While the second exam in the Forest of Death was heating up, Mizuki happened to be strolling alone down the street, unusually free from duties. He specifically wandered near taverns and bathhouses. Naturally, this reincarnated Mizuki, now living the life of a winner, had no need to loiter around such places anymore—but he came here for a reason.
"That white-haired guy must be Jiraiya," Mizuki finally felt reassured after spotting the Pervy Sage peeking outside a women's open-air bathhouse. "If this guy hadn't returned as scheduled, Konoha might've struggled to withstand Orochimaru's joint attack with Suna. If things really took a turn for the worse and Konoha suffered heavy losses, that would've been a real pain."
Now that the matter was confirmed, Mizuki wasted no time lingering further and prepared to head home. However, a sudden idea hit him, so he changed direction toward the Hokage Tower instead.
Arriving at the office door, Mizuki knocked gently.
"Come in." With the village so busy lately, it was obvious the Third Hokage hadn't left his post.
Pushing the door open, Mizuki stepped inside and shut it carefully behind him.
"Mizuki? I don't recall assigning you any mission recently, Third Hokage-sama. What brings you here?" the Third Hokage asked.
"Hokage-sama, I've come with important intelligence to report," Mizuki replied solemnly.
"Hmm?" Sensing the seriousness in Mizuki's tone, the Third Hokage paused his work and looked up. "Intelligence about what?"
"About Master Jiraiya." Mizuki answered. "Just now, I spotted someone within the village matching Master Jiraiya's characteristics. It's been years since I last saw him, but I'm fairly certain that was him."
"Jiraiya?" The information seemed to surprise the Third Hokage. "Where exactly did you see him?"
"Near the women's section of the open-air bathhouse."
"Eh?" Caught off guard by this unexpected response, the Third Hokage momentarily flushed. "Well, then there's little doubt—it must've been Jiraiya indeed."
That peeping habit apparently served as convincing evidence.
"Did he notice you? And have you told anyone else about this?"
"No, I just happened to spot him and immediately reported directly to you. I don't think he noticed me, nor have I mentioned this to anyone else."
"Good." The Third Hokage nodded, giving instructions. "Keep this between us."
"I understand."
"You may go now."
"Yes, sir."
After Mizuki left through the door, the Third Hokage remained motionless for a moment, then opened a drawer and pulled out an intelligence report dated a month ago regarding suspicious activities from both Otogakure and Suna. "Jiraiya, have you also sensed something dangerous brewing that made you return? I hope everything turns out to be just baseless rumor."
Within the Forest of Death, numerous candidates were fighting desperately for survival. Meanwhile, a few overconfident candidates who thought they were strong had already started hunting others in brutal showdowns.
Right in the middle of the fierce battle, the surface of a small river nearby showed some faint, almost transparent, white creatures gradually approaching the shore. If not for their unusual light refracted while moving together in groups, no one would have noticed anything strange at all.
Once the objects drifted to the shore without showing any signs of disturbance, a slender figure surfaced silently from the water. It was Mizuki's knockoff jinchuriki. Protected by a concealment genjutsu magical formation composed of unobtrusive jellyfish and relying on his familiarity with the Forest of Death, he had sneaked in unnoticed. The two-month-old mission to eliminate monsters in the Forest of Death wasn't wasted effort at all—Mizuki had long since mapped every inch of the place. Entering here was simply too easy for him.
"It's this way. Good thing it's not far. A weakling like his target won't get far—that's just how it is. Glad my judgment was correct," he easily determined direction. "I marked the path beforehand; tracking is indeed convenient."
Throughout the journey, Mizuki did his best to avoid potential confrontations. For non-candidates infiltrating the exam grounds, staying unnoticed is the top priority—not everyone possesses the audacity and power of Orochimaru.
"Arrived. It's just ahead." Soon, Mizuki found his target. Concealed among the branches and leaves of a giant tree, he observed three Sound Ninja below—an ordinary trio configuration common in the ninja world: two males and one female. They weren't the impostor Sound Ninja posing as Orochimaru's team, but Karin's real squad instead. With hidden markers he'd placed earlier, Mizuki followed them easily.
Previously, Mizuki had carefully considered—among current available targets without powerful backgrounds, very few were suitable. He couldn't possibly provoke big names like Orochimaru or Kabuto Yakushi. He dare not mess with Suna ninjas—actual jinchuriki were no easy prey and might bring disastrous consequences. As Konoha's prized assets, the Konoha Twelve Shinobi had countless eyes watching them. Even stealing a bit of blood for experiments in the Land of Waves before without getting noticed was already considered lucky. Frankly speaking, almost none of the others interested Mizuki. Only someone like Karin—an Uzumaki descendant possessing unique physical attributes and secret techniques—might have some value. More importantly, she might provide clues related to the Dead Demon Consuming Seal. And if he could get his hands on the Shinigami Mask through her, that would be even better.
