Ninja Pot Shadow

Chapter 50 What is this button for?

Just as a hint of doubt appeared on Mizuki's face, Hinata immediately reverted to her gentle demeanor, lowering her head and looking quite embarrassed: "...Mitsuki-sensei, I mean... I mean, luckily, Fourth Uncle gave me some pocket money today, so let's use it to buy medicine for Naruto-kun?"

The Hyuga clan is one of the most powerful clans in Konoha, with a large number of Jonin. Mizuki didn't know exactly who this "Fourth Master" was, but he didn't care at this moment.

As long as you have money, that's all that matters.

It's clear that Hinata is unwilling to pay for it, but Mizuki thinks that for Naruto's sake, this girl will definitely pay.

"Hyuga-kun, it's all for Naruto, you know, right?"

Hinata nodded slowly: "...Yes, I understand."

Mizuki gave her a scroll. After opening it, she discovered that the secret medicine to "enhance chakra control" required seven kinds of herbs. Only four kinds were available on the market. Mizuki said he had already prepared the remaining three kinds and had them at home.

They split into two groups: Hinata went to buy medicine, while Mizuki went home to get the other three medicinal herbs and search for Naruto. Afterward, the two met up in a valley outside the village.

As for why he didn't drink the medicine in the village but went to that valley specifically, Shui Mu explained that this secret medicine requires some professional equipment and instruments, which a recent graduate like you wouldn't understand at all. Just listen to me.

Hinata hesitated for a moment, not daring to refute, and obediently went to buy the medicine.

Mizuki, on the other hand, didn't go straight home. He observed the area around his house for a while, then looked towards the Hokage Building, where the lights were on. It seemed that the theft of the Scroll of Seals had been exposed.

"Heh, you idiots, take your time searching! Naruto-kun, you'd better buy me some more time."

He took out the rare medicinal herbs he had collected over the past two years. Using this backup plan now was a last resort, but who could blame him when his plan was ruined by a few gluttons?

Mizuki took several deep breaths. He knew very well that his body was not fully prepared, but he believed that he could get through it with his willpower.

He took one last look at the photo of himself and his fiancée. He did have feelings for Chun, but if the village found out that he had killed his comrade, he would definitely be dead. At this point, he had to give up his feelings.

He decisively closed the door and took a shortcut, and soon found Hinata waiting for him foolishly in the valley outside the village.

This kid is really dim-witted. Konoha Village can only raise this kind of good-for-nothing. How can it not decline? It was definitely the right choice to join forces with that person.

"Mitsuki-sensei, where's Naruto?" Hinata looked behind him with a bewildered expression, which greatly satisfied Mizuki's vanity.

Faced with the choice between taking immediate action and continuing to deceive, he chose the latter.

"Hyuga-kun, we must quickly prepare the secret medicine. It seems someone in the village is plotting against Naruto. When I passed by, I overheard people talking about the Nine-Tailed Fox. Do you know about the Nine-Tailed Fox?"

Hinata shook her head blankly, indicating that she didn't know.

What a waste of talent! If only I had that talent! Mizuki's opinion of the Hyuga clan's eldest daughter dropped two points.

Entering the cave, he no longer bothered with concealment and directly pressed the mechanism on the side wall. The hidden door opened, revealing a very clean stone chamber. Shui Mu counted from left to right, removed the eighth stone brick in the middle of the wall, and pulled the internal ring. A sound of gears meshing came from below the stone chamber. Soon, the ground parted, and a vessel made of a strange metal slowly rose up.

Hinata covered her mouth, while Mizuki sneered and placed the medicinal herbs into the compartments of the container in a specific order.

When the moment came, Shui Mu hesitated again. Did she really want to give up everything? Was her body ready? Should she wait a couple more days?

While he was still pondering, Hinata walked up to him, examined the metal vessel from all angles, and then, as if she had discovered something new, pointed to a large red button on the side of the vessel and asked rather innocently, "What is this button for?"

She didn't even wait for Shuimu's reply before pressing down with her fair, delicate fingers.

"Holy crap!" Shui Mu exclaimed in fury! He wasn't even ready yet!

He was about to get angry when Hinata dashed off into the distance, her speed was truly impressive.

He cursed under his breath, but he really didn't have time to care about Hinata anymore, his mind was focused on this vessel that was said to bring him endless power.

The equipment has already started, and no matter how unwilling he is, he can't stop it now.

Then, aconite reacted with a red alkali, and the mixture merged with Japanese knotweed in the vessel, and finally blended with several brightly colored snake grass roots.

The medicine was dark red and emitted a strong, pungent, fishy odor.

Hinata covered her nose, and Mizuki carefully examined the color of the potion. He added three more rare medicinal herbs in succession. When the dark red color turned into a light red color and the fishy smell dissipated by more than half, he breathed a sigh of relief. The potion was ready!

