Outside Konoha, Mizuki floated in midair and watched the Hokage Rock being repaired in the distance.
After landing, he didn't enter the village right away. Instead, he pulled a corpse from his storage ring. It was Tsubaki's body.
Gedō — Rinne Tensei no Jutsu ▻ Outer Path — Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique
Green light wrapped around the corpse. The deathly aura dispersed, vitality returned, and the cold flesh warmed.
When the light faded, Tsubaki opened her eyes.
She had been revived.
Mizuki smiled, "Tsubaki, how do you feel?"
Tsubaki stared at her surroundings in confusion, "This isn't the Pure Land. How am I here? I was clearly dead!"
"You did die." Mizuki said, "I used ninjutsu to bring you back."
Tsubaki didn't look happy. She fixed her gaze on him, "Who are you?"
Mizuki frowned. Had she lost her memory?
"I'm Mizuki. Don't you remember me?"
Tsubaki shook her head, "You're not Mizuki. Or rather, you're not the real Mizuki. The real Mizuki is already dead."
Mizuki sighed. So she really had met the dead Mizuki in the Pure Land. She knew the real Mizuki had died, and the one standing here was only a fake.
He had expected this. That was why he hadn't revived her in Fushigakure. Once she realized he wasn't the real Mizuki, she would likely refuse to stay.
"Since you already know." Mizuki said, "what are you planning to do? Go back to Konoha and expose my identity? Or take the initiative to return to the Pure Land?"
When he had first transmigrated, he had been terrified of his identity being exposed. Back then, he was too weak. One mistake, and death would follow.
But now? He didn't care.
Besides, Tsubaki only knew he was a fake Mizuki. She didn't know he was a transmigrator, so there was nothing to worry about.
Tsubaki glanced at his forehead. Not seeing a forehead protector, she asked, "Did you defect from Konoha?"
Mizuki nodded, "I founded a new ninja village in the Land of Birds."
"Returning to the Pure Land is impossible." Tsubaki said, "The world of the living is far more exciting. I finally came back to life. Why would I go back on my own? As for Konoha, I won't go there either. Back then, Danzō, the head of Root, used me to kill you. I'm completely disappointed in Konoha."
Mizuki asked, "So are you coming back to Fushigakure with me?"
"No!" Her voice was sharp, "The one I loved was the real Mizuki, not you. You killed Mizuki and stole his face. I don't know how to get along with you. I hate you so much I want to kill you, but I know I can't."
Mizuki saw both killing intent and helplessness in her eyes. If she had the strength, she would have attacked already.
Mizuki said flatly, "Then do as you please."
At this point, there was nothing left to say.
As she said, the real Mizuki had died because of him, though the root cause was the transmigration. It was only natural that she wanted to kill the fake Mizuki standing in front of her.
As for Mizuki, he wouldn't keep someone around who wanted to kill him at any moment. Even if he knew she couldn't, keeping someone who hated him at his side was bad for both of them.
After a moment's thought, he took out a sealing scroll and tossed it to her.
"You would've lived well in Konoha. In the end, I'm the one who pushed you to this point. There are some things sealed inside this scroll. Consider it compensation. Goodbye."
With that, Mizuki used the Body Flicker and left without lingering for a second.
Inside the sealing scroll was a lot of money—enough for Tsubaki to change her name and live a wealthy life. There were also ninjutsu training scrolls. If she wanted to build a ninja clan, that would be possible as well.
With this parting, the two would have nothing to do with each other anymore.
Tsubaki took the sealing scroll, jumped up onto a tree, looked toward Konoha in the distance, then turned away decisively.
To Konoha, she was already dead. As long as she didn't draw too much attention, Konoha wouldn't notice, and she wouldn't be treated as a missing-nin. If she went to a small country and kept a low profile, she could live very comfortably.
Mizuki arrived at Konoha's gate and, just like last time, swaggered right through.
It was dusk. The gate guards were completely trapped in a genjutsu and had no idea an intruder had entered.
Mizuki used the Transformation Technique to change his body and appearance, went to Ichiraku Ramen to eat a bowl, and after night fell, headed to the Konoha cemetery.
"I'm the leader of a whole village, and for the sake of strengthening Fushigakure, I'm even doing grave-robbing. In the whole world, there isn't a more dedicated Kage who thinks about the village as much as I do."
In the past, there was no one guarding the cemetery because the bodies of ninja were processed. Even if someone stole them, they couldn't obtain any useful intelligence. And ninja had no burial goods when they died—no one would be stupid enough to rob these poor graves.
But after Hiruzen learned that Orochimaru could use Edo Tensei, guards were assigned. Since then, there had always been people watching the cemetery, hidden in the shadows, monitoring everything.
Mizuki easily trapped those grave guards in an illusion and walked into the cemetery.
Kage Bunshin no Jutsu ▻ Shadow Clone Technique
Poof!
