Chapter 45
Mizuki's smile froze on his face. The fingers gripping the porcelain bottle unconsciously tightened until they turned slightly white.
These two brats… how are they so difficult?
Shouldn't normal students' eyes light up the moment a teacher offered them a chance to get stronger?
"Hehe, you two really are vigilant. You'll definitely become excellent ninja in the future."
Mizuki forcibly found himself an out, put the bottle away, and forced his smile back: "Since you have your own ideas, that's fine. Sensei was just being kind. If you change your mind later, feel free to come find me."
With that, Mizuki turned and left. But the moment his back was turned, the dark cloud in his eyes grew so thick it almost seemed to drip.
Watching Mizuki's retreating figure, Naruto and Sasuke didn't rush to leave either.
"That Mizuki-sensei has big problems."
Sasuke shoved his hands in his pockets, eyes narrowing slightly: "These past few days in class, the way he looks at us is really off."
Naruto wrinkled his nose, sniffing at an nonexistent scent in the air: "Fox Sage told me there's something wrong with those pills. And he only talked to the two of us privately about it."
The usual playfulness vanished from his face, replaced by a rare seriousness: "These past couple of days on my way to train in the back mountain, I saw Mizuki-sensei heading toward that small abandoned building cluster on the edge of the village."
"It's pretty remote. Whatever he's doing there, it can't be anything good. I think we should check it out."
"You mean…" Sasuke's eyes lit up: "Follow him?"
"It's also kind of checking on things for Iruka-sensei."
Naruto thought back to the "good person Mizuki" Iruka had described—compared to what he'd observed these past two days, there was a clear discrepancy.
"Let's treat it like our own ninja practical exercise. We'll go see what kind of medicine he's really selling in that gourd."
"It's a shame we don't have any proof. Suspicion alone isn't enough to go tell Hokage-jiji."
In most people's impressions, his persona was still that gentle Mizuki-sensei—otherwise they could have just reported him directly.
…
Night fell. The forest on the edge of Konoha village was exceptionally quiet.
Having prepared in advance, Naruto—guided by Xuanming—followed Mizuki's figure from a distance together with Sasuke.
The ninja skills they learned at the academy actually came in very handy.
A long-abandoned warehouse stood in this area.
It was quite remote—normally only patrolling Anbu passed through.
Two small black shadows moved like black cats, silently darting between the tree canopies, finally stopping beside a crack in the warehouse roof.
Naruto held his breath. The Concealment Technique wasn't just throwing a cloth over yourself and calling it done.
The user had to suppress their own presence, control movements as much as possible, and blend into the atmosphere of the surroundings.
Having done all that, Sasuke and Naruto cautiously peered through the gap.
Inside the warehouse, a dim oil lamp burned.
Mizuki stood with his back to the door, in front of a dilapidated table.
He held the same porcelain bottle he had shown them earlier in the day.
But the expression on his face now was no longer the usual gentle smile—it was twisted and ferocious.
"Damn it… damn brats!"
Mizuki clenched the bottle so hard it nearly cracked in his palm.
"Won't eat the carrot, so I have to use the stick?"
Mizuki raged impotently in the empty warehouse.
A slender white snake slowly slithered out from a corner.
From its body came a young-sounding voice: "Lord Orochimaru gave you a time limit for this task… If you can't even get data from a few brats, it only proves your ability is lacking."
"At that point, you'll just be left here. Lord Orochimaru has no use for useless subordinates."
Back when Mizuki was on missions, he had once quietly killed a teammate who was only lightly injured—considering him dead weight—all under the excuse of "for the mission."
He was discovered in the act by a passing Orochimaru, who immediately recognized him as a natural-born scumbag and casually left a mark, remembering the person existed.
This time he was directly put to use.
"Orochimaru?!"
Hearing that name, the pupils of the two on the roof contracted sharply.
Even academy students who knew a little about ninja history understood what that name meant.
—One of the Legendary Sannin, an S-rank wanted criminal who defected from the village six years ago.
Mizuki shouted at the white snake: "Since I can't trick them, I'll just kidnap them! Then I can test whatever I want!"
"Hiss hiss…"
"You're too impatient… Lord's patience with you is limited."
The figure controlling the snake from afar pushed up his glasses.
This was just a casual side experiment while testing ninjutsu nearby—passing through Konoha and setting down an idle chess piece.
If possible, use the jinchūriki or an Uchiha from the academy for new drug tests and collect reaction data.
If not possible—whatever.
A disposable pawn actually talking about kidnapping the Nine-Tails jinchūriki and bringing him back for experiments?
A jinchūriki isn't some pushover—how arrogant.
"Shut up!"
Mizuki stared at the snake on the ground: "If I can't trick them into eating it before Iruka is discharged, then during the next survival exercise I'll make my move—grab them directly!"
"With the 'Beast Transformation Curse Seal' potion Lord bestowed on me, my power will increase…"
"At that time, break the two brats' arms and legs, tie them up, and take them back…"
A sickly fanaticism twisted Mizuki's face.
Orochimaru had once left him an early experimental curse seal formula via the mark on his body.
It could use drugs to release genetic information from animals into a human body, allowing entry into curse seal form.
Of course, his version was an outdated product—originally meant for him to test on himself voluntarily, but Mizuki had never acted on it.
Now, years later, with Orochimaru's curse seal research having advanced far beyond that, the obsolete formula was discarded. Instead he was directly given a semi-finished curse seal potion.
Mizuki forced his expression under control, desperately fantasizing about the future: "Once I have power… that useless Iruka, and everyone who looks down on me—they'll all pay the price!"
On the rooftop, Naruto and Sasuke exchanged a glance—both saw the same shock in each other's eyes.
So this was Mizuki's true face.
Jealousy, greed…
Willing to collude with a missing-nin and target his own students for power.
"Let's go tell Hokage-jiji." Naruto signaled with a hand gesture.
This was no longer a "prank" two students could handle. With someone like Orochimaru involved, it had to be reported.
Sasuke nodded. The two prepared to quietly withdraw.
At that moment—
Crack.
A faint, crisp sound.
The building beneath their feet—battered by wind and sun, long neglected—finally betrayed them.
It couldn't even support the weight of two children any longer.
In the silent night, the sound of breaking wood rang out especially clearly.
The noise inside the warehouse abruptly stopped.
When a higher-level ninja actively searched, the Concealment Technique couldn't hide them.
In the next instant, a surge of killing intent locked onto the rooftop.
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