Naruto: Mizuki The Savior

Chapter 234: Bound Hands

That night, after a hasty dinner, the mood among the group was grim. The day's events left everyone confused and unsettled. When Mizuki returned, he briefly checked Sasuke's condition—but with Haruno Sakura present, the basics like pain relief and minor treatment were more than covered.

Hatake Kakashi had spent the entire day under the exhausting enthusiasm of the Mizukage, and even he felt overwhelmed.

"Kakashi, how many more days until we head back?"

Although their stay in the Hidden Mist Village wasn't long, its impact had already been significant. Particularly for the genin—for them to have nothing productive to do during a mission was never good. Each of them was prideful, and even simple jutsu exchanges could quickly spiral into life-or-death fights. Especially Uchiha Sasuke—having his brother, Uchiha Itachi, looming as an unreachable peak made it even harder for him to accept that he had to spar with mere genin... and even lose.

"It won't be too long. But two or three days probably isn't enough. This isn't like combat missions where everything is clear-cut. Diplomatic formalities waste far too much time."

"Why not send someone who specializes in diplomacy? None of us are really suited for this," Mizuki complained.

"Who would that be?" Kakashi replied with a sigh. "There's no one more suitable available right now. Everyone's busy."

"Then what about Sasuke?" Mizuki asked, frowning. "Haven't you considered the cursed seal on him recently? Relying on a vengeful teenager's willpower to suppress it is just... wishful thinking."

The Heaven Cursed Seal in its active state was far more dangerous than the imperfect one Mizuki carried himself. It granted immense power—but expecting Sasuke to reject that power was extremely difficult. Each activation subtly distorted his mind and personality, making it all the more worrisome.

Kakashi, aware of what had happened that day, looked troubled. After all, even someone like Anko Mitarashi hadn't managed to remove her cursed seal after so many years. If Orochimaru hadn't had such confidence in the seal's power, he wouldn't have gone to such lengths to brand Sasuke—nor would he have been content to leave Sasuke in Konoha for so long.

"There's nothing more I can do," Kakashi finally admitted. He looked at Mizuki. "Can you do something?"

Mizuki shook his head. "Not in the short term."

The biggest threat of the Heaven Cursed Seal was the lurking will of Orochimaru within it. Unlike Jugo, whose curse transformations were due to biological mutations and whose berserker states could be controlled, Sasuke's case was far more insidious. Orochimaru's mental intrusion made things exponentially more dangerous.

"So it's possible to solve, just not quickly?" Kakashi asked.

"That's right."

The legendary Totsuka Blade could seal even Orochimaru. In theory, Mizuki might be able to develop something similar using advanced sealing techniques—but he hadn't reached that level yet. There wasn't enough research material or foundational knowledge. Maybe if he had Sage Mode or White Zetsu cells, he could create a seal resistant to the curse's corruption. But Sasuke wasn't strong enough to handle such power yet. Forcing it would be like feeding him to the wolves.

"In the end," Mizuki summarized, "only Sasuke's personal growth can resist the external threats. All we can do is buy him time—everything else depends on him."

"We're really this powerless?" Kakashi muttered. "There's nothing more we can do?"

"Don't worry too much," Mizuki replied. "As long as he doesn't use the cursed seal again, things won't get worse. The key is to help him grow stronger—strong enough not to need the seal's power."

Kakashi nodded reluctantly. "Then that's all we can do for now."

…

Late that night, Mizuki sat at his window, watching the moon drift in and out of sight behind clouds and mist. His thoughts lingered on Uchiha Sasuke. The boy's problems were growing—his strength was increasing, but so was his thirst for revenge. That kind of single-minded pursuit would only attract more trouble.

Losing a fight wasn't the worst thing—but for a revenge-driven soul like Sasuke, weakness was unforgivable. Only constant victories and tangible growth could dull the urgency he felt in his heart.

But this world didn't offer foolproof solutions. The clone experiments with pseudo-jinchūriki had yielded little data on how cursed seals behaved after full activation. And right now, preserving his own dwindling life force was a bigger concern than curse seal analysis.

That left only one path—unorthodox methods.

Suddenly, Mizuki's senses twitched.

"Who's there?"

As soon as he spoke, a shadow appeared outside the window. Moonlight cast a silhouette on the windowsill.

"It's you, Sasuke. Out so late—what's on your mind?"

In a flash, Sasuke stepped into the room, standing across from Mizuki.

"There's something that's been bothering me… I wanted to ask you about it, Mizuki-sensei."

"You're looking a lot better than you did earlier," Mizuki said with a smile. "What's on your mind?"

"Mizuki-sensei... you've been involved with Orochimaru, haven't you?"

Sasuke's eyes gleamed with an unreadable light as he locked eyes with Mizuki. "Earlier today, when my curse mark flared up... it felt like there was something similar on you. It's been on my mind."

"Oh? You noticed?" Mizuki didn't look the least bit worried about being found out. "As expected of a Uchiha genius—your instincts are sharp."

Being in such close proximity during a curse mark flare-up made resonance inevitable. It was only a matter of time before Sasuke noticed.

Seeing that Mizuki showed no fear about being discovered, Sasuke's expression flickered with disappointment.

Noticing this, Mizuki chuckled. "What? Did you just come to confirm that? Or is there something else you're thinking?"

"Uh…" Sasuke looked awkward. "I didn't mean anything by it. I just wanted to confirm it, that's all."

"That's fine." Mizuki didn't press. Whatever Sasuke was thinking didn't matter. With his current strength and insight, he had no idea what kind of tangled web he had walked into.

"If you thought finding my weakness would let you negotiate for something… forget it."

"…Yeah," Sasuke said quietly, neither confirming nor denying.

"There are things that even if I told you, you wouldn't understand. And knowing too much won't help you—it'll only hurt you."

Sasuke nodded, then hesitated. "I was too impulsive earlier today. Lately, whenever I get emotional, I lose control. I don't know why. I know you don't like me much, Mizuki-sensei… but still, thanks for earlier."

"Haah…" Mizuki sighed. "At least you haven't gone so far as to give up on yourself. Let me give you one piece of advice: until you can fully control the cursed seal on your neck—don't use it. Otherwise, you might not live long enough to get your revenge."

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