"Mitsuki-sensei, shall we go find Naruto? It's so dark here... I'm a little scared..." Hinata whispered.

Mizuki's face was contorted with rage, and he smiled coldly: "Don't worry, we'll go find Naruto right away. Hmm, let me test the effects of this potion first, after all, I have a responsibility as his teacher to my precious students."

He took out a beaker from a hidden compartment and filled it with a red potion from the outlet.

The die was cast, and his desire for great power overwhelmed all his fear and hesitation. He hesitated for no more than three seconds, and after seeing that Hinata did not stop him, he decisively tilted his head back and drank the entire potion.

The medicine worked immediately. The magma-like liquid went down his throat into his stomach and intestines, where it spread. He felt an extremely violent energy surging through his body.

The heart was the first organ to be strengthened. A massive amount of energy was impacting the atria and ventricles, and the reversed blood flow caused Shui Mu to spit out a mouthful of blood on the spot. His physique was not strong enough, and this strengthening was extremely dangerous.

"I can do it! I am the strongest!" He endured the pain and tried to encourage himself through self-hypnosis.

Thinking of what that person had said, he was now filled with regret. He had been too reckless and should have been more cautious.

It felt as if a hand was squeezing his heart. He opened his mouth wide, breathing rapidly, trying to inhale more oxygen, like a fish pulled out of the water.

His body was visibly hunched over.

Muscles become loose, skin loses elasticity, and hair becomes dry, as if one has aged twenty years in an instant.

Mizuki shakily reached out a hand to Hinata, trying to get the girl to save him. How? He didn't really know; it was a completely subconscious reaction.

Chapter 51 First Encounter with the Cursed Seal

Just as Mizuki tried to open her mouth for help, the intense feeling of suffocation lasted for less than five seconds before it ended.

He felt a surge of power in his heart, and the drug began to surge into his brain and limbs.

What happened? Was the renovation completed so quickly?

This is a bit different from what that person said. Could it be that I have very strong aptitude?

Mizuki tore off his sleeve, revealing a jet-black curse mark on the inside of his right forearm. After being nourished by the potion, the curse mark seemed to have gained its own life and began to absorb energy from the natural environment. After absorbing energy for half a minute, it separated a portion of the energy from the curse mark and poured it into his body to make up for the deficit caused by the previous body modification.

Shui Mu breathed a sigh of relief; he had fully come back to life.

His shriveled body swelled up like an inflating balloon, and the power within him quickly surpassed his prime, continuing to rise rapidly as if without limit.

His arms became incredibly thick, with several tiger-like black stripes appearing on his arms, shoulders, and back. His body grew a full twenty centimeters taller, his muscles bulging and brimming with power, making him look like a small giant.

Mizuki clenched his fist and pounded his chest, making a dull thud.

"Hahahaha—what wonderful power! Now even Jonin are no match for me!" He let out a series of wild laughs, but as he laughed, he finally realized something was wrong. Hinata, who was standing not far away, was too quiet.

Were they stunned by their own actions?

He looked over and found Hinata to be remarkably calm, and her condescending gaze made him very uncomfortable.

"What are you looking at?!" he shouted angrily.

Hinata calmly said, "Mitsuki-sensei, you always say that Naruto's Shadow Clone Jutsu is not good, that he has poor control. But aren't you the same? You were able to become a teacher at the Konoha Ninja Academy because the higher-ups were taking care of you. Your strength is far inferior to Iruka-sensei's. I guess... you probably haven't practiced your Transformation Jutsu much, right? This won't do. You haven't even laid a good foundation. You'll suffer when you leave Konoha."

Shui Mu stared intently at her. The potion had altered his brain, and the cursed seal had allowed him to absorb a large amount of natural energy, significantly enhancing his perception.

At this moment, he finally noticed the constantly flowing chakra on Hinata's body. What kind of technique requires covering the body with chakra? There are many such techniques in the ninja world, but the most basic one, and the one he knew of, was the Transformation Technique.

A wisp of smoke rose from Hinata's body, revealing Ino's figure.

"It's you! Ever since that barbecue restaurant... you've been playing me for a fool!"

“It’s not about playing around. If you don’t have these thoughts, we’ll still be teacher and student. What a pity… Mr. Mizuki, can you tell me what this thing behind you is? What do you mean by this change?” Ino asked, pointing to the black curse mark on his arm.

Shui Mu's face contorted with rage: "You little brat, how dare you play tricks on me! I'll tear you apart!"

He gripped the ground with both feet and charged forward, attempting to launch an attack. But as soon as his chakra gathered in the soles of his feet, he felt weak and powerless all over. He still had his strength, but his body was somewhat out of his control.

