"Why didn't you kill me?" Zabuza asked, staring at Gusion's back, confused.
In his worldview, only the strong survive. He'd lost the battle just now, but Gusion had spared his life.
"Do you want to die?" Gusion turned his head. "I can grant your wish," he said, drawing his Mazuko blade.
He wasn't surprised by Zabuza's presence—this world had already been messed with by the first wave of explorers, so the plot had shifted.
Technically, Itachi hadn't joined Akatsuki yet, so Juzo Biwa hadn't been killed by the Mizukage, meaning Zabuza shouldn't have his sword. But Gusion had noticed Biwa wasn't carrying the sword either, so Zabuza had probably gotten it early after his own defection and coup attempt.
"I didn't mean that. I'm just curious—the legendary Calamity is different from what I imagined."
Zabuza shook his head; he didn't want to die—he still had unfinished business.
A year ago, he'd staged a coup in the Mist, attempted to assassinate the Fourth Mizukage, but failed. He hadn't given up on his ideals.
So he'd endured humiliation, working for Gato to accumulate funds, waiting for the day he could return.
"Oh? What did you expect me to be like?" Gusion asked as he opened Gato's safe. Gato turned out to be unexpectedly poor for a shipping monopolist; most of his assets were tied up in business, not cash.
Fortunately, banking wasn't well-developed in this era, so Gato kept most of his liquid assets in his mansion. After a thorough search, Gusion found assets worth billions—enough to keep Orochimaru busy for a while. Next time he saw Kakuzu, he'd have another allowance.
"Cold, ruthless, efficient killing machine—that's how the Mist's textbooks describe you," Zabuza said.
Gusion was surprised—he didn't expect to be mentioned in Mist textbooks. He hadn't fought on the Mist front during the Third Great War; that was mostly the Uchiha's territory.
"I don't deny your assessment of my battlefield conduct, but I'm on my own now," Gusion said, storing the loot in his space. In the ninja world, storage jutsu were common, so it wouldn't seem odd.
He had two reasons for sparing Zabuza: first, he had no interest in killing defeated foes; second, he'd just realized Zabuza might prove useful.
His world exploration progress in this world wasn't high yet—he'd only gained some after causing chaos in the Hidden Cloud. He figured it was because the Uchiha storyline hadn't advanced yet, and he'd been keeping a low profile.
After the One Piece world, Gusion had wondered: What would happen if world exploration hit 100%? In One Piece, he wasn't top-tier, but in the Naruto era, he could definitely shake things up.
Naturally, he started thinking about stirring up even more trouble—not just in the Cloud, Leaf, and Sand, but also in the Mist.
Zabuza was a revolutionary. If Gusion helped him overthrow the Fourth Mizukage and become the Fifth, Zabuza would be his plant in the Mist. Perfect.
"You want me to follow you? What can you offer me?" Zabuza asked, a little jealous watching Gusion collect Gato's fortune, but he didn't regret not killing Gato himself years ago.
He was a rogue ninja, but he still believed he could someday return and lead a successful revolution, so he maintained loyalty to his employers.
"If even the future Mizukage behaved like a thug, who would hire Mist ninja afterward?" he reasoned.
"Honestly, I'd never heard of you before. Before the Third War, you were just a kid, right?" Gusion smiled. "But you seem strong enough to be useful. Why don't you tell me—what do you want?"
After a pause, Zabuza said, "I want to become Mizukage and reform the Mist's cruel system."
This answer surprised Gusion a bit—he knew Zabuza had staged a coup to become Mizukage, but he didn't know that this man, infamous for killing his classmates, actually wanted to end the Blood Mist era.
"You want to be Mizukage? That's a big ask. You're too weak," Gusion said bluntly.
Zabuza felt humiliated—he was the Mist's silent killing prodigy and had never been called too weak before.
But he couldn't argue—as Calamity had just subdued him with mere intent and aura, he hadn't even dared draw his sword.
"But if you're willing to work for me, maybe I can help you," Gusion continued, surprising Zabuza.
Zabuza thought he'd misheard. "I said I want to be Mizukage, Calamity. Are you sure you heard me?"
He thought Gusion was overconfident. As a rogue ninja, taking over the Mist was as hard as Gusion taking over Konoha. But Gusion said that if Zabuza worked for him, he'd help him achieve it.
The Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, was no ordinary ninja—he was a perfect Jinchuriki. Only a handful in the world could fight him.
Zabuza had heard of Gusion's exploits in the Hidden Cloud, but doubted he could beat the Fourth Mizukage.
