Don't Hurt the Flowers and Grass

The Third Mizukage had barely finished speaking when Ito Rei immediately jumped in front of him and cheerfully volunteered, "I'll be her teacher!"

The Third Mizukage glanced sideways at her, ignored her, and asked, "Come to think of it, what's your name?"

Jiang Rui kept his eyes on his nose and his nose on his heart as he answered quietly, "Rimuru, Mizukage-sama."

This woman's somewhat hyperactive personality reminded him of an animal called a husky.

He wondered what her relationship with the Mizukage was. She was completely unrestrained around him.

Still, having her as his teacher was not a bad choice. First, she was definitely part of the Mizukage's faction.

Second, a somewhat foolish woman would be easier to fool.

"Rimuru?"

Though the name sounded strange, it was quite catchy.

No surname. It seemed her parents had indeed given up their Hozuki Clan identity for some reason.

The Third Mizukage understood. He found himself viewing the child before him a little more favorably.

After his teacher died, the Hozuki Clan began to decline...

"Fine, then. Hozuki Rimuru... Hmm, not bad."

The Third Mizukage felt a little awkward, but he still said it aloud. He could not exactly force someone to change their name.

"Yes!"

Hozuki Rimuru, my ass!!

"Since you have no teacher to guide you, call me Teacher from now on."

There were several reasons he had decided to take Jiang Rui as a disciple. First, the little one's talent should be quite good. Mastering the Water Transformation Technique at such a young age meant her future achievements would not be low.

Furthermore, Kirigakure's current generation was truly lacking in talent. There were very few capable of shouldering great responsibility, and their strength was generally weak.

Did the Third Mizukage not want to intervene in World War II? It was only because the front lines were too far away, and he truly lacked confidence.

Second, children were highly malleable. Whether it was their fighting style or their values, becoming his student would make them easier to monitor and easier to instill with certain beliefs. Even if she was a spy, he could straighten out her mindset.

Third, over the years, three of his four students had died in battle. The remaining one...

He glanced at Ito Rei beside him, who was still obsessing over Jiang Rui's little face, and could not help sighing.

Of course, the fourth reason was the most important. His own teacher, Hozuki Gengetsu, had also been from the Hozuki Clan.

He pointed at Ito Rei.

"The one beside you is your senior sister, Ito Rei. For the next two days, follow her and get a sense of your own strength. Come to me in three days to receive a mission."

He asked, "No problem?"

"No!!!" Ito Rei patted her chest and answered with a grin.

Jiang Rui nodded as well. "Okay, Mizukage-sama."

"Alright, take her to settle into a place first. You can ask her about training matters in the future as well. If there's anything she doesn't understand, she can come find me."

The first sentence was directed at Ito Rei, while the latter was for Jiang Rui.

After giving a few more instructions, he had Ito Rei lead Jiang Rui away.

It had gone unexpectedly smoothly!

Jiang Rui pondered inwardly.

He had actually become the Mizukage's disciple. They had only met for the first time today, yet it felt a little strange.

Uh, it was like getting married immediately after meeting once on a blind date...

Wasn't this a little too fast...

But then again, the famous Mist ninja of this period... Kisame Hoshigaki?

"Kisame Hoshigaki should have been born within the last two years."

Oh... then who else was there?!

It really was because of Hozuki Gengetsu's influence!!!

Thinking of that, Jiang Rui's mood soared, and the smile on his face bloomed like a flower.

After they had walked for a while, Ito Rei's voice suddenly rang out. "We're here, we're here! Let me test your strength first!"

Jiang Rui focused and looked around. This was a training ground far from the civilian district. Besides them, several young ninja wearing forehead protectors were sparring nearby, shouting and grunting.

"Fine." Jiang Rui sighed helplessly, knowing this was inevitable. But how much of his strength should he reveal?

Before he could finish speaking, Ito Rei's attack had already arrived. Since this was a spar between companions and she did not know Jiang Rui's strength, her opening assault was sharp, but she kept her fingers together and formed a hand blade.

A dark shadow flashed. Jiang Rui had only managed to twist sideways when a faint pain came from his shoulder.

Damn it!

Jiang Rui suddenly realized that, since she was the Mizukage's direct disciple, even if she was not among the very strongest, she had to at least be a High Ninja!

That speed and agility were at least in the double digits.

Why the hell was a Sequence 9 like me still hiding my strength?!

With that thought, a crimson glint flashed in Jiang Rui's eyes as he activated Great Sage's battle instincts.

If his speed was lacking, he would make up for it with reactions. He had to earn that genius reputation!

As he quickly stepped back twice, his hands formed seals at high speed.

Ito Rei wore a lovely smile as she spun and leaped again, sweeping a kick toward Jiang Rui's exposed abdomen!

"Forming hand seals at close range isn't a good habit!"

With no other choice, Jiang Rui raised both hands to block and used the force to retreat.

He had troubles he could not voice. Whether it was the Great Waterfall Technique or the Water Dragon Bullet, both required more than a dozen extremely cumbersome hand seals. Great Sage ensured he would not make mistakes, but his hand speed simply was not fast enough!

He could cast them without seals, but... how was he supposed to explain that to the Mizukage?!

Teacher, Teacher!! I developed the Great Waterfall Technique into a seal-less ninjutsu!!

Tsk!

Still, he remembered that the Hozuki Clan had a secret technique that did not require hand seals...

Seeing the curve of her lips, Ito Rei pressed her advantage. Not only did she kick him flying, she pushed off with both feet and closed in again.

He actually felt somewhat powerless. Killing and sparring were completely different things.

Muto Koji had died so easily purely because he could never have imagined Jiang Rui could unleash a killing move without forming hand seals.

And Jiang Rui had not needed to worry much either. The man had been as good as dead anyway...

But now, he was being crushed in speed, and he did not seem able to match her strength either... It seemed the only things he could rely on were technique and ninjutsu.

Countless thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant. Jiang Rui raised his right hand, shaped it like a gun, aimed it at the rapidly approaching Ito Rei, and lifted his finger. "Bang."

A bullet-sized sphere of water rapidly condensed. Jiang Rui frantically poured magic power into it, compressing a massive amount of water.

This was Jiang Rui's imitation of a Hozuki Clan secret technique—the Water Gun Technique!

Upon seeing the signature ninjutsu of the famous Second Mizukage, Ito Rei clearly paused, momentarily stunned.

The water bullet streaked past her ear, pierced through a large tree, and, after an explosive roar, unleashed countless high-pressure Water Blades from within!

The entire training ground fell silent for a moment.

"Wah, wah, wah!! Were you trying to kill me?!" After staring blankly for a while, Ito Rei patted her chest in lingering fear.

Then she charged at him viciously, grabbed the little blue-haired boy who had been knocked to the ground by the impact with no leverage in midair, and wildly rubbed Jiang Rui's cheeks as she shouted.

Jiang Rui was also annoyed. That shot had used nearly 200 points of his magic power, okay?! Nearly half of it!

Compressing water enough to create a qualitative change was really exhausting, okay?

His cheeks squished, he explained unclearly, "I-I was aiming over there."

Ito Rei said, "It's not okay even if you missed, idiot! What if you hurt someone?"

Jiang Rui rubbed his face and stood up. "But nobody got hurt."

Ito Rei pointed at the scattered fragments of the large tree.

The flowers and grass?

Fine...

Whatever makes you happy...