Bounty hunters were troublesome people—if you got involved with them, it was hard to shake them off. Still, this was an unavoidable trial for renowned ninja whose names were well known. From now on, staying within the village would be fine, but when traveling outside, one had to be cautious. Most bounty hunters posed no real threat to elite ninja at Mizuki's level, yet there were exceptions—exceptionally powerful individuals, such as Kakuzu, the S-class rogue ninja who roamed around hunting down wanted heads for money.
Mizuki couldn't figure out who had placed a substantial bounty on his head, enough to attract dangerous bounty hunters. The only likely suspect could be the Akatsuki organization. However, Kakuzu, who controlled their finances, was not someone who spent easily—he was more inclined to collect money. Whether he would be willing to pay for dealing with Mizuki wasn't certain. Another possible suspect was Sunagakure; having killed Chiyo's grandson Sasori, known as the Red Sand of the Desert, and reaching out toward Shukaku, Mizuki was definitely unwelcome in their ranks. While it wasn't impossible that they offered a bounty for him, considering Suna's capabilities, spending a large sum of money chasing after a Konoha ninja whose death brought no benefit other than revenge seemed extremely unlikely. Lastly, there was always Orochimaru and Kabuto Yakushi—those two had clear motivation.
Even so, Mizuki didn't dwell too much on worry; having passed through countless life-threatening situations, he was now at least a high-ranking jonin. If he were actually taken down by some bounty hunter, he'd only have himself to blame for lacking sufficient strength—there'd be nobody else to resent.
As for the matter of Mizuki being targeted by bounty hunters, Kakashi Hatake merely mentioned it casually. For an elite jonin at this level, getting killed and claimed for the reward rarely happened.
In the following moments, the conversation among everyone lacked substantial topics. There was a clear generation gap between the older guys like Ino-Shika-Cho and the younger crowd, and they didn't have much in common. The worries of older, settled men naturally differed from what Mizuki and his peers cared about. Gathered together, they mostly ended up chatting about trivial daily matters. Thus, as the actual organizer of this gathering, Mizuki felt responsible to liven up the atmosphere.
"There's something I'd like to announce while we're all here," Mizuki said first, drawing attention before continuing, "Next week, I will formally become husband and wife with my fiancée Chiharu Tsubaki. At that time, I hope everyone can gather together."
"That's great news! Congratulations, Mizuki." Kakashi patted Mizuki on the shoulder. "Now you're officially a married ninja too."
Aoba Yamashiro also said, "Congratulations! Last time you mentioned it, I thought there was still some time to go, never expecting it to arrive so soon."
After that, the elder Ino-Shika-Cho trio offered their warm wishes. Asuma Sarutobi gave a look filled with envy, while Kurenai Yuhi remained composed, offering her best wishes to Mizuki. Meanwhile, the loudest celebration came from Anko Mitarashi—she always showed extraordinary enthusiasm for social gatherings and attention-seeking events.
However, adult gatherings always come with various unexpected changes. First, Nara Shikaku was called away by his son Nara Shikamaru. Then Yamanaka Inoichi and Akimichi Choza also made excuses and left. Finally, the party dwindled to only five or six people, and didn't last much longer before it broke up.
Mizuki helplessly watched Yamashiro Aoba standing awkwardly in front of the waiter, smiling sheepishly without knowing what to do. Seeing how awkward the situation was, Mizuki had no choice but to step in and pay the rest for him.
"Thanks a lot, Mizuki. Otherwise I would've been completely humiliated today," said Yamashiro Aoba with lingering anxiety. "When I saw the way the boss looked at me, my heart started feeling unsettled. Who would have thought a civilian not even a ninja could be so intimidating."
"You just lacked confidence."
"Well... I guess so. Anyway, thanks for your help today. Once I receive my salary in a few days, I'll pay you back."
"No need for that. Considering how many people were there, and with someone like Akimichi Choza who eats so much, getting together at such a high-class barbecue restaurant turned out extremely expensive. Yamashiro Aoba was a perfect example of that."
"I see. Then next time we get together casually, let me treat everyone." Yamashiro Aoba didn't insist further. "It's too bad though; one person hasn't shown up yet..."
"Yeah. It would've been better if everyone had come."
Mizuki knew Yamashiro Aoba referred to Gekko Hayate. Even Kurenai Yuhi had gradually recovered and been discharged from the hospital, but Gekko Hayate still lay on a hospital bed. Although he had improved compared to previously being unconscious, full recovery seemed far away for Hayate Gekko. His condition kept fluctuating so much that no one could even tell whether he might ever leave the hospital.
Bringing up such an unhappy topic made everyone fall silent temporarily.
