Chapter 186: Vigilance in Peace
Although the strange gloves were a bit unusual, Mizuki found them surprisingly good after testing them out. Aside from slightly poor breathability—which might cause some discomfort if worn too long—there were no notable flaws. And for a ninja, that was a negligible issue.
"How do they feel?" Chihiro asked with hopeful eyes, watching Mizuki test the gloves.
"Not bad at all. No problems." For a taijutsu-focused ninja, fingerless gloves might be better, but Mizuki wasn't that type. For him, gloves with strong chakra conductivity were ideal.
"You haven't told me yet—what are they made of? The materials are excellent, and they don't look cheap."
"As long as you like them," Chihiro said with a small smile. "They didn't cost much. I sourced the main materials myself."
"Sourced yourself?" Mizuki asked suspiciously. "When did we ever have materials like this lying around?"
Chihiro just smiled and pulled out a massive weapon.
"Wait, isn't that my war trophy?"
It was Hidan's triple-bladed scythe. The weapon had held up under a punch that could knock down a Tailed Beast—it was clearly no ordinary gear.
Such rare and durable weaponry was difficult to come by. Unless you paid a fortune to a master craftsman, there weren't many ways to acquire them. Just like when Kakashi defeated Zabuza and didn't bring back the Executioner's Blade—it wasn't just politics, it was also because such weapons were often rigged with seals or contracts that made them unsafe or unusable by others.
Mizuki had never submitted this prize to the village—no one made a fuss about it. It was rightfully his. Besides, no one really wanted to use Hidan's cursed weapon anyway. As for any tricks or seals on it—what seal could possibly stump Mizuki?
"Chihiro, what did you do to it?" Mizuki stared at the scythe. It was now missing one of its three blades—turned from a triple to a double.
That thing had withstood his Sage Mode punches. Snapping even one blade off would take considerable power. Yet here it was—cleanly broken.
"Well..." Chihiro said a bit sheepishly, "You said it was a good weapon, but awkward to use, and hard to modify. So I, uh… experimented."
"Experimented? How exactly?"
"Like this."
She brought her hands together, then slowly spread them apart. Between her palms formed a rapidly spinning pale-blue chakra sphere. From within it, tiny arcs of electricity flickered.
"Oh, that."
Mizuki instantly understood. It was the fusion of wind and lightning chakra—an incredibly destructive combination. In terms of pure power, Mizuki's Sage Mode punches were stronger, but this strange hybrid jutsu had unmatched practicality and versatility.
"I just wanted to see if the weapon was as hard to modify as you said… and well…"
"You went and made gloves instead?"
"Yeah, from the broken blade. I melted it down, added a few other things, and had someone forge these."
"A few other things? That was a lot of metal missing."
"Well, besides the scythe, I also used some of your leftover puppet fragments from last time."
"Puppet fragments?" Mizuki blinked, then remembered. She was referring to the destroyed puppets from Sasori. As one of the greatest puppet masters, Sasori's creations were made from rare, near-indestructible materials. Anything that had survived Mizuki's Sage-powered fire jutsu must've been extremely high-grade.
"So, you used those too, huh? Not a bad way to repurpose scraps. Who forged them?"
"There are only a few good weapon shops in Konoha," Chihiro replied. "I went to one you know—Tenten's family shop. Their smith is excellent."
"Oh, that one." Mizuki nodded. He wasn't much of a regular customer since he didn't rely heavily on physical weapons, but he was familiar with it. He'd seen Tenten tending the shop from time to time.
"Well, if you're happy with them, that's all that matters." Chihiro beamed.
Mizuki looked at the ruined scythe and then down at the gloves snug on his hands.
Not bad, he thought. Shame about the flashy weapon, though. It looks too weird to use now. Maybe I'll scrap it entirely and forge something new later.
He set that idle thought aside and turned to Chihiro. "I really do like this gift. Thanks. But next time, don't stress yourself over things like this."
"I won't," she smiled, clearly pleased.
"Alright then," Mizuki said. "Now, let me see that jutsu you just used. How far along is it?"
This unknown hybrid of wind and lightning nature transformation was dangerous and unstable. Without reference, Mizuki dared not test it recklessly—especially not using Chihiro's body. If even reinforced weapons couldn't withstand it for long, that said a lot.
Naruto's Rasenshuriken had nearly destroyed his arm before he mastered it—this was probably just as volatile.
Chihiro brought her hands together again, manifesting the pale-blue spinning chakra sphere. This time, it was much more stable than the last time Mizuki saw it. Controlled, elegant, with arcing lightning dancing along the surface like crackling energy blades.
"The Clarity Breathing technique… still no real progress?" Mizuki asked.
"Barely. The cellular-level control is too difficult."
"But you can control this so precisely?"
It was baffling. Mizuki marveled at her natural ability with chakra nature transformation. While her internal chakra control wasn't great, her external manipulation was on par with the best.
So this is what they mean by "everyone has their strengths," Mizuki mused. She was basically a prodigy at elemental blending, but couldn't internalize advanced control techniques like Clarity Breathing.
"Have you felt any changes in your body?" Mizuki asked.
"No. Just… it gets really exhausting if I use it for too long."
That was worrying. If this hybrid technique was a bloodline limit (Kekkei Genkai), it might have unpredictable long-term effects.
"What about your clone? Any updates from the comparison?"
"Nothing yet," Chihiro said. "But... one thing bothers me. One of the other test subjects... there's something wrong."
"Oh?"
"Remember that corpse you brought back during that recent village attack?" she asked, eyes clouded with concern. "The one you said was definitely dead… are you sure?"
"You mean the White Zetsu clone? Yeah, I'm sure." Mizuki's expression darkened. "Why?"
"I processed it the way you instructed. Used the splitting serum… But the cells inside—it's like they're still alive. Way too vigorous for a corpse. Mizuki, tell me the truth. What kind of enemy are you up against? Or... what thing?"
Mizuki paused.
"I don't know for sure," he admitted. "But Chihiro, this is our home. I'll protect it. I'll protect you. No matter what."
…
Later that night, as Mizuki lay in bed beside Chihiro, he reflected.
In just a few months, his strength had skyrocketed—far beyond what many could achieve in a lifetime. But he still trained relentlessly, almost obsessively.
Because deep down… he knew something was coming.
Something big.
And it terrified him enough that even in peace, he could not rest.
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