"You're asking for too much!" Orochimaru said, his displeasure evident.
Mizuki, "Killing three Anbu will make the Konoha Crush Plan easier to execute. It benefits both of us."
Orochimaru replied noncommittally, "After defecting from Konoha, will you join my Otogakure?"
Mizuki smiled, "Who said I was defecting? Killing the Third Hokage is one thing — defecting is another. These are separate matters. I prefer living in the sunlight to hiding in dark caves."
"Hehe, in the sunlight?" Orochimaru gave him a meaningful look.
The next moment, he opened his mouth and regurgitated a scroll, throwing it toward Mizuki.
The scroll was covered in mucus, making Mizuki's skin crawl. He stepped aside, letting it fly past and fall to the ground.
Orochimaru didn't mind, "These are the jutsu you wanted. Not many — only three. If you want more, you'll have to wait until the Third Hokage is dead."
As he spoke, his body began to sink, disappearing into the soil.
"I'll take care of those three Anbu. Consider it my apology for this unexpected intrusion. I hope our cooperation will be pleasant, Mizuki-kun!"
Sensing his chakra moving away, Mizuki breathed a sigh of relief.
His right hand, hidden in his sleeve, trembled. His palm was covered in wounds, intense pain penetrating deep into the bone.
"The Rasenshuriken is a double-edged sword. I controlled it to stay as far from my palm as possible, yet I still got injured this badly."
Harming oneself before harming the enemy.
In the anime, Naruto didn't dare use the Rasenshuriken without Sage Mode. Even the Uzumaki clan's robust constitution couldn't handle it, let alone Mizuki with his ordinary physique.
"The Triple Rashōmon Gate has impressive defense."
It wasn't that Mizuki had no way to deal with it. Two uses of his teleportation technique could swap Orochimaru to the front of the gate, facing the Rasenshuriken directly.
But even that wouldn't kill that perverted snake.
To kill Orochimaru, two conditions must be met. First: force out his true form, the Eight-Headed Serpent, then kill it and reduce it to ash — not leaving even a single scale. Second: eliminate all curse marks.
Only then could he truly be killed, with no possibility of resurrection.
The first condition was relatively easier; the second was truly difficult. Who knows how many curse marks Orochimaru had scattered throughout the ninja world. Killing him was essentially impossible.
{T/N: Orochimaru is the true Voldemort…}
'Good thing I managed to bluff my way through. Otherwise, I would've had no choice but to flee.' Mizuki thought with a sigh.
His current attack methods were limited to the Rasengan, Rasenshuriken, and his teleportation technique combined with explosive tags. These worked well against ordinary ninja, but they posed little threat to Orochimaru.
"The best way to deal with him is still genjutsu. I wonder if there's any in this scroll."
Looking at the scroll on the ground, Mizuki hesitated — reaching for it felt wrong, but not reaching for it also felt wrong. It was just too disgusting.
"Better wash it first!"
Using two wooden sticks to pick up the scroll, he went to a small river and threw it in to rinse it. Jutsu scrolls were made from special materials and weren't afraid of water. At least the surface was waterproof.
After washing it several times, Mizuki retrieved the scroll and spread it on the ground. The first technique that caught his eye was, unexpectedly, the Summoning Jutsu.
Mizuki: "…"
Well, it wasn't bad. He wondered what kind of return he'd get from teaching the Summoning Jutsu to Naruto and the others. An advanced summoning technique? One that didn't require a contract?
He was looking forward to it!
The second technique: Temple of Nirvana Technique.
A D-Rank genjutsu that makes opponents see terrifying visions they least want to see. In the anime, during Team 7's survival exercise, Kakashi used this technique on Sakura, making her see Sasuke's death. She suffered mental trauma and fainted.
During the Chunin Exams, when Sasuke and Sakura encountered Orochimaru in the Forest of Death, they were caught in the Temple of Nirvana Technique and saw their own dying moments, rendering them unable to move.
"Heh heh, I was just wanting genjutsu, and here it is!"
He examined the third technique.
"Five Elements Seal?" Mizuki raised an eyebrow.
He wondered if Orochimaru had some deeper meaning behind giving him these three techniques.
But just then, a strange chakra suddenly appeared several thousand meters away.
"This chakra…" Mizuki's expression changed slightly.
He sensed hatred, anger, bloodlust, and all sorts of negative emotions. This was completely unlike human chakra.
"Nine-Tails chakra. What's going on? Why did Naruto suddenly release Nine-Tails chakra?"
He looked up and saw orange-yellow chakra spiraling upward, its powerful malice palpable even from thousands of meters away. Intense battle shockwaves spread in all directions, trees falling in swaths.
Mizuki put away the scroll and moved quickly toward Naruto's location.
By the time he arrived, the battle had ended. The scene was devastating — bones scattered on the ground, countless fallen trees, the terrain severely damaged.
