While the second exam in the Forest of Death was in full swing, Mizuki was out strolling alone for once, specifically wandering around taverns and women's bathhouses. As a winner in life in this life, Mizuki had no need to hang around places like these anymore. He was only there to confirm something.
"That white-haired guy... He must be Jiraiya, right?" Mizuki spotted the Pervy Sage peeping outside a women's open-air bath and finally felt reassured. "If he hadn't returned on schedule, it was hard to say whether Konoha could withstand a joint attack from Orochimaru and the Sand Shinobi. If things had really changed and Konoha suffered heavy losses, that would be trouble."
With that confirmed, Mizuki stopped wasting time and turned to head home. But then, struck by an idea, he suddenly changed direction and made for the Hokage Building.
Mizuki reached the office door and knocked.
"Come in." The village had been so busy these past few days that the Third Hokage was probably tied up as well.
Mizuki opened the door, stepped inside, and closed it behind him.
"Mizuki? I don't believe you have any missions at the moment. What brings you here?" the Third Hokage asked.
"Lord Third, I have important information to report."
"Hmm?" Hearing how serious Mizuki sounded, the Third Hokage stopped what he was doing, looked up at him, and asked, "What is it about?"
"It's about Lord Jiraiya," Mizuki replied. "I just saw someone in the village who matched Lord Jiraiya's appearance. Although I haven't seen him in many years, I'm fairly sure it was him."
"Jiraiya?" Mizuki's report seemed to surprise the Third Hokage too. "Where did you see him?"
"Near the women's section of an open-air bathhouse."
"Uh..." The unexpected answer left the Third Hokage rather awkward. "Then that must have been him. It was probably Jiraiya."
His peeping habits made the identification especially convincing.
"Did he see you? You haven't told anyone else, have you?"
"No. I only happened to see him, then came straight here to report it. He shouldn't have noticed me, and I haven't told anyone else."
"Good." The Third Hokage instructed him, "Let this matter end here. Don't tell anyone else."
"Understood."
"You may go."
"Yes, sir."
Watching Mizuki open the door and leave, the Third Hokage thought for a moment, then opened a drawer and took out a report from a month ago about unusual movements by Otogakure and the Sand Shinobi. "Jiraiya, did you come back because you noticed something was wrong too? I hope it's all just a false alarm."
In the Forest of Death, countless examinees were fighting to survive, while a few who believed themselves strong and were impatient had already begun hunting and killing without a second thought.
While battles raged, tiny white, translucent creatures drifted toward the bank of a small river. If several hadn't gathered and moved together, refracting light in an unnatural way, no one would have noticed anything amiss. When they floated to the shore and confirmed that nothing was stirring, a small figure surfaced from the water. It was the Bootleg Jinchuriki Mizuki had created. Hidden by the Jellyfish Concealment Illusion Array and relying on his familiarity with the Forest of Death, Mizuki had slipped inside without anyone noticing. His mission to clear out the monsters in the forest more than two months earlier hadn't been for nothing. He had thoroughly investigated every plant and tree in the place, so getting in was easy.
"It's this way. Good thing it's not too far. It's only natural that weaklings don't get far. At least my guess was right." He identified the direction with ease. "Leaving marks beforehand really does make tracking convenient."
Along the way, Mizuki did his best to avoid any potential fights. For an outsider sneaking into the exam grounds, staying unnoticed was the top priority. Not everyone had the strength to act as brazenly as Orochimaru.
"There it is, just ahead." Mizuki quickly found his target. Hidden among the branches of a giant tree, he watched the three Grass Ninjas below. They had the standard Shinobi World team setup: two men and a woman. They weren't the fake Grass Ninjas Orochimaru had disguised himself and his companions as, but the actual team Karin belonged to. Thanks to the mark he had secretly placed, Mizuki had found them with ease.
Mizuki had thought it over carefully beforehand. There were only a few people he could afford to provoke who had no backing. He couldn't even consider powerhouses like Orochimaru or Kabuto Yakushi. He didn't dare touch the Sand Shinobi, and Jinchuriki were dangerous to mess with—and could easily draw unwanted attention. The Konoha 12 were Konoha's prized assets, watched by who knew how many people. The fact that no one had come after him for secretly collecting some blood to experiment on in the Land of Waves last time was already lucky. To be honest, he had no interest in anyone else. Karin was the only one whose special physique and secret techniques, inherited from the Uzumaki, might be worth something. More importantly, she might lead him to clues about the Dead Demon Consuming Seal. If he could get the Shinigami Mask through her, that would be ideal.
