Explosions rang out one after another, rising and falling without end.
The "Art Duo" — Sasori of the Red Sand and Deidara — had actually appeared here.
At the moment, Sasori was watching like it was a show, while Deidara sat on the back of a clay owl, releasing flocks of small bird bombs and blasting away at a female ninja with butterfly-like wings on her back.
"A flying ninja… that should be Fū, the Seven-Tails jinchūriki from Takigakure."
In the anime, after Fū participated in the Chūnin Exams in Konoha, she was captured by Kakuzu and Hidan on the way back to Takigakure, and the Seven-Tails fell into the Akatsuki's hands.
Now that Kakuzu and Hidan had both been dealt with by Mizuki, it was Sasori and Deidara's turn to come after the Seven-Tails.
Mizuki wasn't interested in their fight. His purpose for coming was the Hero Water.
"Other than the Hero Water, the only thing here that interests me is the Seven-Tails, Chōmei. Let's get the Hero Water first."
Mizuki quietly landed on the ground, liquefied his body, and soon slipped through the waterfall into the cave behind it.
It was like a Water Curtain Cave. Small pools of water dotted the floor. He found one of them.
"Enter this pool, go through the long underground waterway, and you'll reach Takigakure."
To be honest, Takigakure was extremely well-hidden. Outsiders could hardly find the entrance.
He was about to enter the pool when several Takigakure ninjas suddenly jumped out of it.
"Hurry — Fū is under attack! We can't let anything happen to her!"
"Don't worry, Lord Shibuki. We'll definitely kill the enemy!"
They rushed out toward the waterfall.
Mizuki, in the form of a transparent liquid, was inconspicuous on the ground. No one noticed him at all.
Only after everyone left did he enter the pool, pass through the underground waterway, and successfully arrive in Takigakure.
This place was a secluded secret realm: a lake, with a towering ancient tree on one side and the village on the other.
"The Hero Water is hidden at the roots of that tree."
Mizuki dove underwater and swam toward the tree's roots. Soon, he stepped onto a dry patch formed by intertwined roots.
Next was to find the cabinet that stored the Hero Water. The roots crisscrossed everywhere. If you didn't know the path, you'd never find that cabinet.
Luckily, Mizuki had read Kakuzu's memories — he knew exactly where to go.
He moved through the roots and quickly found the cabinet that supposedly held the Hero Water. He opened the door — only to find it completely empty.
"Nothing?" Mizuki frowned.
How could it be gone?
"Don't tell me the movie's storyline already happened here?"
In the Naruto movie, Team 7 arrived in Takigakure just as the leader Shibuki's mentor, Suien, staged a rebellion and stole the Hero Water.
In the final battle, the bottle containing the Hero Water was shattered, and all of it spilled out.
"Damn it… did I come all this way for nothing? No. I traveled too far to leave empty-handed. If I can't get the Hero Water, then I'll take the Seven-Tails back as a 'gift.'"
A thief never leaves empty-handed!
Mizuki retraced his route. As soon as he emerged from the waterfall, he saw those Takigakure ninjas again — each of them radiating powerful chakra fluctuations.
They had turned water into water blades in their hands and were fighting Sasori's puppets.
"Their chakra is overflowing outside their bodies… don't tell me — " Mizuki's eyes lit up.
He swept his gaze around and quickly spotted one Taki ninja with a gourd-shaped glass bottle hanging at the waist, filled with liquid.
"No wonder it wasn't in the cabinet. They brought it out to use in battle."
At that moment, one ninja's chakra fluctuations began to weaken. He shouted, "Lord Shibuki, I'm out of chakra! Let me take another sip of Hero Water!"
Shibuki said, "No! You've already taken one sip. If you drink again so soon, you'll die. Retreat behind the waterfall — don't take part in the rest of the fight."
The ninja replied, "The enemy is too strong. Even their puppets are holding us off. If we don't use Hero Water to boost our chakra, we'll all die. If we're going to die anyway, I won't retreat. I'll fight to the last moment!"
Shibuki frowned. He snatched the glass bottle and tossed it toward the ninja.
Sasori had long since noticed the Hero Water. He lashed out with his tail-blade whip, striking at the bottle.
The speed was so fast that Shibuki couldn't react in time.
"Not good!"
Just as the Hero Water was about to be destroyed, Mizuki moved immediately.
Banshō Ten'in ▻ Universal Pull
The glass bottle was caught by an attractive force, instantly changing direction and landing in Mizuki's hand.
With the Hero Water secured, he immediately liquefied and sank into the water.
