Looking at Tsubaki's corpse not far away, Mizuki's face twisted with rage, his fists clenched so tightly they cracked audibly.
"Danzō! To kill me, you'd even resort to such underhanded tactics."
Mizuki collected her body. Even though he wasn't the real Mizuki, she had been implicated because of him. No matter what, he would never let her die like this.
The ninja world had jutsu like Edo Tensei. With the system's existence, reviving someone in the future was possible.
"There's still that Yamanaka piece of shit left. I can't let him escape."
His trump card absolutely couldn't be exposed!
If Hiruzen and Danzō learned of his abilities, they would devise targeted tactics. The next time they struck, it would be a killing blow.
Mizuki quickly found the cave's location. He didn't rashly enter. If there were explosive tag traps inside, the cave could collapse and bury him alive.
Root ninja were all brainwashed — they could disregard their own lives to complete a mission. Mizuki didn't want to perish together with Fū.
"Time for the Clone Technique to make its entrance."
Without forming hand signs, three clones appeared beside him.
These three clones weren't solid Shadow Clones, but illusory ones. Mizuki had them hide in different locations, then strode into the cave. Not going in wasn't an option — who knew if this cave had other exits. If Fū escaped, he would be in trouble.
As for traps, with three clones outside, Mizuki wasn't worried. The moonlight shining in from outside kept the interior from being completely pitch black.
After walking just a few steps, Mizuki saw Fū.
"What, are you really going to perish together with me?"
Fū looked at him, "I don't know what other trump cards you have, but since you've come in, this is my last chance."
Mizuki, "Aren't you worried this is my Shadow Clone?"
Fū said, "If you knew the Shadow Clone Technique, you would have used it by now. This must be your real body."
Mizuki shrugged, "You're right — this is my real body."
"Then be buried here with me. Your abilities are too strange. I can't let you continue threatening Konoha."
An explosion rang out at the cave entrance. Rocks collapsed, sealing it shut.
"Threaten Konoha? I haven't done anything to harm the village, and I never planned to defect. It's that old bastard Hokage who's determined to kill me."
Fū said, "You've hidden your abilities and pretended to be an ordinary Chūnin. Your words mean nothing. Whatever — we're both about to die anyway. There's no point in talking."
He raised his head to look at the cave ceiling. A hissing sound rose and fell.
Mizuki looked up and saw sparks flickering across the ceiling. Explosive tags — at least a hundred of them.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The explosions brought the ceiling down instantly.
Small pieces of rubble fell like rain. A fist-sized rock struck Fū's head, bloodying it, but he kept his neck rigid and stared at Mizuki.
"This is my real body, but you don't understand my abilities well enough."
As Mizuki spoke, a head-sized rock fell toward his skull.
Fū breathed a sigh of relief. But the next moment, the rock passed through Mizuki's body and crashed to the ground.
"An ordinary clone? An illusory afterimage? No, that's impossible. He had footsteps when he walked in — he was solid."
Fū shouted that it was impossible, but the question would never be answered.
Large rocks fell. The ceiling collapsed completely, crushing him to death and burying his body within the mountain.
Outside the cave, one of Mizuki's clones had solidified into reality.
This was the effect of the mutated Clone Technique. The real body could instantly switch positions with any clone.
Mizuki called it the Phantom Body Switch Technique.
It was similar to the Body Swap Technique, but could only swap positions between the real body and clones — that was its limitation.
The advantage was that he didn't need to see the clone's location and could ignore obstacles. Even though the cave had just been sealed, he successfully used the Phantom Body Switch Jutsu to swap positions with his clone.
This was another divine technique.
"Today's battle was truly dangerous, and my chakra is nearly a third depleted."
Multiple uses of Body Swap Technique, plus one use of the A-rank ninjutsu Stone Mirror Wall — the chakra consumption was enormous.
"If I hadn't given Sakura that bowl of ramen and received back 10 Kakashi chakra limits, I definitely wouldn't have survived today."
Clearly, following the system's lead was the right path.
Next, Mizuki began handling the corpses.
He burned the bodies of Wasabi and Jin to ash. As for Fū buried in the cave, he had no way to deal with him, so he left him there. Next, he found the bandits' corpses, cut off the bandit leader's head, and prepared to take it back to the village at the foot of the mountain. This was proof of mission completion.
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The next day, Mizuki descended the mountain.
When the village chief saw him, alarm flashed across his face, but he immediately composed himself.
