The weather gradually grew hotter, and Konoha was as bustling as ever—or rather, it was even livelier than before. With the Chunin Ninja Exams drawing near, more and more unfamiliar faces came and went.
After spending the morning visiting several shops for sale with Tsubaki Chie, Mizuki felt they were all much the same. As long as they weren't in some overly remote location, Konoha was prosperous enough that it would be easy to sell just about anything.
With Mizuki's limited experience, he couldn't tell which places were good and which weren't. All he could do was offer advice based on whether a place appealed to him.
They ruled out a few locations too close to dangerous areas that might be damaged in the attacks on Konoha by Orochimaru and Sunagakure after the Chunin Ninja Exams. In the end, they chose a shop near a main road close to Konoha Hospital. As for Pain's attack three years later, he didn't even consider it. If he still couldn't prevent Konoha's destruction then, he might as well find a quiet place to live out the rest of his life. The Shinobi World probably wouldn't have much to do with him after that anyway.
"Tsubaki, why don't we rent a place for two months and see how it goes? If it works out, we can buy one later. Buying right away is too risky. What if business is bad?" Mizuki didn't actually think there was anything wrong with the shop. He just figured the price might drop after Konoha was attacked, making it a better deal.
But this time, Tsubaki, who usually did whatever he said, didn't agree. Her attitude was surprisingly firm.
"I think it's great. The seller's in a hurry, and the price isn't too high. If we buy it soon, we can open sooner and arrange the shop however we like."
"Hm?" He was so used to his fiancée being timid and compliant that he'd overlooked the fact that Tsubaki was a capable ninja in her own right. Perhaps she always went along with him because he was her fiancé. He'd been so busy scheming and plotting that he'd failed to appreciate the beauty right beside him.
"Then you decide. I'll leave it all to you." Mizuki wasn't the sort to insist on being the man in charge. It was all small stuff, anyway. Wasn't the point of all his careful planning to live more comfortably and give himself and the people around him more choices?
Watching his fiancée haggle with the seller, so unlike her usual timid self, really made him see her in a new light. At least he didn't have that sort of skill or patience for dealing with trivial matters. In his previous life, he'd been an ordinary white-collar worker at the bottom of society. The original Mizuki had been a pitiful fool brought down by jealousy and greed. Neither of them had been any kind of elite. His abilities were thoroughly average, and without his unusually broad knowledge, he'd have had no chance of making a splash in this world. The people here worked far harder and had more courage than he did. Even his fiancée was more decisive. He was still just a speculator chasing bargains, fussing over every little gain. His limitations were painfully obvious.
"I need to find some reliable people to help me." Developing better judgment and broader horizons took experience and status. Getting caught up in petty schemes wasn't the right path, and mulling things over alone was far too inefficient.
"Mizuki, are you still angry?" Tsubaki was still a little uneasy about ignoring his advice and making the decision on her own.
"How could I be?" Mizuki replied with a smile. "I'm not angry at all."
"That's a relief. You've been looking so serious that I thought you were unhappy."
"Sorry for worrying you. I was just thinking about some things."
"What were you thinking about? Is there anything I can help with?"
"Mm, let's talk about that later. Come with me to see the flowers you planted. We haven't been to the little cabin on the mountain in ages."
"Sure, let's go have a look. But it's so far away. Are you sure you can manage?"
"Don't worry, I've been well for a while now. Let's go. We'll head back early."
The little cabin was just as he remembered: a few tatami mats, old furniture and decorations, all kept so clean that the place never felt stuffy. The only change to the layout was the rows of colorful flowers surrounding the cabin. They were in bud, and he had no idea what kind they were, but they were lovely to look at.
Mizuki sat on the tatami to rest and took a cup of water from Tsubaki. He tipped his head back and drained it in one go.
"These cups are so worn out. We'll probably be coming here a lot, so let's get some new ones."
"Okay," Tsubaki readily agreed, though it was hard to tell if she'd really taken it to heart. Given how frugal she was, she'd probably forget about it once they got home. "You've come all this way. You must be tired. Rest a little longer."
"I'm a little hungry. Let's eat first."
"Mm. I only brought a packed lunch. It's nothing special."
"That's fine. Your cooking's delicious."
They ate a simple meal, then stayed to rest for a while. Tsubaki carefully tended to the flowers in the garden while Mizuki sat quietly nearby, enjoying a rare moment of leisure.
After noon, once the weather had cooled a little, Mizuki suddenly said to his fiancée, "Tsubaki, I want to take you somewhere."
