Atop the Hokage Rock, a gentle breeze blew.
"Looks like I've really transmigrated." Mitchell gazed down at the peaceful village below, his expression complicated.
He never would have imagined that after waking up from a nap, he'd find himself in the world of Naruto — in Konohagakure, as the Chūnin Mizuki.
"Transmigrating is one thing, but why Mizuki? Is it just because of my name?"
Mitchell was extremely unwilling. Even being some other nobody would be better than this weak villain.
During the Secret Document Recovery Mission, Mizuki's companion had injured his leg and couldn't move. Rather than let him slow him down, Mizuki had smothered him to death with his hand. His cruelty was outrageous.
Later, when Konoha recovered the body, they discovered the cause of death was asphyxiation — completely contradicting Mizuki's claim that he'd died from severe injuries.
From that point on, Mizuki became a suspect in the village. Although the village had no direct evidence to prove he'd killed someone, once suspicion was raised, he could never be entrusted with important tasks again. He wasn't even allowed to take on missions. Instead, he was assigned to work as a teaching assistant at the ninja academy, just getting by.
His future was ruined!
But he wasn't content with the status quo and planned to defect, seeking better opportunities elsewhere. To that end, he'd devised a plan to have Naruto steal the Scroll of Seals, intending to use it as a gift to seek Orochimaru's protection.
Unfortunately, before the plan could be implemented, he was replaced by the transmigrator Mitchell.
"Now look at this — I've become Mizuki."
He inherited none of the good, only all the bad.
Defection was impossible. Anyone who'd watched the anime knew that the village had long since caught wind of Mizuki's plan. The Third Hokage had even turned the situation to his advantage, using it as an opportunity to deliver the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique into Naruto's hands. Defection could never succeed.
But continuing to stay in the village was like being a frog slowly boiled in warm water. Even if he avoided disaster this time by not inciting Naruto, what about next time? Hundreds of eyes in the village were watching him. Once the seed of suspicion was planted, it was nearly impossible to remove.
"Ugh, this is tough!"
Watching Naruto sit alone on the swing in the distance, having failed the Graduation Exam, Mizuki thought his own situation wasn't much better than the kid's.
Speaking of which, today was the end of the Academy Graduation Exam. The Konoha Nine would officially become ninja. Without his interference, Naruto might not graduate.
{T/N: Konoha Nine refers to Teams 7 (Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura), 8 (Hinata, Kiba, and Shino), and 10 (Ino-Shika-Cho).}
[ Ding! ]
At that moment, a voice suddenly rang out in Mizuki's mind.
[ Transmigrator detected. The Disciple 10,000× Return System is beginning activation… Please complete the Newbie Task to fully activate the system. ]
[ Newbie Task: Take Naruto as your disciple. Requirement: Have him call you Master. ]
[ Task Reward: Full System Activation | Real Chakra Control Pill ×1 | Fake Chakra Control Pill ×1 ]
Mizuki's eyes widened.
"A system?…"
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On the swing, Naruto watched as all the other students successfully graduated, wearing their ninja headbands and celebrating with their parents.
He felt increasingly out of place. Only he had failed. Only he couldn't graduate. A bone-chilling loneliness enveloped him.
"What are you thinking about?" A gentle voice spoke up.
Naruto lifted his head and froze for a moment, "Mizuki-sensei?"
Mizuki wore a faint smile, "Naruto, if you want to graduate, come with me!"
The two left the academy. The Third Hokage Hiruzen and Iruka witnessed this scene from behind the crowd.
"Iruka, I need to speak with you in a moment."
"Yes, Third Hokage-sama."
❊❊❊❊❊
Atop the Hokage Rock, Mizuki and Naruto sat at the cliff's edge, legs dangling over the precipice, each lost in their own thoughts as the mountain breeze washed over them.
"Iruka-sensei doesn't mean to give you a hard time." Mizuki looked up at the sky as he spoke.
Naruto didn't understand, "Then why is he always targeting me?"
"I think it's because he wants you to become truly strong, Naruto. You've both lost your parents. When he looks at you, it's like seeing his own little brother. He sees you as family. That's why he's afraid of losing you. Becoming a ninja is dangerous — whether on missions or the battlefield, one mistake and you could lose your life. And you haven't even mastered the Clone Jutsu yet!"
Naruto's heart stirred at these words. Even so, he still wasn't willing to accept it.
"But I really want to graduate."
Mizuki smiled faintly, "Well, I guess I have no choice but to arrange a retest for you."
"A retest? Is that really possible?" Naruto asked urgently.
Mizuki nodded.
Naruto was overjoyed, but quickly hung his head in dejection.
"Mizuki-sensei, even if I retest, my Clone Jutsu will still fail. I still won't be able to graduate."
Mizuki smiled, "Do you know why your Clone Jutsu never works properly?"
"Every time I use it, I feel like my chakra is out of control. I've been training so hard, but it still doesn't work."
Mizuki nodded, "That's right — that's exactly the problem. Your chakra control is terrible, which is why you get such disastrous results."
He didn't mention that it was the Nine-Tails affecting Naruto's chakra control.
"Then what do I do?" Naruto was at a loss.
