Chapter | XIII |

"What's that?"

Scroll of Sealings? It's the first time I'm hearing something like that. What does this Scroll of Sealing have to do with me? And why do I feel like this thing is pretty important?

"I know what you're thinking, and no, this is not some forbidden secret or anything, it's just a normal scroll with a few Jutsus. The main objective is to steal it from a guarded place without anyone's attention, which will prove you as a Shinobi and your talent as well, if you fail... Well, you know the rest"

That... Made sense. If I can't even sneak around, sending me for missions is just like sending a chicken into a lion's den. I nodded to him, in return he patted my shoulder and stood up.

"Then, get ready. Go sleep for now so you don't feel drowsy at night, you don't want to fail the mission because of sleepiness, do you?"

"Okay"

Nodding, I went inside. Soon after, the Chakra signature of Mizuki faded away, indicating he had left my apartment. I sat down and expanded my senses, after confirming he was far away from my apartment did I only relax.

I frowned. This guy, I can't trust him. Just for confirming, I should ask Shikamaru about the details. He's the only guy willing to talk to me, so might as well give him a visit.

Of course, I didn't bother to disguise myself, it would have very little effect because even if Mizuki notice my disguised form, he can very well detect my Chakra Signature, dealing with Shinobis are a real headache.

However, I grabbed a black hoodie just in case, he was not the only guy I had to avoid. Tucking my hands inside, I left the apartment through the open window and entered the dark alleyways. I tried to be as stealthy as possible, I could see the bustling crowd beside me in the opening. Praying I won't get detected, I drifted toward Shikamaru's house.

After passing through several alleyways, I was finally in front of his house. I sighed. I have never met his parents, I don't even think they'll allow me to converse with him.

After staying motionless for several seconds, I made my way to his household. I knocked on the door, no reply. I knocked again, the same. Before I knocked for the third time, the door slid open to reveal an identical Shikamaru, an older version of him.

"Hmm, Naruto?"

"Is... Shikamaru here?"

"No, he's in the park"

Not bothering to stay there anymore, I ran toward the public park of Konoha. I merged with the darkness of the alleyways and sprinted. After a couple of minutes, I reached my destination.

Entering through the gates, I gazed at my surroundings. Green grass uniformly cut, wide and tall trees giving shelter for kids. Children playing with one another, some enjoying their time with their parents.

Avoiding them, I walked silently. After searching for a while, I finally spotted Shikamaru laying under a tree, snoring. Shaking my head, I knelt down.

"Hey"

I poked his forehead, fortunately, he woke up. He looked puzzled for a moment, then spotting me, he sat up with a yawn.

"What do you want?"

Lazy as ever, I thought. Not wanting to beat around the bush, I got straight to the point. Well, I'm sure he preferred it that way... I think.

"Were you given any special task after graduation? A second trial for passing to be a Shinobi?"

He looked perplexed.

"No... Even if I had gotten any, I wouldn't have bothered to complete it... Umm, is there any problem?"

"...No"

Standing up, I frowned. That bastard. Clenching my fist, I went back to my apartment as quickly as possible.

***

The sun went down, and the pale moon hung in the air. The moonlight illuminated my room, there wasn't any bulb in my apartment, so I had to use a natural source of light. If the clouds hid the moon, well yeah, I'm in complete darkness.

Not long after, a knock resounded through the silent living room. I got up from my seat and opened the door. On the other side stood Mizuki with his nonchalant smile, I somehow held the urge to punch his face.

"Ready? Then follow me, I'll show you the place"

He turned his back against me and jumped on a roof. Sighing, I silently followed behind him. He took sudden turns and cuts, and after what seemed like an eternity, we were in the woods. The cicadas sang in the eerie night, and Misuki's gaze full of expectation loomed over me.

"Do you see that building over there, that's where I kept the scroll. Your job is to take the scroll and meet me deep in the woods, don't worry about the location, I'll keep track of you"

Nodding with a fake smile, I slowly snuck in. To my surprise, there was not a soul inside, perplexed, I made my way toward the middle where a scroll was kept. Suddenly, I sensed a gaze on me. Looking around, I failed to spot anyone, but the feeling was still there.

Weird, I thought. I cautiously took the scroll and snuck out. Without further ado, I sprinted deep into the woods. The feeling of being watched was still there, but I just shrugged it off for Mizuki.

After feeling satisfied with my current location, I took the scroll—which was half my size—and laid it on the ground to reveal the contents.

I froze. So may Justu! I skimmed through the Jutsus one by one, but they were so complex and hard to even comprehend! With a heavy heart, I read one by one.

I spotted a Justu named Multiple Shadow Clone Justu, but soon lost interest in it after thinking over it. What would even be the point of creating so many clones? A waste of Chakra in my opinion, a hundred genin can't do much to a single Jonin. Sure, if I was surrounded by several opponents, it might be useful, but if all of my clones were defeated in a turn of events, then what? I can't talk my way through an enemy.

Shaking my head at the dumbass who invented the Justu, I went down and down. After a solid minute did I only find something that piqued my interest.

"...Interesting"