A gentle breeze swept across the Hokage Rock as Mizuki looked down at the peaceful village below, his expression complex.
"So I really did transmigrate," he thought, still stunned by his predicament. He had never imagined that he would wake up in the world of Naruto, inhabiting the body of Chunin Mizuki.
"Transmigration is one thing, but why Mizuki? Is it just because of my name?" Mizuki grumbled, deeply unhappy with his situation. Even a nameless background character would have been better than Mizuki.
After all, Mizuki was notorious for his cruelty. On a past mission, he had suffocated an injured comrade to avoid being slowed down. When Konoha recovered the body and discovered the true cause of death, suspicion fell heavily on Mizuki. Although they had no concrete evidence, the village no longer trusted him. Relegated to a minor role as an assistant at the ninja academy, Mizuki's future seemed bleak.
Unwilling to accept his fate, Mizuki had been planning to defect, intending to use Naruto to steal the Scroll of Seals as a bargaining chip with Orochimaru. But before he could put his plan into action, Mizuki, the transmigrator, had taken over.
"Great, now I'm stuck as Mizuki," Mizuki thought sarcastically. He had inherited all the bad and none of the good. Defection was out of the question - everyone who'd seen the anime knew that the village was already aware of Mizuki's intentions. The Third Hokage had even taken advantage of the situation to teach Naruto the Shadow Clone Jutsu.
Staying in the village seemed just as untenable. Even if he abandoned his plan to manipulate Naruto, countless suspicious eyes would be watching his every move. Once planted, seeds of doubt were nearly impossible to uproot.
"Man, this sucks," Mizuki sighed. His gaze fell on Naruto, who was sitting alone on a swing after failing his final exam. "I guess my situation isn't much better than that kid's."
While he was thinking about his limited options, a chime suddenly sounded in Mizuki's head:
[Transmigrator detected. Activating 10,000x Disciple Teaching Reward System. Complete the novice mission to fully activate the system].
[Novice Mission: Accept Naruto as your disciple. He must call you "Master"]
[Reward: Full system activation, one real and one fake chakra control pill].
Mizuki's eyes widened. "A system?" he thought, intrigued by this unexpected development.
Meanwhile, Naruto watched his classmates celebrate their graduation with their families, feeling more isolated than ever. As the only one who had failed, a familiar loneliness crept over him.
"What are you thinking about?" a soft voice asked. Naruto looked up in surprise. "Mizuki-sensei?"
Mizuki smiled weakly. "Naruto, if you want to graduate, come with me."
As the two left the academy grounds, the Third Hokage and Iruka watched from a distance.
"Iruka, I need to talk to you later," the Hokage said.
"Yes, Lord Third," Iruka replied.
On the Hokage Rock, Mizuki and Naruto sat with their legs dangling over the cliff, each lost in thought as the mountain breeze washed over them.
"You know, Iruka-sensei never meant to be hard on you," Mizuki said, looking up at the sky.
Naruto looked confused. "Then why does he always single me out?"
"I think it's because he wants you to become truly strong," Mizuki explained. "After all, you both lost your parents. He sees you as his little brother and wants to protect you. That's why he's so afraid of losing you."
Mizuki went on, "Becoming a ninja is dangerous. One wrong move on a mission or on the battlefield and you could lose your life. And you haven't even mastered the Clone Jutsu yet!"
Naruto's heart raced at these words, but he remained stubborn. "But I really want to graduate."
Mizuki smiled. "Well, I guess we could arrange for you to take the exam again."
Naruto's eyes lit up. "Really? Is that possible?"
Mizuki nodded and Narutos excitement quickly turned to frustration. "But Mizuki-sensei, even if I repeat it, I'll still fail the Clone Jutsu. I still won't graduate."
"Do you know why your Clone Jutsu always fails?" Mizuki asked.
Naruto frowned. "Every time I try, it feels like my chakra is out of control. I've been practicing so hard but it never works."
