"Leader, what do we do now?" Itachi asked.
He felt anxious. After receiving Hiruzen's message, he and Kisame had planned to intercept Mizuki halfway.
Outwardly, he'd said they would capture Mizuki and force him to join Akatsuki. Inwardly, however, he planned to unleash Amaterasu the instant he saw him—giving Mizuki no chance whatsoever.
The plan was excellent.
What Itachi hadn't expected was that Konan had also learned Mizuki was about to leave the village. And then Pain arrived.
The previous capture's failure had convinced Konan that Itachi and Kisame alone wouldn't succeed. So she'd informed Nagato.
In her mind, Mizuki was slippery as an eel—his ability to preserve his life and escape was too strong. Unless Pain acted personally, catching him would be nearly impossible.
As for why they had to capture Mizuki, that was a long story. Ever since Orochimaru defected, Akatsuki had been short-handed, with the position codenamed "Sky" (空) remaining vacant.
Ten rings meant ten official members. Being one short wasn't just aesthetically displeasing—it also affected Akatsuki's strength and plans. The vacancy had to be filled.
It wasn't that they hadn't searched. They'd scoured the entire shinobi world but found no one suitable to become the new "Sky". Someone like Zabuza? The Akatsuki organization wouldn't give him a second glance.
Finally, Mizuki had appeared. His methods were unique, his strength formidable. He'd been repeatedly targeted by Hiruzen, and his fiancée had been killed by Konoha. Someone like that was perfect for joining Akatsuki.
The opportunity couldn't be missed. They wouldn't hesitate to deploy Pain himself to pull Mizuki into their fold.
Pain glanced at Itachi. Earlier, when Itachi had used Amaterasu to burn Mizuki, his movements had been unambiguous. That wasn't the manner of recruiting someone—it was clearly an attempt to kill.
"Since I'm here, he won't escape." Deva Path Pain said calmly, his body ascending rapidly into the air.
From his elevated position, he surveyed the surroundings. Under the Rinnegan's gaze, nothing could hide.
When he looked north, his eyes suddenly narrowed. A trace of surprise flashed across his face. He saw Mizuki flying through the air like Superman—head pointing north, feet pointing south—moving at extreme speed.
Comparing their flight speeds, Pain realized he was no match.
"The Land of Earth's secret technique, Light-Weight Rock Technique?" Pain wondered. But immediately after, his gaze shifted to the soles of Mizuki's feet.
Through the Rinnegan's vision, he clearly saw chakra being expelled downward from the soles of Mizuki's feet.
"He's concentrating chakra at his feet and expelling it to create reverse thrust? This Mizuki truly isn't an ordinary shinobi—to even devise this kind of technique. Inviting him to join Akatsuki was the right decision. It's a pity he's unwilling."
Pain watched helplessly as Mizuki flew into the distance until he disappeared beyond the horizon.
"Leader, how did it go? Where is Mizuki?" Itachi asked urgently after Pain landed.
Pain shook his head, "He's mastered flight techniques and is extremely fast. He's flying north toward Konoha right now—we can't catch up anymore. This capture attempt has failed."
Itachi was shocked that Mizuki had mastered flight techniques—this was completely unexpected. Once again, he marveled at how deeply that man had been hiding his abilities.
Kisame spoke up, "This Mizuki really is a slippery loach—even with the leader deployed, we couldn't catch him. I say we should just charge straight into Konoha. With the leader's strength, they couldn't stop us anyway."
"No!" Pain immediately rejected the idea, "Akatsuki cannot become enemies with the shinobi villages at this time. However, the plan to capture the Tailed Beasts can now be implemented. The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is in the Land of Waves, isn't he? Itachi, Kisame—you two make the trip and capture him."
Having failed to capture Mizuki, Pain immediately shifted his target to Naruto.
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Mizuki flew for some distance. Seeing no pursuers behind him, he descended.
"I never would have thought Pain himself would come. Good thing I have some tricks up my sleeve. And Itachi's killing intent was far too heavy. Looks like I'll need to do some publicizing when I get back. You make my life difficult, I'll make yours difficult too."
Soon, he returned to Konoha.
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When the ANBU reported that Mizuki had returned, fury surged in Hiruzen's heart.
'Didn't Itachi say Amaterasu's flames could kill Mizuki instantly? Why is he still alive?'
Another failed plan. Hiruzen was struggling to cope.
'Kotoamatsukami had no effect on Mizuki, and Amaterasu didn't kill him either. Could he be hiding even more of his strength?'
Panic crept in.
Previously, Hiruzen hadn't taken Mizuki seriously. Teleportation abilities, the Rasengan—none of it seemed particularly threatening. He'd always believed that if Mizuki truly had strength, he would have fought back after being plotted against so many times. His passivity must mean he was weak and didn't dare resist.
