Early in the morning, many people liked to take a quick shower because of low blood pressure. Mizuki was one of them. On mornings when he wasn't busy, he usually took a shower to wake himself up.
But today wasn't the time. He had a guest at home. She might be young, but she was still a girl. If some sort of "lucky pervert" incident happened, it'd be hard to explain.
After hurriedly washing up, Mizuki tidied himself up a little and prepared to begin his month-long stint as a mentor.
He poured a cup of tea for Sakura and one for himself, then sat facing her and started chatting.
Mizuki spoke first. "Since Kakashi asked me, and I've already accepted the benefits, I'll do my best to teach you a few things. First, I want to know what your goal is. Is it just to deal with your Sound Ninja opponent, or do you genuinely want to improve your skills? You only have a month, so you won't be able to learn much. Think it over and give me a careful answer."
"What's the difference?" Sakura asked, puzzled.
"Being able to beat one specific person and being able to take on many people aren't the same thing. Your opponent is indeed strong, but having a powerful specialty also means you'll be at a huge disadvantage if someone deliberately targets it. Improving your overall strength is a completely different matter. Think it over and decide which you want." Mizuki patiently explained.
At his words, Sakura seemed to understand a little. She lowered her head and began to think.
Seeing that Sakura had understood, Mizuki nodded approvingly.
"She really is a clever girl. Teaching her should be easy."
Mizuki quietly waited for Sakura's answer, sipping his tea and eating the pastries she had brought.
Before long, Sakura looked up and said, "Please teach me how to become stronger, Mizuki-sensei~"
"Cough, cough." The word "sensei" startled Mizuki so much that he nearly spat out his tea. "Don't call me that. You'll have a more suitable teacher later on. I just accepted Kakashi's offer and agreed to teach you a few things."
"Even so, I shouldn't forget your kindness in teaching me," Sakura said. "I'll just call you Mizuki-sensei, like before."
"That's fine." Mizuki nodded. "So, what do you want to learn?"
"I don't know what I should learn," Sakura said awkwardly. "But the things Mizuki-sensei taught me last time felt easier for me to pick up. I was wondering if learning more of that would be a good idea."
"Ah," Mizuki sighed when he heard her. "Then I'll decide."
For such a talented and clever child to have no idea what her strengths and weaknesses were because no one had guided her—the village of Konoha was clearly facing a serious shortage of capable young shinobi. If the Sannin were all still around, and the village's middle ranks hadn't died or left, why would Mizuki need to make up Sakura's basic lessons? Naruto wouldn't still be unaware that he was a Jinchuriki, either. He'd have been taught by Jiraiya, who had only just returned to the village.
Just as Mizuki was about to give Sakura a brief explanation, the door suddenly opened.
"Oh? You have a guest?" Tsubaki asked as she came in and spotted Sakura Haruno.
"Hello. Who are you?" Sakura Haruno hurriedly stood and bowed.
"This is Tsubaki, the person I told you about," Mizuki said, standing up to introduce her. "My fiancée."
"Ah, Mizuki-sensei, you have a fiancée? I'm terribly sorry to intrude."
"It's fine. Mizuki, is this your student?"
"No, she's Hatake Kakashi's student. I'm just filling in as her instructor for now. We'll be seeing each other often over the next month," Mizuki explained.
"Is this the one you mentioned?" Tsubaki asked.
"That's right. The temporary worker," Mizuki confirmed.
"Mizuki-sensei, is this your flower shop?" Sakura Haruno looked around the newly opened shop.
"That's right. What do you think?"
"It's pretty nice, about the same as Ino's family's shop," Sakura said. "I didn't realize the new flower shop Ino mentioned was yours~"
"Tsubaki and I opened it together. It hasn't even been a month."
"I see, but..." Sakura gazed at the sign hanging over the entrance. "Four Seasons Flower Shop? It feels a little strange."
"How so? I spent ages thinking of that name," Mizuki said. Whenever he thought of fresh flowers, he couldn't help thinking of the Lord of Four Seasons Flowers, so he had come up with this odd name. It wasn't like Uncle Teuchi's Ichiraku Ramen or the Yamanaka Clan's Yamanaka Flowers. "It's unusual, but it sounds pretty good, doesn't it?"
"Ah..." Sakura examined the sign with a puzzled look. "There are some strange patterns on it. They look pretty, but something seems off. I can even sense a faint trace of chakra..."
"Don't say anything. I'll explain later. Just don't tell Tsubaki." Mizuki looked as if he'd seen a ghost.
That was right. Mizuki had secretly tampered with the sign without telling anyone. For days, all kinds of powerful shinobi had visited the shop, yet not one of them had noticed what Sakura, a Genin, had just spotted.
The sign was one of Mizuki's proudest achievements of the past few months. Not long after he finished making it, he had taken specially cultivated bamboo as its base and painstakingly crafted it by hand. The greenish-blue coating was actually a mixture of fungi and algae extracted from lichen. After removing most of the organisms' activity while retaining their most basic ability to survive, he had used the barely visible Sealing Jutsu and genjutsu patterns hidden in the border and material. Drawing on the faint collective will of the lichen spread across the entire sign, he had created a sign that carried its own genjutsu. It had no particular effect beyond a subtle psychological suggestion that made anyone who saw it feel compelled to step inside and take a look.
The most troublesome part was the technique for refining chakra from the collective will of low-level organisms. To find a suitable base, Mizuki had ultimately settled on lichen. It was a colony-like organism formed by fungi, bacteria, and algae living together, and it already possessed composite properties. So far, Mizuki hadn't found any organism more suitable than lichen.
The power it provided was negligible for now, but it had opened up a much broader field of possibilities for Mizuki. Sealing Jutsu made it possible to unify thought—or, rather, this world acknowledged the existence of such organisms. That meant many things he'd only imagined in theory could be realized, so long as he developed the necessary abilities.
"No wonder Orochimaru's Living Corpse Reincarnation only causes weakness in the mind and soul, without ever resulting in a distortion of self-perception. And a forbidden technique like Impure World Reincarnation can be used to summon the same person again and again. The theory behind Shadow Clones transmitting memories makes sense, too. And it's only natural that Summoning Technique would recognize a Pseudo-Jinchuriki and their summoner as the same person."
Before you continue