Argh…

Multiple tiger-like black stripes appear on Mizuki's body. The stripes cover his face, arms, legs, and back.

His muscles bulge rapidly, and a feral look appears on his face. Large amounts of chakra rile up in his body and his eyes turn into slits with a yellow pupil.

Aaah….

The veins in his body pop rapidly and his muscles reform one after another. He turns into a giant musclebound behemoth with large bulging arms.

"Wha… what's happening to him?"

Hanabi gulps her saliva.

Ayaka activates her Sharingan and inspects his chakra system.

"An enormous amount of unknown chakra is being forcefully injected into his body. This unknown chakra is the cause of his transformation." She answers in trepidation.

"You two run as quickly as possible! I will buy some time for you." Iruka grabs the giant Fuma shuriken and stands in front of the Ayaka and Hanabi, blocking them from Mizuki's vision.

"What will you say now, Iruka? Ahaha…"

Mizuki laughs maniacally as he glares at Iruka.

"Mizuki! This power is not your own. This power isn't a result of your hard work and training!"

Iruka tries to forge some sense in Mizuki.

"Haha… Iruka, you are jealous of my power! Aren't you?"

"No, Mizuki! It's not like that!" Iruka tries to buy some time for girls to escape, but the girls don't budge from their position.

"Enough chitchat! Now I will have you a taste of my power!"

Whoosh…

Mizuki disappears from his position.

"Fast! He is so fast!"

Iruka's eyes widen in surprise. He looks around to search for Mizuki's trail.

Swoosh…

Mizuki reappears in front of Iruka.

"Where you looking at? I am right here!"

Mizuki clenches his fist and smashes them towards Iruka's chest.

"Not good!"

Iruka crosses his arms to block the attack.

Bang…

Mizuki hammers his fists into Iruka and sends him flying.

Crack… crack…

The bones in Iruka's arms fracture from the heavy blow. Iruka grimaces in pain as he crashes into a tree.

"Iruka Sensei!" Ayaka and Hanabi wryly stare at Mizuki.

Mizuki turns his attention to them and scoffs.

"So, Konoha still underestimates my abilities. They sent a pair of fragile little girls to deal with me!"

Crack… crack…

He clenches his fists and flickers towards Ayaka with extreme speed.

Tch…

Ayaka clicks her tongue.

"I can see his movements with my Sharingan but my body isn't fast enough to react to his speed."

Swoosh…

Mizuki reappears on top of Ayaka. He hammers his fist towards her head.

"I will crush you to paste!" He maniacally stares at Ayaka.

Whoosh…

Ayaka bends her body horizontally and avoids the strike at the last moment.

BANG…

Mizuki smashes his fist in the ground. His punch creates a small crater on the ground.

He turns around and glares at Ayaka.

"Those eyes!"

Anger appears in his eyes as he notices Ayaka's Sharingan.

"They remind me of an individual who took all the spotlight from me!"

He turns around and dashes towards Ayaka.

"This time I will smash you to a pulp!"

Mizuki aims his fists towards Ayaka's head.

Whoosh…

Hanabi jumps in front of Ayaka.

"Gentle Fist Eight Trigrams: Palm Rotation"

Hanabi emits chakra from her Tenketsu points. She spins rapidly and creates a protective shield of chakra.

BAM…

Mizuki slams his fist in the barrier.

BANG…

The chakra barrier repels his attack with counterforce. Mizuki loses his balance from the aftershock. His arms tumble backward as the attack throws him off balance. His upper body bends unnaturally backward from the reactive force.

"Ayaka now!"

Hanabi ends her rotation.

"I am on it!"

Whoosh…

Chirp… chii…

Ayaka holds Chidori in her left hand. She quickly dashes towards Mizuki and jumps out of the barrier as soon as Hanabi ends her rotation.

"Raikiri: Lightning Blade"

Stab…

She stabs the lightning blade in Mizuki's guts.

Bleurgh…

Mizuki pukes out a mouthful of blood.

Swish…

There is a fist-size hole in Mizuki's stomach.

"Damn you!"

Mizuki regains his balance. He attempts to hit Ayaka's head.

Swoosh…

Ayaka jumps backward and pulls out her blood-soaked hand. Mizuki's guts spill out from the hole.

Argh…

He screams in agony and falls to the ground.

"We did it!"

Ayala stares at her blood-soaked hand.

"MIZUKI!"

Tsubaki flickers out of the forest as she notices the last moment of Ayaka piercing Chidori through Mizuki's gut.

Whoosh…

She flickers towards Mizuki and supports him in his arms.

"Mizuki! Why?"

Tears fall from her eyes as she hugs Mizuki in the last breathing moment.

"YOU!" Mizuki stares at her.