Finding Karin put Mizuki at ease. Sasuke hadn't gotten to her first, and Orochimaru had only just been defeated by Itachi Uchiha. Still smarting from that defeat, Orochimaru was focused on Sasuke's Sharingan and had no interest in a weakling like Karin for now. So this was Mizuki's last chance to lure Karin away while she was still on her own.
Mizuki spent most of the day setting up traps and tripwires around Karin's team, waiting for Karin to get separated so he could talk her into joining him.
Watching the two male Grass Ninjas below get beaten mercilessly time and again, Mizuki couldn't help feeling that they'd been born at the wrong time. Their abilities were fairly average, not too bad, and with Karin as their healer, they might even have had a chance of passing the Chunin Ninja Exams. But now they could only blame their bad luck. There were too many monsters taking part in this year's exams. With their skill, they weren't even good enough to be background characters. Seeing the pair take out their frustration on Karin after their confidence had been crushed, Mizuki decided they had no future. If their skills were lacking, they could make up for it with intelligence. If they weren't smart enough, they could work harder and become model shinobi. But with such poor mental fortitude, it was a waste.
As Mizuki waited quietly, one of the tripwires not far away suddenly reacted.
"Is that Sasuke? He's here sooner than I expected." Mizuki was a little surprised. He'd thought they wouldn't run into each other until nightfall. "But this is perfect. We didn't cross paths during the preliminary exam last time. Now I have the advantage of time and terrain, so I can at least play with you." As he spoke, Mizuki made another Shadow Clone and transformed it into a Grass Ninja. The Grass Ninjas would be scapegoats after this anyway, so one more wouldn't make a difference.
Elsewhere, Sasuke had gone out to fetch water when he spotted the traps Mizuki had laid. He had just awakened his Sharingan and was full of confidence. After suffering a defeat at Rock Lee's hands, he was eager to find someone to vent his frustration on. Now that someone had practically walked right into his path, Sasuke followed the traces without hesitation.
Sasuke was proceeding carefully when he suddenly stopped, then leaped straight up to dodge. Several Kunai whizzed down where he had just been. Before he could say a word, a burning sound came from behind the tree trunk where his feet had just landed.
"Damn it, I was careless." Sasuke hurried to dodge, but a series of explosions erupted, and the smoke quickly swallowed him. The powerful shock wave sent him flying, and he crashed heavily to the ground.
"Are all Konoha's shinobi this arrogant? You came after me alone, as if you didn't take shinobi from other villages seriously at all." With his extensive experience as a villain, Mizuki was perfect for this kind of scene. He had given Sasuke a crushing first blow, and as the chakra spread, an illusion barrier rose. Countless masked Grass Ninjas appeared from every direction, and Kunai flew through the illusion, real and false, toward Sasuke, still shrouded in smoke on the ground. The predicament Konoha's Genin team wouldn't face until two days later didn't bother Mizuki; he was happy to let Sasuke experience it early.
Before the Kunai could reach him, Sasuke had already escaped. His agile figure swiftly dodged the traps, but before he could break free, he was surrounded by figures conjured by the illusion array.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!" Unable to break through the encirclement, Sasuke rapidly formed Hand Seals and spat out a huge fireball, burning a vast area in front of him to ash.
"How could that possibly work?" Mizuki mocked him, using the Phantom Sound Technique to conceal his true location. "Is that all the Uchiha Clan can do?"
Despite his words, Mizuki had no intention of facing Sasuke directly. If his real body were here, he might have been able to subdue Sasuke, who was still relatively weak. But this stripped-down version of Mizuki's Jinchuriki would have to settle for testing Sasuke's abilities with an early strike. In a face-to-face fight, he couldn't be sure he could take the boy down in his current state.
"What's wrong with the Uchiha Clan? You seem to know a lot about me. Who are you, hiding your face like a coward?"
"Big words from someone who hasn't even used his Sharingan. I'm not impressed by the Uchiha Clan. Find me first, then talk."
"Oh? You seem to know quite a bit about the Uchiha. Then let me show you what we can do." Sasuke understood that if he didn't go all out, he might really lose.
Once Sasuke activated his Sharingan, he did become much more ferocious. But what good would that do? When the odds were against him, refusing to back down over wounded pride would only waste his strength.
After nearly getting a Kunai hidden in the illusion through his eye right at the start, Sasuke fully understood how badly he was at a disadvantage. He dodged the real and illusory traps and attacks without pause.
"The Uchiha really are disappointing."
He had already spent a great deal of chakra, and his Shadow Clone wouldn't last much longer. He had to break out.
"I heard the Uchiha Clan was slaughtered until only one useless failure remained, spared to live on. And you're that cowardly wretch who survived, aren't you?" The more experience one had as a villain, the more venomous one's tongue became—it really did go hand in hand. There weren't many chances to say such hurtful things without holding back.
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