"This is indeed the head of the bandit leader Kakubu. Ninja of Konoha, thank you for eliminating the bandits on the mountain."
After having the village chief sign the mission completion documents, Mizuki headed back to Konoha.
Konoha was dangerous — both Hiruzen and Danzō wanted him dead — but until he possessed absolute power, he had to return.
Only there could his strength increase rapidly. Besides, he knew the plot's early stages centered on that village. Compared to the crisis-ridden ninja world, Konoha in its current peacetime was relatively safer.
"Besides, the Chūnin Exams are about to begin. When Orochimaru launches the Konoha Crush Plan, Hiruzen will die. Once Tsunade takes office as Fifth Hokage, it'll be time to settle accounts with Danzō."
The seeds had been planted. When Danzō fell, Mizuki would realize the plan in his heart. What he wanted wasn't just temporary stability — as a transmigrator, to continue following the old plot as a bystander would be far too boring.
Tsubaki, when you awaken again, I'll show you a completely new shinobi world!
After over a week of traveling, Mizuki stood once more outside the gates of Konoha.
❊❊❊❊❊
Hokage Tower, Mission Hall.
The moment Hiruzen saw Mizuki, his pupils contracted to pinpoints.
"Lord Third, the bandit extermination mission is complete. This is the mission completion certificate signed by the village chief who issued the mission."
Hiruzen's heart shook violently, but his expression had already returned to calm.
He took the mission completion documents and said, "Mm, excellent. You did well. The payment is 80,000 ryō. After deducting what you owe the village, there's 50,000 ryō remaining. Go collect it yourself. This mission took quite a while. You've worked hard — rest for a few days first."
After Mizuki left, Hiruzen's expression became extremely unpleasant.
"Useless Danzō — and he guaranteed Mizuki's death this time." He called over an ANBU, "Go. Bring Danzō here. I need to see him."
Before the ANBU could leave, the office door swung open.
"No need. I'm already here." Danzō walked in, leaning on his cane, his expression equally grim.
Hiruzen dismissed the ANBU, "How did you handle this? Why is he back alive?"
Danzō said, "I sent three people. Fū Yamanaka is a Jōnin, and the other two are Special Jōnin. With those three, killing Mizuki should have been simple."
Hiruzen's voice was cold, "But it wasn't. So tell me — what happened?"
"They lost contact a week ago. I sent people to investigate. The results just came back."
"And?"
"All three are dead. Wasabi and Jin's bodies were burned. Fū was buried in the mountain. We dug him out, but the damage was too severe — he's worthless now. The scene indicates Mizuki acted alone."
"What?" Hiruzen shot to his feet, his face transformed, "You're saying Mizuki is stronger than all three combined?"
Danzō remained silent.
Hiruzen began pacing, agitated, "What about his fiancée?"
"Dead. Her body was also incinerated."
"Hiss!" Hiruzen sucked in a sharp breath, shaken by Mizuki's ruthlessness, "Immensely powerful, yet hiding himself, content to be a Chūnin. Someone like that could devastate the village at any moment."
"The best solution is to gather the village's Jōnin and kill him."
"This…" Hiruzen hesitated.
Danzō's voice dropped, edged with anger, "Hiruzen, you must decide soon. Once he causes massive damage, it'll be too late."
Hiruzen frowned, "But we have no evidence."
"Then fabricate it. We can't keep dragging this out."
"Fabricated evidence will be discovered eventually. And then…"
Danzō's face flushed with rage, "Are you that worried about your reputation? About losing your position as Hokage?"
"Let me think it over first."
Danzō's fury boiled over.
After decades as comrades, he knew Hiruzen's every tell, "Think it over" meant "no".
"Hiruzen, you'll regret this." Danzō slammed his cane down and turned to leave.
He would bypass Hiruzen and strike at Mizuki directly. Danzō loved Konoha. To protect his village, he wouldn't let Mizuki live.
Besides, he'd already lost four subordinates trying to kill this man. He wanted revenge.
Hiruzen saw through him immediately, "Danzō, Root is forbidden to strike at him without evidence."
Danzō stopped at the door and turned, "I won't allow such a threat to keep breathing."
"This is an order."
"Hiruzen, your indecisiveness will destroy the village!"
Hiruzen's gaze turned cold.
"Danzō, don't forget — I'm the Hokage!"
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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 more chapters of this novel or enjoy a large catalog of good novels with excellent translations: MrBlackWing (you know where to search)
That's it and happy reading! (-‿◦)