"Since that's the case, then let the Nine-Tails continue to remain inside you. Now you've mastered Flying Thunder God and the Rasengan. You've already laid the foundation to become a Kage-level powerhouse. But your combat experience is poor — you need tempering."
Naruto asked, "How do I temper it?"
Mizuki answered, "It's simple: fight. A lot of fighting — especially against strong opponents. That's the fastest way to gain combat experience."
Naruto frowned, "But where can I find so many enemies to fight?"
Mizuki smiled, "If there are no enemies, then make your own. Your Shadow Clones are excellent sparring partners."
Naruto's eyes lit up. Fighting himself actually sounded really interesting.
"Since you've already learned Flying Thunder God, then I'll teach you one more ninjutsu." Mizuki took out a scroll and handed it to Naruto, "This is the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique. It lets a single shuriken split into a large number of shadow clones, forming a rain of blades that covers a wide area."
This was a ninjutsu born from combining a jutsu with ninja tools — created by the Third Hokage based on the Shadow Clone Technique.
When using it, the more chakra you spend, the more cloned shuriken you create. Those who had mastered this technique included Hiruzen, Orochimaru, and Minato. Jiraiya had never managed to learn it.
When Minato used it, the dense storm of shuriken was enough to terrify any enemy.
"Take it back and study it properly. Master it as soon as possible — it'll help your strength a lot."
Naruto scratched his head, "I'm not very good at throwing shuriken. Giving this to me doesn't seem that useful. If I've got time to throw shuriken, it's easier to use Flying Thunder God to get close and assassinate. This should go to Sasuke. He likes using ninja tools."
He was clearly not interested.
Mizuki said, "I'm not having you learn this to kill people with shuriken."
Shuriken weren't very powerful to begin with. Even if they hit, they wouldn't deal lethal damage. In battle, throwing shuriken at best served as harassment.
And later on, even during the Fourth War, shuriken barely had a chance to appear. Edo Tensei didn't fear shuriken. Obito didn't fear shuriken. Madara in Susanoo armor feared shuriken even less.
"This technique is meant to be used in coordination with Flying Thunder God."
Naruto's brain capacity wasn't exactly large, and he couldn't figure out what Mizuki meant.
"Master, how do I coordinate it?"
Mizuki asked back, "What do you need in order to use Flying Thunder God?"
Naruto showed the special kunai in his hand, "Master, do you mean this?"
Mizuki nodded, "Flying Thunder God requires a formula. And the formula is engraved onto this kind of special kunai. In other words, without these special kunai, you can't use Flying Thunder God. If there are many enemies, then you need to throw more kunai as footholds for Flying Thunder God, right?"
Naruto nodded. But he still didn't get what Mizuki was getting at.
"Are these special kunai difficult to make?"
Naruto immediately complained, "Yeah, yeah! You have to carve the formula on it, and you have to be super careful. If you carve it wrong even a little, you have to start over. I spent several hours and only succeeded with this one."
Mizuki smiled, "Still not getting it?"
Naruto was still blank.
Mizuki was honestly speechless. This guy was sometimes very smart, and sometimes unbelievably dumb.
The answer was practically on his lips, and Naruto still didn't understand.
"After you learn the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique, you can use it on kunai too. Imagine this: you throw one special kunai, and in midair it splits into ten thousand. It covers a huge area. In that entire area, you can use Flying Thunder God freely. Isn't that far easier than painstakingly carving ten thousand kunai?"
Naruto smacked his forehead, "Right! How did I not think of that?!"
He immediately took the scroll.
"Thanks for the reminder, Master. I'm going to train!"
[ Ding! ]
[ You have granted your disciple Naruto Uzumaki an A-Rank Ninjutsu \[Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique\] Training Method, triggering a 3,037× Return! ]
[ Congratulations, you have obtained a S-Rank Ninjutsu \[Giant Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique\] Training Method! ]
〖 Giant Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique: Throw an ordinary shuriken and split it into tens of thousands of giant shuriken, covering a huge area and forming an apocalyptic, tsunami-like strike. 〗
Mizuki clicked his tongue. Tens of thousands of giant shuriken — an apocalyptic, tsunami-like strike. That sounded very promising.
Not long after Naruto left, Gaara suddenly came.
"I heard from Naruto that you can extract a tailed beast and guarantee the jinchūriki won't die. Is that true?"
Mizuki looked at the dark circles under Gaara's eyes and nodded, "What — do you want me to help you extract the One-Tail from inside you?"
Gaara, "I… I want to sleep!"
Mizuki: "…"
Poor kid. He'd never slept peacefully since childhood — it made anyone's heart ache.
Mizuki thought about it. Extracting the One-Tail wasn't a bad idea. Even if Gaara lost Shukaku, his strength wouldn't really be affected.
On the contrary — after Mizuki extracted the One-Tail and gave it to Sasuke, the system would definitely return something even stronger. And then Mizuki could experience the joy of being a jinchūriki with "infinite mana" too.
"I can. But not right now — you'll have to wait a while longer."
To extract the One-Tail from Gaara, Mizuki first had to master a method to remove the seal. To revive Gaara, he needed to master Heaven Grudge Fear and accumulate massive life force. To seal the One-Tail into Sasuke, he would need sealing techniques.
