The issue of White Zetsu duplicates was actually quite troublesome. As a clone made from Hashirama Senju's cells, there were many aspects worth studying. One strange phenomenon stood out: Hashirama had been dead for a long time and buried for many years, yet the cells extracted from his body still maintained vitality — which was extremely incredible.
If it was a stretch to say that Madara Uchiha, who lived in the same era as Hashirama, might have obtained living cell samples during his lifetime, then how did Danzo Shimura and Orochimaru manage to find active cells on a corpse? Those cells eventually led to the birth of Tenzo — a miracle of life. Danzo even personally transplanted Hashirama Senju's cells into himself. Not only did those cells heal Danzo's old wounds, but they also fought back — forcing him to implant multiple Sharingan eyes just to keep them in check. Of course, whether Hashirama's cells or the Sharingan dominated each other wasn't important — the key point was that cells extracted from a corpse had such terrifying vitality that they could rival multiple Sharingans before finally achieving a yin-yang balance that stabilized Danzo's body.
Mizuki couldn't help but envy that kind of chakra — it was incredible, but the danger was out of control. Madara Uchiha used Hashirama's cells to create White Zetsu, and later gave rise to Black Zetsu — the will of Kaguya Otsutsuki. Mizuki didn't dare to recklessly tamper with these things; if something uncontrollable emerged, it would become a serious problem. Therefore, for now, research on White Zetsu clones remained at an early stage, and progress so far had been rather mediocre.
Still, this urgent need for powerful vitality didn't necessarily depend solely on White Zetsu. Before finding a way to balance Hashirama Senju's cells, they looked promising but lacked practical value. So far, every single test subject in these limited experiments had died — rendering them utterly useless.
Instead of using White Zetsu cells, Mizuki considered temporarily substituting them with something else. His current goal was the Sealing Technique known as Adamantine Sealing Chains.
[Adamantine Sealing Chains] — the Uzumaki Clan had some seriously refined techniques when it came to controlling chakra with them. If he wanted, Mizuki could probably develop his own "Mizuki-style" Yin Seal. However, the chakra stored by the Yin Seal became too violent when released — an aspect that didn't fit Mizuki's needs at all. What Mizuki really needed was massive, yet manageable, chakra.
"So then, my next step is improving the Breath-Sealing Art?"
For Mizuki, who already had a foundation, this task probably wouldn't take overly long — but neither could it be accomplished overnight. Fortunately, the ninja world appeared to be entering a period of prolonged stability. Although many missions still awaited him in the near future, it was certainly better than facing S-ranked rogue ninja from Akatsuki alone. For now, Mizuki had plenty of time.
[Adamantine Sealing Chains]—a technique others dismissed as having little practical value—was, to Mizuki, a hidden treasure. If he could extract its essence and modify the technique, it might unlock immense power.
Unfortunately, his original plan—to spend the day at home studying the Uzumaki clan's signature sealing techniques—was interrupted by an unexpected disturbance.
Seeing who had come so early in the morning, Mizuki felt deeply annoyed.
"I am on leave, you know. Why are you here looking for me?"
Looking at Shizune, who had come to fetch him to meet Lady Tsunade, Mizuki's expression turned sour.
"We didn't really have a choice—we've got something important that needs dealing with right away."
Shizune gave an awkward smile. It was admittedly awkward to visit a groom-to-be so early in the morning.
"Fine. Wait just a moment."
With that, Mizuki invited Shizune inside before heading off to freshen up.
"Do I need to prepare anything?" he asked while walking.
He wanted to know whether this was a sudden combat mission requiring ninja tools or similar preparations.
"No need. It's not really that big of a deal, though...you'd better mentally prepare yourself somehow."
"Mental preparation?" Mizuki asked.
"I can't quite explain. You'll understand when we get there." Shizune added with an odd look, "Just be careful...Lady Tsunade isn't happy."
"Thanks for the warning," Mizuki muttered, "Though what exactly am I supposed to watch out for? It's not like I snuck off—I took leave legally! She already approved it. Now changing her mind… typical."
...
Upon arriving at the Hokage's Office, Mizuki immediately understood the situation. Seeing the slim figure with vivid red hair, he couldn't help but feel a headache forming.
"Trouble's here again. Can't even enjoy a bit of peace..."
"Mizuki, do you have anything to say for yourself?"
Led in by Shizune, Mizuki faced Lady Tsunade's cold stare while Shizune stood silently aside.
"Nothing false came out of my mouth, I assure you."
"That doesn't mean you weren't hiding something!" Tsunade angrily slapped the desk.
"If you hadn't done anything wrong, would rogue ninjas from other villages come looking for you without explanation?"
