Since the Third Hokage's visit to his hospital room, Mizuki had been feeling extremely satisfied with life. If Orochimaru could quietly stay underground and focus on his research, Mizuki wouldn't even mind personally helping out with studies on immortality techniques. As for Pain, Obito, Madara Uchiha, and others who insist on becoming saviors—go ahead and play savior if you want, but why not just enjoy yourselves behind closed doors? After all, nobody in this world has actually begged for salvation. If they must become saviors, at least leave others alone. Whether it's playing god or creating the universe, no one would care.
How does that saying go again—"When poor, cultivate yourself; when prosperous, help the world." Mizuki hadn't heard of any famous philosophers or wise men in the ninja world, let alone anyone like Confucius or Mencius. So why do these ninjas, once gaining power, rush out like hyperactive roosters shouting about saving the world? Regardless of whether others want their help or not.
Getting off track, Mizuki glanced back.
"Tsubaki, that hotpot is ours, don't forget to take it. Iruka, grab that chair over there too—it looks nice."
"Mizuki, we didn't bring that chair here, and the vase you're holding also belongs to the hospital room. Also," Tsubaki said awkwardly, "that blanket isn't ours either. You know~"
"Nah, you've got it wrong, Tsubaki. All this stuff's mine. Don't worry. Iruka, that painting on the wall looks good too—I've stared at it for days and gotten used to it. Pack it up and take it with us. Should be worth a few coins."
Under the suspicious eyes of the medical ninja—watching him like he was a thief—Mizuki finally checked out after tidying up. Truthfully, he'd already been fine for days now, aside from occasional weakness requiring wheelchair use. He should probably start physical therapy soon anyway. In just under a month, Mizuki and Tsubaki had transformed the hospital room into a full-fledged study-bedroom-kitchen combo. They had so much stuff to pack that even with Iruka helping for half a day, they barely finished.
"Tsubaki, we should buy a big house someday. This place is too cramped for two people. Look at how those big clans live—huge courtyards with gardens and koi ponds. Doesn't that sound great?"
"But Mizuki, we can't afford something like that. It's way too expensive," Tsubaki replied uncomfortably.
"Iruka, come on—you've probably saved quite some money through the years, right? Since you don't have a girlfriend and won't need much cash for the next few years, lend me some. You'll get it back eventually, I promise."
"No way. Just because I'm single doesn't mean I don't have expenses," Iruka immediately declined. "I'm not giving away my cash without guarantees—who knows whether you'll repay me or not?"
"So selfish! After all these years of friendship, and you're still tightfisted with your cash?"
"No wonder you're outta your mind. Now you suddenly remember we're friends? What were you thinking all this time?"
Tsubaki quickly stepped in trying to mediate. "Mizuki, please stop. Even together, none of us can afford an estate like that."
"Is that so?"
"Forget it then. Tsubaki, how about we use the Transformation Jutsu to borrow some money from a local lender? They'll never trace it back to us. Yeah, let's transform into Iruka. We can just charge it to him—after all, he has plenty of cash anyway."
"You're really saying this to my face?" Iruka said with a twitching vein on his forehead.
"Ah, I should've just asked the Third for a house earlier," Mizuki said, brushing off Iruka and shifting topics. "Tsubaki, how about we start collecting wedding gifts early? The wedding's coming up anyway. Better get the money first. It's a no-lose situation."
"But we'll have to return the gifts later too."
"Tsubaki, you're just too honest. Who cares about returning gifts? We'll just act clueless. Do they expect me—an injured man—to pay them back? What kind of heartless bastard would do that?"
Mizuki was packing while chatting with Tsubaki and Iruka about his brilliant money-making schemes when unexpected visitors showed up.
"These are items the Third instructed us to deliver to you. Please take them." A huge pile of scrolls thudded onto the floor.
"So many! No space to store them all. Why don't you two help me tidy up the room first? Two free hands—it'd be a waste not to take advantage."
Five people spent the afternoon cleaning out a dusty room that hadn't been touched in over a month, finally getting everything sorted before dinner.
"That's it? Not even an invitation to dinner?" The three of them looked genuinely taken aback.
Mizuki didn't feel even slightly embarrassed. During a financial crisis, who needs pride anyway?
Just as they were heading out the door, Mizuki suddenly called out, "Oh, Aoba, remember saying you'd treat me to breakfast for a month? How about you just give me the cash for what those meals would cost at a top-tier hotel? I'm way too busy to sit down for breakfast these days." Then he slammed the door shut, leaving Aoba no chance to protest.
"Mizuki, aren't you being a little too harsh?"
"Don't worry. Forget about them. Let's eat first. We've worked all day. I'm starving."
"What would you like to eat?"
"Assorted sushi."
