Naruto: Mizuki The Savior

Chapter 13: Self-Awareness

The scene was the same—a world filled with memory bubbles, except now, the eerie red-black mist had completely seeped into every corner. Opposite him, the original Mizuki's figure had been nearly consumed by the glowing red energy. Through the ominous glow, crimson patterns spread across his entire body, making his original appearance unrecognizable.

"It looks like it's almost over. The original Mizuki won't last much longer."

Mizuki focused his spiritual energy and extended his hands. A dim, fading seal formation flickered before suddenly emitting a bright green glow. A thin barrier of light formed around the red figure, isolating most of the invasive red mist inside.

"If it weren't for this Four Symbols Seal, I would have long been completely overwhelmed by the mutated Sage Chakra. Unfortunately, I still haven't mastered the Eight Trigrams Seal—if I had, I could have turned this into a source of Chakra instead."

After his first realization of the mental dangers lurking inside him, Mizuki had conducted a thorough analysis of his own spiritual condition, placing special emphasis on self-awareness. The simple idea of "transmigration" or "body takeover" was far from the true complexity of what was happening.

From the perspective of Freudian psychology, concepts like ego, id, and superego were too exaggerated to accurately describe this situation. The key here was to differentiate "self" from "other." Mizuki had memories from his past life, but how did his spirit actually cross into this world? Did another "self" continue living in his original world while he was just a fragment of memory thrown into this one? That part remained unclear.

But in the end, it didn't matter.

His past life was gone forever. From the moment he woke up in this body, he was Mizuki now—there was no doubt about that. The real problem was the entity in front of him—the original Mizuki.

Logically, a transmigrated soul shouldn't have been able to take over so easily. The original Mizuki was a hardened ninja born in an era of war, with a strong will and a twisted personality. Given his mental fortitude, he should have been able to resist.

Yet, he failed instantly.

That only meant one thing: the takeover wasn't a battle of quality, but quantity.

Mizuki's mind, though weaker individually, contained a vast ocean of information from his past life. It was like a hacker overloading a system—even the strongest firewall would eventually crash under a brute-force attack of sheer data.

Victory in a spiritual struggle meant absolute dominance. There was no such thing as coexisting souls—the losing side was erased entirely.

"I am Mizuki now. The original is just a leftover husk."

That should have been the end of it. But the Cursed Seal changed everything.

The Cursed Seal was a byproduct of Orochimaru's research on Sage Mode and the Living Corpse Reincarnation technique. It corrupted both the body and the spirit.

The Heavenly & Earthly Cursed Seals were designed to implant Orochimaru's backup consciousness into a new host, preparing them to become his future vessel.

Mizuki's Cursed Seal, however, was an incomplete prototype. It lacked Orochimaru's spiritual fragment but instead carried corrupted Sage Chakra—the very energy of the world itself.

This meant the "will of the world" was subtly eroding him.

And the original Mizuki, now reduced to a soulless husk, was completely defenseless against it. The moment he lost his self-awareness, he became a leaking vessel—allowing natural energy to flood in unchecked.

Then came Anko Mitarashi—the trigger.

When Mizuki came into close contact with her, the Cursed Seal resonated violently, acting as a spark to a pile of dry wood. The process accelerated uncontrollably.

Now, in just over a month, the original Mizuki's remnant soul was almost completely consumed.

"If this continues, he'll be erased soon."

But what happens after that?

Would the corrupted Sage Chakra turn the remnants into some kind of entity beyond human comprehension? Something like a worldly spirit, a guardian, or even a vengeful ghost?

Mizuki extended his hand, trying to sense the red energy—but felt nothing.

"No malice, no hatred… just an instinctual force, unconcerned with individuality. The world itself isn't hostile—it simply doesn't care."

Yet his own subconscious was rejecting it.

The red color symbolized danger, and the black mist signified destruction.

"If this is merely the world's unconscious influence… and it's already this overwhelming… I need to act fast."

Mizuki was jolted awake by the sound of birds outside his window.

"Early birds get the worms, huh?"

He got up, checked on his jellyfish experiments, examined the chakra-infused plants, and confirmed that everything was stable.

After a quick cold shower, he stood in front of the mirror.

His appearance had changed significantly.

His silver hair, once short, had grown past his shoulders.

His bangs, trimmed once before, were already covering his eyes again.

Most notably—his body was weakening rapidly.

Mizuki massaged his temples, feeling the constant fatigue.

"My condition is getting worse."

With the Cursed Seal drawing in energy uncontrollably, his body was rapidly consuming chakra. The Four Symbols Seal could suppress the mental corruption, but the physical damage was mounting.

"I need the Evil Sealing Method as soon as possible."

But how could he get it done without being noticed?

After finishing his morning routine, Mizuki headed to his new assignment—handling mission requests.

It was… painfully boring.

"This is just like my old corporate job—nine to five, mindlessly processing paperwork."

Still, it gave him time to rest and recover.

He was just about to take a nap when a loud voice interrupted him.

"Hey! It's the Pervert Sensei!"

"Who the hell is calling me that?"

Mizuki opened one annoyed eye and saw Tenten grinning at him.

"Ugh… it's you, Tenten. Are you guys done with your mission already?"

Behind her stood Might Guy, looking as energetic as ever.

"Ah, Mizuki! Thank you for watching over my youthful students!" Guy grinned.

"You're exaggerating, but thanks."

"That is the power of youth!" Guy declared, flashing a brilliant smile and thumbs-up.

Mizuki just gave an awkward laugh and handed them their next mission assignment.

As they left, another figure approached quietly.

"Mizuki."

"Hmm? Oh, it's you, Iruka. You're getting better at suppressing your presence—I barely noticed you."

"Or maybe you were just dozing off at work," Iruka smirked.

"Fair point."

Iruka handed Mizuki a mission request form.

"This one's from the Land of Waves. Routine C-rank protection. Everything looks normal, but can you double-check?"

Mizuki's casual glance immediately froze.

"The Land of Waves? So soon?"

This was Naruto's first real mission—the one that would bring them into conflict with Zabuza Momochi and Haku.

For a moment, he hesitated.

"Is there a way to profit from this…?"

After a long pause, he finally spoke.

"Let me confirm something with the Hokage first."

"If things play out exactly as before, this could be a major opportunity… but my body isn't ready yet."

"The Evil Sealing Method must come first."