"Sure." She was a little puzzled, but agreed without hesitation.
Two figures raced along a shaded path in the afternoon: Mizuki and Tsubaki Chie.
"Mizuki, is this the place you told me about before?" Tsubaki asked anxiously.
"That's right," Mizuki readily admitted.
"But didn't you say you'd never get involved with Orochimaru again?" Hearing his answer, Tsubaki pressed him anxiously.
"Of course. Didn't I tell you? I haven't lied to you. We sealed Orochimaru's stuff together, didn't we?"
"Then why are we going there? Please don't get involved with Orochimaru again."
"You're worrying too much. I'm not going to look for Orochimaru again." Working with Orochimaru was like making a deal with the devil. He might be discarded the moment he was no longer useful. Mizuki's current body was far too frail to withstand Orochimaru's experiments. "I've never been there myself, either. Since we have time, I thought we could take a look."
"Okay." Still deeply worried, Tsubaki followed close behind, unable to leave Mizuki to go alone.
Following the location he remembered, Mizuki found the place without trouble. After opening the mechanisms in order, they revealed an abandoned, small-scale laboratory.
"See, Tsubaki? There's nothing inside. I told you there was nothing dangerous."
"But..." Tsubaki remained on guard, carefully checking every corner. At last, her eyes fell on the potion-cultivating apparatus. "What's this?"
"Doesn't it look familiar?" How could it not? The Cursed Seal on Mizuki's right arm a little over a month ago had looked exactly like this. They were remarkably similar.
"What is it?"
"This is the apparatus used to make the activating potion for the thing we sealed. Even a complete amateur could use it to make what they wanted."
Seeing that Tsubaki still wasn't reassured, Mizuki comforted her. "The one on my body has already been sealed, hasn't it? This apparatus is useless now, anyway. Let's destroy it. It takes up too much space."
"Destroy it? Then why did we come here?"
"To use this hidden base, of course," Mizuki explained. "It's an abandoned place that nobody wants, and there's nothing here. I can store some things here, and I doubt anyone will mind."
"Huh? What do you need this place for?"
Mizuki just smiled without answering. He took out a Storage Scroll, unsealed it, and let a pile of bottles and jars spill out. Plants at different stages of experimentation, insects, and strange creatures of unknown species appeared before them.
"Aren't these the things you were experimenting on at home? You're moving them here?"
"Yeah. From now on, I'll keep the more troublesome things here. It's too inconvenient to work on them at home. There'll be more and more stuff, and there won't be room for it all." Mizuki nodded. "Besides, sleeping in the same room as a bunch of insects is creepy. It'll be better to move them somewhere else."
"Mm." Tsubaki could accept that, at least. "But why did you bring me here? I don't understand any of this, so I can't help you with anything..."
"You don't have to do anything difficult. Just take care of things and record the data when I don't have time. It's not hard."
"All right." Tsubaki hesitated, then agreed.
Mizuki had originally planned to wait until after the Chunin Ninja Exams to do all this. But plans could change, and time was short. Since they were already here, he could get a head start on what came next.
"Tsubaki, can I have a strand of your hair?"
"What for?"
"Come on, or I'll pull one out myself."
"No, I'll do it." Tsubaki reluctantly pulled out a strand of hair. "What do you need it for?"
"To show you what your other side really looks like." Mizuki smiled at her. "Come back in a few days and you'll see."
Mizuki pointed to the thing beside them. "See that over there? That's made from my hair."
Tsubaki leaned closer to look. It was the culture dish where Mizuki had placed his own hair.
"How is that possible?"
The creature still had its sharp claws and fangs. Mizuki had been regularly infusing it with chakra to nourish it these past few days, and its humanoid appearance had diminished considerably over time. Even so, it still looked like a snarling beast.
"Surprised, huh? At first, I wondered if I was a monster."
"How did this happen?" Tsubaki asked, shocked. "What is that green liquid?"
"This is the most important thing I've discovered over the past few months. It's a precious potion that nobody but me can make. Without it, Gekko Hayate, Aoba Yamashiro, and I might never have made it back." At the mention of it, Mizuki couldn't help but beam with pride. This was the first result he'd achieved since coming to this world.
He'd told Tsubaki about his work over the past few days. It was only right to explain himself to the partner who'd be with him on the road ahead. Though Tsubaki had never shown it, how could her worry simply disappear? He'd always kept his actions half-hidden. Even if he'd never lied to her, he hadn't told her the truth, either. Since he didn't want to face an uncertain future alone, he ought to be honest with the person who would accompany him.
Before you continue