After paying the bill, everyone departed separately. Only Kakashi Hatake and Mizuki walked along the same route for some distance, so they continued walking together for a while.
"Mizuki, during your last mission—you used Sage Mode, right?"
As they strolled down the road after having a drink or two, Kakashi Hatake suddenly asked.
"Hmm, you actually know about that?"
"My teacher, The Fourth Hokage, also learned Sage Mode, although nowhere near as skillfully as his Flying Thunder God Technique."
"Is that right? Then what do you want to know?"
Mizuki already knew that Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, had mastered Sage Mode. Therefore, it wasn't surprising for Kakashi Hatake to know something about it. However, Mizuki couldn't figure out his purpose this time when he brought it up.
"My teacher once mentioned when practicing Sage Mode that while aptitude for sensing natural energy was one aspect, another indispensable requirement was immense chakra reserves. My teacher's aptitude for sensing natural energy was quite ordinary. Though his chakra reserves weren't low, they certainly couldn't be considered abundant either. Due to innate differences, his training in Sage Mode went very poorly."
Calling it "poorly" was putting it politely—"clumsy" was a more accurate description. For example, slow activation speed greatly reduced its practicality. On a volatile battlefield where situations shifted in an instant, who had time to wait patiently while you slowly gathered chakra and methodically sensed natural energy? A fleeting opportunity could mean the difference between life and death.
So, the legend of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, doesn't even include Sage Mode.
"Yeah, there's definitely no story circulating about the Fourth and Sage Mode."
"That's not what I meant, Mizuki," Hatake Kakashi shook his head. "The fact alone of possessing massive chakra reserves already excludes the vast majority of shinobi from achieving Sage Mode—including me. Originally, I thought it applied to you as well."
Kakashi clearly understood his own shortcomings. The Hatake Clan's inherited physique was never known for large chakra reserves, and on top of the Sharingan constantly draining chakra, he was basically incompatible with Sage Mode. As for Mizuki, he fell into the ordinary category—possessing an exceptional physical condition and strong stamina. His chakra reserves exceeded most shinobi, but this still only placed him in the normal ninja range. Compared to people like Naruto Uzumaki and Kisame Hoshigaki, who were essentially walking tailed beasts, Mizuki simply couldn't match up. By all logic, he should have been incapable of mastering Sage Mode—but now, he somehow had. More than that, its power was astonishing. He drove off three S-ranked rogue ninja, took one down, and solo crushed the One-Tail Shukaku. It was overwhelming strength nearly impossible to replicate again. But the truth remained—he had achieved Sage Mode without doubt.
"How exactly did you do it?"
"You want to ask how I obtained such an enormous amount of chakra, right?"
Having struggled with limited chakra reserves for over a decade, Kakashi paid far more attention to chakra consumption than most.
[Sealing Art: Breath Seal], Mizuki answered concisely.
"So it really is as I suspected. That matches my guess exactly," Kakashi instantly realized.
The first time he saw Mizuki use [Sealing Art: Breath Seal] was during the Chunin Exams finals in the stadium seating area. At that point, the technique merely revealed its reconnaissance function—concealing one's presence and hiding the body—without displaying any ability to boost chakra capacity.
During the Chunin Exams, Sakura Haruno had also used [Sealing Art: Breath Seal], but everyone focused more on her impressive display of precise control talent, combat techniques, and especially the very practical application of her [Chakra Shield]. Meanwhile, the critical yet silent contribution of [Sealing Art: Breath Seal] went unnoticed. Only Kakashi, Sakura Haruno's supervising jonin instructor, truly understood how weak her chakra reserves actually were, limited by her physical condition. Without some special means, she wouldn't have lasted long enough to defeat Dosu, the Otogakure ninja.
Back then, too many other things were happening, and since [Sealing Art: Breath Seal] was Mizuki's personal secret technique, teaching it to Sakura was entirely his choice. Investigating further would have been inappropriate, so Kakashi buried his curiosity deep inside. If it hadn't been for Mizuki unexpectedly demonstrating Sage Mode, those details might've slipped Kakashi's mind entirely.
"Mizuki, to be honest, teaching this to Sakura Haruno was going too easy on her."
"How? Is something wrong?"
"Not exactly. Because Sakura has this [jutsu], it makes up for how pathetically low her chakra reserves were before she reached adulthood. Without it, she might have been forced down countless painful detours."
"Then isn't that great?"
"What I mean is," Kakashi said, "this gift is far too valuable—for Sakura. Those kids don't understand the real value of this technique or how much they've benefited from it. But as their Jonin squad leader, I can't simply ignore this matter."
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