With an uneasy heart, Mizuki began reviving Nawaki.
This time, the casting didn't disappoint — the green light blossomed at once.
Tsunade pressed her lips together, barely able to contain herself, her eyes locked on the radiance. When it finally dispersed, a little brat stood there — cheeks flushed, brown hair messy, and with a hint of Naruto's look to him.
"Big sis?"
At that familiar call, Tsunade couldn't hold back anymore.
In the next instant, she had Nawaki crushed to her chest. Her shoulders shook violently as sobs tore free.
Watching the siblings reunite, Shizune wiped at her own eyes. Having followed Tsunade for more than twenty years, she knew better than anyone how much Tsunade had missed this younger brother.
"Tsunade-sama…"
"Oink!" Tonton seemed delighted too.
A faint smile tugged at Mizuki's lips. At least this time, nothing unexpected happened. But the failure to revive Dan still lodged in his throat like a fishbone.
'What exactly is going on? Could Dan's soul be inside the Shinigami's belly?'
Whatever the truth was, he would have to confirm it later.
Inside the room, Tsunade and Nawaki caught up, their conversation endless — too many years of emptiness to fill. Everyone else tactfully stepped outside.
In another room, Kushina was recounting her past.
She talked about leaving Uzushiogakure for Konoha, becoming the Nine-Tails' Jinchūriki, and beating up classmates with filthy mouths. She talked about her first meeting with Minato — how they grew close beneath moonlight, then fell in love, then married.
Then she talked about how Naruto's name was chosen, and the Nine-Tails incident on the day he was born…
Naruto listened with the seriousness of any kid hearing their mom's stories, carving every word into his heart.
Adults' stories had a strange kind of power — enough to quiet even the loudest child and make them listen carefully.
"Naruto, that's all of Mom's story." Kushina said softly, "Was it boring? Nothing special?"
"No! Not boring at all. It was amazing!" Naruto answered, beaming.
Kushina smiled too. She reached out and ruffled his hair — almost like petting a puppy. Her son was already twelve, but she'd never had the chance to learn how to be a mother to him, so even the gesture came out a little clumsy.
Naruto didn't mind. He'd never known what it felt like to have his mother pat his head, either.
"What kind of person was Dad?"
Kushina's smile turned playful, "What do you think?"
Naruto launched into it excitedly, "I heard he was kind — and awesome. He sacrificed himself to save Ko — the village. And he was super smart, just like me — otherwise he couldn't have become the Fourth Hokage. And he was handsome — otherwise Mom, who's so pretty and so gentle, definitely wouldn't have fallen for him. And also, and also…"
Mother and son seemed to have an endless mountain of things to say.
Mizuki reached the doorway. Hearing their happy chatter, he turned and left without interrupting.
And then the system's voice rang out in his head.
[ Ding! ]
[ You have granted your disciple Naruto Uzumaki one Mom, triggering a 10,000× Return! ]
[ Congratulations, you have obtained 10,000 Moms! Claim now? ]
Mizuki: ???
Is the system out of its mind? Ten thousand moms — why not ten thousand dads while it's at it?
"System, whose mom is it? Naruto's, or mine? If it's my mom, is it from this world — or the original one?"
[This return is Naruto's mom.]
"Damn it! Not claiming it. Absolutely not claiming it!"
Naruto's biological mother has nothing to do with me. Trash system — wasting one of my grant-and-return chances, and it had to be a 10,000× one too.
It hurts!
"But… giving something to a disciple can trigger returns too…" Mizuki muttered, "Then what if I give Sasuke a Naruto? Would it return thousands — tens of thousands — of Narutos? And if it's the Nine-Tails… would that become thousands — tens of thousands — of Nine-Tails too?"
His eyes narrowed. That… sounded promising.
"By the way, System — when I grant a living thing to a disciple, is the return always quantity? Is there no quality upgrade?"
A quantity return definitely couldn't compare to a quality return.
For example: give a bowl of ramen and trigger a thousandfold return. If it returned a thousand bowls of the same ramen, it would be useless to Mizuki — that's quantity. But if it returned a single bowl of chakra-boosting ramen, that would be a qualitative upgrade — and extremely useful.
[If the granted item has a higher-tier form, returns stack by quality.]
[If it has no higher-tier form, the return is by quantity.]
"So that's how it works." Mizuki understood at once.
Giving Naruto "one mom" meant giving Kushina. And the concept of "mom" didn't really have a higher-tier form, so the return became quantity — after all, it couldn't exactly quality-upgrade into a "grandma."
But then he remembered something else.
"Wait — earlier I gave Daisuke one cup of instant-heating ramen and triggered a 61× return. Why did it return sixty-one cups of the same ramen instead of a higher-tier chakra ramen?"
[With 61×, even a quality return would not reach the minimum threshold for a higher-tier ramen, so it defaults to quantity.]
Fair enough. Meaning: the multiplier was too low — stacking it still couldn't cause a qualitative change.
"With Naruto, all three grant-and-return chances for this month are used up. Sasuke still has one left. Daisuke still has two. I need to plan carefully."
The fat orange cat he brought back was meant to be gifted to Sasuke — but not yet.
For some reason, chakra had appeared in Tora's body, and it even seemed to be cultivating instinctively. Compared to before, its strength and speed had both increased drastically.