Mizuki felt relieved after locating Karin. Right now, she hadn't yet been taken by Sasuke, and Orochimaru had just been defeated by Itachi Uchiha. Still nursing resentment over that loss, Orochimaru was now obsessively pursuing Sasuke's Sharingan, temporarily having no interest in weaklings like Karin. Therefore, now was truly the last chance to abduct the unguarded Karin.
Spending half a day, Mizuki set up numerous traps and alert lines around Karin's squad, patiently waiting for an opportunity when Karin would be alone so he could approach and persuade her.
Looking at the two male Sound Ninja below being brutally beaten repeatedly, Mizuki couldn't help sighing about their unfortunate timing. These two actually possessed decent skills—nothing particularly poor—and together with Karin's healing capabilities, they wouldn't have lacked chances to pass the Chunin Exams. However, now they could only blame their bad fate—the monstrous competition in this year's Chunin Exam was overwhelming. Competitors of their level barely qualified to serve even as background extras. Seeing their confidence shattered and how they took out their frustration on Karin, Mizuki figured these two had no future. If strength falls short, sharpen your mind. If your mind isn't sharp enough, hard work will still make you a decent ninja. Unfortunately, their mental resilience proved insufficient—too bad their resolve wasn't strong enough—such a shame.
While Mizuki waited patiently, a sudden reaction occurred at a nearby perimeter line.
"Is that Sasuke? He arrived quicker than expected." Mizuki felt slightly surprised, having thought they wouldn't meet until evening. "But this works fine. Since we missed each other in the preliminary rounds last time, now that timing and terrain are on my side, I can take my time with you." Thinking this, Mizuki created another Shadow Clone and transformed it into the appearance of a Grass Ninja. After all, besides the Otogakure ninjas, the Sound Ninjas had become convenient scapegoats—he wouldn't be the only one using them for that.
Meanwhile, Sasuke had taken advantage of an opportunity to fetch water and suddenly discovered some traps laid out ahead. Still arrogant after newly awakening his Sharingan, he had just been defeated by Rock Lee and was desperate to let off some steam when someone ran right into him. Without hesitation, Sasuke followed the trail.
As Sasuke cautiously advanced forward, he suddenly froze mid-step, immediately jumping upward just in time as several kunai whistled past below where he'd stood moments before. Before he could even speak, the tree trunk he landed on exploded from within.
"Crap, careless mistake!" Sasuke quickly dodged, but a chain of explosions erupted in quick succession, engulfing his location in thick smoke. The powerful shockwave sent Sasuke flying backward through the air, crashing heavily onto the ground.
"Do all Konoha ninja act this arrogantly? Daring to chase alone like this—truly underestimating shinobi from other villages." Mizuki, possessing extensive villainous experience, perfectly fit this scenario. With one move, he gave Sasuke a sharp warning. As chakra waves spread outward, a genjutsu barrier formed, and countless masked Grass Ninjas emerged from all directions. Kunai rained down toward Sasuke's location, still shrouded in smoke. Mizuki saw no problem with letting Sasuke experience—firsthand and alone—the very challenges Konoha Genin teams would face two days later.
Before the kunai could reach their mark, Sasuke burst forth from the smoke, swiftly dodging the barrage. Yet before fully escaping the trap's grasp, he found himself surrounded by phantom figures created from genjutsu formations.
[Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique] Seeing no way to break free, Sasuke rapidly formed hand seals before releasing a massive fireball from his mouth, turning the entire area ahead into scorched wasteland.
"Do you really think something like that would work?" Hiding his actual location using Phantom Voice Technique, Mizuki mocked sarcastically. "Is that really all the Uchiha have to offer?"
Despite saying this, Mizuki had no intention of confronting Sasuke directly. If his original body were here, he might have easily suppressed Sasuke's currently inferior strength. But as a lesser version of a Jinchuriki, Mizuki merely wanted to test Sasuke's abilities first—to gauge his strength. Engaging in direct combat face-to-face, in his current form, he honestly doubted whether he could defeat this guy.
"What about the Uchiha? Seems like you know quite a bit about me. Then who exactly are you—some coward hiding behind illusions?"
"Tsk, talking big again. An Uchiha without even activating his Sharingan? Don't flatter yourself. Prove you can find me first."
"Oh? You certainly know much about the Uchiha. Then let me show you what real Uchiha power looks like." Sasuke realized he might not stand a chance unless he gave it his all.
Indeed, after activating his Sharingan, Sasuke became significantly fiercer. But how much difference would it truly make?
Wasting energy on trivial pride when the situation is unfavorable is meaningless.
After nearly being struck in the eye by a kunai concealed within an illusory projection at the start, Sasuke fully realized his disadvantage and continuously evaded both real and fake traps and attacks.
"How disappointing, you Uchiha truly are..."
Chakra was nearly depleted. [Shadow Clone] couldn't last much longer. Had to break through this deadlock quickly.
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