Night. Senju Compound.
"Heart Lantern!" Mizuna exclaimed in wonder, sitting in his room.
"This thing is from Terraria, right? The effect is supposed to be health regeneration. If I put this in the Naruto world, isn't it basically a wide-range Sage Body generator? I mean, anyone within its range will have super-fast recovery!" Mizuna said excitedly.
"Doesn't that mean I can play a 'Regen Tank' build?"
Just as Mizuna was fantasizing about his future invincibility, he accidentally noticed the word "Weakened".
"Weakened? What does that mean?"
Mizuna checked the item's basic information. He discovered that both the healing effect and the effective range had been nerfed.
Mizuna sighed, thinking his daydream was wasted. But the next line of text restored his vitality.
[Can be worn as a small pendant and provides AoE healing!]
"Holy crap! Doesn't that make me a mobile Fountain?" Mizuna was amazed.
"Anyway, it's a good item! My luck isn't bad!"
After saying that, Mizuna flopped onto his bed and slowly drifted off to sleep.
---
The Next Morning. Sarutobi Residence.
Hiruzen opened his eyes. He sat up, feeling a splitting headache. He couldn't remember what happened yesterday.
"Hiss~ Ah! Why does my head hurt so much?"
Hiruzen propped himself up and got out of bed. Then he noticed a rope tied to the beam in his room.
"Holy sht! What is that? Why is there a hangman's noose in my room? That's bad luck!"
Hiruzen grabbed a pair of scissors from his desk and cut the rope down. But at the same time, he was confused. What exactly happened yesterday?
Hiruzen walked out of his room and found his father, Sasuke Sarutobi, sitting at the dining table with his back to him. His mother, Biwako (Hanako), was cooking at the stove.
"Dad! Mom! Good morning!"
Hearing his son's voice, Sasuke Sarutobi's body trembled visibly.
Biwako paused slightly, then turned around, smiling warmly at Hiruzen as he approached the table.
"Good morning~ Son~ How are you feeling?"
"Oh, I feel the same as usual, except for a headache when I woke up... By the way! Dad, do you know what happened yesterday? Why was there a rope in my room?"
Hearing his son's question, Sasuke Sarutobi couldn't stop shaking. His expression was extremely pained.
Biwako noticed her husband's abnormality and reminded him with a smile:
"Dar~ling~ The child is asking you a question~ You have to answer him~"
Seeing his wife talk to him with that expression, Sasuke shook even more violently.
"Dad? What's wrong? Are you sick?"
Hiruzen noticed his father's weird behavior and asked.
Hearing his son's voice, despite his terror, Sasuke forced a smile and said to Hiruzen:
"No... nothing... Yesterday, while eating... you suddenly fell asleep... We couldn't wake you up no matter what... So your mother and I... worked together to carry you back to your room..."
Sasuke stammered through the explanation.
"Then what about the rope?" Hiruzen pressed.
At this moment, Biwako cut in.
"That was your father. He drank too much yesterday and insisted on running into your room, saying he wanted to cosplay as a sausage for you~ Luckily, Mom stopped him in time~ Otherwise, you wouldn't see your father today~ Right? Dar~ling~"
Hearing his wife's question, Sasuke replied rapidly:
"Yes! Yes! It's all my fault! I drank too much yesterday! Sorry, Hiruzen... did I scare you?"
"Not really... Dad, you should drink less in the future. Who knows, one day we might lose you!"
Saying this, Hiruzen quickly finished his breakfast.
"I'm going to school!"
"Be careful on the way!" x2
Biwako gathered Hiruzen's dishes and walked to the sink. While washing the dishes, without turning her head, she said to Sasuke:
"Husband... I hope... some things remain unknown to Hiruzen~ I hope he has a happy childhood... okay?"
Hearing this sentence, Sasuke's hair stood on end.
"O... okay... wifey."
Sasuke answered with a stutter.
He didn't know what was wrong with his wife lately. She seemed like a different person. It felt like whatever she said, people would obey. That feeling was like being dominated... like... like...
Sasuke searched for the word.
"Control Devil..." (Note: Chainsaw Man Makima reference).
---
Meanwhile.
Mizuna left home very early, preparing to submit his newly drawn manga to a publisher.
In this era, the Konoha Publishing House only published newspapers or novels. There were basically no manga works...
Mizuna arrived at the Konoha Publishing House. As soon as he entered, he told the clerk he wanted to publish a manga.
"Manga? What's that?" The clerk was confused.
Seeing the clerk didn't understand, Mizuna took out his manuscript and showed it to him.
The clerk looked at it. Isn't this just a picture book?
However, after carefully reading the content, his expression became colorful.
"Little brother, wait here. I'll go get the manager."
Mizuna waited for a few minutes before the manager came out of the office.
The manager, Niina Fujiwara (Placeholder name), praised Mizuna immediately.
"Heroes really do start young! This manuscript opened my eyes today. Although the art style is a bit strange (JoJo style), looking at it for a while makes it feel very impactful! And the plot is impeccable!"
Niina Fujiwara clearly saw the value of this manuscript. After all, this was the first of its kind in the Ninja World.
"Little brother! We can publish this picture book you call 'Manga.' However, how about a 60-40 split on the profits?"
Mizuna thought: Whatever, I'm not here for the money anyway. I'm here for the mission. Plus, earning some pocket money isn't bad.
"Sure! I have no problem with that."
Hearing this, Niina Fujiwara's old face wrinkled into a smile like a blooming chrysanthemum.
"Aiyaya! Little brother, you really are talented. Don't worry! In a week, your manga will be all over Konoha!"
"Then thank you, Boss!"
At this moment, both of them thought internally:
"All According to Keikaku!"
Both felt they had made a huge profit...
---
Konoha Ninja Academy.
Mizuna sat in his seat attending class as usual.
In the afternoon, while Mizuna was sitting on the playground, Kagami Uchiha walked over.
"Hello, Mizuna-kun. I am Kagami Uchiha. I would like to talk to you."
For the past few days, Hana Kurama had been clinging to Kagami constantly. Kagami had no choice but to wait until Hana went to play with other girls before approaching Mizuna.
"Talk? Here? Or somewhere else?" Mizuna asked.
"Let's go somewhere else. How about the small woods behind the school?"
After saying that, Kagami pulled Mizuna toward the woods.
Seeing Kagami pull Mizuna away, Danzo and Hiruzen secretly followed them.
Inside the Small Woods.
"Mizuna-kun... I believe there is a great conflict between the Uchiha clan and the villagers of Konoha. These conflicts will eventually lead the Uchiha clan to self-destruction. During the introductions, I noticed you were different. I want to ask for your opinion on the Uchiha clan..."
Hearing this, Mizuna nodded. Indeed, the relationship between the Uchiha and Konoha was a big issue...
If not handled well, the Uchiha clan would still head toward their canon fate: extinction.
"My opinion on the Uchiha..."
An image of Madara appeared in Mizuna's mind. Arrogant, powerful, cold...
Suddenly, another face appeared in Mizuna's mind.
"Naori Uchiha?"
Mizuna was confused.
Why am I thinking of Sister Naori?
But thinking about it, Sister Naori was indeed different from other Uchihas. She was gentle, not arrogant, easy to get along with, and... she smelled nice...
"Wait, what am I thinking?"
......