"Zabuza, the organization has decided to make you Mizukage!"
A voice suddenly came from the other side. Zabuza turned toward it, and his pupils instantly contracted.
They were a pair of scarlet Three Tomoe Sharingan.
At present, only one person in the world possessed those eyes—the famed Uchiha prodigy.
"You are... Itachi Uchiha?"
"Heh."
Naruto snorted disdainfully. "How could I possibly be that kind of traitor?"
"Then you are..."
His extensive combat experience allowed Zabuza to snap out of his shock at once. He faced Naruto to stall for time while secretly trying to awaken Haku.
Naruto had already noticed his little move.
"It's useless."
Naruto's gaze sharpened, and he smiled playfully. "Take a guess. Are you under a genjutsu, is he under a genjutsu, or... are both of you under one at the same time?"
Cold sweat immediately trickled down Zabuza's face.
He tried to disrupt the flow of his Chakra, but it was completely useless.
Such a powerful genjutsu... Is this the Sharingan?
Zabuza knew that he was currently waking from a feigned death. His body could not move at all, let alone now that he had fallen deeply under a genjutsu.
He had no power to resist.
Even with Haku, the two of them would still be helpless.
Yet the person before him did not kill him.
This...
Though he did not know how he had provoked the other party, Zabuza seemed to realize that he was still somewhat useful to him.
"What do you mean, sir?"
Naruto waved a hand, and a wooden chair instantly grew from the floor of the wooden building. He sat down comfortably.
"Don't be nervous. Let's have a chat."
Seeing this, Zabuza chose to relax.
If they tried to resist, even with Haku, the other side could kill them with a single thought.
Since resistance was impossible, they might as well have a proper conversation.
Perhaps there was still a chance to survive.
"Calmed down? Good. It'll help you relax and make it easier to remember."
Naruto felt that this man seemed to be quite the character. Was he truly unafraid of death, or simply smart enough?
"Let's talk about your time in Kirigakure."
"My time in Kirigakure?"
Zabuza did not understand. This stranger wanted to talk to him about himself? Then he heard something utterly unbelievable.
"Zabuza, you're a good man."
The sudden praise left Zabuza somewhat confused.
Seeing his puzzled expression, Naruto explained, "Oh? It seems you don't understand."
"Zabuza, back when you were at the Ninja Academy, you had already recognized the flaws of the Bloody Mist Village."
"You understood that every Ninja Academy student was the future of the ninja village. The future Mizukage would also emerge from among these children, which meant every child could become the future Mizukage."
"And this evil Bloody Mist Village policy was strangling Kirigakure's future. It was strangling its future Mizukage."
"But as a Ninja Academy student, you were young and powerless. You could only watch it all happen, helpless. In the end, you could only tearfully kill the other Ninja Academy students from your class, using that pain to make the village higher-ups recognize the problem."
"From then on, the Bloody Mist Village policy changed because of you."
"You chose to sacrifice the lesser good of your class in order to protect the greater good—a brighter future for Kirigakure."
"Without question, you are great!"
Naruto's account made Zabuza question his own life. Had he really thought that way back then?
Hadn't he merely been pursuing his own ambitions?
"Was that how it was?" He lowered his head in thought.
"Think. Think more carefully," Naruto said, increasing the dosage.
Zabuza frowned and pondered.
It did seem like that might have been one of the reasons.
Zabuza gradually began accepting Naruto's version of events. Under the influence of Naruto's genjutsu, he sank deeper and deeper into it.
Naruto continued, "Back at the Ninja Academy, you also had a friend named Sakuragi Hanamichi. He was your best friend."
"He understood you, knew you, and was your only friend. He knew your aspirations, so he willingly chose to give his life for the village."
"During the graduation exam, he was the last to fall into your arms."
"He shared your dream of becoming Mizukage and changing the Bloody Mist Village policy, but he chose to entrust that dream to you! He believed you could accomplish it!"
Staring straight at Zabuza, Naruto prompted, "Do you remember now?"
"You are right, sir. Such a thing really did happen."
As the tough man recalled those memories, Zabuza's eyes had already filled with tears.
"I truly don't know where you got this information. You even know that my closest friend died in my arms."
"There's more than that." Naruto interrupted his account.
Zabuza had completely relaxed. Deeply trapped in the genjutsu and unable to break free, his emotions had been thoroughly shattered by Naruto. "What else do you know?"
"You deeply loved this land of the Land of Water. You deeply loved Kirigakure. You worked hard for the village, joined the Anbu, became one of the strongest Seven Ninja Swordsmen, and wanted to become the village's sharpest weapon."
Naruto revealed another earth-shattering secret. "But when you looked back, you discovered that the highest authority representing your village, the Kage, had actually been secretly controlled by someone else."
Zabuza was stunned.
His eyes widened in disbelief, and Naruto could clearly sense his mental world violently trembling.
"How could he be controlled? The Fourth Hokage was a perfect Jinchuriki!" Zabuza asked in a low, choked voice, filled with confusion.
Naruto spoke softly. "The Sharingan. A Sharingan like mine."
Zabuza turned and saw a pair of unusual eyes shaped like four-pointed shuriken.
"This is..." Zabuza was deeply alarmed as he recalled a rumor he had once heard.
"That's right. Someone used the Mangekyō Sharingan to control the Fourth Mizukage," Naruto quietly answered.
Whether anyone had controlled him in the past did not matter. In the version that spread later, it would be so.
No one willing to admit it?
Uchiha Liutong, wandering the ninja world, would announce that he was responsible.
If that did not work, he could always create another Uchiha Hongzhong.
Sensing Zabuza's resistance, Naruto reassured him, "Don't be nervous. That person wasn't me."
Though he could also directly control Zabuza and create a Shadow Clone as he had before.
However,
That kind of control had no soul. What he obtained would only be a walking corpse that mechanically carried out orders.
That was why Naruto was trying for the first time to use genjutsu to make the controlled person cooperate wholeheartedly.
For now, the results seemed good.
Naruto continued, "After discovering that the Fourth Mizukage had been controlled by genjutsu, you finally understood why a policy like the Bloody Mist Village existed."
"After an intense inner struggle, you made up your mind. For Kirigakure's future, you tearfully chose to assassinate the Fourth Hokage."
"Unfortunately, you were not strong enough and could only become a rogue ninja in the end."
"Ah..." Zabuza let out a deep sigh, seemingly lamenting his own life.
"Even while wandering the ninja world, you constantly accumulated money and strength, seeking an opportunity to fight your way back. Even if you could not return, you still wanted to save money and contribute to the village."
"This is who you are, Zabuza. You are Kirigakure's hero!"
The tough man Zabuza was now sobbing uncontrollably.
This person understood him!
"Zabuza, you haven't forgotten your dream of becoming Mizukage, have you?"
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