Ino tapped him lightly with her finger: "Are you stupid? You made me do something as important as buying medicine? Many of the herbs weren't old enough, which is why your transformation went so smoothly, understand? Besides... don't you know that the people in the mountains are the best at growing flowers, and many of those flowers are highly poisonous? The toxins have already flowed through your heart and throughout your body. You'll become weaker and weaker. Surrender, and maybe the village will give you a way out."

"Damn it!" Shui Mu roared, staggering forward two steps.

Natural energy was still gathering into his body through the incantation on his arm, and the energy was as abundant and domineering as ever, but his nerves, bones and muscles were somewhat out of control, and he saw many double images in front of him.

"I won't lose! I absolutely won't lose!!" He stared intently at Ino, as if he could turn the tide of battle as long as he defeated this hateful woman.

"Tsk tsk, she can still move? That's impressive." Ino had brought plenty of equipment tonight. She rushed out and stabbed Mizuki in the throat with her kunai.

With his mobility greatly reduced, Shui Mu could only cross his arms and shield himself.

The kunai pierced his wrist, but after only two centimeters, it produced a considerable sense of sluggishness, as if it were piercing a tire rather than a human body.

Ino placed her left hand on her right hand, which was tightly gripping the kunai, and pressed down with both arms. No... the opponent's defense was much stronger than she had anticipated, and her own strength was insufficient!

"What a nuisance!" She kicked Mizuki's elbow, used the momentum to jump up, and with a flick of her left hand at her waist, two shuriken flew in arcs toward Mizuki's eyes.

Mizuki ducked to dodge the shuriken, then spread his arms wide. The nails on his ten fingers mutated and lengthened, resembling ten sharp swords. Taking advantage of his height and arm length, he frantically slashed forward.

Ino dodged left and right. Her opponent's attack and defense were both strong, but due to the poison, his speed had dropped significantly. She saw an opening, jumped behind Mizuki, and thrust her kunai into his shoulder blade from below, twisting it fiercely in his neck and back muscles.

A large mass of flesh was dug out, and Shui Mu cried out in pain.

He was like a wounded tiger, his hands like two sharp claws, frantically launching a series of attacks on Ino.

Ino didn't use her best ninjutsu, but circled around Mizuki, stabbing him here and slashing him there: "Mitsuki-sensei, your ability still has flaws. Your arms are the strongest defensively, your frontal defense is stronger than your back, and your chest and abdomen are stronger than your lower limbs, right?"

Before Mizuki could answer, Ino shouted, "Choji! It's your turn. Hit his leg!"

After an awkward three or four seconds, they finally heard the slightly hesitant voice of the fat Choji: "Huh? Oh! Here it comes, here it comes, look at my human bomb tank!"

Choji's body swelled into a fleshy ball under the influence of chakra, with his head and limbs retracting in. Then, his body spun at high speed, carrying a huge impact force, like a cannonball, crossing a distance of more than 30 meters, and crashing head-on into Mizuki.

Mizuki was, after all, a Chunin. When he saw the flying ball of flesh, he gritted his teeth and swung his fist forcefully, trying to knock it back.

With a loud "boom," the huge ball of flesh was sent flying by his punch, and Shui Mu's left leg cracked with a crisp sound the second after the impact.

He lost his balance and at the critical moment grabbed the wall to the side to barely keep his balance.

Wow! Seeing this, Ino gained a completely new understanding of this cursed seal form: it has thick skin and flesh, strong recovery ability, and can also greatly enhance the body's basic attributes.

This is still the incomplete version of the cursed seal created by Orochimaru. The cursed seals of the Sound Four and Kimimaro, such as the Heaven Cursed Seal and Earth Cursed Seal, should be even more powerful. If these cursed seals that use Jugo's cells to absorb natural energy are so powerful, how strong would the proper Sage Mode be?

Chapter 52 The First Cooperative Operation Between Ino-Shika-Cho

Mizuki's punch was incredibly powerful. If Ino or Shikamaru had taken that punch, they would definitely have been injured and fallen to the ground. Choji's Human Boulder had extremely strong defensive capabilities. His thick layer of fat and Yang Release chakra absorbed about 70-80% of the power of his punch, leaving him with virtually no damage.

Choji's eyes were filled with mosquito coils. He propped himself up with his hands on the ground and groggily raised his head.

The damage wasn't severe, just a bit dizzy...

I've only seriously used the human bomb vehicle twice, not counting practicing on wooden stakes at home. Once was when I dealt with wild boars in the wild, and the other time is right now.

He scrutinized Mizuki closely, feeling incredibly guilty. One moment he worried that he might have hit Mizuki, the teacher who had invited him to dinner, and the next he worried that he might have missed and incurred Ino's wrath.