Human Potential

It was not merely a submission to overwhelming power; as the third eye gradually manifested, the aura of life-and-death dominion radiating from the clone was a force that had no place in this world. Especially for humans, the masters of the ninja world and the favored spirits of all creation, such natural predators should never have been born unless the world itself were to perish.

Setting aside the question of logic, the scene before them was spiraling out of control. With no other choice, Mizuki braced himself against the crushing pressure and stepped forward. He extended his right hand, chakra surging forth as he pushed his understanding of Fire Style chakra nature transformation to its absolute limit. There were no tricks—only extreme heat. A brilliant, blinding white-blue flame engulfed the clone.

"Tsubaki, get back!" Mizuki shouted.

Despite his best efforts to control the output, the sheer intensity of the light and heat was enough to sear eyes and burn flesh.

As the clone's body was rapidly reduced to ash, the third eye lost its source of sustenance and vanished. Before long, the entire clone dissolved into a pile of drifting dust.

Only when the unnatural aura faded did Mizuki stop, gasping for air. He knelt on the ground, bracing himself with his left hand, while his right arm hung limp and numb, severely burned and covered in gruesome blisters.

Seeing that the situation had settled, Tsubaki hurried over and pulled out medicinal supplies to treat him.

"Tsubaki, sorry for the trouble," Mizuki said apologetically. He had truly been careless this time; for months, no matter what he researched or how it progressed, he hadn't encountered a single accident.

This reckless act served as a wake-up call. In a world where supernatural powers manifested so readily, a single moment of negligence could lead to an unmanageable disaster.

He had known that the clone, stimulated by the Omnipotence Potion, had many dangerous powers in an unlocked state. It was only because the soulless husk couldn't refine chakra that it lacked the fuel to drive those terrifying abilities. By injecting the Cursed Seal's chakra, he had essentially thrown a torch into a powder keg. A shell devoid of soul or will could not resist the power of the Cursed Seal in the slightest; the cells were rapidly and uncontrollably overdrawn, generating a massive amount of chakra with incalculable consequences. Perhaps the clone's final burst of extreme power would have lasted only an instant before the body collapsed, but the resulting destruction was beyond Mizuki's imagination. Thinking of Might Guy, who could kick a Six Paths Sage Mode Madara Uchiha half to death by fully activating the Eight Inner Gates, it was clear that the most terrifying things in this world were those who disregarded their own lives. The power of completely overdrawing one's life force pushed human potential to its absolute limit.

"In the future, Cursed Seal chakra must never be used on soulless clones. If you inject chakra into an ordinary person without a Cursed Seal, they will quickly reject it both physically and mentally. As an external force, no matter how powerful, it is like a tree without roots or water without a source, and it will soon be exhausted. But for a vessel lacking a soul, the effect is comparable to opening the Gate of Death. It's too terrifying."

"Does it still hurt? You're so badly burned, shouldn't you go to the hospital?" Tsubaki asked, her heart aching as she applied the medicine.

"It's fine, just a superficial wound," Mizuki replied earnestly.

"Don't do such dangerous things again."

"Rest assured, there won't be a next time," Mizuki answered. "Sorry for making you worry."

"As long as you're okay."

"I'm fine, and the house is fine. It's a relief it didn't burn down." Mizuki, not known for his comforting words, immediately started rambling.

After bandaging his right arm, Mizuki and Tsubaki cleaned the room, erasing the traces of the fire. Looking at the remaining samples, Mizuki hesitated before deciding to seal them away; letting them grow any further would only lead to them dying, which would be a waste.

"Maybe I could make some one-time-use super bombs. When someone throws an Earth Dragon Bullet or a Water Dragon Bullet, I'll just toss a 'Sasuke Bomb Technique' or a 'Naruto Bomb Technique' and run. Not sure if it'll be useful, though."

When Mizuki appeared at the flower shop with his right arm bandaged, Sakura Haruno was startled.

"Teacher Mizuki, what happened? Are you hurt?"

"Well, you have to be careful when researching ninjutsu, or you end up like this." He couldn't exactly tell her he'd nearly killed himself through his own stupidity; he had to maintain his dignity as a teacher.

Looking at his injured arm, Mizuki couldn't help but offer a wry smile. He used to think that most Fire Style techniques in the ninja world were unrefined because they were spat from the mouth, and that having to throw them from a distance—often risking burning one's own mouth—was a hassle. Now, he realized that Fire Style users were truly a hardworking bunch. Fire Style was slow to begin with, making it hard to hit targets, and it consumed a lot of energy. Even worse, if used poorly, you'd end up half-roasted, just like him.

Mizuki had mastered the nature transformation of fire-attribute chakra long ago, but shape transformation? It was a disaster. Fire was inherently wild and difficult to control; even without attempting shape transformation, he was constantly hurting himself. It was truly difficult to manage.

"The path of developing ninjutsu seems quite tortuous. I'll have to stick to standard Fire Style for now and use nature transformation to boost their power. But that requires exceptional ninja skills and comprehensive ability to be effective. What a headache."

"As expected of a teacher," Sakura sighed in admiration, then handed over a stack of money. "This is the money from the flowers sold so far."

"So much? Sorry for the trouble," Mizuki said, his mood improving now that he was making money.

Just as Mizuki and Sakura were chatting, a man wearing glasses—Ebisu—walked into the shop.

"Have you seen Naruto Uzumaki?" Ebisu asked as he entered. "Oh? Mizuki? Is this your shop?"

"Haven't seen Naruto Uzumaki," Mizuki replied. So this is Ebisu while he's in the middle of teaching. "Would you like to come in and buy some flowers? Wait, are you a Shadow Clone?"

"Yes. Since Naruto Uzumaki isn't here, I'll be going." With that, the Ebisu Shadow Clone turned and left.

Watching Ebisu depart, Sakura asked, "Teacher Mizuki, who was that? Did Naruto do something mischievous again?"

"Not at all. That was Ebisu, a ninja Kakashi asked to guide Naruto."

"Guide Naruto? Kakashi asked him? He must be very strong."

"I wouldn't necessarily call it 'strong.' If he and I were to fight one-on-one, the outcome would be hard to predict. However, he is a Special Jonin with a specialty in teaching. He's a very famous elite instructor."

"Eh? Does that mean if Naruto and I both win, I'll have to face an even stronger Naruto as an opponent?" Sakura's tone was filled with both envy and a fighting spirit.