Mizuki was fast, but Sasori still saw him. Sasori paused, stopped attacking the Taki ninjas, and retreated rapidly.
In the air, Deidara saw him running and asked in confusion, "Brother Sasori, why are you running? It's just a bunch of Taki nin. Someone can actually drive you off?"
Sasori only shouted, "Deidara, move!"
Deidara, sitting on the owl, replied, "Move? I'm having fun. Just wait — I'm about to succeed and capture her."
Sasori said, "Forget the capture. Mizuki is here. If we don't leave now, we won't be able to."
"Mizuki? Which Mizuki?" Deidara didn't react at first.
Sasori didn't bother answering and fled even faster. Deidara finally understood, screamed, and rode the owl away at top speed.
Mizuki was speechless. Why are you two running? I wasn't even planning to attack you.
With Sasori and Deidara gone, the Taki ninjas stared at one another — relieved, but also confused.
Shibuki looked in the direction where the Hero Water vanished and muttered, "Mizuki? That Mizuki — the one who killed the Third Hokage and the Fourth Kazekage? Why would he take the Hero Water? A powerhouse like that would still care about something so one-time-use and with such severe side effects?"
Fū fluttered down to the ground.
Shibuki asked urgently, "Fū, are you alright?"
Fū smiled, "I'm fine. That guy's jutsu was annoying, but I haven't even used my trump cards yet."
Shibuki frowned, "Do those two have a grudge against you?"
Fū shook her head.
Shibuki narrowed his eyes, "If there's no grudge, then they must be after what's inside you. From today on, stay in the village. Don't go out."
❊❊❊❊❊
Mizuki had obtained the Hero Water. His goal for this trip was achieved.
He didn't linger and headed straight back to the Land of Birds.
On the way, he took out the glass bottle to test the Hero Water's effects. He opened it and took a sip.
Boom!
His chakra surged violently — but his vitality was being burned away just as wildly.
His appearance aged at a visible speed: wrinkles spread across his face, his eyes dimmed, and his hair turned snow-white.
"What the hell?!" Mizuki's expression changed drastically.
Fortunately, once the chakra stopped increasing, the aging stopped too. He hadn't died!
Mizuki trembled and pulled up the system's attribute panel. His chakra quantity had jumped from 54.8 Ka to 548 Ka. Ten times the original.
A terrifying chakra pressure radiated from his body — so much that chakra overflowed, forming a blue chakra cloak around him.
At that moment, Mizuki felt like a god.
But then he looked at his lifespan. It had dropped from 1000 years to only 14 years. About 986 years gone… A god who can only live for 14 years?
"Damn… that's way too intense!"
His chakra had increased — tenfold, even — but the price was insane.
"The chakra increase and the lifespan decrease are in a multiplicative relationship. Roughly, for every 1 Ka worth of chakra gained, lifespan decreases by 2 years."
Mizuki's face turned green. He had almost — almost — played himself to death.
The more chakra you already had, the more dangerous it was to drink this stuff. Because more chakra meant a larger increase… which meant an even larger lifespan loss. If you didn't have enough lifespan, you'd die on the spot.
He hurriedly landed, liquefied his body, and frantically devoured the life force of grass, flowers, and trees. Soon, an entire patch of forest became dead land.
Mizuki returned to normal. His grayish, withered hair became smooth silver-white again, and the wrinkles vanished from his face. His lifespan was fully replenished — and even increased to 3000 years.
He was shaken. This time he had absorbed a lot extra to avoid another "walking a tightrope" moment like just now.
"Mm, ten times chakra… that's kind of—" Before he could finish saying "worth it", Mizuki's expression changed again.
Because he could feel the extra chakra in his body rapidly dissipating. Soon, 548 Ka fell back to the original 54.8.
"What the—! This thing's chakra boost is temporary?! I…"
Mizuki truly had no words.
He had nearly died because of this thing — and the chakra gain wasn't even permanent. What the hell…
"No, that's not right. From Kakuzu's memories, what I saw was that his chakra increase was permanent! Why is it like this?" Mizuki frowned.
He couldn't understand it at all!
Kakuzu's memories also had no answer for this question.
"Could it be that only Takigakure ninjas gain permanent chakra from it? Or maybe only people who cultivate Earth Grudge Fear can gain a permanent increase?"
Mizuki didn't know the real reason. Kakuzu's memories offered no explanation either.
"Forget it. Temporary is temporary. For me, it doesn't matter."
So what if it's temporary? I have the system's return. Even if it's temporary, I'll make it permanent.
"That feeling of being like a god… I can't wait!"
❊❊❊❊❊
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! (-‿◦)