Watching the kunai slice toward his throat, a sharp glint flashed in Mizuki's eyes.
Ichi Kōtai no Jutsu ▻ Body Swap Technique
The two instantly switched positions. Mizuki was back on the cliff face while the Root ninja was buried in the rock.
"What!"
The Root ninja had no idea what had just happened.
The kunai had been about to pierce Mizuki's neck, but suddenly he was the one caught in the jutsu.
'Genjutsu?'
He mobilized his chakra, trying to disrupt the Genjutsu's control and break free. But although his chakra responded, the Genjutsu didn't dispel.
'This isn't Genjutsu. He was caught in the Double Suicide Decapitation Technique just now, but when I was about to kill him, we switched positions.' The Root ninja was shocked. 'It's a space-time ninjutsu that doesn't require hand seals. Could it be a kekkei genkai?'
At this moment, he finally understood how that Root comrade — sent by Lord Danzō half a month ago to assassinate Mizuki — had died.
Suicide and all that — it was all a false appearance.
"Hehe, that old bastard Danzō didn't even figure out my abilities before sending someone to kill me again. Just sending people to their deaths."
With a cold laugh, Mizuki took out an explosive tag.
The Root ninja had been caught by his own Double Suicide Decapitation Technique, buried in the rock, unable to move or form hand seals.
He was skilled in Earth Release and had just used Earth Release: Rock Lodging Technique to hide inside the rock and ambush Mizuki. But now, unable to form seals, he couldn't use the Rock Lodging Technique or move through the rock.
Mizuki stuck the explosive tag on his forehead, then quickly moved several meters to the side.
Boom!
The explosive tag detonated. Screams rang out as the cliff shook violently.
Soon, the commotion subsided. Mizuki looked toward the explosion point and let out a soft "Huh?"
"The body was blown to ash? No, one explosive tag doesn't have that much power. That must have been a shadow clone."
Mizuki raised his vigilance.
This opponent wouldn't be so easy to deal with.
Just then, a shout came from above:
Doton: Retsudo Tenshō ▻ Earth Release: Tearing Earth Turning Palm
The cliff face cracked. Large chunks of rock came tumbling down toward Mizuki. This place was already a sheer cliff, and with massive amounts of rubble falling from above, he had nowhere to dodge.
Countless rocks hurtled toward his head, but Mizuki remained calm, scanning upward. Night was falling and visibility was poor — he couldn't see the enemy anywhere. Without a visual target, his plan to use Body Swap Technique to save himself while killing his opponent wouldn't work.
He shifted his gaze to the falling rocks instead. His enhanced dynamic vision let him spot a suitable target in an instant.
Body Swap Technique activated. Mizuki swapped positions with the rock, instantly moving up dozens of meters and passing through the falling debris to safety.
Looking up, he still couldn't see his enemy.
"Body Swap Technique is exposed now. They don't dare show themselves — only attacking from the shadows."
The cliff face was too dangerous. With the enemy holding the high ground, he was at a disadvantage.
Mizuki stopped hesitating. He flipped his hand and a shuriken appeared at his fingertips. He threw it upward, intending to use it as a stepping stone — Body Swap Technique would let him reach the top quickly and escape this passive situation.
But the enemy saw through his plan. A shuriken emerged from the darkness, shooting downward and hitting his dead-on, knocking it away.
"Hmph!" Mizuki snorted coldly and pulled out another shuriken.
It flew twenty or thirty meters before another shuriken shot down from above, knocking it away.
But this wasn't an ordinary shuriken — it was the Telepathic Shuriken returned by the system. With a thought, the deflected weapon changed direction and continued flying upward.
"He's also a puppeteer?"
An exclamation rang out from above the cliff.
As everyone knows, to control a shuriken and change its direction at will — aside from the mutual collision redirection method in the Uchiha-style throwing technique — can only be done with a puppeteer's chakra thread control.
As for Sasuke's Manipulated Shuriken Technique, it simply uses wire — it can't achieve arbitrary direction changes.
Mizuki had been mistaken for a puppeteer.
The Telepathic Shuriken reached the limit of his vision. With a thought, he used Body Swap Technique, swapping positions with it. Looking up, less than fifty meters remained to the top.
Above the cliff, a figure quickly pulled back, denying him another chance to swap.
A hissing sound came from beneath his feet. Mizuki looked down — good grief. Within a ten-meter radius, explosive tags covered the surface. At a glance, no fewer than fifty.
At the same time, two hands emerged from the rock beneath his feet, reaching for his ankles. He'd been guarding against this exact trick. He leaped up, breaking away from the cliff face and distancing himself from the explosion center while throwing another shuriken upward.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The mountain collapsed and the earth split. The explosions were deafening. Shattered rocks flew in all directions, several pieces striking Mizuki hard enough to make him grit his teeth.