Karin shot back, "I'm not a rogue ninja! I was exiled!"
Sighing inwardly over Karin's lack of wit, Mizuki thought: Somehow being exiled is worse than being a rogue ninja. At least rogues have freedom—they're seen more like scavengers than threats in the ninja world.
Hearing Karin interrupt, Tsunade held back her anger toward the young girl.
"Mizuki, I expect you to understand certain things," Tsunade continued sternly. "This is a particularly unstable period. Any ninja whose background we can't confirm—even mere genins—we cannot easily ignore."
She handed Mizuki a file.
It indeed seemed suspicious—a shinobi previously expelled showing up at Konoha village, recently swept clean of threats, to beg for protection under one of its newly promoted jonin.
Mizuki accepted the file and flipped through it carefully.
"So this is Karin's full testimony... quite thorough, actually."
Mizuki gave Karin an annoyed look and said, "You already know everything so well, so I guess I don't have much more to say."
"So you're admitting it's true?" Tsunade replied in disbelief. "What could you possibly gain from kidnapping a little girl?"
Shizune, standing beside her, also shot Mizuki a look of disgust. She seemed unable to believe that someone about to get married would actually do something like this.
Sighing, Mizuki pointed first at his forehead protector, then gestured toward Karin's red hair.
"What do you mean?" Neither Tsunade nor Shizune understood his gesture.
"Remember the Sealing Technique you gave me a couple of days back?"
"Sealing Technique? Oh, that one. What does it have to do with what we're talking about? Wait, something's not right..."
Tsunade glanced from Mizuki's forehead protector to Karin. Shocked, she abruptly stood up.
"You can't be serious. Are you sure this can really confirm her identity?"
"This kind of verification isn't hard. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't make a mistake about something as obvious as this..."
"I see," Tsunade muttered. She stepped forward and began circling Karin, examining her closely. The sheer chakra pressure coming off Tsunade almost made the young girl burst into tears.
"Lady Tsunade, this is quite rude," Shizune gently scolded her overly excited companion.
"Yeah, I understand," Tsunade replied, seemingly realizing her behavior had been inappropriate. She returned to sit on the chair behind her desk, facing Mizuki as she spoke, "There were plenty of things you did in this affair that deeply displeased me, some actions even seemed suspicious. But let's set those aside for now. If this girl's identity as an orphaned descendant of the Uzumaki Clan can indeed be confirmed, we can talk about everything else later. However, if this claim turns out fabricated, you'd better prepare a good explanation to convince me."
The value of being recognized as a surviving descendant of the Uzumaki Clan was difficult to accurately measure. Setting aside their unique collection of Sealing Techniques, simply being an excellent vessel for jinchuriki made such a person valuable enough for the Five Great Ninja Villages to fight over fiercely. Emotionally speaking, Konoha had always wanted answers about its failure to properly rescue the Uzumaki Clan during their time of need, searching extensively for any information about their fate and any potential survivors scattered outside the village. Yet, besides some publicly known facts, they had barely found anything truly valuable. Survivors? They hadn't even heard a whisper—until now, when one was standing right here before them, visibly apprehensive.
"Lady Tsunade, believe in my judgment. Look at this rare hair color—it's a clear sign of immense chakra power."
"The Uzumaki Clan?" Shizune finally caught on to what Tsunade and Mizuki were discussing.
"No way!" More dramatically expressive than Tsunade, Shizune rushed forward immediately, touching Karin's beautiful hair, then pinching her arms, as if trying to thoroughly examine what a supposedly extinct clan actually looked like.
Mizuki watched helplessly as these two women carried on with their antics. Didn't they both already meet Kushina Uzumaki? You'd think they'd react less dramatically after seeing her. Especially Tsunade, who had even met Mito Uzumaki—she should be quite familiar with the Uzumaki Clan.
"Shizune…" Tsunade quickly called Shizune back.
Then, Mizuki tossed the records he had just reviewed into the trash bin.
"Let's end this for today. Mizuki, prepare a report for me. You should write some parts in more detail..."
"I understand. Then I'll take my leave first."
"Hmm," Tsunade nodded. "As for this young girl, there are still some matters to handle. Later, I'll have her come find you."
"Tsunade-sama, couldn't the village arrange this instead?"
"The trouble you caused, you deal with it yourself."
"Fine." Mizuki could only agree.
As Mizuki made his way home, he felt a bit troubled. He'd clearly told Karin to wait outside and signal him secretly so he could set things up discreetly. But that guy still showed up out of nowhere, announcing loud and clear that he wanted to join Mizuki—enough to make your head spin.
Because of this, Mizuki decided to use Karin's identity as a cover, deliberately shifting focus to her first. As for everything else, he would explain gradually later.
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