Chapter 27

The moment Mizuki's words hit the ground, Sasuke was the first to charge into the forest.

The others did not hesitate either. They all followed.

Mizuki stood behind them, a cold smile hanging at the corner of his mouth. "Teacher Mizuki, we should get moving soon too."

"If these children are left alone in the forest and something happens, it'll be troublesome."

Yi Hexi's tone was relaxed.

To a chunin, this forest was no real danger anymore.

To put it bluntly, this outing was just a chance to pick up some credit.

It was only thanks to Iruka falling ill. Otherwise, the teacher left behind at the academy right now would have been someone else. "That's right."

"Teacher Mizuki, Teacher Yi Hexi is right."

"We need to set out quickly so we can keep an eye on those students."

"Don't forget the upper-year students are here too. They'll definitely look for a chance to strike at our freshmen."

Bai Wenduo chimed in as well. "Both teachers make good points."

"But I can go in by myself. You two wait here for now."

After Mizuki finished speaking, a sinister smile surfaced on his face. "What do you mean?"

"You're leading the team for this mission, that's true, but we're also—"

"Pfft!"

"Pfft!"

Two muffled sounds.

Bai Wenduo and Yi Hexi lowered their heads to look at their own chests, their eyes bulging wide.

This...

"Mizuki, you—"

Yi Hexi pressed a hand over his chest, trying to stop the blood gushing out.

But it was useless. The blood flowed faster and faster.

Even now, he still could not understand why Mizuki would attack his own people. "Attacking ninja from the village... are you trying to defect?"

"Mizuki, do you know—"

"Bang!"

Before Bai Wenduo could finish, Mizuki kicked out, sending both of them flying deep into the dense forest.

Then he pulled out a scroll and summoned a Fuma Shuriken and two long blades.

With a casual tug, he ripped off his forehead protector and, right in front of them, slashed the Konoha symbol to pieces. "Defect?"

"What ninja who ever made a name for himself in the Shinobi World didn't come from defection?"

"I've had enough of this trash village long ago."

"Open your eyes and watch. Starting today, the name Mizuki will become the nightmare of the entire Shinobi World."

His laugh was a little mad, his face full of anticipation and hysteria.

In the blink of an eye, that figure shot straight into the depths of the forest.

About ten minutes after Mizuki disappeared, three people finally flashed silently out from the shadows of the trees. "Quick, do it according to Sasuke's plan."

The one speaking was Sakura. Ino and Hinata followed behind her.

The three of them worked together to drag the two unconscious teachers out from the bushes.

Sakura took out medicine and deftly sprinkled it over the bleeding wounds of the two teachers to stop the blood. Then she took out a specially made recovery potion, pried open their mouths, and poured it in.

With their current level of ability, it was impossible to make the teachers stand back up and fight.

But keeping them alive was no problem. "Pfft—"

Hinata opened a scroll and poured chakra into it.

A column of thick smoke shot straight into the sky.

At that moment, Asuma, on a distant hilltop, happened to catch sight of the smoke column. "Hm?"

He frowned and gave a snort. "Are this year's rookies really that weak?"

"How long has it been since the start, and they've already released the distress signal?"

Deep down, Asuma looked down on this kind of weakling. In his eyes, someone who could not even endure this much hardship did not deserve the word ninja at all. "I'll go take a look."

Might Guy spoke from beside him, his tone casual. "They're still children, after all. We can't really let something happen to them."

With that, he sprang forward and raced straight toward the direction of the thick smoke.

Watching Might Guy go farther away, Asuma said nothing more.

Kurenai Yuhi, standing beside him, let her gaze fall on Asuma's profile. For some reason, an indescribable irritation welled up in her heart...

At the same time, Sasuke had already led several people deep into the jungle.

Relying on a special concealment technique, along with Kiba's unique skill of digging holes, they had all burrowed underground and hidden. "Hinata's signal has already gone up."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and said, "Just as I thought. That guy Mizuki really did go after the teachers first."

His words sounded relaxed, but his mind was swiftly sorting through the situation.

