Mizuki Was Ready to Get Himself Killed

In the darkness, beautiful lights flickered now and then. Occasionally, they streaked past his eyes, dazzling and enchanting, radiating an incredible sense of mystery that left him spellbound.

Time was the least reliable measure of all. He had no idea how long had passed when faint, noisy sounds gradually seemed to emerge from the void. They were irritating, yet impossible to shake off. Suddenly, a point of starlight rushed closer and grew larger. Before he could react, it swallowed everything whole, and then a sudden sensation of falling hit him. In his panic, he hurriedly steadied himself.

Just then, a hand reached out beside him and caught his body as it pitched forward. A voice followed. "Mizuki-sensei, are you all right? You look exhausted. Would you like to go rest?"

He slowly opened his bleary eyes. "Mizuki-sensei? Is that what they're calling me? What an unpleasant name."

He rubbed his eyes with his left hand, which had been propping up his chin, then massaged his temples, gradually dispelling his drowsiness. Once composed, he replied, "I'm fine. I've just had a little trouble sleeping lately. Hmm?" He studied the person beside him. "You're Iruka, right?"

Iruka smiled. "Mizuki-sensei, you must really be tired. You can't even recognize me. You were nodding off just now. If I hadn't caught you, you'd have hit your head on the desk. Haha." He paused. "Why not take a little rest first? There aren't many students left, so it won't take long."

"No need. Let's finish testing them quickly. Lord Hokage is waiting for the report. The test isn't difficult anyway, so we'll be done soon."

Iruka thought it over and agreed. "Then let's continue the exam." He straightened the forms in his hands and called loudly toward the door, "Next!"

Mizuki curled his lip, silently annoyed. Why did he have to shout so loudly? He was deafening. With a voice like that, it was no wonder he'd become a teacher.

Once he came to his senses, Mizuki sorted through his muddled memories. He'd only dozed off for a moment in a taxi, and in the blink of an eye, he'd become Mizuki. He really wasn't cut out to be a protagonist. In his previous life, he'd been an ordinary office worker. After things at work went badly, he'd quit, but he still hadn't managed to find a new job. He'd clearly overestimated his own abilities. At long last, he'd decided to get out and clear his head, only to fall asleep for a moment and end up in another world. Had he been in a car accident or something? He couldn't remember at all. What a fitting punishment: he'd impulsively quit his job, and the world had repaid him by impulsively transmigrating him into the body of a background character. If his usual cool head and decent reflexes hadn't helped him bluff Iruka, who knew what kind of mess he'd have landed in?

As he was thinking, a lively blond kid walked in, a few strange whisker-like marks on his face. It was none other than the child of destiny in Naruto—the protagonist, Naruto Uzumaki. Mizuki silently confirmed the timeline. This was the beginning of the story, and also the start of Mizuki's doomed, reckless attempt to get himself killed. Even the Ichiraku Ramen stand's background-character owner and Ayame had more presence than he did.

Naruto walked nervously to the center of the exam room, watching Iruka anxiously. Once Naruto was ready, Iruka said, "Naruto, go ahead when you're ready. To pass, you need to create at least one perfect clone." Seeing how tense Naruto was, he offered some reassurance. "The Clone Technique is one of the simplest of the Three Basic Jutsu. As long as you pay attention in class and practice hard, it shouldn't be difficult."

"But why the Clone Technique? Why test me on the one I'm worst at? The Jutsu I invented is really powerful." Naruto was still unhappy, but he obediently formed the Hand Seals, poured all his chakra into the technique, and shouted, "Clone Technique!" Through the cloud of smoke, a limp body appeared, slumped into a heap. Naruto looked at Iruka with an apologetic expression and a glimmer of hope.

Iruka's eyelid twitched with anger. Then he roared, "You failed!" Spit flew several meters.

Watching this familiar scene unfold, Mizuki couldn't help touching his face, as though a stray drop of spit might have landed on it. Is it my turn to step in? What was the line again? Whatever. I'll just bluff my way through this, then figure out what to do. I need to get this over with and think of a way to save myself. But then he reconsidered. This seemed like an opportunity. He really ought to make his presence felt, or he'd be at a disadvantage.

