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Training at the Ninja Academy

At the ninja academy, Naruto's reputation as a dropout and a troublemaker earned him infamy among the teachers and students. Iruka, and to a lesser extent, the Third Hokage, were the only two positive influences on him. Unbeknownst to him at the time, Hinata Hyuga also thought very highly of him because of his determination and fighting spirit. Despite this, Naruto continued to fail the graduation exam, which required students to demonstrate how much they had learned by performing the Clone Technique. While Naruto was decently skilled in most of the basic jutsu taught at the academy, for some reason he could never perform this one correctly.

Naruto and his many clones prepare to pummel Mizuki.
Mizuki, another Academy examiner, used Naruto's depression after his most recent failure to trick Naruto into stealing the Scroll of Seals, a collection of forbidden techniques housed within the Hokage's study, claiming that Naruto would be automatically passed by simply learning a jutsu from the scroll. Not one to pass up such an opportunity, Naruto immediately did so, and the first technique on the scroll happened to be the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, something he wasn't happy about. As search parties were sent to find Naruto, Iruka gets to him first. Naruto had been training the entire time, ignorant of what he had done, and simply repeated to Iruka what Mizuki had told him earlier. Iruka realized what Mizuki wanted just as he showed up to attack them both. After he injured Iruka, who pushed Naruto out of the way, Mizuki tried to get Naruto to give him the scroll while Iruka tried to convince Naruto to do otherwise. Their argument led Mizuki to tell Naruto about the truth everyone had been keeping from him: that he was the container of the Demon fox. Startled, Naruto runs off, leaving Iruka and Mizuki to fight amongst themselves. Naruto watched from a distance, eventually learning what Mizuki was after, as well as the true level of Iruka's devotion to him. Just before Mizuki could kill Iruka, Naruto attacked him, threatening to kill him should he ever touch his sensei again. Confident in his superiority, Mizuki claimed he could beat Naruto with one attack, only for the exact opposite to happen. Using his newly learned Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, Naruto beats Mizuki to a bloody pulp. Impressed that Naruto could master such a difficult technique, Iruka lets Naruto graduate, ironically fulfilling Mizuki's original promise.