"Everything you said about the Uchiha clan's massacre is completely unfounded," Kakashi said with a frown, "At the time, I was serving in the ANBU. Why had I never heard any of this? How could I not have noticed?"
Mizuki didn't answer. The storage ring on his hand flashed, and an object appeared. He tossed it to the ground.
Everyone stared at what lay there.
Sakura asked, confused, "This is… an arm?"
It was wrapped in bandages, but the outline of the arm and hand was unmistakable.
Mizuki looked at Kakashi, "Whose severed arm is this? Does it look familiar?"
Kakashi's voice was tight, "If I'm not mistaken, it's Danzō's right arm."
"That's right." Mizuki nodded, "Once I unwrap it, you'll see whether what I said has any basis."
A kunai flashed. The bandages split open, revealing the arm in full.
Eleven Sharingan were embedded in the pale flesh. Sakura's scalp went numb. She clapped a hand over her mouth, terrified she might scream. Naruto's attention snapped to it too, his eyes blank as he stared at the arm.
Kakashi's face went ashen. His lips moved, but no words came. Even Mizuki looked shaken.
Sasuke reacted most violently. His eyes were bloodshot, his body trembling, and his rage was almost tangible.
"Kill!… Kill!… Kill Danzō!… Kill the Third! Kill everyone in Konoha!"
He was already unhinged, but the next moment he crashed to the ground with a heavy thud.
Unconscious!
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cried.
Mizuki frowned. From Sasuke's condition, it looked like his mind had been damaged.
Sakura had said earlier that Itachi and Kisame had been here. Mizuki suspected Sasuke had been "educated" by Itachi's Tsukuyomi, leaving him mentally drained.
My foolish little brother…
"Ahem. In any case, Kakashi, I'm taking Naruto and Sasuke with me. I won't let them stay in Konoha any longer. Don't try to stop me. In your current state, you can barely stand, and you couldn't stop me even if you wanted to. If you're willing, you can come with me."
Kakashi's expression hardened.
As an adult, it was difficult to change the way he thought.
He had long known the truth behind his father's death, yet he had stayed in Konoha all this time, with no intention of defecting. One could only say that Hiruzen's indoctrination had been very effective.
Mizuki wasn't going to sway him with a few words.
"Konoha may have darkness, but you can't deny that, on the surface, it's bright and peaceful. The villagers do live good lives. I won't defect! Right now, all I want is to protect the villagers and the village. Let the past stay in the past. Sasuke has a blood feud with the village over the massacre, so I have no right to keep him here. But Naruto is a Jinchūriki. He is an important asset to the village, and I absolutely will not allow you to take him away."
The next moment, he lifted the headband over his left eye, revealing the Sharingan, and took a fighting stance.
Mizuki merely watched, not even bothering to move.
Sure enough, in less than a second, Kakashi collapsed with a thud, face-first onto the ground, just like Sasuke.
"Mizuki-sensei, I… I'll go with you!" Naruto said, gaze steady.
Sakura clutched the unconscious Sasuke. She struggled, staring at his face, then finally gritted her teeth, lifted her head, and said, "Mizuki-sensei, I'll go with you too."
Mizuki shook his head, "If you leave, what about your parents? They worked so hard to raise you, and you're going to walk away like this?"
Tears streamed down Sakura's face. Choking up, she said, "I… I'm sorry to them, but I want to follow Sasuke-kun. I don't want to become Sasuke-kun's enemy."
Sasuke had already begun to harbor thoughts of revenge against Konoha. Sakura knew that if she returned to Konoha, she would become his enemy someday. The next time they met, it would be a fight to the death.
But she liked Sasuke. For the person she loved, what did her parents and the village amount to?
Mizuki still shook his head.
"I'm sorry. I won't take you with us. Your parents are in Konoha. You still have ties to the village. If you come with us, sooner or later, our trail will be exposed."
Sakura shouted, "No, it won't!"
Mizuki asked, "If Konoha threatened your parents' lives and ordered you to feed them information, would you dare refuse?"
"I…" Sakura fell silent.
No matter how she answered, Mizuki wasn't going to take her.
If she said she would refuse, it meant she was so unfilial she wouldn't even care about her parents' lives. Someone that cold-blooded and heartless wasn't someone he dared keep by his side.
If she said she wouldn't refuse, then she would be a future spy, and he dared even less to keep someone like that.
"Naruto, carry Sasuke. We leave immediately."
Sakura panicked, hugging Sasuke tightly and refusing to let go.
In the next instant, Mizuki appeared behind her and struck the back of her neck with a chop, knocking her out.
Naruto carried Sasuke on his back without a word. From that moment on, he fell completely silent.
Mizuki glanced at Sakura lying unconscious on the ground and let out a sigh. He picked up Danzō's right arm, dug out a three-tomoe Sharingan, sealed it in a medicine vial, and placed it in her hand.
She still had her last remaining "grant-and-return" opportunity for this month. It couldn't be wasted.
As for whether this Sharingan would be of any use to Sakura, and what kind of trouble it might bring her, Mizuki did not care at all.
"After this, our master-and-student bond will be over!"
Sakura's aptitude was not bad. The return multiplier was not low either, and it even occasionally reached ten thousand times. But there was no way around it. He could not take her along, lest it cause trouble later.