Mizuki turned to Iruka. "Come to think of it, Iruka-sensei, Naruto did manage to make at least one clone. If we're generous, couldn't we call that a pass?" To Naruto, those words were like music. He looked at Mizuki in delighted surprise.

But Iruka shook his head. "That won't do, Mizuki-sensei. Everyone else made at least three clones. Naruto made only one, and it's not even useful. Becoming a ninja isn't that simple. Naruto just isn't cut out for it right now."

Faced with such a firm refusal, Mizuki could only look apologetically at Naruto, who seemed utterly despairing, and show that there was nothing he could do.

As he watched the dejected Naruto leave, Mizuki was already thinking about what to do next. In his memories, the story that followed revealed his tragic fate, but he had no way to deal with it. Even the most basic struggle would be difficult. Things weren't as simple as he'd imagined. Not encouraging Naruto to steal the Scroll of Sealing after the graduation exam wouldn't guarantee his safety. The previous Mizuki hadn't been without fault. Quite the opposite: he'd acted against Konoha's principles, and someone had caught him in the act. During a mission, a teammate had injured his leg and couldn't move easily. To complete the mission, Mizuki had abandoned him and smothered him to death. When he returned, he'd reported that the teammate had succumbed to poison after being wounded. Later, Konoha grew suspicious, which led to Mizuki being passed over for a position as a Ninja Academy teacher. He'd grown bitter toward Iruka, who'd always been inferior to him, for getting the job instead. Mizuki had also noticed that Konoha's leadership was investigating and suspecting him, which made him even more anxious.

Even so, things weren't beyond repair. At worst, he'd be locked up for a couple of years. Just look at the dim-witted brothers Fujin and Raijin. They'd killed all their teammates over an argument about food during a mission, yet they were only locked up in Konoha's maximum-security prison, where they were fed and treated well. Mizuki's actions were hardly that serious, and it was difficult to say he'd done anything terribly wrong. He probably wouldn't receive a particularly severe punishment. Besides, the next few years would be a time of turmoil. Spending a couple of years in prison might even be a good thing. He could wait for the child of destiny to seal Kaguya Otsutsuki, then live out the rest of his life in peace. As an accomplished Chunin, he wouldn't have trouble making a living. What's more, he already had a fiancée who loved him—Tsubaki Chie, a rather pretty young woman. Given that he hadn't found any cheat abilities or special powers so far, keeping his head down was a decent option. He could avoid some of the battlefields he remembered and shelter under the protagonist's halo. That wouldn't be so bad. But for now, it was only a pipe dream. Worst of all, he had some murky connection to Orochimaru. With that troublesome figure entangled in his affairs, not to mention Kabuto Yakushi, Konoha's spy, and Shimura Danzō, lurking in the shadows and perhaps watching his every move, Mizuki was already in a difficult position with no easy way out.

The rest of the exams were unremarkable. Mizuki spent them constantly thinking of a plan, and before long, he'd finished testing all the students.

Iruka stretched and lightly tapped the neatly arranged forms against the desk a few times. "Mizuki, thanks for all your help today. If you're not feeling well, you should head home early. You've seemed lost in thought all day. Is something wrong? If there's anything I can do, please let me know. After all, you've helped me a lot too."

Mizuki hurriedly waved his hands. "I'm really fine. You're worrying too much." He took the forms Iruka handed him. "All right, Iruka, you should go check on your adorable students. Once they graduate, you won't get to see them so often. Haha. I'm going to submit the report. The Third Hokage might come by the academy later. After all, there are several future bigwigs among this year's graduates."

"That's true." Iruka couldn't help sighing. "I never expected the next generation of Ino-Shika-Cho, along with the kids from the Inuzuka, Hyuga, and Aburame Clans, to graduate in the same year. Most importantly, the Uchiha orphan is among them too. It's a rare sight indeed."

