Thanks to Hiashi Hyuga's support, only during this special time and under a series of lucky breaks could a newly promoted Jonin like Mizuki smoothly step into a team leader role.
While Neji Hyuga and Hinata Hyuga were still practicing the Gentle Fist, Mizuki simply nodded at Hiashi and took his leave. He didn't feel the need to talk with Hinata, his subordinate—it wasn't like they wouldn't have plenty of time to chat starting tomorrow anyway.
After leaving the Hyuga family estate, Mizuki went straight home. Unless he was out on a mission, coming home in time for dinner had become part of Mizuki's routine as a married man.
Mizuki enjoyed the comforts of domestic life before new missions began. With delicious meals provided without him having to worry too much about household affairs, those days of waking up wondering where to eat or what to have for each meal were gone forever. Many tasks had naturally fallen into Tsubaki's hands.
"Tsubaki, is your job going alright?"
Mizuki suddenly asked while calmly eating his meal.
"Not bad," Tsubaki replied with a nod. "Just a little busier and more tiring than before."
"That's good. If you have any problems, tell me."
Female ninja occupied an unusual place in the ninja world. Few women remained active as they aged; many would retire from frontline combat upon reaching marriageable age, choosing instead to marry and raise children. Despite the existence of several renowned female ninja—including even female Hokage and Mizukage—and potentially a [female Tsuchikage] in the future, the ninja world ultimately remained male-dominated, and such trends couldn't be easily changed.
Those like Tsubaki, who weren't directly involved in combat roles, had it somewhat easier. Then there were others like Kurenai Yuhi—asking her to abandon her child and go on missions after marriage would simply be unreasonable no matter how one looked at it.
"Mizuki," Tsubaki said hesitantly, as if recalling something.
"What is it?"
That was fast—one issue comes up right after another!
"That one with Karin," Tsubaki answered. "What exactly are you planning to do with her? She used to be a ninja, right? Letting her talent go to waste doing craftsman work seems like quite a loss."
"Karin?" Mizuki smiled slightly. "You really paid attention to her. Yeah, she does have some impressive talent."
"You already knew?"
Tsubaki found it odd. "No wonder you convinced her to come to Konoha. She really is quite a promising girl."
"She's kind of pitiful—a decent young girl, wandering alone. Coming to Konoha must've been lucky for her. And she has great potential as a ninja—it'd be a shame to waste it."
"Potential? What did you notice?"
"Her sensing ability. Did you know? Her perception skills are extremely sharp. Once she walks a path, she remembers it clearly. When delivering goods outside, she's always succeeded—never failed to locate someone. To make it clearer," Tsubaki continued, trying to strengthen her argument, "I've even tried sneaking up on her secretly, but I've never managed to approach undetected. It's like she senses me from far away."
"Not only that, Tsubaki," Mizuki said. "Karin isn't someone worthy of sympathy. She's just facing a temporary setback."
The fact that she was able to hold a high position under Orochimaru and efficiently manage a hidden base showed her decisive nature—swift when action was needed, and ready to abandon lost causes without hesitation. These strengths were simply being overshadowed by her current hardship.
"If that's the case," Tsubaki asked, "then why haven't you made any arrangements? Don't you trust her?"
Mizuki shook his head. "It's not about trust. To be honest, I'm just managing things on behalf of someone else. Although I'm referred to as her guardian, decisions regarding her placement ultimately depend on Hokage-sama's directives."
As for Karin's placement, Mizuki could only offer minor suggestions for consultation. As an acquaintance, he merely acted as a bridge between the village and Karin. The influence of the Uzumaki bloodline was simply too significant—if anything went wrong, Mizuki wasn't sure he'd be able to handle it.
After all, Karin was a foreign ninja—an outsider among the native villagers. If she drew too much attention, she might face discrimination and struggle to integrate into Konoha. Integrating her into Konoha's system would cause far more problems than appointing Mizuki as a squad leader.
"Are there other difficulties?"
Keeping quiet about Karin's origins was understandable. After all, her name didn't even carry the Uzumaki surname, and whether her bloodline came from her father or mother remained unclear. These details could no longer be accurately verified.
"Let's not talk about the difficulties for now," Mizuki said after thinking briefly. "If you have time, you can teach her some basic ninjutsu and chakra control techniques. But don't interfere too much with her development—she is a bloodline inheritor."
"Bloodline? Inheritor?" Tsubaki blinked in confusion for a moment before understanding. "I see. So you and Lady Tsunade already have plans."
"Mm," Mizuki nodded. "Lady Tsunade will make proper arrangements. There's no need to worry excessively. We just need to focus on the present. If you're available, teach her some basics in Sealing Techniques. That'll benefit her greatly."
After all, being part of the Uzumaki clan, learning sealing techniques made perfect sense. Not every member of the Uzumaki clan was a chosen one like Nagato or Naruto Uzumaki.
...
The next day, Mizuki arrived early at the mission meeting point. He had led Genin on missions many times before, but actually teaching during those missions—he hadn't done much of that. Ordinarily, their respective teachers handled such responsibilities. Now, though, all these concerns fell onto Mizuki himself.
With some time still left, Mizuki found a quiet spot, set up a simple genjutsu formation (illusionary array), and began his regular practice of sensing natural energy. Because of his meridian injury, he'd been forced to stop his natural energy training for several days, but now he could finally continue. The past couple of days had gone well—no pain or physical issues at all. Rather, his sensitivity to natural energy had significantly increased. Yet, he still hadn't figured out how to sense natural energy without relying on tailed beast chakra.
"It seems this problem can't be solved through practice alone," Mizuki mused inwardly. "There must be some more fundamental, underlying principles that I haven't yet understood."
Mizuki's strength had truly hit a wall. Though Sage Mode was his first real, reliable source of power, it still wasn't enough—even the power of a "human-tailed beast" was still not enough. Meanwhile, progress on the Artificial Jinchuriki front also seemed to have hit a wall.
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