"Great, it's been ages since you last had it. I thought you might've changed your taste, but making this is my specialty."
...
Late at night, Tsubaki had already gone home. Mizuki read through some documents sent by the Third Hokage, then lay on the bed preparing to sleep, yet couldn't fall asleep no matter what.
Restless, Mizuki got up and took out a sealing scroll, carefully inspecting its contents. Although his physical condition wasn't great, he could still barely manage small-scale Sealing Techniques requiring minimal chakra.
Looking at the grotesque pieces of flesh soaking inside culture fluids, Mizuki's brow furrowed tighter and tighter. He thoroughly examined these samples, going as far as pulling out a monster he'd once created just for fun using his own hair.
"I see. So that's what it is." Mizuki shivered. It wasn't weakness or fatigue that made his body tremble—it was shock, anger, excitement, joy, and fear, all tangled together beyond words.
"It seems I've made a grave mistake," Mizuki mused, taking out a vial of the Green Agent and examining it closely. "Originally, this was just a temporary agent I developed to solve potential physical issues—a formula considered less important than both the Reverse Aging Agent and even the Cell-Stimulating Pills. Never did I expect it to be something so terrifying. Worse yet, it showed me an even more horrifying possibility."
[Green Agent], based on protein enzymes designed to activate [Cellular Omnipotence], had initially been created as a powerful temporary healing and recovery drug—an extraordinary creation in its own right. Mizuki had always considered it his secret ace for do-or-die battles where annihilation seemed inevitable. After all, as long as he didn't overdose and managed to survive, the Chakra of this world would help him recover from relatively minor side effects. There were several methods available to replenish lost vitality.
However, at its core, Mizuki's judgment had been fundamentally flawed. The name [Omnipotence] wasn't misplaced; the agent could indeed activate latent possibilities within cells. As long as the subject remained alive, practical applications might have many limitations, but theoretically speaking, it could accomplish something like regeneration from a drop of blood. A major issue Mizuki had overlooked was that genetic inheritance doesn't express every trait explicitly—many traits remain hidden by dominant genes throughout an organism's life. More seriously, numerous ancestral genetic information traces dating back to ancient times had either degenerated or remained dormant and invisible, though they still existed. The Green Agent couldn't distinguish between dominant and recessive traits; given sufficient potency, it activated everything indiscriminately.
Therefore, logically speaking, the risks of using such a drug far exceeded expectations. Even for a minor wound, applying a bit of the Green Agent meant there was a high probability of experiencing atavistic effects after healing—such as roughened skin texture or patches of hair growth in the affected area.
Mizuki had indeed observed widespread atavistic phenomena during earlier experiments with Bugs, but hadn't paid much attention. Given that they mostly looked alike anyway, missing such changes among a group of ordinary and mutated bugs was perfectly understandable. Furthermore, mutations in insects occurred rapidly, and the complexity of their genetic information simply couldn't compare with higher beings—the number of recessive traits was far fewer than what existed in advanced animals. Thus, he failed to notice this critical flaw until now when it finally surfaced.
But then came a paradox: if theoretically higher animals had significantly greater probabilities of mutation and atavism, then why had Aoba Yamashiro and Hayate Gekko experienced no issues? Even Mizuki himself had taken large doses of the Green Agent. Logically speaking, even if he hadn't died from depletion, he should have suffered terribly from atavistic mutations. Yet after visiting the hospital briefly, he simply returned to normal activities without any apparent problems.
In truth, this was entirely Mizuki's fault. Though he often mocked the narrow-mindedness of native Ninja World inhabitants, he too had fallen prey to a blind spot under his own lamp—this key point being Chakra.
In his previous life, there was no such concept as chakra, so although he could apply knowledge flexibly, he subconsciously ignored it when his past-life knowledge triggered a synergistic reaction with chakra. Chakra, born from the union of physical energy and spiritual consciousness, is far more than just a theoretical concept. As the universal mapping tool in this world, it inherently provides feedback to the body. The Lightning Attribute stimulates physical activation, as seen in Kakashi and Sasuke. The Fire Attribute is usually associated with intense desire; bearers tend to lack patience and steadiness, such as Mizuki, Madara Uchiha, and Jiraiya. Earth Attribute bearers tend to be steady and resilient, such as the Earth Hidden ninja (a representative example). Water Attribute users possess flexible, agile, and swift movements, such as Haku and Zabuza. The Wind Attribute embodies sharpness and cutting power, exemplified by Asuma and Naruto Uzumaki. These are all textbook examples. In essence, chakra functions as an unconscious guiding mechanism containing physical information. It prevents bodily imbalances and effectively suppresses harmful mutations caused by life-saving pills that do not align with one's current physical condition.
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