[ Ding! ]
[ You have granted your disciple Sakura Haruno a Three-Tomoe Sharingan (Left), triggering a 1,000× Return! ]
[ Congratulations, you have obtained an Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan (Left)! ]
Before the system finished speaking, a swelling pain stabbed through Mizuki's left eye. He covered the socket with his hand, breathing through the discomfort.
The pain faded quickly. When he lowered his hand and opened his left eye again, the single black pupil had already changed.
A blood-red base threaded with black lines formed a simple, symmetrical, exquisite pattern. The outer ring was a six-pointed star. Inside it, six lines spiraled into a clockwise vortex, as if it led into a bottomless abyss.
"This feeling is really not bad!"
Thanks, Danzō, my brother, for the gift. Thanks, brother!
May you change brides every day, be a groom every night, and have a different mother-in-law every day!
Mizuki could already sense that this eye housed two ocular techniques.
One was naturally Susanoo. Even a single Mangekyō could activate Susanoo, like Shisui.
As for why Obito and Kakashi could not, one could only say that Obito's talent was too low, and Kakashi lacked Uchiha blood. They naturally could not compare to a genius like Shisui, who had both Uchiha blood and exceptional talent.
Although Mizuki did not have Uchiha blood, the things returned by the system did not require bloodline compatibility. Moreover, his was an Eternal Mangekyō, far superior to an ordinary Mangekyō.
So activating Susanoo would be easy. At most, he could reach the Fourth Stage. He could not achieve the complete form.
Susanoo had multiple stages.
First Stage: partial form, such as only an arm.
Second Stage: half-body skeleton.
Third Stage: half-body flesh.
Fourth Stage: half-body armored form.
Fifth Stage: full-body armored form, with the caster positioned at Susanoo's forehead.
Sixth Stage: complete form, with wings growing from the back, granting flight.
After that came Senjutsu Susanoo, armored Susanoo, and so on.
Reaching the Fourth Stage was already very good for Mizuki. After all, he only had one eye, so his ocular power was only half.
But for him, that was not a problem.
"Sasuke still has one grant-and-return chance left this month. If I give him a right eye, I'll be able to complete both Eternal Mangekyō eyes."
Besides Susanoo, the left eye also housed another ocular technique. For now, Mizuki did not know what it was. He would have to study it later.
"With Konoha settled, it's time to find a new place to stay."
As soon as he stepped out of Tazuna's house, Mizuki saw an unexpected figure waiting outside.
A burly build, snow-white hair, signature flip-flops, and a distinctive forehead protector with the character "oil" written on it.
The Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku, Jiraiya, had appeared!
Beside Jiraiya was the unconscious Konohamaru. Before entering the house, Mizuki had put Konohamaru on a small boat, planning to take him along when leaving. Now the boy was in Jiraiya's hands.
Mizuki frowned. Jiraiya was actually here, and there were traces of battle on him.
Itachi and Kisame had come but had not taken Naruto. It was clearly not thanks to Kakashi. In that case, Jiraiya must have fought those two Akatsuki members.
"I know you, Chūnin Mizuki!" Jiraiya stared at Mizuki, hostility in his eyes, "Looks like you've become a Missing-nin. You not only grabbed the old man's grandson, but you also want to take Naruto and Sasuke away. As one of Konoha's Sannin, I absolutely will not allow this to happen."
Ranjishigami no Jutsu ▻ Wild Lion's Mane Technique
Jiraiya's hair surged, rushing toward Mizuki from all directions.
Mizuki reached out and grabbed Naruto by the shoulder. In the next moment, the Body Swap technique activated, and the target he swapped with was Jiraiya.
Their positions instantly exchanged.
"This is…"
Jiraiya found himself standing where Mizuki had been. Shocked, he watched the Wild Lion's Mane Technique lose its target.
Mizuki seized Konohamaru with his other hand and performed Body Swap again, taking the three kids a full hundred meters away.
Then he shot into the air and headed west at top speed.
Itachi and Kisame might still be nearby. There was no need to get entangled. The best choice was to leave as quickly as possible.
If Itachi appeared, saw Sasuke defecting, and immediately acted on a "protect Konoha" mindset, it would be a disaster.
{T/N: This is what the Kotoamatsukami Shisui gave to Itachi is for, in case you were wondering how.}
Jiraiya refused to give up and chased after him with Body Flicker.
One flew through the sky while the other pursued from the ground. In terms of speed, Jiraiya actually had the advantage.
But Mizuki was carrying three people, far too heavy a burden. It reduced his flying speed to at most a hundred kilometers per hour, nowhere near enough to match Jiraiya.
"No. If this continues, I'll be caught sooner or later." Mizuki glanced at Konohamaru in his hand and could only sigh.
In the next moment, he loosened his grip, and Konohamaru dropped.
Jiraiya hurriedly caught the kid below, then continued the chase while carrying him.
But the situation had already changed. Without Konohamaru, Mizuki's flying speed rose sharply, while Jiraiya slowed significantly under the extra burden.
With one speeding up and the other slowing down, Mizuki quickly widened the gap.
After another three minutes of pursuit, Jiraiya could no longer see Mizuki at all.
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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!
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Take a look at the new books I'm translating on my profile, Cyberpunk 2077: A God-Level Skill Every Day and Infinite Worlds: Building the Strongest Harem! They are also on my website for $5 and $1.5, respectively!
That's it and happy reading! (-‿◦)