Right now, he couldn't do any of those. He would need time to learn.
"I-it's okay. I can wait."
It was obvious Gaara was extremely excited.
❊❊❊❊❊
Capital of the Land of Birds. Inside a tavern.
"Jiraiya, you can't meet my conditions, so don't blame me for refusing you."
"Tsunade, I'm begging you. Please agree — Konoha really needs you." Jiraiya truly had no choice.
Tsunade shook her head.
In truth, she did harbor nostalgia for Konoha — it was the village her grandfather built. Her childhood was there. So were precious memories she could never forget.
In the cemetery lay her family, her lover, and her friends. How could she not miss it?
But to return and become Hokage — sorry, she truly couldn't do it. A Hokage who suffered from hemophobia and couldn't even participate in battle — how could such a person protect the village? How could such a person lead the village to prosper?
When Tsunade refused, Jiraiya drank in gloom. For a moment, the table fell silent.
Suddenly, the tavern door opened. A pug wearing a blue cloak and a Konoha forehead protector rushed in.
Behind the dog came a man — Konoha jōnin Kakashi Hatake.
"Lord Jiraiya, I finally found you!"
Jiraiya's face was slightly red from drinking. He turned with bleary eyes, "So it's Kakashi. Why are you here too?"
Kakashi said, "Something big happened in the village. Orochimaru returned to Konoha to fight for the position of Fifth Hokage, and he produced a handwritten appointment letter from the Third Hokage. Orochimaru said that his defection from Konoha was planned together with the Third, in order to investigate the Akatsuki."
Jiraiya sobered up by half. He narrowed his eyes, "So Orochimaru didn't die? Heh. That filthy snake really is hard to kill. ANBU told me that during the rooftop battle that day, Orochimaru was hit by Kotoamatsukami and his will was changed. Before the Third died, he even appointed Orochimaru as Fifth Hokage. But none of the major clans or the jōnin in the village will agree."
Hearing that Hiruzen had appointed Orochimaru as Fifth Hokage, Tsunade snorted with a laugh.
Jiraiya said to Kakashi, "Don't worry. Even if he has the old man's appointment letter, there's no way everyone will accept Orochimaru as Fifth Hokage."
Kakashi said, "It's not just him. Danzō is alive. His Root is giving Orochimaru their full support."
"What?!" Jiraiya's expression changed drastically, "Didn't the old man say Danzō was dead? Why has he appeared again?"
He couldn't stay calm anymore. He hurriedly stood up.
The urgent matter now was to return to Konoha, unite the major clans and the two advisors, and drive Orochimaru out. He knew he absolutely couldn't let Orochimaru become Fifth Hokage — or Konoha would be finished.
Back then, Orochimaru's human experiments were beyond inhumane. The villagers all knew. If he truly became Hokage, the number of ninja defecting from the village would definitely increase.
"Tsunade, come back with me. Look — without you, Konoha has already started to fall into chaos." Jiraiya made one last attempt.
Tsunade slowly lifted her cup and took a sip, "Heh. The old man would rather pass the Hokage seat to Orochimaru than even mention me — the Senju inheritor — once. Why should I go back? He's afraid that if I take power, I'll target his Sarutobi clan. After all — the Senju clan completely declined during his rule. Give it up. I'm not going back to Konoha."
Jiraiya was frantic, but he had no way to force her.
"Fine. After I deal with Orochimaru, I'll come back for you! In the meantime, I hope you'll think it over. Konoha is where you were born and raised. Some bonds can't be cut for a lifetime."
Jiraiya and Kakashi rushed back to Konoha overnight.
❊❊❊❊❊
What the three discussed also reached Mizuki's ears through a shadow clone.
"Danzō is still alive?" Mizuki was surprised.
He had checked the corpse back then and confirmed Danzō was dead.
As for Orochimaru not being dead, he wasn't surprised. Even if the entire ninja world died out, that snake pervert would probably still be alive.
"Danzō being alive isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's good — leave Sasuke a target. And with him, that shit-stirring bastard, in Konoha, public support will definitely take a massive hit. When people defect, I can bring them all to Fushigakure."
Fushigakure only had nine people. It urgently needed to expand.
Suddenly, he received news from a shadow clone.
"Tsunade is leaving the Land of Birds?" Mizuki immediately stood up.
He'd invested so much money earlier for the sake of pulling her into Fushigakure. Now she was leaving — absolutely not.
"I have to meet her in person."
❊❊❊❊❊
Mizuki left Fushigakure at once, and soon blocked Tsunade on a small road.
"First Fushikage Mizuki — why are you stopping me?" Tsunade asked.
Mizuki didn't beat around the bush and stated his purpose directly, "I want to invite you to join Fushigakure."
Tsunade scoffed, "I won't even be the Fifth Hokage. Join your Fushigakure? Heh."
Mizuki said, "If you join Fushigakure, I can give you endless money so you can gamble as much as you want."
Tsunade, "No need!"
Mizuki wasn't surprised. He continued, "If you join Fushigakure, I can revive your younger brother Nawaki… and your lover, Dan Katō."
❊❊❊❊❊
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 20 chapters ahead of this novel for just $2 or enjoy a large catalog of good novels with excellent translations: MrBlackWing (you know where to search)
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! (-‿◦)