Chapter 4: Chapter 4 The Budding Heart
It's still Konohagakure 38, and the weather has been overcast for the last few days.
Shimizu Kenjin's funeral was held with the ninja who died together.
Before the funeral, Shimizu Mizuki had gone to see Kenjin's body.
Unfortunately, Shimizu Mizuki's remains are still intact, and from what the Anbu can tell us about the mission description.
A few days ago, some of the frontline outposts along the eastern coastline of the Land of Fire were breached by an unknown enemy, but instead of occupying these outposts, the enemy entered the area around Fishwater Harbor, which is within the coastline of the Land of Fire, through this torn opening.
Shimizu Kenjin's team is tasked with investigating this shadowy group of enemies. The investigation goes well, and according to the information that comes back, the enemy proper is the Seven-swords Ninja of the Mist.
But the evacuation didn't go well, and the enemy seemed intent on using his body as bait, and when spotted by the survey team, the enemy noticed the survey team as well.
The Seven-swords Ninja of the Mist, each of whom wields a ninja sword with special powers. Legend has it that the seven together can conquer a small country in one night.
Facing such an opponent, it is not easy for the investigation team to transmit the information back to the village, after all, the only two members of the investigation team who have the strength of an elite Jōnin are Shimizu Kenjin and Uchiha Yan, and four of the other six members are still Chūnin.
Moreover, the enemy had made sufficient preparations at Fishwater Harbor, and when discovered by the investigation team, the only ones who showed up were Biwa Jūzō, Suikazan Fuguki, and Hohzuki Senbei.
The remaining three were ambushed outside of Fishwater Harbor, and with the front and back attack, the balance of victory was naturally tilted towards the Seven-swords Ninja of the Mist.
Shimizu Mizuki didn't know the exact course of the battle, but one could imagine how severe the situation was against an opponent like that.
Under the desperate cover of Shimizu Kenjin and five other ninja, Uchiha Yan and another Jōnin of the Aburame clan sent the information back into the Konohagakure.
The Konohagakure reacts quickly, and the Third Hokage immediately sends Jiraiya to lead a squad to Fishwater Harbor on a pursuit mission.
But the squad had pounced, the Seven-swords Ninja of the Mist had not led any of their men, and the seven elite Jōnin had moved with such dexterity that they had followed the senses of the Inuzuka clan's ninja all the way to the shoreline where the opening had been torn open in the first place.
Obviously this is a fishing expedition for the Kirigakure, utilizing the Seven-swords Ninja of the Mist's great strength and mobility to quickly return to the Kirigakure after achieving a certain amount of success in battle with a single strike.
It could also hold back some of Konohagakure's senior combatants; after all, Konohagakure couldn't possibly continue to send out weak ninja after realizing that the enemy was the Seven-swords Ninja of the Mist.
In fact, the Seven-swords Ninja of the Mist had been lucky, because whenever they withdrew a little slower, they would have been pursued by Jiraiya, and the Seven would inevitably be missing a few people by then.
...
Back to the funeral.
Shimizu Mizuki, dressed in black mourning clothes, looked at the already buried Kenjin.
There were some other family members of the fallen ninja around, and some of the children, like Mizuki, were having a hard time suppressing the sobbing that covered their faces, but were trying hard not to make a sound.
The Sandaime also came, and he conducted the funeral for the fallen ninja.
"Where the leaves fly, fire is also born. The light of the fire will continue to illuminate the village and germinate the newborn leaves."
It was the first time that Shimizu Mizuki actually heard those words from Sarutobi Hiruzen's mouth, and he didn't have any special feelings about it, but the eyes of the funeral attendees around him all brightened up.
[This world is constantly at war, and people's spiritual world is really empty, too.]
Shimizu Mizuki, who felt that the Ninja World was a giant pyramid scheme, thought so.
After the funeral, Shimizu Mizuki walking towards his home, remembering the man at the funeral with the Uchiha clan crest embroidered on his back.
He must be Uchiha Yan, Kenjin's friend, and Shimizu Mizuki had been planning to go and thank him after the funeral, after all, he had given himself such an expensive gift.
