The next morning, Mizuki and Tsubaki shared a rare breakfast together that they had cooked themselves.
"This is surprisingly lavish," Mizuki said with satisfaction. "Still tastes just as good."
"As long as you like it," Tsubaki replied with a modest smile.
"But making this much food for breakfast—is that really appropriate?" Especially since his favorite sushi rolls were here in such large quantities—it had been a while since he'd seen so many.
"It's not an ordinary day," Tsubaki explained. "You kept checking your ninja tools repeatedly last night, and this morning you strapped on every single one you could carry. I've never seen you this serious about a mission before~"
"Guess I got caught anyway," Mizuki sighed as he scratched his head. Clearly, trying to hide something from observant Tsubaki had been unrealistic. "I really didn't want to worry you, but since you noticed—then be careful today~"
"You too, be careful~"
...
Outside, Konoha was bustling noisily, almost like festival season. Even inside the conference room, they could feel the commotion.
Sitting quietly in a corner, Mizuki cracked each finger one by one while casually glancing around.
『All familiar faces here. Seems like this must be Konoha's main force.』
Ibiki sat at his left side, as usual silent and reserved. When he wasn't smiling, he looked somewhat normal—but any other expression only made him seem even scarier due to his facial scars.
"Ibiki," Mizuki asked casually, "Why did they transfer you to guard that outpost? Considering your strength and specialty, wouldn't being here at headquarters suit you better?"
"Just afraid of scaring kids in the office, hahaha…" An unrestrained voice interrupted.
Looking toward Anko Mitarashi across from him who was laughing wildly, Mizuki sighed and asked Ibiki, "Was that supposed to be a joke? Did you find it funny?"
Ibiki gave no reply. His scars twitched visibly.
"The humor sense among Konoha ninjas really worries me sometimes. Isn't that right, Iruka?" Mizuki nudged Iruka sitting beside him on the right.
Iruka awkwardly answered, "I guess I'm part of that humorless bunch you mentioned either~"
"Eh? No way! Seriously? Did I ever say that about you before?"
Iruka nodded firmly.
"Oh… Then looks like she'll never get married." Mizuki muttered under his breath. Nobody would appreciate Anko Mitarashi's twisted dark jokes. No wonder she'll end up alone forever—such an unfortunate fate, such a shame for her decent looks and great figure to go to waste.
Before Mizuki could finish speaking, suddenly a bamboo skewer flew past and stuck into the table in front of him, giving him quite a shock.
"I must've heard something juicy—was that you talking?" Anko Mitarashi gave a smile that didn't reach her eyes, narrowing her gaze at Mizuki.
"How could that be?" Mizuki turned to ask Ibiki and Iruka, "Did anyone speak just now?"
Ibiki remained poker-faced, while Iruka forced out a nervous grin.
"There you go—see? You must've misheard. They didn't hear anything either."
Hearing Mizuki deny everything, Anko Mitarashi glanced between Ibiki and Iruka.
"I originally thought these two were decent guys, but apparently spending too much time with Mizuki has corrupted them. They've picked up his bad habits too."
"Hey, don't talk nonsense. What do you mean by 'learning bad habits'? You make it sound like I'm some kind of infection source," the woman snapped, her words sharp, as if suggesting he originally might have had something going on with Ibiki or Iruka.
"Has everyone arrived?" Suddenly appeared the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Seeing this, everyone stood up to bow.
"Please sit down," said the Third.
Today, the Third looked different from usual. He wore vintage military attire that revived a glimpse of his former majesty.
Hiruzen scanned the crowd before speaking: "I assume everyone has already received today's plan. The third round of the Chunin Exams is about to begin, and we're preparing for the VIPs' arrival. This mission is critical, so please give your best effort. Any questions?"
Mizuki raised his hand and asked, "My mission supervisor, Kakashi Hatake, hasn't returned yet. What should I do?"
"Hmm?" The Third responded upon hearing Mizuki's question. "Kakashi has already reported in—he'll return in time, so no need to worry. Besides, there are other jonin present. Temporarily, everything should be fine."
"I understand," Mizuki nodded in agreement. Originally, besides the Anbu, two jonin—Kakashi and Might Guy—were present. Other jonin hadn't appeared yet, but under current circumstances, he wasn't sure whether more personnel would be added. However, personnel were stretched thin everywhere, so he didn't know if they could spare any additional forces.
After waiting a while with no further questions, the Third gave his orders: "That's it then. Move out!"
...
At the arena entrance, Mizuki watched the steadily arriving spectators lining up to enter, sighing inwardly at how diverse the ninja world's heritages truly were—different skin tones, hair colors, strange tattoos and body paint, countless bizarre alternative hairstyles; nothing unimaginable couldn't be found here. Thinking this way, Bushy Brows didn't seem so hard to accept anymore.
Thinking thus, Mizuki glanced sideways at Might Guy standing solemnly nearby. With his square-jawed, bushy-browed, clean-cut appearance, when Guy wasn't talking he actually looked pretty normal.
As if sensing Mizuki's gaze, Might Guy turned his head, looked at Mizuki, then without understanding why, suddenly gave him a thumbs-up accompanied by a slight smile that revealed dazzling white teeth. Mizuki quickly turned his head away, too frightened to look again.
*Can't associate with him—or else I might catch his disease.*
Guys who wouldn't stop until achieving their goals were the worst kinds to deal with, especially when they possessed extraordinary strength. Sometimes, when passion surged, even stopping became impossible.
Several people carefully inspected the incoming crowds, remaining vigilant against potential infiltrators. But under public scrutiny, overly strict measures couldn't be implemented. Thus, true spies hiding among them couldn't be identified this way. Only several ordinary thieves and pickpockets attempted to sneak through and got caught.
*Better to be a thief for a thousand days than a guard for one. This kind of passive defense just won't cut it.*
Relying merely on a few Anbu hidden among civilians couldn't adequately protect such an enormous stadium seating area. Although chakra was widespread in this world, overall, compared with ordinary people, ninja remained too few.
As the inspection was nearly wrapping up, feeling much like going through the motions, the candidates arrived on the scene. The first to arrive was Dosu, walking alone — his solitary presence especially bleak. He must have known this was likely his last appearance as a ninja. Now that the world had turned its back on him, ending his ninja career on his own terms was his final hope.
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