Dozens of shadow clones appeared.
"Go find the graves of Nawaki, Dan, Minato Namikaze and his spouse, and Fugaku Uchiha and their spouse. From each, take a portion of bone. And for the others, take some as you see fit—Sakumo Hatake, Rin Nohara, Iruka's parents, Hizashi Hyūga… as long as you think they might be useful, take a bit of them."
Since Mizuki had come anyway, he might as well take everything in one trip. Whether they would be useful or not, he'd take them first. Maybe they'd come in handy someday.
The shadow clones dispersed. After choosing their targets, they didn't need to dig. They directly used the secret technique Heaven Grudge Fear and burrowed through the soil into the graves, collecting some biological material. Not much was needed—even a single hair would do.
Soon, the collecting was finished. Each person's remains were stored separately and labeled with their identity to avoid mixing them up.
When the shadow clones were released, Mizuki received a huge flood of memories. For a moment, his head was full of rotting bones. The impact of so many memories made his brows knit tightly.
"I really don't know how Naruto withstands it when thousands of shadow clones disperse."
It had to be said—the Uzumaki clan's physique really was strong. Tough as hell.
After the discomfort passed, Mizuki noticed something abnormal in the clones' memories. Many graves had been opened not long ago, and their remains had been tampered with.
"Orochimaru's doing, probably. He relies on Edo Tensei a lot." Mizuki didn't care and turned to leave the cemetery.
Just then, someone walked in, familiar with the place, and stopped in front of a tombstone, standing quietly.
Mizuki saw clearly from the side—the newcomer was Neji Hyūga. The grave before him was where Hizashi, his father, was buried.
"Father, today I trained with Lady Hinata again, and I couldn't help but feel killing intent. The clan head sensed it immediately and used the Caged Bird Seal to make me suffer. Even though I read the letter you left me and know you went to die in the clan head's place by your own will, I still can't forgive them. I know you wanted to use death to escape the Caged Bird Curse Mark. I also want to escape it, but I don't want to die. Because I want revenge. I want to change the Hyūga, change Konoha, and change the entire ninja world. I believe I can definitely break free from the Caged Bird's control. For my whole life, I'll work for it."
Without Naruto's 'talk-no-jutsu,' Neji was still that rebellious youth.
And that was exactly what Mizuki wanted to see.
"Kid, if you want to get rid of the Caged Bird, I can help you."
"Who?!" Neji was shocked and immediately activated the Byakugan, but he couldn't see anyone.
He was terrified. The voice was right by his ear—how could there be no one? Could it be a ghost?
In the next moment, a puddle of water surged from the ground, rapidly rising and shaping itself into a person.
"It's you!" Neji recognized Mizuki at once.
Facing this Konoha S-rank missing-nin who had killed the Third Hokage and the Fourth Kazekage, he felt neither fear nor disgust.
He had never felt much belonging to Konoha, and he hated Hiruzen even more. It was that old man's weakness that had led to his father's death, so Neji felt no hatred toward Mizuki.
"I heard everything you said. But I'm sorry to tell you—if you rely on yourself, you'll never be able to remove the Caged Bird."
Neji asked, "You said you can help me. How?"
As he spoke, his gaze flicked toward his father's tombstone.
Mizuki understood his meaning and smiled faintly, "I can revive your father, but I won't help you for nothing."
"As long as you can revive my father and help me remove the Caged Bird, I'm willing to give you everything."
"Everything? It's not that serious. What I value is your talent. I have only one condition: defect from Konoha, join Fushigakure, and become my disciple."
Neji frowned, "Just that?"
Mizuki said, "Just that."
Neji agreed without hesitation, "No matter what your purpose is, I'll agree."
Mizuki took out a strand of Hizashi's biological material—a single hair—and placed it on the ground.
Gedō — Rinne Tensei no Jutsu ▻ Outer Path — Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique
A dense green light enveloped the hair.
The light was dazzling. Even with the Byakugan, Neji couldn't see clearly what was happening inside. But when the green light faded, he saw that familiar figure from his memories.
"Father!"
Hyūga looked at his son with a mournful expression and said, "I didn't expect you to come to the Pure Land at such a young age."
Mizuki said, "This isn't the Pure Land. I revived you."
"Not the Pure Land? I was revived? How is that possible?" Hizashi looked around urgently, and only then realized they had truly been brought back.
But Neji saw that the Caged Bird seal still remained on his father's forehead.
"Didn't you say death could remove the Caged Bird? Why is my father's Caged Bird still there?"
Before Mizuki could speak, Hizashi explained, "Neji, this Caged Bird is already ineffective. The moment I died, it was already removed."
After speaking, Hizashi turned to Mizuki.
"I don't know what your purpose is in reviving me, but if you want to use this to deal with the Hyūga Clan, I will never agree."
Mizuki: "…"
So ungrateful!
If it weren't for Neji, I must've been blind to revive you.
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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!
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