"Retreat" was easy to say, but not so easy to carry out. In truth, this so-called retreat was little more than a desperate escape—they were outmatched and had no chance of victory.
When fleeing for your life, someone always had to stay behind as rearguard. Otherwise, it would just become a footrace—those who ran fast survived, the slow ones perished. Counting their six-man team, Mizuki suddenly realized he might actually be the fastest runner among them. One of the Hyuga clan wasn't exactly known for speed. Kurenai Yuhi never stood out for her taijutsu skills, and she definitely wasn't known for her speed either. As for Gaara and Temari, he hadn't noticed either possessing any particular speed advantage. So when it came down to it, Mizuki just might have been the most likely one to make it out alive—even with his injuries...
But in the end, Hiashi Hyuga didn't choose scattering and fleeing, so it didn't turn into a race decided by luck. If that had happened, Gaara's survival rate would have approached zero. With mediocre speed and being the enemy's main target, unless he completely released Shukaku inside him, his current abilities offered little hope of survival.
The exhausted six-man squad, already including fighters like Mizuki who were nearly useless in combat due to their severe injuries, could barely dodge the advancing puppet attacks under the threat of Red Sand of the Desert. The responsibility for protection naturally fell on Hiashi Hyuga—the strongest among them—with Gaara, who still had abundant chakra, providing secondary support. Temari and Kurenai Yuhi acted as backup forces, while the heavily drained Ko Hyuga and injured Mizuki could do nothing but follow along as they fled.
"How long can your Gentle Fist seal Deidara's chakra?" Mizuki asked while dragging his weary, battered body as he ran.
Deidara's condition was crucial—if he managed to regain even partial strength, Konoha's escape plan would be ruined completely.
Upon hearing Mizuki's question, Ko Hyuga replied worriedly, "It's hard to say, but holding until morning would already be my limit."
"Morning? Such a short time?" Mizuki looked up at the distant horizon where white light had already begun appearing in the sky. "Not that there was much time left before sunrise anyway..."
Ko shook his head and said, "[Rotation Technique]—you can't expect everyone to be a genius like Neji, who figured it out through trial and error..."
Branch house members of the Hyuga family were inherently given less cultivation training compared to the main house. If Hiashi Hyuga used a full set of Gentle Fist techniques on Deidara, there was a good chance Deidara would already be dead. Even if it was the same jutsu, its effectiveness varied greatly depending on the user. What Hiashi could accomplish was simply beyond Ko's capabilities.
Mizuki gave a reluctant nod, accepting Ko's explanation without argument. He had no desire nor interest in meddling with such noble clan affairs, but this dangerous situation troubled him deeply.
What should I do?
By the time Deidara got his flying puppet back under control, the Konoha side would be done for. Escaping would become a lost cause. Mizuki, who had just beaten Deidara so severely, didn't believe for a second he'd be spared when facing an enraged opponent like that.
"Would rescue forces arrive in time?"
Mizuki anxiously watched as Hyuga Hiashi and Gaara struggled to hold back the puppet attacks while slowly retreating. Compared to Hiashi, Gaara was doing relatively well, though increasing fatigue showed clearly on his face. Even with a Jinchuriki's chakra reserves, enduring such an intense battle for this long was becoming difficult. His physical exhaustion worsened by the minute—after all, Gaara was only around twelve years old. It was already impressive how far he'd made it.
"We still need to hold out at least half a day longer; otherwise we're all going to die here..."
Mizuki never entertained thoughts of unexpected powerful ninja appearing or miraculous coincidences offering help. There were no "fated heroes" or main characters among this team. Technically, Gaara did play a big role, but he wasn't quite at the level of coming out unscathed after facing off against Deidara and Sasori either. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been captured three years later, drained of his tailed beast, and nearly killed.
Although luck and other intangible blessings couldn't be relied upon, Mizuki certainly wasn't powerless to request backup—it was simply challenging to send word back.
For someone skilled in sealing techniques and creatively applying summoning techniques like Mizuki, delivering messages across great distances could barely be accomplished. Although the complete lack of real-time mental communication between his original body and the Artificial Jinchuriki troubled him greatly, exchanging information wasn't impossible. People communicated in many ways: spoken words, gestures, books, and even passing notes—all effective methods for conveying intelligence.
