Click!
The office door swung open, and Danzō walked in.
Hiruzen's brow furrowed. He was growing tired of this man's rude habit of entering without knocking.
"Danzō, could you please not always—"
"Hiruzen, do you truly believe you can kill Mizuki through Zabuza?" Danzō interrupted.
Hiruzen snorted coldly, his displeasure mounting.
"Although Mizuki's jutsu are dangerous, now that they've been exposed, there are ways to counter them. As long as Zabuza uses his previous tactics — hiding in the shadows and using water clones to drain Mizuki's chakra — the outcome is certain."
Intelligence is critical. One's own must be protected from leaking, while the enemy's must be obtained by any means necessary.
Someone as powerful as Hidan, with his immortal body and Death Controlling Possessed Blood, could kill Elite Jōnin Asuma as easily as slaughtering a chicken.
And yet? Because his abilities were leaked, he ended up buried alive by Shikamaru, who was merely Chūnin-level.
This proved the importance of intelligence.
Mizuki had always hidden himself well, but when he encountered Zabuza today, his echolocation was set to only a 30-meter range and failed to detect the three Konoha ANBU hidden 50 meters behind him. By the time he discovered them, it was too late.
For Hiruzen and Danzō, Mizuki's intelligence being leaked was a good thing.
Danzō sneered, "Can you guarantee that the one who runs out of chakra first will be Mizuki and not Zabuza?"
Hiruzen fell silent.
That's right — there was no guarantee. Mizuki's cunning ran deep. He had mastered a space-time jutsu comparable to Flying Thunder God, yet had kept it hidden all along.
Who could guarantee he wasn't hiding even more?
"What are you trying to say?" Hiruzen asked, his face stern.
Danzō, "A seal-less jutsu that swaps positions with others, combined with explosive tags — I don't need to spell out how dangerous that is. Even you would be in mortal danger facing it. The Chūnin Exams are about to begin. Do you think Orochimaru will come? If he joins forces with Mizuki, can Konoha withstand it?"
Hiruzen's expression darkened.
"Hiruzen, we can't delay any longer. We must strike like lightning and eliminate him completely. Otherwise, the consequences will be endless."
Hiruzen stood, looked out the window, and took several puffs from his pipe with a "tap tap" sound.
After a long moment, he sighed, his back still to Danzō, "Right now, both Naruto and Sasuke are by his side. We can't act rashly and risk him doing something extreme. Even if Zabuza can't kill him, we must wait until Team 7 returns before making our move."
Danzō flared up, "Hiruzen, why are you always like this? Such a dangerous person, and you're still unwilling to act? Aren't you afraid something will go wrong?"
Hiruzen replied, "I have my own judgment on this matter. You don't need to say more. Also, Root is not to move against him on its own."
Danzō sneered to himself. Even now, you're still putting on an act. Saying Root shouldn't move, but deep down you're probably hoping we act soon.
Hiruzen glanced at him, his voice solemn, "Danzō, this time I'm not joking. He has something I need. I want him alive."
Danzō frowned, "It's just a jutsu similar to Flying Thunder God, isn't it? Is it that important? The Scroll of Seals contains so many techniques — one more won't make a difference."
"It's not the jutsu, but something else. In any case, Root absolutely cannot act, or don't blame me for what happens next."
He narrowed his eyes, radiating pressure. Danzō's heart jumped. He was serious this time.
"Hmph. I won't get involved in this matter anymore. You handle it yourself."
With that, Danzō turned and walked away.
Hiruzen looked at the prosperous Konoha outside the window and murmured, "An ordinary civilian ninja with no exceptional talent, no resources, no guidance — yet he's gained such tremendous power. What did you discover in Uzushiogakure? Do the Chakra Control Pills really only work on Senju and Uzumaki bloodlines?"
Returning to his seat, he tapped his fingers on the desk. The next moment, an ANBU appeared, kneeling.
Hiruzen ordered, "Send a message to Zou in the Land of Waves. Have him watch Mizuki's jutsu releases, especially his hand seals."
❊❊❊❊❊
Land of Waves, in the forest near Tazuna's house.
Mizuki held a water balloon in his right hand, chakra flowing from his palm, stirring the water inside.
He was learning the Rasengan. Once he mastered it, he planned to teach Naruto.
"Following the method Jiraiya used to teach Naruto in the original story. The first stage is making chakra rotate — and it must be irregular rotation in all directions. Well then, let's try!"