Even if the plan had long been settled, a plan was not ironclad. With so many people following him now to risk their lives, Sasuke did not want to get everyone killed because of the slightest oversight on his part. "Sasuke, can I ask you something?"

Shikamaru tilted his head, a hint of curiosity in his eyes. "How did you know that old... that guy Mizuki would come after us?"

"Did you get some kind of intel in advance?"

Whether it was the plan Sasuke had made or his judgment of the information, Shikamaru was quite convinced.

But there was one part that did not make sense—on what grounds could Sasuke know all this in advance?

"What? Aren't you all children of ninja clans?"

Sasuke froze for a moment, then stared at Shikamaru and said, "Even if you don't usually play around much with sensory techniques, you should have at least touched on them a little, right?"

"Even that idiot Naruto could sense Mizuki's hostility toward us. None of you noticed at all?"

"Uh..."

"What do you mean, even an idiot like me knew?"

Naruto instantly bristled. "You mean you inferred all this just by feeling someone's malice?"

"Sasuke, explain yourself. Why am I an idiot?"

"Someone who can ask that kind of question—what else is he but an idiot?"

"Sasuke, you..."

"Enough."

Sasuke raised a hand and cut off their noisy argument. "Now isn't the time to talk about this."

At that moment, Shikamaru spoke again. "Sasuke, if it's only Teacher Mizuki by himself, if all of us join hands, we should be able to take him down, right?"

He was not bragging. He had observed Naruto and Sasuke's training. Based on just those two guys' combat power, plus the rest of them working together, a chunin-level teacher did not count as much of a threat at all. "Right."

Sasuke nodded. "If it were really just Teacher Mizuki alone, we wouldn't have to hole up here."

"But Shikamaru, what if Orochimaru is added in?"

His tone suddenly sank. "Orochimaru?"

Shikamaru's eyelid twitched.

He had heard that name before. One of the legendary Legendary Sannin, the disciple of the Third old man, an S-rank rogue ninja of Konoha.

Any one of those titles was enough to make a person's back go cold. "Who's Orochimaru?" Naruto scratched his head, not reacting at all. "Not long ago, I ran into him," Sasuke said in a low voice. "I barely escaped by relying on my clan's secret techniques and the help of a few elders."

"Mizuki has Orochimaru's chakra on him."

"That's why we have to hole up here."

After Sasuke finished speaking, he raised a finger to his lips, making a gesture for silence.

Everyone tensed.

They could already feel Mizuki's presence drawing closer and closer.

--

Outside. "Where did they run off to?"

Mizuki stood in the clearing, frowning as he swept his gaze around.

The footprints on the ground and the scattered chakra all ended here.

Logically speaking, a group of genin brats could not possibly...

Before his words fell, the ground under his feet suddenly exploded. "Boom!"

Earth and stones sprayed everywhere as Kiba and Akamaru pounced out from underground.

Six-year-old Kiba had already trained his taijutsu to a decent level.

On top of that, it was a sneak attack, and Mizuki was thrown into a fluster.

By the time he stabilized himself, Kiba was already gone. "Tsk..."

Mizuki touched the bleeding wound on his face, his gaze sinking. "Do it!"

Naruto and Choji charged out at the same time.

The two little guys were clutching practice kunai. Though they were practice goods, they were still made of iron, and stabbing someone with them would hurt all the same.

This time, Mizuki did not panic.

He drew the Fuma Shuriken from his back with a backhand motion and casually threw it out.

Immediately after, he pulled the two long blades at his waist and charged straight at Choji.

The instant Choji was targeted, his heart still gave a jolt.

After only a few exchanges, the kunai in his hand was knocked flying.

His whole body was also jolted backward and sent flying, smashing into the ground. "Save your strength. You're just a pack of little brats." Mizuki stood there with a smile at the corner of his mouth. "When you run into a real ninja, you don't even have a chance to win."

The expressions of the children all changed.

Among their peers, this group really did count as tough.

But in front of him—in front of this man who was about to become the nightmare of the Shinobi World—they were nothing. "Hah!"

Naruto kicked over.