"I don't like repeating myself. If you want to be Mizukage, come with me," Gusion said, finishing his looting and jumping out the window, ready to leave. He believed Zabuza would follow, because a new hidden quest had just appeared.
[Hidden Quest: Zabuza's Ambition]
Quest: Kill the Fourth Mizukage Yagura and help Momochi Zabuza become the Fifth Mizukage.
Difficulty: Hard–Nightmare
Reward: Mist Village Ninjutsu Compendium Scroll ×1
Failure Penalty: None
The scroll was a dark gold item, containing all Mist jutsu, secret techniques, and forbidden techniques—a perfect fertilizer for his Origin Seed.
This quest's reward was far greater than the Hidden Cloud quest, but the difficulty was also higher, with no reward for failure.
The Cloud quest was nice because he could keep extorting the Raikage for steady income.
Of course, he was going to do Zabuza's quest—not just for the Mist scroll, but also for the huge world exploration gain.
If he could control the Mist through Zabuza, causing chaos in the ninja world would be even easier.
"Lord Calamity, please wait," Zabuza called out, following, more respectful now.
In the ninja world, only strength commanded respect. Gusion's power had subdued Zabuza, and the promised benefits made him unable to refuse.
When Gusion stopped, Zabuza brought a child with him. "This kid is Haku—a boy, with the Ice Release kekkei genkai."
Gusion glanced at the pretty, delicate-faced Haku. With long hair and pink cheeks, he didn't look like a boy.
He knew Zabuza introduced Haku this way to highlight his value—hoping Gusion wouldn't discard such a useful tool.
"Ice Release, huh? A kid with potential. Bring him along, but take care of him yourself," Gusion said. He wasn't interested in raising kids—Haku was promising, but not much help as a child on this world trip.
"I'll do my best, Mr. Zabuza," Haku said timidly, glancing at Gusion with some fear.
Zabuza hoisted Haku and caught up. "Lord Calamity, where are we going?"
"Land of Rice Fields. I'll settle you two first," Gusion replied. He sensed Akatsuki would make a move soon, so he planned to send Zabuza to Orochimaru's base as reserve force for the Konoha destruction plan.
Also, as Naruto's best-known instructor, Orochimaru could help train Haku—he'd become stronger than if he just stuck with Zabuza.
Orochimaru's teaching skills were no joke—Kakashi only managed to teach Sasuke Chidori after ages, and Naruto still caught up. But with Orochimaru, Sasuke progressed in leaps and bounds—and his style got flashier, too.
…
"Gusion-kun… where did you get so much money?" Orochimaru's voice rose in excitement and shock when he saw Gusion pull out billions.
"I have my ways, Orochimaru. Don't you want it?"
Gusion didn't elaborate. Honestly, robbing merchants wasn't usually considered good in the ninja world—otherwise Gato wouldn't have survived so long.
After all, ninja mainly worked for the wealthy. If they started robbing rich merchants, the world would fall apart—so even Akatsuki didn't do that.
Gusion didn't wear his Akatsuki cloak for this very reason—he didn't want Akatsuki to find out and nag him about damaging their reputation.
Yeah, Akatsuki might look like international terrorists in the original, but at this time, they were mainly a mercenary group. Reputation mattered, so they never messed with potential employers.
"Thank you for your support, Gusion-kun. The First Hokage cell project can restart soon," Orochimaru said with a sinister smile. He could tell Gusion cared about that project, so he played to his investor's interests.
"Hope your research goes well. These two are my new subordinates—future valuable assets," Gusion introduced Zabuza and Haku. "The kid is an Ice Release ninja—teach him when you have spare time, Orochimaru."
"Hehe… Gusion-kun, you never stop surprising me," Orochimaru licked his lips, crouching to look at Haku, who shrank behind Zabuza in fright, grabbing his pants.
"I didn't expect one of the Legendary Sannin to be in the Land of Rice Fields. Are you planning to attack Konoha?" Zabuza speculated, thinking of the fact that both Gusion and Orochimaru were Konoha defectors.
"Momochi Zabuza, I remember you—a Mist prodigy who failed to assassinate the Mizukage and defected?" Orochimaru looked away from Haku, now less interested. He'd seen plenty of geniuses; Zabuza's power was nothing special.
But Haku, the Ice Release child, was a raw gem he was interested in shaping.
Just like Kimimaro, Orochimaru didn't mind teaching kids as long as they were talented—he enjoyed the sense of achievement and could use them as potential bodies.
Of course, his ideal body was still Kimimaro—Haku seemed a bit weak, but maybe he could become stronger under Orochimaru's tutelage.