"None of you tried to understand me! Not even you, Tsubaki! I attained this power to show my worth to the world but in the end…"

Iruka lies against the tree as he stares at Mizuki's dying moments with a conflicted gaze.

"Mizuki! You were my friend, but when… when did you fall to the dark side. As your friend, I was unable to notice it!"

Up in the mid-air,

Izuna calmly stares at the situation.

"You got what you deserve! Besides, this polite and kind-hearted personality of his is a façade. I will let you die with some of your dignity preserved!"

In the far corner of the forest,

Tch…

The cloaked figure clicks his tongue.

"In the end, it's still a failure. Well, I already got the data!"

Swish…

He makes a hand seal.

"Time for me to head out!"

ARGH… AHH… HAA…

Mizuki's body rises in the air. His body absorbs a large amount of Nature energy and his injuries recover rapidly. The skull mark seal on his hand glows and spreads across his body.

Yellow fur appears on his body and the stripe marks become more prominent. Mizuki's upper body turns into that of a tiger.

AHH…

His nails turn into razor-sharp claws. His chest muscles bulge rapidly.

ROAR…

He releases a feral roar and turns towards the group.

"I will tear you apart!"

BANG…

He smashes his arm in Tsubaki and sends her flying.

Hmm…

Izuna senses the fluctuations in the chakra. He turns towards the far end of the forest and notices the cloaked figure making some hand signs.

"No, you don't!"

Shiing…

Izuna's eyes change into Mangekyo Sharingan.

"Amenominakanushi"

He casts his space-time ability to lock the cloaked figure on his spot.

Heh…

The cloaked figure smirks and takes out a sealing talisman from his pocket.

Bzzt…

The sealing talisman burns into flames and the space-time restriction around him shatters.

Whoosh…

He teleports out of the forest.

Tch…

Izuna clicks his tongue in dismay.

"You won't escape for long. I have left my mark on you. I will return to you later; before that…"

Izuna turns towards Mizuki, who is rampaging around.

"Haha… unlike you all, I am not bound by puny things like morals and righteousness. I am destined to grow stronger as I give up on such things. Haha…"

He turns towards Ayaka and the group.

"But before that, I will tear your apart. This will serve as a warning towards Konoha."

Gulp…

Ayaka gulps her saliva. Fear appears in her eyes, but she tightly clenches her tiny fists with resolve.

Whoosh…

Mizuki disappears from his position.

"He is faster than before! I won't be able to react this time!"

Ayaka has a grim expression on her face.

Shiing…

Mizuki draws his claws and swings them at Ayaka.

Whoosh…

Iruka grabs Ayaka and Hanabi.

"Substitution Jutsu!"

A log appears in his position as Mizuki tears it apart. He leaves behind a large trail of claw marks on the nearby ground and rocks.

Huff… Huff…

Iruka appears behind a tree with Ayaka and Hanabi in tow. He breathes heavily as his early injuries flairs up.

"Sensei!"

Hanabi bites her lips.

"IRUKA! Oh, Iruka! I almost forgot about you!"

Mizuki slowly walks around as he tries to locate them.

"Found you!" He notices the trail of blood on the ground.

Whoosh…

Mizuki flickers towards the tree and clenches his fist.

"Looks like I won't be able to save you again!" Iruka sighs helplessly.

Ayaka and Hanabi stand in front of Iruka to shield him.

"Sensei! We won't go down without a fight!"

Ayaka calculates the trajectory of Mizuki's punch and aims her kunai in that direction.

"At least I will be able to injure him a little!"

BANG…

Mizuki punches towards Ayaka's head. Ayaka crosses her arm in front of her head to brace for the impact.

A few seconds later,

Huh!

She slowly opens her eyes as the expected impact never came.

In front of her, Izuna is holding Mizuki's gigantic fist with his right hand.

He turns towards Ayaka and Hanabi.

"Well, in the end; I had to step in!"

Crack…

He twists Mizuki's arm and sends him flying with a shake of his hand.

Argh…

Mizuki tightly clenches his right hand which is bent at an unnatural angle.

Crack…

He twists his hand and returns it to normal.

"It's you!"

He gnashes his teeth and turns towards Izuna.

"You are the one who stole all the limelight from me. If not for you, then I won't be in the situation I am in now. You ruined my life. I despise you from the bottom of my heart!"

Mizuki accuses Izuna as fury blazes in his eyes.

"Looks like you are still delusional as ever. You murdered your teammate who suffered from a minor injury during a mission. Then you tried to justify the act by labeling it as merely eliminating a potential hindrance to the success of the mission.

Your fallacy and pitiful pride blinded your vision, and you were unable to see the right from wrong. You got what you deserved!"

Izuna calmly stares at Mizuki.

"NO! It's your damn fault for making me suffer to this extent!"

Mizuki extends his claws and leaps at Izuna with a fierce expression.

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