The shuriken had already flown more than ten meters upward. He quickly used Body Swap Technique again, escaping the explosion's range. With both feet back on the rock wall, he dashed upward.
He'd had enough. Fighting on the cliff face left him unable to fight back. He had to reach the top and counterattack.
Seeing Mizuki escape another calamity, the person above didn't try to intercept again.
Finally, Mizuki reached the top of the cliff and stepped onto level ground. The instant he came up, he scanned his surroundings. He saw no one, but directly in front of him stood a wooden figure.
No — not an ordinary wooden figure, but a puppet. It was crudely made, with squinting eyes and a talisman on its forehead bearing the character "Curse."
With one glance, he sensed something was wrong and tried to look away. But it was already too late.
The "Curse" character on the puppet's forehead dissipated. Mizuki felt his mind tighten, then his vision went black. When he opened his eyes again, he saw his own body.
"This is Fū Yamanaka's Mind Puppet Switch Cursed Seal Technique. I was careless!"
Fū, a ninja of the Yamanaka clan who joined Root, was one of Danzō's most capable subordinates.
Before the Fourth Great Ninja War, at the Five Kage Summit in the Land of Iron, Danzō attended as the Fifth-and-a-Half Hokage with only two subordinates: Fū Yamanaka and Torune Aburame.
That the two served as Danzō's right and left arms meant their strength was formidable. Their secret techniques, if used well, were extremely lethal.
Mizuki hadn't expected Danzō to dispatch such an expert to kill him.
The Mind Puppet Switch Cursed Seal Technique was Fū's unique secret technique. It used a puppet to perform the Mind Body Switch Technique, transferring and sealing the enemy's consciousness into the puppet.
Mizuki's consciousness was now sealed inside this wooden puppet. He couldn't move or speak. He couldn't even sense his chakra. His body had been taken over by Fū.
The situation could only be described with one phrase: at the mercy of others.
"Your technique has strong practical applications. Your strength has surpassed that of a Chūnin, reaching Jōnin level." The "Mizuki" across from him said, "Unfortunately, you're disloyal to Konoha, so you must be killed."
Mizuki communicated with him using his consciousness, "If you occupy my body and kill me, you'll die too."
Fū said indifferently, "I'll control your body to jump off the cliff. Before you land, my consciousness will return to my own body. That way, I won't die."
Mizuki, "It's useless. The instant my consciousness returns, I'll find an object to swap positions with and escape death."
Fū, "From the battle just now, I observed a prerequisite for your technique — you must be able to see what you want to swap with. So I'll blindfold you."
Mizuki was secretly alarmed.
To analyze the weakness of Body Swap Technique so quickly and find a countermeasure — truly worthy of a ninja Danzō relied upon.
"My consciousness is sealed in this puppet. What happens if it's damaged?"
Fū, "This puppet was created specifically for the Mind Puppet Switch Cursed Seal Technique. It can withstand general damage, but the head cannot be injured. Otherwise, the Mind Body Switch will fail and your consciousness will return. Unfortunately, you're alone. You have no one to help you."
He took out a black cloth and covered his eyes. Feeling this wasn't secure enough, he took out rope and bound both hands and feet.
Mizuki watched, heart pounding. How ruthless!
"If you blindfold yourself, how will you judge when you're about to hit the ground? What if you misjudge? Won't that kill you?"
Fū said indifferently, "I have a companion. They'll warn me before I land."
Mizuki: "…"
"The plan really is thorough. Too bad killing me won't be so easy."
The next moment, a shuriken shot up from below the cliff, passed over Mizuki's head, and pierced the puppet's forehead at extreme speed.
"Thanks for revealing the weakness of the Mind Puppet Switch Cursed Seal Technique."
Though Fū's eyes were covered, he could already feel the puppet was damaged and Mizuki's consciousness returning.
As a foreign consciousness, he immediately felt intense rejection.
"This is impossible!"
After saying this, his consciousness was expelled from Mizuki's body.
Mizuki's consciousness returned. He tore off the blindfold and said coldly, "Nothing is impossible."
The shuriken in the puppet's forehead trembled twice, flew up, and returned to his side, circling around him. He turned toward a small grove of trees behind him.
Fū was hiding in the woods, and he wasn't alone.
"Today, none of you will leave."
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T/N: Comment, give me Power Stones, like and favorite, it all supports me and makes me go foward with this. Appreciate my other stories as well, I guarantee the good work!
If you want to enjoy a large catalog of good novels with excellent translations: MrBlackWing (on that website with P)
That's it and happy reading! (-‿◦)