Chapter 82 - Put It Together

The academy was unusually quiet in the early morning hours. The sun had barely begun to rise, casting soft rays of light through the windows of an empty classroom. The desks were lined up neatly, and the room had the kind of stillness that made even the slightest noise seem loud.

Iruka sat at one of the desks, his brow furrowed, deep in thought. Across from him, Mizuki leaned against the wall, arms crossed, his face equally troubled. The two had been discussing what had happened ever since they returned from the wilderness, but no matter how much they talked, the same unsettling conclusion lingered.

"I still can't get it out of my head," Iruka said quietly, staring at the wooden desk in front of him. "Those bodies… they weren't just killed. They were slaughtered. Torn apart like animals." He shook his head, the horror of the scene still fresh in his mind. "I've seen a lot in my time, but that... that was something else."

Mizuki nodded, his expression grim. "It wasn't just any kind of fight. Whoever did that was either completely out of control or knew exactly how to send a message. The brutality was… excessive." His voice dropped lower, as if saying it aloud might make it worse. "But when we asked the students, they didn't know—or at least, they didn't say anything that connected them directly to what we saw."

Iruka ran a hand through his hair, frustration building. "Yeah, they admitted to running into bandits. Naruto and Sasuke's group said they fought them, but when we questioned them about that specific scene... they just clammed up. It's like they're hiding something. Every time we brought up the bodies or asked for more details about the fight, they either dodged the question or gave us vague answers."

Mizuki pushed himself off the wall, pacing slowly across the room. "I thought maybe they were just scared. That kind of violence would shake up any kid, even shinobi in training. But the way they answered us... something felt off." He stopped and glanced out the window, the light casting long shadows across the floor. "Especially Sasuke. He barely said a word, and Naruto—well, he was unusually quiet too, which isn't like him at all."

Iruka's eyes narrowed slightly as he remembered their interrogation. "Sasuke's always been hard to read, but this time it felt like he was deliberately holding back. And Naruto, he looked like he wanted to say more, but every time Sasuke looked at him, he shut his mouth."

Mizuki nodded. "Exactly. There's something between those two. Something happened out there with those bandits, and they're not telling us the whole story."

Iruka tapped his fingers on the desk, his thoughts racing. "I can't help but wonder... that level of destruction we saw, it wasn't the work of ordinary students. That kind of massacre—bandits torn apart, impaled, dismembered—too brutal for kids at their level. It's like they were holding back something during our training but let it loose out there."

Mizuki sighed, frustration clear in his voice. "We've interrogated them as much as we can without pushing too far. We can't accuse them outright without evidence, but the fact that none of them are giving us a straight answer is concerning. Especially Sasuke."

Iruka rubbed his chin, deep in thought. "Sasuke...there's something darker going on with him. His family, his past—it wouldn't surprise me if he's already developing abilities far beyond what we expect. But even if that's the case, it doesn't explain why they're keeping this quiet. The bandits were dead. There's no reason for them to hide the details."

"Do we tell the... ?" Mizuki asked finally, breaking the silence.

Iruka didn't answer right away. His mind raced with the possibilities, the implications of what they had seen and what the students might be hiding. "Not yet," he said quietly. "We need more information. If there's something bigger at play here, we can't jump to conclusions without understanding it first."

Mizuki nodded, though the tension in his posture remained. "But we can't ignore this for long. Whatever happened out there, it's only a matter of time before it comes back to the surface."

Iruka stood up, glancing toward the door. "We'll keep an eye on them. If anything else happens, we report it immediately. Until then... we wait."

...

The late afternoon sun cast a warm, golden glow over the academy grounds, bathing everything in a soft light. Naruto sat alone on the old swing outside the academy, his legs gently kicking the dirt beneath him as he rocked back and forth. The creak of the rusty chains was the only sound breaking the quiet. He stared up at the sky, his mind wandering as the clouds drifted lazily overhead.

For a moment, everything felt calm. Peaceful, even. Naruto's usual energy had settled into a rare moment of stillness, the kind of quiet he rarely experienced.

He leaned back slightly, feeling the wind on his face. Naruto wasn't sure what to think anymore. But for now, he just wanted to swing and look at the sky, trying to forget about the chaos for a little while.

Suddenly, he heard a voice behind him.

"Hey, did you hear about the fight club?"

Startled, Naruto jerked, losing his balance. The swing tilted awkwardly to the side, and he tumbled off, landing face-first in the dirt with a loud thud.

"Ouch!" Naruto groaned, quickly pushing himself up and dusting off his jacket. His head darted around, looking to see if anyone had noticed his less-than-graceful fall. Fortunately, no one seemed to be paying attention. But the voices continued nearby, and they sounded... interesting.

Naruto froze, his ears perking up as he realized what he'd overheard. Fight club?

He dropped low, crouching behind the swing as he listened more intently. The voices came from a group of kids standing just a little ways off, hidden behind some bushes near the academy wall. They were talking in hushed tones, as if they didn't want to be overheard, which made Naruto all the more curious.

"Yeah, it's totally real," one of the kids said, his voice full of excitement. "It's been happening for weeks now. They meet up after dark in that old training ground on the edge of the village."

Naruto's eyes widened. A secret fight club?

Another kid chimed in. "I heard only the best fighters get invited. You have to prove yourself before they let you in."

Naruto's heart skipped a beat.

Naruto bit his lip, crouching lower to stay hidden.

The kids kept talking, but Naruto was too excited to listen to the rest. He had heard enough. Quietly, he slipped away from the swing, moving carefully so they wouldn't notice him.