Therefore, even if Mizuki lacked mastery of space-based jutsu, he had developed considerable skill with the mysterious Summoning technique. Using summoned beasts to deliver messages wasn't his invention. In the original storyline, many ninjas used summoned creatures for precisely this purpose. Without such a method, Naruto might still have been training in Sage Mode atop Mount Myoboku while Pain reduced Konoha village to rubble. Thus, Mizuki had also prepared special contingency plans. Both his original body and the Artificial Jinchuriki carried distinctive marked Summoned Beasts. When summoned by the other party, they could understand the general situation and message needing transmission.
"I'm sure the village has already dispatched reinforcements by now. But calculating the timing, they're still far too late. We're crumbling much too quickly."
The attack occurred shortly after midnight, and the battle progressed extremely fast. This timeframe required the Artificial Jinchuriki to seek help, followed by the village reacting and dispatching relief forces—an estimated process that wouldn't speed up easily. Fortunately, Mizuki's group hadn't moved quickly either. Estimating conservatively, full-speed rescue forces should arrive within half a day.
"Doubt they'll make it that far..."
Mizuki wasn't too worried about Konoha underestimating the threat. With Hiashi Hyuga and Sunagakure's jinchuriki involved, their influence was massive both internally and externally. If they actually died here, Konoha would lose its crown as the ninja world's top village—completely and publicly.
"Peaceful days? Always too short. Running out of time again—like usual."
As for this ambush, it wasn't exactly sudden—it was more Mizuki's own carelessness dragging him into trouble. Jinchuriki were dangerous beings attracting attention from across the ninja world. Those around them inevitably got caught up in endless troubles, just like now with Akatsuki targeting Gaara, the One-Tail Jinchuriki.
Maybe yesterday's easy encounter with a jinchuriki clouded Mizuki's judgment, making him ignore the huge risks of this mission. Without proper preparation, he recklessly tagged along—and walked straight into Deidara and Red Sand of the Desert.
Were there any red flags before Gaara became a target? Of course. No doubt about it. Others might not know, but Mizuki clearly understood what happened after Orochimaru's failed Konoha Destruction Plan: Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki arrived in Konoha to capture Naruto Uzumaki, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. They didn't succeed, though Itachi injured Kakashi Hatake using Tsukuyomi. Later, Itachi got punished by Jiraiya, and his attempt to kidnap Naruto Uzumaki ended in failure.
In the original story, this was Akatsuki's first major move, and Mizuki knew it well. But since this was now a real world where events were causally connected, things couldn't be understood in fragmented bits.
If Akatsuki dared send Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki into Konoha to capture the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki Naruto Uzumaki, they must have been fully prepared. Even though Konoha suffered heavy damage and lost its leader, it still held its strength as the dominant village. For Akatsuki to dare attack directly, they clearly had powerful experts on their side—ones who wouldn't hesitate to go after other jinchuriki or tailed beasts. Once the plan to gather all nine tailed beasts began, stopping halfway was nearly impossible. Currently, Akatsuki's power level wasn't much different from what it was three years ago. Right now, no faction in the entire ninja world could stop Akatsuki from acting.
Especially this time, Gaara—the One-Tail Jinchuriki—was an ideal target. His protection was weak, and he had unexpectedly left his village. So yeah, being targeted by Deidara and Red Sand of the Desert made perfect sense.
In reality, Akatsuki's plan to collect tailed beasts did get interrupted shortly afterward. After the Konoha Destruction Plan, when Akatsuki exposed their interest in tailed beasts, Konoha became highly concerned, even considering restricting Naruto Uzumaki from leaving the village to protect the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. Eventually, nothing came of it—partially because Jiraiya and Tsunade opposed it, but mostly due to intelligence gathered by Jiraiya indicating that Akatsuki had suspended their plan for three years, which lifted restrictions on Naruto Uzumaki's movements.
In the original storyline, the story doesn't say how Jiraiya got this info or what the actual intel was. Still, over those three years, putting together what intel he had with Akatsuki's sudden change of plans, Mizuki started piecing things together...
