"Zabuza, the organization has decided to make you the Mizukage!"
A voice suddenly came from the other side. Zabuza turned to look, and his pupils instantly constricted.
It was a pair of scarlet, three-tomoe Sharingan. In this world, only one person currently possessed these eyes—the famous Uchiha genius.
"You're... Uchiha Itachi?"
"Heh," Naruto scoffed disdainfully, "How could I be a traitor like that?"
"Then you're...?"
Zabuza's rich combat experience instantly brought him out of his shock. He confronted Naruto head-on to buy time, secretly trying to awaken Haku. Naruto had already noticed his subtle movements.
"It's no use." Naruto's gaze sharpened, and he chuckled playfully, "Guess if you're under genjutsu, or he is, or... if both of you are under genjutsu?"
In an instant, cold sweat trickled down Zabuza's back. He tried to disrupt his chakra flow, but it was useless.
'Such powerful genjutsu. Is this the Sharingan?'
Zabuza knew he was currently reawakening from his feigned death state, his body completely immobile, not to mention being deeply trapped in genjutsu. He was utterly helpless. Even with Haku, they both remained so. Yet, the person before him wasn't killing him.
This...
Though he didn't know how he had provoked the other party, Zabuza seemed to realize that he still had some use to them.
"What is your intention, my lord?"
Naruto waved his hand, and from within the wooden building, a wooden chair instantly sprouted. He comfortably sat down.
"Don't be nervous. Let's have a chat."
Seeing this, Zabuza chose to relax. In terms of resistance, even with Haku, if the opponent wanted to kill them, it would be but a thought. Since resistance was futile, it was better to communicate properly. Perhaps there was still a sliver of hope.
"Calmed down? Good. It helps to relax, making it easier to recall things." Naruto felt the other party seemed to be quite a character, unafraid of death, or perhaps just clever.
"Let's talk about your time in the Hidden Mist Village."
'My time in the Hidden Mist Village?'
Zabuza was puzzled. This stranger was talking to him about himself? Then he heard an incredible sentence.
"Zabuza, you're a good person, you know."
This sudden praise left Zabuza somewhat bewildered. Seeing his confused expression, Naruto clarified, "Oh? It seems you don't understand."
"Zabuza, even during your time at the Ninja Academy, you already recognized the flaws of the Bloody Mist policy."
"You deeply knew that every academy student was the future of the ninja village, and the future Mizukage would also be born from among these children. Thus, every child could potentially be the future Mizukage."
"And this evil Bloody Mist policy was stifling the future of the Hidden Mist, stifling the future Mizukage."
"But as an academy student, you were young and lacked influence. You could only watch all of this helplessly. So, in desperation, you were forced to tearfully eliminate the other academy students from your generation, thereby forcing the village elders to realize this through such pain."
"From then on, the Bloody Mist policy changed because of you."
"You chose to sacrifice the 'small self' of your generation of students to preserve the 'greater self' of a brighter future for the Hidden Mist."
"Undoubtedly, you are a great man!"
Naruto's monologue made Zabuza doubt himself. Was that what he was thinking at the time? At that time, wasn't he just trying to fulfill his own ambition?
"Is that so?" He lowered his head in deep thought.
"Think about it, think carefully," Naruto increased the 'dosage'.
Zabuza frowned in contemplation. Perhaps there was that reason too?
Zabuza gradually began to accept Naruto's version, sinking deeper under the influence of Naruto's genjutsu.
Naruto continued his narration, "During your academy days, you also had a close friend named Sakuragi Hanamichi. He was your best friend."
"He understood you, knew you, and was your only friend. He knew your aspirations, and so he willingly chose to sacrifice his life for the village."
"During that graduation exam, he was the last one to fall into your arms."
"His dream was the same as yours: to become Mizukage and change the Bloody Mist policy, but he chose to entrust that dream to you to fulfill! He trusted you to achieve that dream!"
Staring directly at Zabuza, Naruto prompted, "Do you remember now?"
"You are right, my lord, there truly was such a thing."
At this point, the tough Zabuza, recalling these memories, already had tears blurring his eyes.
"I don't know where you got your information, that you could even know about my closest friend dying in my arms at the end."
"And not just that," Naruto interrupted his self-revelation.
Zabuza was completely relaxed, deeply ensnared in the genjutsu, his emotions utterly broken by Naruto. "What else do you know?"
"You deeply loved the land of the Water Country, you deeply loved the Hidden Mist Village, and you strived diligently for the village. You joined the Anbu, became one of the strongest Seven Ninja Swordsmen, wanting to be the village's sharpest weapon."
Naruto then revealed a shocking piece of information: "But then you looked back and discovered that the highest leader of your village, the Kage, was secretly being controlled by someone else."
Zabuza was stunned.
His eyes widened in disbelief. Naruto clearly sensed the violent tremors in his mental world.
"How was he controlled? The Fourth Mizukage was a perfect Jinchuriki!" Zabuza's voice was low and choked with confusion.
Naruto softly spoke, "Sharingan, a Sharingan like mine."
Zabuza turned to look, seeing a pair of unique eyes shaped like four-pointed shuriken.
"This is..." Zabuza was greatly alarmed; he recalled a certain rumor he had once heard.
"That's right, someone used the Mangekyo Sharingan to control the Fourth Mizukage," Naruto quietly provided the answer.
Regardless of whether anyone controlled him before, in the future versions of the story, it would be so. No one taking responsibility? Then Uchiha Rokutsumi, a rogue ninja, would claim responsibility. If that didn't work, he could always invent an Uchiha Hongzhong.
Sensing Zabuza's resistance, Naruto comforted him, "Don't be nervous, that person isn't me."
Although he could directly control Zabuza, like he did when creating clones earlier, that kind of control lacked a soul, resulting only in a mindless puppet that mechanically followed commands. That's why Naruto was trying for the first time to use genjutsu to make the controlled person cooperate wholeheartedly.
So far, the results were good.
Naruto continued, "After discovering that the Fourth Mizukage was controlled by genjutsu, you finally understood why there was such a policy as the Bloody Mist."
"After intense internal struggle, you made up your mind. For the future of the Hidden Mist, you tearfully chose to assassinate the Fourth Mizukage."
"Unfortunately, your strength was insufficient, and you ended up becoming a rogue ninja."
"Sigh~" Zabuza let out a deep sigh, seemingly lamenting his own life.
"Even while you were wandering the ninja world, you continuously accumulated funds and power, hoping to find an opportunity to return and fight, or at least save money to contribute to the village."
"That's who you are, Zabuza! You are the hero of the Hidden Mist!"
The tough Zabuza was now already in tears.
This person understood him!
"Zabuza, you haven't forgotten your dream of becoming Mizukage, have you?"
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