Mizuki casually grabbed and directly clamped onto his ankle. "This is what you're capable of?"

"It's like fighting children."

"Today, I'll let you see clearly just how wide the gap is between ninja and ordinary people."

After saying that, Mizuki flung Naruto out.

Then he threw out a kunai, the steel wire attached to it wrapping around the Fuma Shuriken at the side.

Just as he was preparing to retrieve the shuriken and teach these children a lesson—

A violent burst of chakra exploded. "Bzzzt..."

Electric current traveled along the steel wire and struck Mizuki directly.

The intense numbness made his whole body freeze in place, ruining all his movements. "Pfft!"

A black shadow rushed over.

A kunai stabbed cleanly and efficiently into his chest. "Uchiha... Sasuke?"

Mizuki's eyes went wide as he looked at the black-haired boy before him.

A moment ago, he had thought Sasuke had seen through something and had deliberately sent those wastes to their deaths.

This brat was actually still hiding here.

That Lightning Release's power just now had really been produced by a brat not even six years old?

What kind of joke was that?

No matter how monstrous a genius was, he was still only six years old.

That explosive force of chakra was something even he, a chunin, could not match.

Damn it.

Damn it all.

So this was what they called a child favored by heaven?

Without expending much effort, he could easily step on other people's heads?

An ordinary person like him could fight with his life on the line and only amount to this much.

Sure enough, geniuses like this should all die. "Bang!"

Once the paralysis passed, Mizuki suddenly smashed out with a punch.

His muscles instantly tightened, forcibly trapping the kunai Sasuke had stabbed into his chest.

Sasuke was stunned for a moment and was struck squarely by the punch. "Pfft!"

White smoke exploded, and Sasuke's figure vanished. "Shadow Clone?"

"Heh... I really didn't expect that a little brat from the Uchiha clan, just over five years old, had even learned this move."

"But it doesn't matter. Today, I'm definitely going to drag you out, and then..."

"Chhk!"

"Looking for me?"

Before he could finish, another kunai stabbed fiercely into his back.

Agonizing pain struck, and with Sasuke's light, airy taunt on top of it, Mizuki's eyes instantly filled with blood.

Jealousy, hatred, unwillingness...

All his emotions churned inside him. "Pfft!"

Mizuki suddenly pulled a long needle from his pocket and stabbed it fiercely into his own chest. "Hm?!"

Sasuke sensed a faintly wrong presence and instinctively retreated. "Stay away from this guy."

He shouted in a low voice, and the others immediately scattered, each diving into the forest.

Behind a large tree, Shikamaru's face had already changed.

What the hell was that aura just now?

Just sensing even a little of it nearly made his heart explode.

It was as if some ancient beast had opened its mouth, ready to swallow him whole in one bite. "Shikamaru, take them and retreat first."

"Follow the original plan. No need to go to that place anymore."

After Sasuke finished speaking, his figure flickered and vanished. "But Sasuke, you... that guy..."

Before Shikamaru could get the words out, Sasuke was already gone.

Though unease gnawed at him, he could only follow the plan they had discussed.

Shikamaru quickly found the others, and the group turned and sprinted toward the village.

On Sasuke's side, he had already activated his Sharingan, carefully sensing Mizuki's condition.

The amount of chakra erupting from inside this guy was several times more than before.

And his body had begun to undergo obvious changes as well.

That was wrong.

In the original story, didn't Mizuki only get the cursed seal from Orochimaru around the time Naruto graduated?

The thing he had stabbed into his chest just now should have been some kind of medicinal liquid.

Just how many secrets was that bastard Orochimaru hiding?

"Looking for me?"

Just as Sasuke was mulling it over, a voice rang out from behind him.

It was exactly the same as what he had just said. "Bang!"

Sasuke was given no time to react at all. A large brown hand slammed him straight against a tree trunk.

Under that crushing force, the shadow clone instantly burst into white smoke. "Another clone?"

"No rush. I'll take my time finding you, break your arms and legs, then bring you back to Lord Orochimaru."

Mizuki's mouth split into a grin, his voice full of amusement.