Chapter 40: The Book of Seals
Mizuki's repeated questions were starting to wear Naruto down, but he still kept up his sorrowful act. "I feel awful."
"How about we go clear your head for a bit?"
Naruto fell silent, and just then Franklin's faint voice echoed beside his ear. "Go. If you want to learn a clone technique that truly suits you, Mizuki is the key."
Franklin's words made Naruto's eyes light up, but on the surface he still looked dejected. "Mm."
At the same time, the Third Hokage had found Iruka. "There are some things I need to tell you."
As the sun set, Mizuki and Naruto sat atop a rooftop.
"I don't think Iruka-sensei meant to make things hard for you. He only wants what's best for you. After all, you're both without parents — he just wants to see you become stronger."
Those words stabbed right into Naruto's most painful scar. His mood sank even lower. He wanted to be angry, but he couldn't.
"But… I really want to graduate."
Seeing that Naruto truly desired it, Mizuki decided to move forward with his plan. "There's no other way, so I'll let you in on a secret."
Naruto looked puzzled. "A secret?"
"That's right. Naruto, your body is very special. Normal jutsu aren't a good match for you, but the ones recorded in the Book of Seals are perfect. If you learn one from that book, I'm sure Iruka-sensei will let you pass the test."
Naruto's mindset had already shifted. Ever since he learned the truth, he was no longer just a naive kid.
He saw through Mizuki's clumsy lie immediately. He was about to refuse, but then Franklin's voice spoke again:
"He's right. There's a jutsu in the Book of Seals that's an excellent match for you. Agree to his plan. Let him cover for you, take the Book of Seals, learn from it. Afterward, nothing will happen to you.
"No matter what, the Third Hokage is like your grandfather. If you master a jutsu from that book, your status will rise dramatically. Once you become a ninja, your future treatment will be very different."
Naruto didn't argue. Looking into Mizuki's slightly manic eyes, he stepped right into the trap without hesitation.
Following Mizuki, Naruto leapt from rooftop to rooftop, though his pace was slightly slower. When there was enough distance between them, he couldn't help but ask, "Big Brother Lin… was your goal all along to get me to take the Book of Seals?"
The flicker in Naruto's eyes made Franklin's heart tremble slightly. Lies could never win someone's true heart. He chose not to hide anything.
"That wasn't my plan at first. I only wanted to see how you'd react when you learned the truth. But during your exam just now, I started to consider it — and then Mizuki practically handed me the opportunity.
"This time, you taking the Book of Seals and studying it is inevitable. Everything you're doing right now is under the Third Hokage's surveillance. Once you succeed in obtaining and mastering the jutsu, Iruka and Mizuki will be the first to find you. You've felt that constant surveillance, haven't you?"
Naruto said nothing, falling into silence again. Franklin didn't offer any further explanation.
With inside help, Naruto easily took the Book of Seals and hid himself at the location Mizuki had given him on the outskirts of the Konoha forest. Unable to wait any longer, he unrolled the Book of Seals. The first jutsu he saw was the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.
"Big Brother Lin, are you sure this is the one I should learn? My clone technique is terrible."
Sensing that Naruto's mindset had changed and that his usual cheerfulness was returning, Franklin felt no hesitation. Smiling, he said, "Don't worry. I guarantee you can learn it. There's no jutsu better suited to boost your current strength."
While Naruto focused on learning the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, Franklin took the opportunity to flip through the rest of the Book of Seals. It recorded Edo Tensei and Flying Thunder God — and Franklin quickly memorized their chakra flow patterns and hand seals.
Earlier that day, after trying to cast jutsu using spiritual energy as senjutsu chakra, Franklin had put that theory into practice. Since the ninja academy was still conducting student exams, it was easy for him to sneak in and steal a large number of basic ninjutsu books.
After forcefully memorizing them all, he returned the books to avoid suspicion. With a day of study behind him, Franklin had fully committed to memory the various hand signs used in ninjutsu and their meanings.
But once he understood the basics, Franklin felt the hand signs weren't complete — as if they were missing something essential. These techniques couldn't truly connect with the natural world.
The routes described in the books, where chakra flowed through the meridians and nodes in tandem with the seals, were also vastly different from the pathways opened by his own Space Overlord Art.
From what he had learned, Franklin realized that ninjutsu itself might not truly exist. The hand seals, the chakra flow — they were all just surface phenomena.
Grasping that truth, Franklin felt as though he were on the verge of understanding something, but the elusive insight slipped just beyond his reach.
He didn't force it. From what he knew, such things came with fate — if the time was right, they'd be easy to grasp; if not, one could meditate in seclusion until death and still never understand.
It was like his understanding of worldlines now — mysterious and profound. They seemed like fixed paths, yet somehow… they weren't.
Unable to solve that puzzle, Franklin chose not to dwell on it. The Book of Seals was right in front of him — and he knew which mattered more. After forcibly committing every jutsu inside to memory—
On the other side, Naruto suddenly shouted. His expression was ecstatic as his hands flew through seals. With a loud boom, countless Narutos appeared around him.
Seeing the forest fill with shadow clones — and their numbers still increasing — Franklin immediately switched to his main body and smacked Naruto on the back of the head.
"Are you trying to die? If your chakra runs out, the clones will drain you dry and kill you!"
The sudden blow snapped Naruto out of his excitement. He was still dazed when he turned around and saw Franklin's true self standing behind him. Meeting Franklin for the first time in person, Naruto hesitated.
"Are you… Big Brother Lin?"
Franklin, no longer hiding, nodded and sat down casually.
With only 24 hours left before the mission ended, Franklin had decided to do something big — something that would cause a drastic shift in the worldline, allowing him to better comprehend what a "worldline" truly was.
Random killing went against his principles, but if it was for the sake of standing up for his little brother, he could accept it without guilt.
"Naruto, I've told you so much. Can you tell me what you really think? Why do you want to become Hokage so badly?"
Face to face with Franklin, Naruto saw the seriousness in his expression. He pondered deeply before sighing as if he'd come to a realization.
"Big Brother… I can feel it. You approached me with a purpose. You told me all those things for a reason. After all, you're the one who taught me to be careful, to hide my true strength.
"I learned — that's why I've hidden my true feelings. It looks like my disguise has stopped you from achieving whatever goal you had. You showing up like this… it's like you're trying to force that goal now."
Realizing that Naruto had seen through his thoughts and actions, Franklin was a little surprised — but also calm. After all, the Hokage's greatest weapon was his words. Without a sharp mind to back them up, nothing said to an enemy would ever matter.
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