Mizuki turned to face him, "It's simple. I'll teach you how to control your chakra. But you have to call me Master before I can teach you."
Naruto wasn't stupid. On the contrary, he was clever, and his mind was sharp. Everyone thought he was an idiot simply because his loud personality and careless behavior masked his intelligence.
Having endured cold stares since childhood and experienced the warmth and coldness of human nature, he understood more than other kids his age. At this moment, he could sense that Mizuki wasn't joking.
He called out immediately, "Master!"
Mizuki smiled faintly as the system's voice rang out in his mind.
[ Ding! ]
[ Newbie Task completed! You successfully took Naruto Uzumaki as your disciple! ]
[ Reward: Real Chakra Control Pill ×1 | Fake Chakra Control Pill ×1!]
Mizuki smiled. 'Good thing Naruto's so easy to fool — just a few words and he called me Master.'
[ Disciple 10,000× Return System officially activated! ]
[ By granting disciples Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Genjutsu, Experience, Ninja Tools, Medicine, and more, the system will return up to ten thousand times the value. Each disciple has three opportunities for granting and receiving returns per month! ]
Mizuki smiled to himself. 'Haha, soon I'll be reaching places in Kaguya where the sun doesn't shine…'
He opened his right hand, revealing a small blue pill in his palm, and held it out to Naruto.
"Eat this, and you'll be able to control your chakra."
〖 Chakra Control Pill: A system product. After consumption, any ninja's chakra control will increase to 90%. Has no effect on those whose chakra control already exceeds 90%. 〗
Naruto hesitated, but took the pill and swallowed it. It was a desperate measure — whether it was poison or medicine, effective or not, this was his only chance.
[ Ding! ]
[ You have granted your disciple Naruto Uzumaki one Chakra Control Pill, triggering a 1,000× Return! ]
Mizuki raised an eyebrow. A 1,000× return? Not the maximum 10,000×, but not bad.
[ Congratulations, you have obtained one Super Chakra Control Pill! ]
〖 Super Chakra Control Pill: A system product. After consumption, any ninja's chakra control will increase to 99.99%. 〗
Mizuki asked his system, 'What's the difference between 90% and 99.99%?'
[ Regular Chakra Control Pill increases chakra control to 90%; Intermediate Chakra Control Pill increases it to 99%; Advanced Pill 99.9%; Super Pill 99.99%; King-grade Pill 99.999%; Imperial-grade Pill… ]
[ Regular Chakra Control (≥90%): Enables quick mastery of any Ninjutsu. ]
[ Intermediate Chakra Control (≥99%): Allows simplified Hand Seals, accelerating Ninjutsu release. ]
[ Advanced Chakra Control (≥99.9%): Enables one-handed Seals. ]
[ Super Chakra Control (≥99.99%): Eliminates the need for Hand Seals — clap your hands together and whatever you call comes forth. ]
[ King Chakra Control (≥99.999%): No hand clapping required — with a single thought, whatever you call comes forth, and Ninjutsu power increases by one Rank. ]
Mizuki's eyes widened.
Naruto, having taken the Chakra Control Pill, was already feeling the changes inside him.
"Mizuki-sensei, I can feel it! My chakra — it's listening to me now."
Mizuki nodded, "Give it a try."
Naruto raised his hand.
Ram → Snake → Tiger
Bunshin no Jutsu ▻ Clone Technique
With a poof, ten Narutos appeared — one real, nine clones, nearly indistinguishable.
"I did it! Naruto Uzumaki did it! I finally mastered the Clone Jutsu!" Naruto shouted, "Mizuki-sensei, thank you! I'll go back to the academy right now for a retest. Iruka-sensei will definitely let me graduate."
He released the jutsu and turned to leave.
But Mizuki stopped him.
"Hold on — we're just getting started. Here, take another one." He pulled out the Super Chakra Control Pill the system had just returned and handed it to Naruto.
The system hadn't said returned items couldn't trigger another return! If the Super Chakra Control Pill triggered even a ten-fold return, that would be incredible!
Without hesitation, Naruto swallowed the pill.
[ Ding! ]
[ You have granted your disciple Naruto Uzumaki one Super Chakra Control Pill, triggering a 100× Return! ]
[ Congratulations, you have obtained one Imperial Chakra Control Pill! ]
〖 Imperial Chakra Control Pill: A system product. After consumption, any ninja's chakra control will increase to 99.9999%. 〗
[ Imperial Chakra Control (≥99.9999%): Ninjutsu release becomes effortless, Ninjutsu power increases by two Ranks, and Ninjutsu effects mutate. ]
"Ha! It actually works!" Mizuki was thrilled.
A shortcut lay right before him. He could give this Imperial-grade pill to Naruto and trigger yet another return.
But just then…
[ Ding! ]
[ Bug detected! Repairing… ]
Mizuki: "?"
System, are you being a sore loser?
[ Repair complete! ]
[ From this moment forward, items returned by the system cannot trigger further returns! ]
Mizuki cursed: "Damn it!"
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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!
If you want to enjoy a large catalog of good novels with excellent translations: MrBlackWing
That's it and happy reading! (-‿◦)