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The Third Mizukage felt that this bastard was mocking him.
Illusion? If this was an illusion, then what was real?
The Third Mizukage could swear that the author knew them better than they knew themselves—so frighteningly so that he was even drawing events from the future!
Just thinking about it made the Third Mizukage feel an overwhelming sense of threat. He had to deal with this immediately. He had to end this before he lost everything.
His shinobi instincts had been pounding violently since the moment he first saw Zabuza in the manga.
Danger… that was right. Only extreme danger could put a veteran shinobi like him into such a state of tension and uncertainty, unsure of how to act.
The problem was that this danger was unique. He had never faced anything like it before.
He was not being surrounded by enemies—he was being surrounded by chapters of a manga.
Every time he tried to find something he could criticize, he was struck by an even harsher scene, one that precisely depicted the reality that the Hidden Mist Village might face in the future.
"One hundred… killing one hundred students during his graduation exam? What kind of little demon is this…? Momochi? The Momochi family! Is he a member of that clan? Impossible."
"Hm, from what I've seen, he's a powerful swordsman, highly skilled in kenjutsu. The Momochi family excels in sword arts—this confirms his connection to that family…"
The Mizukage thought coldly. He knew everything about the Momochi family by heart.
'Finding the child Zabuza wouldn't be difficult… if he even exists yet… Should I kill him?'
The thought surfaced in the Mizukage's mind. Killing a child was abhorrent—but if that child were to become a massive threat in the future, eliminating him would serve the greater interests of Kirigakure.
"Don't think about that, Mizukage… You shouldn't rush into making the wrong decisions."
At that moment, Rob's clone spoke with a cold expression, completely different from the friendly demeanor he had shown before.
Despite being a clone, the Anchor of Life made him a real existence, no different from the original—an extension of himself, an extension of the real Rob.
He possessed the same level of strength as the original, the same techniques and abilities, and could be further equipped by the real Rob through the system shop. This meant he was a clone that could become even stronger!
An existence that represented Rob alone.
The moment Rob sensed the Third Mizukage's thoughts—since the latter was currently inside the art store—Rob's expression changed completely.
The Mizukage's thoughts had completely crossed Rob's red line.
Rob would never allow anyone to be harmed because of his manga!
'Can he read my thoughts?'
The Mizukage's eyes widened in shock as confusion washed over him.
"What exactly shouldn't I be thinking about? What wrong decisions are you talking about?"
The Mizukage asked coldly. This little bastard was threatening him on his own territory.
Shouldn't he discipline him?
Rob stepped closer to the Mizukage. At that moment, Ao stood in front of the Mizukage and glared at Rob with hostility, ready to attack the instant the Mizukage gave the order.
"Step aside, Ao…" the Mizukage said.
"But my lord, he—"
"I said, step aside…" the Mizukage interrupted, his tone growing colder.
Feeling the pressure, Ao moved aside, leaving the path open for Rob.
Rob looked at the Mizukage standing before him, face to face.
"Would you believe me if I told you that through my manga, you can understand your village's problems, solve them properly, and keep everything in its place?"
"If you try to solve them through violence, you'll only break your own hand—and besides, we will not allow them to be resolved through violence."
"We?"
What caught the Third Mizukage's attention most was the word 'we', the plural Rob used.
"That's right. I'm not alone."
"You represent Konoha after all—I knew it!" the Mizukage shouted coldly.
"We don't represent any village," Rob replied briefly, indifferent to the Mizukage's anger.
"Let me be frank with you, Lord Mizukage. With our power, it wouldn't be difficult to destroy all five great villages in a single day."
The Mizukage's eyes widened at those words. Ao's hand moved to his kunai, ready to take drastic action at any moment.
"What did you say? Do you think you can just spout such nonsense and take it back as if you never said it? With those words, you've doomed yourself."
The Mizukage's tone grew even colder… inwardly, he had already decided to eliminate this threat.
