Chapter 139: A Vast Treasure
Tobi was incredibly powerful—if Mizuki were to face him directly, he wouldn't stand a chance. However, the rest of the White Zetsu clones, aside from their exceptional vitality, didn't have any particularly outstanding offensive abilities. Of course, even the weakest of them were far stronger than most average ninja. Thanks to the advantage of having cells from the First Hokage, their overall physical prowess far surpassed that of ordinary shinobi.
In truth, what Mizuki couldn't handle was Tobi's Wood Golem Jutsu—a crushing display of overwhelming force. As long as Tobi didn't use that, Mizuki still had a chance to hold his ground. Numerical advantage? Parasitic clones? They were annoying, but not the kind of tactics Mizuki truly feared. In fact, so long as he had time to prepare, and the enemy wasn't on a completely overwhelming level, he wasn't afraid at all.
"From what I can tell, the members of Akatsuki seem to avoid using large-scale destructive techniques. As long as I can keep Tobi from using the Wood Golem Jutsu, and hold out until reinforcements arrive, my mission will be complete."
That said, balancing that was going to be difficult. Mizuki had to make Tobi believe he could win without using his trump cards, while also stalling for time. Whether that could work depended entirely on Mizuki's improvisation.
"Mizuki-sensei, there are a lot of them. What do we do?" Sasuke asked nervously, glancing around at the sudden crowd of enemies.
"Don't worry…" Mizuki pulled out a kunai and threw it, piercing through the forehead of the fake Iruka—revealing it to be a White Zetsu clone. Then he turned to Naruto and Sasuke. "Just stick to the plan I gave you. Naruto—especially you—don't lose focus."
The real danger wouldn't come unless Tobi used his full strength. What mattered now was maintaining the right pressure—not pushing Tobi to the point where he'd use his most devastating moves. Akatsuki's goal was to capture the Nine-Tails; if they killed Naruto and risked killing the beast as well, it would delay their plan by years. Given how much information they had already exposed, a failure now would make things infinitely more difficult for them in the future.
With instructions given, Mizuki stepped forward to engage the incoming wave of White Zetsu clones. With Naruto now acting as a massive chakra battery, many battlefield techniques that Mizuki had previously avoided due to their high chakra cost were now back on the table. While his raw strength was lacking, this was home turf—he had traps, seals, and barriers. As long as Tobi didn't brute force his way through with something like the Wood Golem, Mizuki might just stand a chance.
"Maintain physical condition. Avoid major injuries. Chakra supply stable… good."
This time, for the first time, Mizuki didn't go in swinging his "cleaver" in a full-frontal charge. In a battle of one against ten, trying to brawl was suicidal—he wasn't Naruto, with limitless stamina.
His tactics had evolved—not just due to his enemies being different, but because his own strength had grown. If he were to face the Land of Waves scenario again, he would not end up comatose and bedridden for a month afterward. But Mizuki's enemies had only grown stronger and stronger. After dealing with the likes of Kabuto (a fairly "normal" foe), it was one elite boss after another: Orochimaru, Sasori, Deidara, Itachi, Kisame… no grunts, no grinding mobs—just elite bosses one after another.
Fortunately, the White Zetsu clones here—aside from Tobi—were still within his capabilities. Though their nature was strange, they weren't unmanageable.
As the White Zetsu clones closed in, Mizuki activated a barrier, and several identical copies of himself appeared. The clones rapidly formed and engaged the closest enemies, locking them into battle.
"Hmm? What kind of barrier is this?" Tobi's blank gaze narrowed as one of the emotionless Mizuki clones approached. "This doesn't look like genjutsu, but it's not quite like a regular shadow clone either… What exactly is this?"
"Feel it out with your body. Maybe you'll understand it better that way."
Without a numerical advantage, the Zetsu clones lost their greatest strength. And in this kind of prolonged battle, Mizuki had the upper hand.
Though the Zetsu clones could physically overpower Mizuki's clones, the clones themselves were strangely resilient. Even after taking critical hits, they recovered rapidly and resumed fighting. These weren't mere shadow clones or illusions. They had something close to immortality. The enemy just couldn't break through.