Mizuki planned to wait until the cat grew stronger before gifting it — then the returned item's quality would be higher.
"Earlier I gave Sasuke the Edo Tensei technique. The best match for Edo Tensei is the Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags." Mizuki frowned, "Mm… no. That kind of high-output suicide technique is too much for him. Better switch to something else."
That second 'young master' always thought he was the best — way too cocky.
If Sasuke learned Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags, he might charge in throwing tags while thinking he was perfectly safe — and end up blown to pieces.
"Wait until their chakra control improves, and they master Body Flicker and Substitution properly first. So what should I give?"
Suddenly, Mizuki slapped his thigh.
"How did I forget this? Kushina has been revived — have her help extract Shukaku from Gaara, then seal it into Sasuke. Problem solved."
Originally, he planned to wait until he learned the Four Symbols Seal before making a move on the One-Tail.
But now that he had Kushina, there was no need for the extra trouble. Minato's fūinjutsu came from her — in other words, when it came to sealing arts, she was absolutely a grandmaster.
With her taking action, a mere One-Tail, Shukaku, would have no choice but to behave.
"Once they finish talking in a couple of days, I'll go ask her for help."
That only left Daisuke.
Even if the kid's talent was mediocre, he was still Mizuki's disciple. Since he'd followed him to the Land of Birds, Mizuki had to teach him properly.
Ideally, in next year's Chūnin Exams, Daisuke would be able to make Chūnin as well.
Mizuki went to find him.
It was already late at night, but Daisuke was still in the woods practicing shuriken throws. A tree thirty meters away was riddled with shuriken, with even more scattered across the ground. It was obvious he'd been grinding for a long time.
Compared to back in Konoha, Daisuke had grown taller and broader through the shoulders.
At the orphanage, it was hard enough just to stay fed. After coming to the Land of Birds, Mizuki had money, and the food was far better. Kids were at the age to grow, and with proper nutrition, they shot up quickly.
'If we're going to raise your strength… we'll start with chakra, then. As for whether it works out, that'll depend on your luck.'
Mizuki stepped out from the trees.
"Daisuke!"
"Master? Why are you here?"
Mizuki smiled, "It's late and you're still training. I came to check on you. Training needs balance too. If you push like this, you'll wreck your body. From now on, you go to bed early."
Daisuke lowered his head, "They're all so strong… and I can't even cast the basic Academy Three Techniques. So I have to work twice as hard."
Mizuki patted his shoulder, "Listen — training like this will backfire. From now on, you stop before eight and go home to bathe and sleep." He paused, "That's enough for tonight. You've trained for hours — you must be hungry. Come on. I'll treat you to ramen at my place."
He brought Daisuke home, took out cup-style instant-heating ramen, boiled water, and soaked two cups.
One for himself, one for Daisuke.
During the Chūnin Exams, Mizuki had swept through Konoha's major shops — Ichiraku included. He'd bought out all of Teuchi's cup-style instant-heating ramen stock.
"Here — your tonkotsu ramen is ready. Eat."
The moment the lid came off, Daisuke sniffed and looked intoxicated, "Wow… it smells so good!"
At the same time, the system's voice echoed in Mizuki's mind.
[ Ding! ]
[ You have granted your disciple Daisuke one Cup of Instant-Heating Ramen, triggering a 999× Return! ]
[ Congratulations, you have obtained one Cup of Instant-Heating Chakra Ramen! ]
Mizuki's eyes lit up. This kid's luck isn't bad.
Daisuke quickly finished the whole cup, then started drinking the soup.
"Looks like you're still not full." Mizuki said, "It's fine — I'll make you another."
Daisuke hurriedly waved, "Master, no need. I'm full — and eating too much before bed isn't good."
"There's nothing wrong with it." Mizuki said, "Kids are growing — eating more is a good thing."
He took out the ramen the system had just returned, poured in boiling water, and set it in front of Daisuke.
Five minutes later, the ramen was ready.
"Eat."
For the sake of his disciple's growth, Mizuki didn't mind exposing a few things anymore.
Daisuke picked up his chopsticks and began. The first bite — nothing. But as he swallowed the second, his expression abruptly changed.
"Master… I… my chakra, it feels like it's increasing."
Mizuki smiled, "It's fine. I know. The first cup was just to lay a foundation. This one is different — I added a secret medicine. Eating it can expand your chakra capacity. Hurry up and finish it. Don't waste it."
He couldn't reveal the system, so he could only lie that it was "secret medicine." Kids were easy to fool, after all.
When Daisuke finished the cup, his chakra increased by 1 Kakashi. Added to what he already had, his reserves had now surpassed Kakashi's.
"Now, your chakra reserves have reached the level of an elite jōnin."
"E-Elite jōnin?" Even as a kid, Daisuke understood what that meant, "Master… is that true?"
He was stunned — no, ecstatic.
Mizuki nodded, "It's true. But don't spread it around. That secret medicine is precious. I went through a lot of trouble and only managed to make one dose. Because your strength was the weakest, I used it on you. No one else has it."
Daisuke nodded hard, "I understand, Master. Even if I die, I won't tell anyone."
Mizuki patted his head.
What an honest kid — straightforward to the core.
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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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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!
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