"I'm not spouting nonsense. I'm speaking the truth. You can test it yourself. But let me be even more honest—our goal is not war. However, we will neither fear it nor retreat if we are dragged into it," Rob said calmly.
"Then what is your goal?" the Mizukage pressed.
"Peace."
Rob's single-word answer made the Mizukage's expression freeze.
"Do you think toying with me is fun? Is that it?"
"Lord Mizukage, the time you're wasting on meaningless chatter is precious. You should invest it wisely."
Rob smiled, then stepped back and returned to his place.
"Remember my friendly advice: attempting to harm characters who appeared in my manga and exist in reality solely because of what they did in the manga is a red line. We will not allow that…"
"Please correct your mistakes. Some fates will not be in your hands, even if you believe they are. The world is far more complex than you imagine."
"Our role is to make you open your eyes to the world."
"And the manga in your hands is the only path to that."
Rob's words sent shock deep into the hearts of the Mizukage and Ao.
Instinctively, they looked down at the manga book in their hands, which seemed to have grown heavier for some unknown reason.
…
[—
'No… something is strange. Could I have missed something?' Kakashi felt that he had overlooked something important.
"What's wrong, Sensei?" Naruto asked.
"Huh? Well… Body-erasing teams usually dispose of the body of the person they killed right there," said Kakashi.
"So what?" asked Sakura.
"Don't you see? How did that masked boy dispose of Zabuza's body?"
"How could we know? That masked guy took the body with him," Sakura said, shrugging.
"Yeah… If he needed proof of his work, he could have just taken the head."
"And the weapon that he used to kill Zabuza."
'Simple needles…' Sasuke was shocked as he finally understood what Kakashi was getting at.
"No way…" exclaimed Sasuke.
"Yeah… Exactly," said Kakashi.
"What are you guys talking about?" Tazuna didn't understand what was going on.
"Most likely… Zabuza is alive!" said Kakashi.
Hearing that, Naruto, Sakura, and Tazuna all wore the same ridiculous expression.
"What the hell do you mean?! Kakashi-sensei, you checked and said he was dead!"
"Yeah, I did… But that was most likely just a momentary death."
—]
The manga book felt even heavier in the hands of Hozuki Mizuro, the Third Mizukage, after his discussion with its author… and now, as he continued reading, he felt that this was no longer mere entertainment.
"He realized it… too late…" he said, and thought inwardly, 'Just like me...'
"That's right—after it was already too late…"
In what appeared to be the 17th and final chapter of this volume, the Mizukage looked mockingly at the shinobi of the Hidden Leaf, who had been fooled by a simple trick from rogue shinobi of the Hidden Mist.
"Ao… what do you think could be the reason that pushed them to become rebels?"
The Third Mizukage asked his attendant Ao beside him.
"Mizukage-sama, I assume the reason may be purely political. If Zabuza is one of the Seven Swordsmen, then he's at the level of an elite jōnin or higher. Losing someone like that is not in the village's interest. That means his conflict may be directly with the Lord Mizukage," Ao said in one breath.
"That means he conflicts with me?" Mizuro asked.
"That's correct—if the current Mizukage in the manga world is you, my lord."
Hearing that, the Mizukage's brow twitched.
That was true—he still didn't know whether he himself was the Mizukage depicted in the manga, or someone else.
But what made the Mizukage most uneasy wasn't whether he appeared in the manga or not—it was the fear that he himself might be the reason rogue shinobi, Zabuza, was born.
The fear that the so-called Bloody Mist Era might be tied to his name.
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Upcoming chapter titles (spoilers):
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Chapter 73: A Harsh World for the Powerless. Kakashi, What's Your Story?
Chapter 74: Defining Chakra?
Chapter 75: The Five Types of Chakra – End of Volume Two!
Chapter 76: Momochi Zabuza Is My Son.
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BlackStar_BH:
The chapters currently available on Patreon are up to Chapter 98.
There are 25 advanced chapters available now:
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In the coming days, chapters will be made available for all tiers, reaching up to 50 advanced chapters… Enjoy!