Humanity's Potential

It wasn't merely submission to overwhelming power. As the third eye gradually emerged, the aura radiating from the clone—the power to decide whether humanity lived or died—was something that should never exist in this world. Especially not when humanity ruled the Shinobi World as the spirit of all living things, favored by the world itself. A natural enemy was something that shouldn't exist unless the world was coming to an end.

Whether or not it made sense, the scene before him was about to spiral out of control. With no other choice, Mizuki steeled himself against the immense pressure and stepped forward. He thrust out his right hand, chakra surging forth as he pushed his understanding of Fire Release chakra nature transformation to its utmost limit. With no tricks or flourishes, an intense heat and dazzling white-blue flames engulfed the clone.

"Tsubaki, get back!" Mizuki shouted.

Though he tried his best to control it, the sheer amount of light and heat could still damage someone's eyes and burn their body.

As the clone's body quickly burned to ash, the third eye could no longer manifest without a source of power to sustain it. Before long, the entire clone had crumbled into dust and scattered.

Only when he could no longer sense that strange aura did Mizuki stop, panting heavily. He knelt on the ground, propped up by his left hand, while his right hand trembled, long since numb. His entire arm was severely burned and covered in horrifying blisters.

Seeing that everything had finally settled, Tsubaki hurried over and took out some medicine to treat Mizuki.

"Tsubaki, sorry for the trouble," Mizuki said apologetically. He really had been careless this time. Over the past few months, no matter what he'd researched or whether it had gone smoothly, there hadn't been any accidents.

This reckless attempt had served as a warning. In a world where supernatural powers existed, the slightest oversight could lead to a problem that was difficult to contain.

He'd known full well that the Omnipotence Potion had unlocked many dangerous powers in the clone. It simply couldn't refine chakra because its body had no soul, so it lacked the power to drive those terrifying abilities. By adding chakra from the Cursed Seal, he'd essentially tossed a lit match into a barrel of explosives. A shell devoid of soul and will couldn't resist the Cursed Seal's chakra in the slightest. Its cells' power had been rapidly and recklessly overdrawn, producing a huge amount of chakra and triggering consequences beyond measure. Maybe the clone's final burst of power would have lasted only an instant before its body collapsed, but the destruction it could wreak was already beyond Mizuki's imagination. Just look at Might Guy: by fully opening the Eight Inner Gates, he'd been able to kick Madara Uchiha in Six Paths Sage Mode half to death in a single instant. The most terrifying thing in this world was someone with nothing to lose. Power that completely consumed a person's life force brought humanity's potential to its fullest expression.

"I can't use Cursed Seal chakra on soulless clones again. Ordinary people can't have a Cursed Seal implanted; if I only inject them with chakra, their bodies and minds quickly reject it. As an outside force, no matter how powerful, it's like a tree without roots or water without a source. It'll soon be used up. But in a soulless shell, the effect is comparable to opening the Gate of Death. It's terrifying."

"Does it still hurt? You're so badly injured. Should we go to the hospital?" Tsubaki asked worriedly as she applied the medicine.

"I'm fine. It's only a superficial injury," Mizuki replied seriously.

"Don't do anything so dangerous again."

"Don't worry. There won't be a next time," Mizuki replied. "Sorry for making you worry."

"As long as you're all right."

"I'm fine, and the house is fine too. Thank goodness it didn't catch fire and burn down." Mizuki, who wasn't good at comforting people, immediately started rambling.

After bandaging Mizuki's right arm, he and Tsubaki cleaned up the room together, wiping away every trace of the fire. Looking at the few remaining samples, Mizuki thought for a moment, then sealed them away. If he left them to grow any longer, they'd all die. What a waste.

"Maybe I could make some one-use giant bombs. If someone throws an Earth Dragon Bullet or Water Dragon Bullet at me, I could just throw a 'Sasuke Bomb Technique' or a 'Naruto Bomb Technique' and run. I wonder if it'd work."

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

"Mizuki-sensei, what happened? Are you hurt?"

"That's why you have to be careful when researching ninjutsu, or you'll end up like this." He couldn't exactly say he'd brought this on himself. He still had to preserve some dignity as a teacher.

Looking at his injured right arm, Mizuki could only smile bitterly. He'd always thought it was inelegant that so many Fire Release techniques in the Shinobi World involved spitting fire from your mouth and then hurling it a long way. Sometimes you even burned your mouth. Now he understood how tough it was to be a Fire Release ninja. Fire Release wasn't very fast to begin with, so hitting someone was already difficult, and it consumed quite a bit of chakra. Worse, if you weren't careful, you could roast yourself half-cooked. Mizuki was a perfect example.

Mizuki had mastered the nature transformation of Fire Release chakra long ago, but shape transformation? It was a complete disaster. Fire was inherently wild and difficult to control. Forget changing its shape—even using it normally could injure him. It was a real headache.

"Looks like the path of developing new ninjutsu is full of twists and turns. For now, I can only use ordinary Fire Release techniques and boost their power with nature transformation. But that'll require excellent skills and overall ability to make the most of them. What a headache."

"Sensei, you really are amazing," Sakura said admiringly, then handed him a wad of money. "This is what the shop has made from selling flowers so far."

"This much? Thanks for the effort." Seeing that the shop had made money cheered Mizuki up a little.

While Mizuki and Sakura were chatting, someone entered the shop. It was Ebisu, wearing glasses.

"Have either of you seen Naruto Uzumaki?" Ebisu asked as he came in. "Oh, Mizuki? Is this your shop?"

"I haven't seen Naruto Uzumaki." So it was Ebisu, who was teaching him right now. "Would you like to come in and buy a bouquet? Hmm? Wait, are you a Shadow Clone?"

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

Watching Ebisu leave, Sakura Haruno asked, "Mizuki-sensei, who was that? Did Naruto pull another prank?"

"No. That was Ebisu. Kakashi asked him to train Naruto."

"Train Naruto? Kakashi-sensei asked him? He must be really strong."

"'Strong' isn't quite the right word. If he and I fought one-on-one, either of us could win. But he's a Special Jōnin with a talent for teaching, a well-known elite instructor."

"Really? So if Naruto and I both win, I'll have to face an even stronger Naruto than the one I'm up against now?" Sakura's voice brimmed with envy and fighting spirit.