From Mizuki's perspective, the only possible reason that could force Akatsuki—powerful enough to challenge the entire ninja world—to pause their plans must be an issue relating to the tailed beasts themselves, making it impossible to complete the mission of capturing all Nine Tailed Beasts.
Tailed beasts are born from human will. Sure, they can't be wiped out forever, but that doesn't mean they can't die—just temporarily. Why did the Nine-Tails keep giving Naruto Uzumaki chakra back then? Sealing techniques aren't easy. Their binding power is way stronger than most realize—even tailed beasts can't break free. When a jinchuriki dies, the tailed beast sealed inside also suffers consequences from the sealing technique and dies pathetically as well. However, as long as humans continue to exist, these beings of collective human will eventually reincarnate after some time. Judging by current intel, the period required for a tailed beast to resurrect and fully recover is about three years. So why would there be a three-year grace period for Naruto's growth? The most likely reason was the death of a jinchuriki.
Indeed, during this time one jinchuriki had died—Yagura, the Fourth Mizukage of the Land of Water, who had become Mizukage as the Three-Tails' jinchuriki. He was a genius ninja controlled secretly by Obito Uchiha through the Sharingan, and he was the key figure behind the "blood mist country" era. In the original storyline, Yagura's death isn't really gone into detail about… but we do know he indeed perished during that time and was succeeded by the Fifth Mizukage Mei Terumi.
According to Mizuki's reasoning, shortly after Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki failed to capture the Nine-Tails, the Land of Water experienced the above-mentioned change. The Three-Tails became virtually unattainable in the short term, and to avoid alerting their enemies and causing excessive interference, Akatsuki had no choice but to delay their tailed-beast-capturing operations by three years—hence Jiraiya's investigation mission and the three-year gap of respite.
Among these events, Itachi and Kisame's duo were likely the first to act. Other groups' missions probably got canceled before they could execute them because of what happened after Yagura died. However, everything has slightly changed due to Mizuki's butterfly effect.
Originally, Gaara should have been rescued by Temari after battling Naruto fiercely. In that situation, the two would surely have quickly left enemy territory and returned to Sunagakure. Within Suna were experts like Chiyo and countless unnamed powerful ninja. With those kinds of opponents around, nabbing Gaara wouldn't have been easy, period. But this time, things are quite different. Aside from Hiashi Hyuga being somewhat formidable, none of the other individuals present could possibly make Deidara and Sasori of the Red Sand even blink. Faced with such a golden opportunity, it wasn't surprising at all that the "Artistic Duo" decided to strike immediately.
"Hindsight is 20/20. Knowing the full truth still won't get him out of this mess. In the end, the real question remains: how to hold out until reinforcements arrive—or whether to take a bold gamble?"
Looking at Hiashi Hyuga still fighting valiantly despite being surrounded by dozens of puppets, taking down several enemies and breaking through the encirclement, Mizuki knew that tremendous price came in the form of multiple bloody wounds. It wouldn't shock anyone if Hiashi collapsed any second now. As for Gaara, if he kept pushing without rest, stumbling and exhausted as he was, he'd probably collapse from fatigue soon enough—and that would give Shukaku, the One-Tail, another chance to come out and stretch.
Even in this desperate situation, Mizuki had no plans to release Shukaku—not unless he had no other choice. Leaving aside whether Shukaku could beat Red Sand of the Desert, Mizuki didn't have the courage to place his hopes for survival on a tailed beast more likely to kill him than help. He had just ripped a huge chunk of chakra from Shukaku yesterday to create Little Shukaku. If Shukaku showed up now, who knows what kind of revenge this "robber" and "thief" would face?
『No other options left—time to blow some fish up. As for what comes out of it, well, hope for the best I guess.』
Noticing dawn approaching, Mizuki decided not to wait any longer. He took out two sealing scrolls—one containing a completely unadjusted Uchiha Sasuke clone, and the other holding chakra collected during Sasuke's cursed seal outbreak.
Though it may seem unfair for someone destined for such a short life, like a fleeting bloom, I still have to apologize—to someone who has not even been born yet. Finally, take a good look at this world... the sunrise is truly beautiful...
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