to everyone. I have new orders. Capture every escaped prisoner. Use lethal force if need be. I'll send someone else to get Naruto and the children. Right now containing the prisoners are priority."

"Yes sir." The guard and the two Chunin patrol ninjas nodded and quickly exited the building.

Once the three left, Genma stepped near the kage. "Sir, right now I'm sure the academy students and Iruka can hold back Mizuki. But if no one is looking for Naruto and if the prisoners happen upon their location then they all could be in serious trouble."

Hiruzen nodded. "Yes, I'm aware of that. And things would become more dangerous with that scroll in play."

"Lord Hokage, this prison break, the explosions, the theft of the scroll, for all of it to take place like this on the same night. I believe Mizuki must be behind this. He must have a guard at the prison helping him. And if Mizuki told any of those prisoners to get to East Canyons then Iruka, Naruto and the others would be in danger."

"You are right Raido. I was thinking the very same. Alright. I want you to go to the facility and investigate. If the guards have been turned then subdue them and bring them to Ibiki for interrogation."

"On it." Raido vanished and Hiruzen turned to the last guard in the room. "Genma. Get to Naruto's location. If the prisoners show up Iruka won't be able to protect the children on his own. With everything that's happening there is a great risk of something going wrong or beyond Iruka's control. Defend the people and take down that traitor Mizuki and anyone else with him."

"Yes sir."

Hiruzen kept an eye on everything happening in the village through his Telescope jutsu. A few minutes later one of the Anbu he sent returned.

"Lizard, Report."

"I went to the four locations. They weren't part of our critical infrastructure. The locations that were hit were low priority and easy to access. Two explosions happened in the market but at this time the shops were all closed. So no casualties. Only property damage. The third attack took place near the veterinary clinic run by the Inuzuka clan. Again no casualties. The fourth was in the outskirts of the civilian residential area. Two houses were damaged and there have been a few injuries but no fatalities. The injured have already been taken to the hospital and we're already fortifying the key areas. The Hyuga and Aburame are coordinating and leading search teams to see if there are more explosives hidden."

Hiruzen nodded and let out a small breath of relief. 'No one killed in four explosions. I suppose I can call that a miracle. But still, why cause damage to these locationsThese damages wouldn't hurt us even in the short term' The kage stroked his chin and pondered on the reason for this attack.

Hiruzen's eyes widened as an idea suddenly sprung up in his head. 'Distraction. What if this is all a distraction to take off our focus But they won't be able to escape the way they are now Unless'

He quickly looked at his Anbu. "The patrol squad has informed me that there has been a massive prison break. I believe this destruction might be the work of a prisoner. These explosions might be a diversion."

"You really think you all can escape from me? I'll take the scroll from your corpses if I have to." Mizuki glared at Iruka and the kids.

"I won't give you that chance. Your fight is with me." Iruka took a kunai and readied himself.

Seeing their teachers about to engage, Shikamaru got near Naruto. "Hey. We need to go. Now. While Iruka sensei is buying us some time." Naruto reluctantly nodded but stopped when he heard Mizuki's next words.

"Fine. Have it your way. I'll kill you first, Iruka."

Naruto clenched his fist and jumped from his spot and landed near his teacher. He glared at Mizuki. "If you touch my sensei I'll kill you."

"Naruto, I told you to leave. The safety of that scroll is more important than my life." Iruka was shocked that Naruto stayed. He wanted the kid to leave while he bought them time.

"Not to me sensei. MULTI SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!" The blonde Jinchuriki made the cross seal and the next second the entire surrounding was covered in smoke. In moments the smoke disappeared and several hundred shadow clones were present all around them.

Everyone was astounded by the number of clones Naruto created.

"Oh man, I can't even keep count the number of clones here." Kiba said with his jaws dropped.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he looked at the boy standing near Iruka. 'Is this the potential Daichi was talking about? Or is this the power of the nine tails? Did he already know?'