Orochimaru's hand was pressed against Naruto's abdomen, and the Nine-Tails chakra emanating from him was rapidly fading.
Naruto had lost consciousness. A circle of sealing runes appeared on his abdomen — the Five Elements Seal.
Kimimaro stood behind Orochimaru, panting.
Sasuke lay to one side, unconscious.
The three Anbu — Elephant, Boar, and Eagle — were all dead. Eagle in particular had many holes in his body from Kimimaro's bone spikes.
"Hehe, Mizuki-kun, everything is finished. I should go now. I'll help you dispose of these three bodies."
He summoned three snakes that swallowed the three Anbu corpses.
"Don't forget about our cooperation. Farewell!"
Orochimaru turned with a smile, Kimimaro following behind as they walked into the distance.
Suddenly, Mizuki spoke, "Orochimaru, that Dead Bone Pulse boy with you — what if you let him become my disciple? If he becomes my disciple, I might be able to cure his Kekkei Genkai disease."
Orochimaru stopped and turned to look at Mizuki.
"You even know about Kimimaro's Kekkei Genkai disease. Just where are you getting your intelligence from?"
Mizuki smiled, "I have my own sources. So, what do you say? Want to give it a try? If things continue as they are, he'll only last three more months at most."
Orochimaru asked, "Can you really cure him?"
Mizuki, "Who knows?"
Orochimaru chuckled, "Mizuki-kun, you're quite interesting. How about we discuss this after the Konoha Crush?"
"Suit yourself!"
Watching the two figures recede into the distance, Mizuki shook his head with a wry smile.
What a mess!
A perfectly good mission to the Land of Waves had turned into this unexpected complication.
"They're both unconscious. I'll take them to Sakura first. Once she wakes up, we'll head back to Tazuna's house."
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Meanwhile, Orochimaru and Kimimaro had already boarded a small boat and left the Land of Waves.
"Orochimaru-sama, is that Mizuki very strong?" Kimimaro asked.
Orochimaru's voice was raspy. After a moment of silence, he replied, "Even for me, defeating him would be difficult — let alone killing him. His abilities are too strange, too flexible. He can attack or retreat at will, always keeping his opponent off-balance. I see the shadow of the Fourth Hokage in him. In some ways, he's even stronger than the Fourth Hokage."
Orochimaru thought of the Rasengan that could be thrown and the Rasenshuriken with its devastating power. These were things even the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, hadn't achieved.
"Can we trust him to cooperate with us?" Kimimaro asked, "Should we leak information to Konoha — say Mizuki joined forces with us to kill Konoha Anbu — and force him to our side completely?"
Orochimaru shook his head, "Someone like him is a lone wolf. He doesn't rely on a pack or trust any outside force — only himself. According to intelligence Kabuto sent back, he apparently even killed his own fiancée. For someone like that, companions and bonds are worthless. If we force him to defect, he won't join Otogakure. He'll become our enemy entirely."
Kimimaro asked, "What if he betrays our agreement and sides with Konoha?"
Orochimaru, "That's why our plan needs to change. The Fourth Kazekage will have to be kept alive for now."
❊❊❊❊❊
Mizuki picked up Naruto first, then walked toward Sasuke.
When he reached Sasuke, he noticed something on the back of his neck — three comma-shaped tomoe arranged in a ring.
"A curse mark?"
Orochimaru worked fast.
The curse mark was eroding Sasuke's body, causing a high fever that made it impossible to wake him. Naruto, first overwhelmed by the Nine-Tails' chakra and then worn down by Orochimaru, was completely exhausted and had fallen into a deep sleep.
Without waking either of them, Mizuki carried one in each hand and went to find Sakura. She had fainted, scared unconscious by Orochimaru.
Mizuki walked up and shook her awake.
"Mizuki-sensei, where is this?" Opening her eyes, Sakura was still a bit confused. But seeing Mizuki, she breathed a sigh of relief.
In her eyes, Mizuki saw lingering fear.
"It's okay now. It's all over."
Sakura gradually calmed down. Then she turned, saw Sasuke and Naruto lying on the ground, and let out a cry.
"Sasuke-kun!"
Naruto had become completely invisible to her.
Sakura rushed to Sasuke's side and quickly discovered the curse mark on his neck.
"Mizuki-sensei, what happened to Sasuke-kun?"
Mizuki, "This is from Orochimaru — oh, Orochimaru is that androgynous creep. What's on Sasuke's neck is a curse mark he planted."
Sakura, "Is this curse mark dangerous? Can it be removed? Will Sasuke-kun die…"
The barrage of questions left Mizuki dumbfounded.
He quickly said, "Hold on, hold on! Don't worry — the curse mark isn't dangerous in the short term. In fact, it will boost Sasuke's strength. Of course, it can also be sealed. Here, I'll give you this Five Elements Seal technique. If you learn it, it might help Sasuke."
❊❊❊❊❊
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! (-‿◦)