"Then you've really had your work cut out for you, Iruka. Haha." Mizuki replied absentmindedly. "Well, I won't keep you. I'm off. See you after school."

"Yeah, see you later."

After saying goodbye to Iruka, Mizuki went straight to the Hokage Office and knocked on the door. He called out, "Chunin Mizuki, reporting as ordered."

"Come in." A weathered yet powerful voice answered.

Mizuki opened the door, closed it behind him, then bowed. "Third Hokage, the Ninja Academy's graduation exams are over. I've brought you the results. Please take a look."

"Bring them here." As soon as the words left his mouth, a masked ninja appeared in front of Mizuki. The ninja took the documents from him, checked them, then presented them to the Third Hokage.

The Third Hokage took the documents and flipped through them as he asked, "What was the exam?"

"The Clone Technique, Lord Hokage."

"Oh, a test of the Three Basic Jutsu." His tone gave nothing away. Then he asked, "And the results?"

"Everyone passed except Naruto Uzumaki."

"Hm?" Hearing that name, the Third Hokage paused.

Seeing the Third Hokage react, Mizuki pretended to sound uncertain. "The exam happened to test the technique Naruto Uzumaki is worst at. He did manage to make one clone, so I thought that might be enough to count as a pass, but Iruka disagreed and insisted on failing Naruto Uzumaki." At this point, Mizuki decided to push further and test whether there was any chance of avoiding tonight's fate. "Should we do something about it? Or just let him pass?" He watched the Third Hokage's reaction without letting anything show.

The Third Hokage thought for a moment, then shook his head. "No. Leave it as it is." He put down the report and told Mizuki, "You may go. I'll visit the Ninja Academy later."

"Yes." Mizuki could only resign himself and leave.

Looks like there's no way to take a shortcut. I'll have to find another plan. The bigwigs have arranged everything already. They're just waiting for a little clown like me to put on a show for them. Damn it.

There was no doubt about it: he had no chance of taking control of his own fate. He had to find the key to turning things around as soon as possible. If he could just make it through tonight, then in a few months, Orochimaru would attack the Chunin Ninja Exams arena, throwing everything into chaos. With those few months to prepare, he should be able to survive the turmoil of the Konoha Crush. By then, a nobody like him probably wouldn't have many people scheming against him. The key was tonight. The original Mizuki had planned to steal the Scroll of Sealing as a gift to win Orochimaru's favor, so he'd used Naruto's graduation exam as an opportunity to manipulate him. He hadn't expected it to end up helping Naruto.

Thinking about it carefully, it seemed absurd that a reckless child who wasn't even a ninja could steal Konoha's most closely guarded Scroll of Sealing and happen to learn the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique that suited him best. It all looked arranged in advance. Only he'd been foolish enough to unknowingly serve as a stepping stone.

Back at the Ninja Academy, Mizuki killed time while trying to think of a plan. The Third Hokage finally arrived before school let out. He met with the graduating students and their parents, and the place was lively.

Mizuki quietly watched Naruto Uzumaki sitting alone on a swing in the distance, dejected and enduring the mockery of rumors. Naruto pulled down his goggles to hide his tearful eyes.

"Wherever the leaves dance, the fire will burn. Its light will shine upon the Hokage, and the leaves will sprout again." Mizuki turned to see the Third Hokage nearby, talking with the students and their parents. He was dignified yet kind, and his poise, honed by years in power, was deeply compelling. It was easy to see how he won people over. "That's a nice way to put it. Maybe my future will depend on the Hokage's mercy to save me. Konoha's creed of love and justice led me to this point, but it might also be my last slim chance."

"Still, leaving my fate in someone else's hands and hoping for mercy and forgiveness is a terribly humiliating and powerless feeling. It makes me furious!" Even so, Mizuki had to deal with Naruto and play out his fated role. "There's really nothing I can do in the short term. If I can't make it through this, there won't be any future to speak of." Once he'd made up his mind, he headed straight for Naruto Uzumaki. "The story's about to begin. I'm ready. What about you, child of destiny? I hope you like this fated gift!"