Mizuki nodded. "Exactly. Your chakra control is poor, that's why you get such poor results." He deliberately avoided mentioning the Nine-Tails' influence on Naruto's chakra.
"What can I do?" Naruto asked at a loss.
Mizuki turned to Naruto directly. "It's simple. I'll teach you how to control your chakra, but first, you have to call me 'Master'."
Naruto wasn't stupid. On the contrary, he was quite clever. His reputation as a fool had more to do with his brash personality and careless actions than any lack of intelligence. Years of being looked down upon had taught him to read people and situations.
At that moment, Naruto sensed that Mizuki wasn't joking. Without hesitation, he called out, "Master!"
Mizuki smiled as the system chimed in his mind:
[Mission completed: Successfully recruited Uzumaki Naruto as disciple. Reward: One real and one fake chakra control pill].
"Luckily, Naruto is easy to fool," Mizuki thought. "He called me 'Master' after only a few words."
[10,000x Disciple Teaching Reward System officially activated]
[All ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu, experience, ninja tools, and medicine granted to disciples will be rewarded up to 10,000 times.]
[Each disciple has three reward opportunities per month].
"Stand up," Mizuki instructed, producing a small blue pill. "Take this. It will help you control your chakra."
The system-generated chakra control pill could increase any ninja's chakra control to 90%. For those who were already above that threshold, it would have no effect.
Naruto hesitated for a moment before he swallowed the pill. At this point, he had nothing to lose.
[Ding! You've given your disciple Uzumaki Naruto a chakra control pill, triggering a 1,000-fold return].
Mizuki raised an eyebrow. Although it wasn't the maximum of 10,000x, it wasn't bad at all.
[Congratulations! You've obtained a Super Chakra Control Pill.]
[Super Chakra Control Pill: Increases chakra control to 99.99%].
"What's the difference between 90% and 99.99%?" Mizuki wondered.
The system explained:
[Regular pills increase control to 90%, Intermediate to 99%, Advanced to 99.9%, Super to 99.99%, Royal to 99.999%, Imperial even higher...]
[Above 90%: Master any jutsu quickly]
[Above 99%: Streamline hand signs, faster jutsu casting]
[Above 99.9%: Use one-handed signs]
[Above 99.99%: No hand signs needed, just clap and shout the jutsu name]
[Above 99.999%: No clapping required, just think and shout. Jutsu power increases by one level]
Mizuki's eyes widened in astonishment.
Meanwhile, Naruto felt the effect of the pill. "Master Mizuki, I feel it! My chakra... it obeys me!"
Mizuki nodded. "Try it out."
Naruto made the sign and called softly, "Clone Jutsu!" With a poof, nine perfect clones appeared next to the original Naruto.
"I did it! I, Uzumaki Naruto, finally did it!" Naruto shouted excitedly. "Clone Jutsu! I finally got it!"
"Thank you, Master Mizuki! I'll go back now and retake the examination. Iruka-sensei will definitely let me graduate!"
When Naruto was about to leave, Mizuki stopped him. "Wait, take one more." He offered Naruto the Super Chakra Control Pill, hoping to trigger another reward.
Without question, Naruto took the pill.
[Ding! You've granted your disciple Uzumaki Naruto a Super Chakra Control Pill, triggering a 100x return.]
[Congratulations! You've received a Royal Chakra Control Pill]
[Royal Chakra Control Pill: Increases chakra control to 99.9999%]
[At 99.9999%: Cast jutsu at will, increase power by two levels, improve jutsu effects]
"It works!" Mizuki rejoiced as he saw a shortcut to power in front of him. He planned to give Naruto the Royal Pill next to trigger another reward.
But suddenly:
[Bug detected. Fixing...]
Mizuki: "?
[Fixed. Items returned by the system will no longer trigger rewards]
"Oh, come on!" Mizuki groaned, his scheme foiled.