Mizuki watched his first layer of traps perform exactly as intended and nodded in satisfaction. These traps were originally designed to deal with being outnumbered in small-scale skirmishes, but he had never had a chance to use them—because all of his enemies were monsters with ridiculous personal strength. But today, they were perfect.
The original inspiration had come from the Mirror Image Jutsu used by the Hidden Mist's elite guard during Gaara's rescue mission—a technique where enemies fought mirror versions of themselves. Mizuki had never figured out how to perfectly mimic an enemy, but he didn't need to. Making his own replicas worked just fine.
The key was using chakra stored in the barrier—either his own or someone else's—to fuel and regenerate the clones, drastically reducing the cost of maintaining them.
And they weren't ordinary shadow clones. They were resilient, capable of recovering from damage in real-time. This led Mizuki to a revelation: why not create miniature clones with minimal chakra, housed inside a chakra shell? The external layer could take damage and be repaired via the barrier, while the inner core—essentially a remote-controlled puppet—remained intact.
The concept worked. Mizuki still didn't fully understand the mechanics of shadow clones—like why they could transmit memories and experiences—but he was a master at using them. He could now fine-tune how much chakra each clone held, even integrating sealing techniques and self-cloned bodies to create the infamous "bootleg jinchūriki."
In Mizuki's eyes, shadow clones were an untapped goldmine. Sure, they weren't as glamorous as Edo Tensei or Flying Thunder God, but they had hidden depths worthy of endless exploration.
Just like the survivability issue—why did clones vanish after one hit? Because they were inherently unstable bundles of chakra. But if one could protect the core… like Sasori hiding in Hiruko… then damage didn't mean destruction.
So Mizuki created micro-core clones wrapped in controllable chakra armor—sustained through the barrier and fueled by Naruto's immense reserves. Mizuki fought, while Naruto powered the army.
"Sasuke," Mizuki said calmly, "see that guy over there with the spiral mask? If he gets close, activate your Sharingan and run with Naruto. Don't hesitate."
If Tobi broke through, there would be no reason for Naruto to keep channeling chakra. They'd need to evacuate. By now, he'd stored enough chakra to maintain the barrier until backup arrived.
Mizuki turned to Naruto. "And if no one shows up to help and the enemy pulls out something devastating… summon Gamabunta immediately. Make sure your chakra control is precise. If you can't summon him when the time comes…"
"What'll happen?" Naruto swallowed hard.
"Everyone around this hospital—besides me—will probably die."
Tobi's Wood Golem Jutsu had no counter without equal force. Only Mizuki's precise understanding of the technique gave him any chance of evasion.
…
Jiraiya was breathing heavily, staring at the four enemies before him. He still hadn't managed to take them down, and he was beginning to feel the fatigue.
"Little Jiraiya, what now? Their teamwork and abilities are too well-coordinated…" Ma Toad muttered with concern. Itachi's Susanoo was nearly unassailable. Zetsu's Wood Release interfered constantly. Tobi's space-time ninjutsu made him impossible to pin down. And Kisame, while not directly attacking, was absorbing chakra through Samehada like a looming threat.
"Should we use the big ones?" Pa Toad asked, hesitating.
So far, Jiraiya had only used Sage Mode to enhance his stats—but not his most destructive jutsu. The problem was… they were in Konoha. Too much damage could cost lives.
"Sage Art: Five Right Guard Gates is too uncontrollable. Gama Rinshō's wide-area genjutsu could hit civilians. We'll save those for last resort." Jiraiya shook his head. "For now, we go with this."
"Understood. Let's go."
"Right," Jiraiya said, resolute.
"Sage Art: Earth Style—Dark Swamp!"
The ground beneath Itachi's Susanoo suddenly turned into a vast quagmire. While the others managed to evade the expanding swamp, the massive construct was too slow. Susanoo's immense weight pulled it down, its movements slowed drastically.
This gave Gamabunta the opening he needed. His twin blades came crashing down again and again, hammering away at the once-proud orange-red warrior. Chunks of armor flew off. The elegant figure of the war god began to crumble.
Victory wasn't far now.
To be continued…
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