Naruto: From Extra to Savior

Mizuki should've noticed this sooner, but he'd been too wrapped up lately to bother with what seemed like small stuff. Still, it ended up being a pretty big surprise—those cell-stimulating pills packed some serious cellular destruction. The effect wasn't just about separating one organism, but breaking it into multiple, fully independent organisms. While this might seem useless at first glance, in reality, it was actually a pretty powerful tool. Take for example capturing a White Zetsu—how else would you get First Generation Hashirama Senju's cells without future complications? That's when the cell-stimulating pills came in handy, capable of resetting them into separate entities. After cultivating and maturing those fragments, Mizuki could then apply his own method for controlling Artificial Jinchuriki—no backdoors, full control.

Of course, talking about that was still premature right now. Another big realization Mizuki just had was that if he could figure out the connection between physical body, soul, and attribute chakra, it could drastically speed up his development of low-grade Jinchuriki.

He mused that it would be awesome if they could split apart and still keep a full soul will—kind of like how Suigetsu Hozuki used his water-body technique.

For quite a while now, Mizuki had wanted to truly sync up mentally with his Artificial Jinchuriki. Only by achieving real-time memory sharing and complete control over his creations could he reach that ideal state.

To fulfill this need, Mizuki had always pinned his hopes on natural energy and Sage Chakra. Just look at what Reanimation of Lifeless Matter Jutsu could do—even regular rocks came back to life. So why wouldn't Natural Energy or Sage Chakra work for him? But natural energy was dangerously unstable and hard to handle, while Sage Chakra remained far out of reach. The chakra Tsubaki had collected from Sasuke Uchiha during his Cursed Seal outbreaks hadn't yielded any results yet. If he could crack the principles behind the hydrification technique as a temporary alternative, making satisfying duplicates would at least ease his immediate needs.

"Water, a gentler element—I don't have that," he thought. "What am I supposed to do? My talent and compatibility with other types of chakra aren't great either. Could Yang Attribute work instead?"

The Cursed Seal messed with his Yin-Yang balance, and the only thing keeping him stable was Medical Ninjutsu. But since he didn't have any medical talent himself, he'd constantly been trying to restore equilibrium.

Although there were no obvious downsides for now, who knew what long-term consequences might arise? After all, cursed seals were still poorly understood.

"Yang Attribute? Choji Akimichi? We're not exactly close. And techniques like Expansion Technique don't seem relevant to me. Is there anyone else who actually uses something like that effectively?"

Thinking it through repeatedly, Mizuki couldn't think of any alternatives besides Naruto's Ashura's reincarnation chakra.

[Spirit Transformation Technique] was basically out of the question—Ashura's reincarnation belonged solely to the destined child. Even Medical Ninjutsu didn't seem to offer such potential. But… would [Dead Soul Technique] even work?

"...It could be considered a form of Medical Ninjutsu too, I guess..."

He shook his head, dismissing the thought. To go after a technique like the Dead Soul Technique just by playing along with Kabuto Yakushi wasn't worth the effort. At most, it might serve as a bargaining chip when trading for the Cursed Seal Technique or the Flying Thunder God Technique.

After setting the documents aside, Mizuki dozed off while thinking about random things. When he opened his eyes again, sunlight was already streaming through the window, and sounds came from the kitchen.

Mizuki, who hadn't slept well the previous night, struggled to get up. After taking a shower and finishing his morning routine, he found breakfast already prepared, with Tsubaki waiting for him to eat together.

"Early in the morning, why make such a lavish meal?"

The sushi was Mizuki's favorite, but alongside it were also stewed meat, curry—altogether four or five dishes, which was overly rich for breakfast.

Smiling silently, Tsubaki took out a large boxed lunch.

"Take it with you—it's got hot charcoal inside, so your food will stay warm all day."

"Uh?" Mizuki asked, puzzled. "How did you know I have a mission requiring me to travel far today? I haven't even mentioned it yet!"

"I overheard Jonin Kurenai Yuhi and Asuma talking about it at the hospital last night."

"Oh," Mizuki said with a smile. "Though it isn't classified, the village's ninja still lack secrecy awareness. And they're jonin! Have they become so lax after the war ended?"

Pouring tea for Mizuki, Tsubaki smiled gently. "Once you become a jonin, you'll be busier than now, right? With so many missions, we barely see each other anymore."

"A jonin? That's still far off." Ranking up as a ninja depended on a lot of things, especially becoming a Jonin. On paper, Mizuki barely made the cut. Plus these past two months had been hectic, with hardships endured even without major contributions. Now that the war had ended, this was precisely the time for recognizing heroes. As long as he didn't pick the wrong side, once Tsunade returned, naturally becoming a Tokubetsu Jonin would be effortless. There was no need to think much further ahead for now.

"Hurry up and finish eating so you can leave. Time is running tight."

『All my favorite foods—Tsubaki really knows me best. But I won't have time to savor them properly.』

...

In a hurry, Mizuki finished breakfast, changed clothes, then left with Tsubaki.

The sky wasn't particularly early, yet thick clouds hung heavily overhead. Though it didn't rain, an oppressive feeling lingered. Especially since everyone around wore somber dark clothing and held flowers—clearly heading toward a funeral.

『What a heavy atmosphere. Seems like this environment really isn't suitable for me...』

On the way, he met many acquaintances, though seemingly none felt like chatting. Everyone merely silently placed their flowers.

It wasn't that Mizuki felt no sorrow over the Third Hokage's death; compared to those who'd passed, he valued his living loved ones and the future more.

『Even if someone disturbs your peace one day, rest now—Konoha has a future…』

Without the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi's mercy, Mizuki might have ended up captured and subjected to soul searching. Had Danzo ruled Konoha instead, he might've been dead long ago.

At last, the tense atmosphere had finally passed, and the sky seemed to cooperate by clearing up as well. Sunlight poured down, instantly sweeping away all the gloom.

At Konoha's main gate, Mizuki was chatting casually with the gate guards, Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane. In the distance, they could see two groups approaching almost simultaneously.

Hiashi Hyuga had brought only a single attendant, Ko Hyuga. Meanwhile, Kurenai Yuhi arrived accompanied by two Sunas.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Mizuki stepped forward to greet them.

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