Hinata looked at the Naruto's and blushed. ' .Narutos.'

Shikamaru looked at the clones and then at Mizuki. 'Even he would have some trouble fighting this many clones. But still, I don't know the strength and weakness of this jutsu. Or what it does to the caster. Naruto should be careful. This jutsu was from the scroll dubbed 'Forbidden'. Hmm Naruto doesn't look winded or anything. Guess we'll have to wait to see what the effects of the jutsu are.'

"All of them are solid clones right?" Sakura asked and Ino nodded. "Yeah. This jutsu is different from the normal clone jutsu."

Sakura pondered on the implications and then looked at Naruto. 'Then this jutsu must take more chakra than the clone jutsu to execute. So to create this many solid clones Naruto must have a lot more chakra than I thought. I thought Mizuki was lying at first but now Iruka sensei doesn't seem surprised at Mizuki's accusations. So does that mean Naruto is the nine tails? No Iruka sensei trusts him. So that can't be it. But Naruto must have some connection to the Nine tails'

Naruto's shadow clones began attacking Mizuki from all sides. But the Chunin immediately began countering. He had been secretly training and increasing his strength and preparing his body for the ritual.

Mizuki dodged a kick from the back and jumped to avoid a leg swipe. He punched a clone in the chest reducing it to smoke while he grabbed the leg of another that came flying at him. Mizuki tossed that clone around and destroyed another dozen clones.

'To use Lord Orochimaru's power I needed to increase my power and get my body strong enough to withstand the transformation. But I never imagined my training would come to aid me in such a manner.'

Mizuki punched, kicked and used his weapons to kill the shadow clones that attacked him. But as time went by he was getting more tired. 'I need to finish this fast.'

"Rhaaa You fucking brat. You think you can defeat me with clones?" Mizuki's rage increased his battle momentum and in less than a minute he destroyed all the clones that were present. But he had bruises on his body and was taking several deep breaths due to his exertion.

Iruka looked at the worn out enemy and spoke. "You may have defeated the clones but you're in no shape to fight anyone Mizuki and win."

Suddenly Shino's head snapped towards his left. "Multiple Shinobi approaching." His scouting insects informed him of the approaching people.

Hinata quickly used her Byakugan. "Three people. All wearing Leaf headbands."

Iruka and Naruto relaxed but the rest of the students were on alert.

Shikamaru heard Shino's words and his eyes never left Mizuki once. He saw that Mizuki was tense when he heard that people were coming but then saw his body slightly relax when Hinata confirmed the number.

'Damn it. Could they be his accomplices? Are they here for him?'

He didn't have to wait long to find out. Three ninjas wearing the standard Chunin gear appeared. Iruka looked at the three ninjas but he didn't recognise any of them. But he thought they were here for the scroll under Lord Hokage's orders and was about to move when he heard one of them chuckle.

The leader of the group looked at the scene and couldn't help but let out a ridiculing laugh looking at Mizuki.

"You really are pathetic. You can't even handle a few brats and a Chunin? It seems you're the one who needs our help more." Zefrek spoke with a condescending tone.

"You" Mizuki hated it when someone looked down on him.

Zefrek didn't care about the tired Chunin and turned his attention back to Iruka and the rest. Everyone saw the dark glint and maliciousness in his eyes.

"Now what do we have here?"

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Author's Note.

Another 3.3k word chp.. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter.

The Naruto and Iruka scene in Canon is an iconic event for Naruto. I didn't want to take that away from him. But I also wanted to add my own twist to the events.

How do you guys feel about this chapter?

It was a bit difficult when I wrote next few chapters. I needed to create a battle sequence for all the rookies based on their current strength and fighting style. I also had to take teamwork into account, enemy strength, jutsus the pressure was on to make it a good battle and a good chapter. I hope I don't disappoint you all

If you like my story and want to read ahead, then check out my P.a.T.R.E.0.N page. I've uploaded up to 30 additional chapters there.

Patre /MonkWithAPen(No space)