But the other party didn't seem to have any intention of talking to him and left first in the middle of the funeral.
Back to the door of Shimizu's house was about to open the door, but the door opened from the inside, Shimizu Mizuki was shocked and immediately prepared to jump back to pull away.
"Relax, it's me."
Uchiha Yan came out of the doorway unhurriedly and spoke as he looked at the seemingly startled Mizuki.
Shimizu Mizuki was now filled with confusion, although for a ninja, infiltration was a basic skill, but just now Uchiha Yan had opened the door directly from the inside.
He remembered well that he always locked the door when he went out.
He had thought that Uchiha Yan and Shimizu Kenjin's relationship was not ordinary, probably from graduation is a squad partner, but did not think that even his own key Uchiha Yan have a share.
Shimizu Mizuki thought while looking at Uchiha Yan and was about to invite the other party to come and sit at his home again, but in his line of sight, Uchiha Yan's eyes changed.
It transformed from a black pupil to a spinning trio of hookahs, which in turn quickly changed into the shape of three teardrops with their heads and tails.
Mangekyō Sharingan! Shimizu Mizuki inwardly shocked, he was even more puzzled as to why Uchiha Yan would reveal these eyes towards him, but immediately he was no longer puzzled.
Uchiha Yan stopped the release of his illusions and quickly stepped in to intercept and pick up the nearly collapsed Mizuki, placing her on the couch in the living room before doing something and then leaving.
It didn't take long for Shimizu Mizuki to wake up, and he looked around.
"I was returning home after attending the funeral, and at the door, to ran into Kenjin's teammate, Uchiha Yan... that being said, how did I get dizzy."
The system, which has not appeared for a long time, suggests that the panel has been updated.
[Host: Shimizu Mizuki]
[Skills: Chakra Refining Jutsu, Substitute Jutsu, Transcription Seal - Amenhotokotachi (One-time)]
[Prayer harvest: none]
[Mail: No new mail at this time]
Shimizu Mizuk was a bit dumbfounded, how did he somehow get an extra skill, or a one-time thing.
Transcription Seal he did know, it was an advanced sealing technique that sealed jutsu in other things and would be automatically released when set conditions were met.
In the manga Itachi then seals his Amaterasu into Sasuke's eyes, and considering the last person he saw before passing out was Uchiha Yan, then a simple analysis makes things clear.
This so-called [Amenhotokotachi] should be Uchiha Yan's Dōjutsu... Mangekyō Sharingan?... Could it be that it was opened because of Kenjin's death?
So it seems that he had underestimated the bond between Uchiha Yan and Shimizu Kenjin.
Thinking so, Shimizu Mizuki tapped on the introduction of the [Transcription Seal - Amenhotokotachi].
[Transcription Seal - Amenhotokotachi: When the host receives lethal damage, it will reverse time and return the host's body to the state it was in 24 hours ago.]
!
Shimizu Mizuki had predicted from the name of this Dōjutsu that this Dōjutsu would have something to do with time.
After all, the name Amenhotokotachi is the god in charge of time in Japanese mythology.
It's just that he didn't expect the effect of this jutsu to be so strong, it could be called a mini version of Izanagi.
[It seems that Uchiha Yan is worried about the safety of Kenjin's orphans, so he's come here specifically to insure himself.]
Thinking of this, Shimizu Mizuki got a sudden pang of distress.
It may be difficult for those who have not been reincarnated to understand the feelings.
He himself is not Shimizu Kenjin's real child, but an impostor from the Blue Planet, and even in the face of Chiyoko's and Kenjin's passing he is only consoling himself in one way or another.
Yet he had received many gifts from his parents in this life, and Shimizu Mizuki could certainly continue to comfort himself with the fact that there was no way he could refuse as a child.
But this time, Shimizu Mizuki didn't want to excuse his indifference, he wanted to do something about it.
[At the very least, he need to improve himself first and find a way to avenge Chiyoko and Kenjin on the Seven-swords Ninja of the Mist and the Kirigakure.]