But now, his thinking had changed. Wariness replaced dismissal.
"If he has the strength, why doesn't he resist? Does he have some psychological problem—enjoying staying in Konoha to scheme against me? With this kind of power, he could defect like Orochimaru or Itachi. Konoha couldn't do much about it. Yet he stubbornly refuses to leave. Why?"
Hiruzen decided to probe Mizuki's true intentions at their next meeting. He had to understand why Mizuki wanted to stay in Konoha and what his real attitude toward the village was.
He waited, but Mizuki didn't arrive.
"Didn't Mizuki return to the village? Where did he go?"
The ANBU reported, "Lord Hokage, after returning to the village, Mizuki heard that Iruka was injured and hospitalized in the office explosion. He went directly to the hospital to visit him."
Hiruzen frowned.
Mizuki went to visit Iruka?
When a shinobi's mission fails, shouldn't the first priority be reporting to the Hokage? Explaining the reasons and details of the failure?
Why visit a patient first? This was unreasonable—completely unreasonable.
'Could it be that he really did bomb the office? Now that he knows Iruka was injured in the explosion, he feels guilty and rushed to visit him first? Hiruzen felt he'd guessed the truth.'
By his reasoning: if you didn't do it, why would you feel guilty?
However, this reveals something from another angle. Hiruzen's eyes narrowed. Mizuki still has feelings of friendship toward Iruka.
His mind worked quickly.
'If they have more contact—even carry out missions together—this friendship could develop into a bond. Then there will be many more ways to deal with him.'
Tsubaki's death had convinced Hiruzen that Mizuki was cold-blooded. And cold-blooded people have no emotional weaknesses. They act without restraint and don't care about consequences.
This type of person is the hardest to deal with. Aside from defeating them with superior force, there's no other way.
Threaten them with their relatives' lives? Sorry—cold-blooded people feel no family affection. Similarly, friendship and love can't become leverage for threats. Cold-blooded people simply don't care.
But now, Mizuki's visit to Iruka made Hiruzen realize something: Mizuki wasn't completely cold-blooded. Emotionally, he had weaknesses.
"If I use this properly, it could become a shortcut to controlling him." Hiruzen narrowed his eyes and began constructing a new plan.
❊❊❊❊❊
At Konoha Hospital, Iruka lay in bed wrapped in bandages, but conscious.
"Mizuki, I didn't expect you'd come to see me."
Mizuki stood by the bed, "We're friends who grew up together—isn't it natural for me to visit?"
Iruka: "Friends? I thought…"
He got halfway through and fell silent.
Hiruzen had guessed correctly. Mizuki did feel guilty, so after returning to Konoha, he came to the hospital first. As for the others killed or injured in the explosion, he couldn't worry about them—he could only apologize in his heart.
Of course, visiting Iruka served another purpose: to show the villagers that he, Mizuki, wasn't cold-blooded.
If he insisted on staying in Konoha, his image needed maintenance. Although staying meant being targeted every few days, which was frustrating, he had no plans to defect. At least not at this stage.
Even if he did defect, he wouldn't join another faction. Neither Akatsuki nor Otogakure held any appeal. If he truly left, he would establish his own faction.
Right now, he wasn't prepared. He didn't know what he should do. In short, he had no ideal, no goal to strive for.
Black Zetsu had schemed for a thousand years to revive his mother. Orochimaru established Otogakure to research immortality. Akatsuki's ideal was peace in the shinobi world. Madara and Obito wanted to use the Infinite Tsukuyomi to create a dream world.
In comparison, Mizuki still hadn't found his own ideal.
'Perhaps returning to Earth is a good ideal, but it's too distant, too illusory.'
An ideal with no hope in sight is nothing but daydreaming.
Thinking about it, Mizuki felt irritated. In his previous life, he'd been someone without ideals who gave up after graduating from university. After transmigrating, he still had no ideals.
He couldn't help but feel that life had no meaning.
Watching Mizuki standing by the bed in a daze, Iruka suddenly asked, "Mizuki, do you know the cause of Tsubaki's death?"
Mizuki frowned, "I don't know!"
He didn't want to say more. It was best if Iruka knew nothing, or else trouble could arise.
But Iruka wouldn't let it go.
"Was the explosion attack on the Hokage's office your doing?"
"It wasn't! All right, my mission failed this time, and I need to report to the Third. I'll visit you again next time."
With that, he turned and left.
Watching Mizuki walk out of the hospital room, Iruka sighed.
"I saw Tsubaki leave with the Root shinobi that day. She must have died in front of you, right? I just hope it wasn't by your hand."
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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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I'm currently translating another project (for $1.5) where the main character travels through various worlds, like Highschool of the Dead, Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress, Darwin's Game, and many more, building a massive harem. It will have smut chapters (+18) and spicy images of the female characters. Check it out if you're interested! :)
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