Hundreds of chakra streams, under Mizuki's precise control, rotated in different directions, causing the water in the balloon to spin irregularly.
The water balloon's surface quickly developed bulges that grew more pronounced, as if hundreds of bullets were firing outward from inside. With a "pop", it burst, water spilling everywhere.
"That was way too easy!"
The stronger one's chakra control, the more efficient learning jutsu becomes.
But Mizuki hadn't expected this level of efficiency. He tried several more water balloons, testing with both hands multiple times. All succeeded easily, and he grew more proficient each time.
"Now that I've achieved irregular chakra rotation, next comes power."
He switched from water balloons to rubber balls. Water balloons have thin skins and break easily, but rubber balls are thick, and without water inside, much harder to break.
Gripping the rubber ball, chakra flowed from his palm, rotating irregularly inside. The surface began showing bulges, but they weren't very pronounced.
"Not enough chakra!"
Mizuki injected more chakra. The next second, the rubber ball exploded with a "bang".
As easy as eating and drinking!
"Looks like an A-rank jutsu poses absolutely no challenge for me."
He tried several more balls, all succeeding on the first attempt.
"Now for the final step."
In his right palm, chakra gathered, forming a blue sphere. But it only lasted three seconds before dispersing out of control.
He tried a second time — still only three seconds.
Unstable!
Mizuki frowned in thought, "How can I keep it stable and prevent it from breaking apart? Or rather, what's causing the instability?"
He formed another Rasengan, pushing his dynamic vision to its limit as he studied the chakra flow patterns within the technique.
Soon this Rasengan dispersed, and he formed a new one, continuing to observe. After repeating this more than ten times, he finally spotted the issue.
"Chakra rotating in different directions collides due to conflicting trajectories, causing disturbance. I need to refine my chakra control even further — achieving both irregular rotation and orderly movement to prevent collisions."
Mizuki began redesigning the chakra rotation pathways. After the improvements, he executed it again. This time the Rasengan lasted ten seconds.
"Still not enough!"
He continued refining it. The duration kept extending — 15 seconds, 20 seconds, 30 seconds.
"This time should be perfect."
He executed the Rasengan again. It lasted 60 seconds with no sign of breaking apart.
Mizuki smiled and nodded. The next moment, he threw the Rasengan forward. The rapidly spinning sphere whipped up strong winds along its path before striking a large tree 30 meters away.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The bark and trunk shattered under the assault. When the Rasengan's chakra finally depleted, a conical crater — one meter wide and half a meter deep — had appeared at the tree's base.
"Haha, my Rasengan has already surpassed the original!"
The Fourth Hokage developed the Rasengan based on the principle of the Tailed Beast Ball. Combined with Flying Thunder God, Minato killed countless enemies. Yet even before his death, he never managed to throw the Rasengan at his targets.
What Minato couldn't achieve, Mizuki had accomplished. And from complete ignorance to surpassing the master — all in less than an hour.
"Now that I've mastered the Rasengan, I'll find an opportunity to teach it to Naruto. I wonder what the system will return."
He was looking forward to it, but he wasn't in a hurry.
With three ANBU constantly watching Naruto and the others in secret, Mizuki certainly wouldn't teach him the Rasengan openly. Body Swap being exposed was fine, but the Rasengan couldn't be revealed — at least not yet.
"For the next three days, I'll master the Sky Walk Technique. I've been putting it off too long."
Training had been sporadic, wasting time. The bandit suppression mission alone — two whole weeks wasted.
The Yongquan tenketsu on the soles of his feet had been thoroughly trained under the medicine's influence. Just a few more days and it would be ready.
"Before or during the Chūnin Exams, Hiruzen will definitely make another move against me. Underhanded tactics don't concern me. What I fear is him openly fabricating evidence, labeling me a spy, and forcing me to stand against Konoha."
If that happened, Mizuki would face all of Konoha's ninja.
With his current strength, he was far from capable of opposing all of Konoha. At best, he could take a few down with him before being finished in minutes.
"So the Sky Walk Technique must be completed as soon as possible. That way, even if I'm forced to defect, I won't be surrounded and killed inside Konohagakure."
Chakra sprayed from the soles of his feet, and Mizuki's body slowly rose, drifting through the forest.
The slight stinging sensation indicated the Yongquan tenketsu wasn't yet solid enough to withstand sustained chakra impact.
But soon it would be.
❊❊❊❊❊
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! (-‿◦)