Chapter 45: Zabuza, the Demon of the Hidden Mist

"Zabuza, the organization has made its decision: you are going to be the next Mizukage!"

A voice suddenly rang out from the side. Zabuza whipped his head around, his pupils instantly shrinking to pinpricks.

Those were a pair of crimson, three-tomoe Sharingan eyes.

In this world, only one person possessed such eyes—the legendary genius of the Uchiha clan.

"You are... Uchiha Itachi?"

"Hmph," Naruto scoffed with utter disdain. "How could I possibly be a traitor like him?"

"Then you are..."

Vast combat experience allowed Zabuza to snap out of his shock instantly. Outwardly, he engaged Naruto to buy time, while covertly attempting to awaken Haku.

Naruto, however, had noticed his petty trick long ago.

"It's useless."

Naruto's gaze sharpened as he chuckled playfully, "Take a guess: are you trapped in an illusion, or is he, or... are both of you caught in it at the same time?"

In an instant, cold sweat broke out all over Zabuza.

He tried to disrupt his chakra flow, but it was completely futile.

*"Such a powerful illusion... Is this... the power of the Sharingan?"*

Zabuza knew he was currently waking up from a state of simulated death; his body was completely paralyzed, let alone the fact that he was deeply trapped in a genjutsu.

He was utterly powerless to resist.

Even with Haku by his side, the two of them remained completely helpless.

Yet, the person before him had no intention of killing him.

This meant...

Though he had no idea how he had offended this individual, Zabuza vaguely understood that he still held some value to him.

"What is Your Excellency implying?"

Naruto waved a hand, and a wooden chair instantly sprouted from the wooden floor of the building. He seated himself comfortably.

"Don't be nervous. Let's have a chat."

Seeing this, Zabuza chose to relax.

When it came to resistance, even with Haku, if the person across from him wanted them dead, it would take no more than a single thought.

Since resistance was impossible, he might as well converse properly.

Perhaps, there was still a sliver of a chance of survival.

"Calmed down already? Good. That helps relax the mind and makes it much easier to reminisce."

Naruto figured this fellow must be quite a character—not fearing death, or perhaps simply smart enough.

"Let's talk about your time in the Hidden Mist Village."

*"My time in the Hidden Mist?"*

Zabuza was utterly bewildered. This stranger actually wanted to talk to him about himself? And then... he heard an utterly absurd statement.

"Zabuza, you are truly a good man."

This sudden praise left Zabuza thoroughly confused.

Noticing his bewildered expression, Naruto enlightened him: "Oh? It seems you don't understand yet."

"Zabuza, back during your days at the Ninja Academy, you already recognized the flaws of the Bloody Mist."

"You knew deep down that every academy student was the future of the ninja village, and that the future Mizukage would inevitably be born from among these children. Therefore, every single child was a potential future Mizukage."

"Yet, the evil policy of the Bloody Mist was strangling the future of the Hidden Mist, snuffing out its future Mizukages."

"As a mere academy student whose voice carried no weight, you could only watch helplessly as all this unfolded. Bound by powerlessness, you ultimately chose to shed tears as you wiped out your fellow academy peers, forcing the village higher-ups to realize the cruelty of the system through that immense pain."

"From that day on, the policy of the Bloody Mist changed because of you."

"You chose to sacrifice the smaller self of your graduating class to uphold the greater self of a brighter future for the Hidden Mist."

"Without a doubt, you are truly great!"

Naruto's monologue nearly made Zabuza doubt the very reality of his life. Was that really what he had been thinking back then?

Back then, wasn't he simply trying to realize his own personal ambitions?

"Is that really how it was?" he muttered, lowering his head in deep thought.

"Think about it. Think carefully..." Naruto dialed up the psychological pressure.

Zabuza frowned, lost in thought.

Could... could that actually be the reason as well?

Zabuza began to gradually accept the narrative crafted by Naruto, sinking deeper and deeper under the influence of the illusion.

Naruto continued his monologue, "During your academy days, you also had a close friend named Hanamichi Sakuragi. He was your best friend."

"He understood you, knew your heart, and was your only true confidant. Knowing your grand ambitions, he willingly chose to sacrifice his life for the village."

"During that graduation exam, he was the last one to fall into your arms."

"His dream was the same as yours—to become the Mizukage and reform the Bloody Mist policy. Yet, he chose to entrust his dream to you! He trusted that you would fulfill it!"

Fixing his gaze squarely on Zabuza, Naruto prompted, "Do you remember now?"

"What Your Excellency says is true... To think such events truly transpired."

By this point, the tough-guy Zabuza found his vision blurring with tears as he recalled these fabricated memories.

"I truly have no idea where you obtained such intelligence. To think even the detail of my dearest friend dying in my arms at the end is something you know."

"And that's not all." Naruto interrupted his self-pity.

Zabuza had completely relaxed, sinking so deeply into the genjutsu that he could not extricate himself, his emotions thoroughly broken down by Naruto. "What else do you know?"

"You loved the land of the Land of Water deeply; you loved the Hidden Mist Village deeply and fought desperately for it. You joined the Anbu, became the strongest of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, and wished to become the sharpest blade of the village."

"Yet, when you looked back, you discovered that the very shadow representing the highest authority of your village had been manipulated from the shadows by someone else."

Zabuza was jolted.

His eyes widened in sheer disbelief. Naruto could clearly sense his spiritual world trembling violently.

"How could he be controlled? The Fourth was a perfect Jinchuriki!" Zabuza asked in a deep, choked voice filled with confusion.

Naruto spoke softly, "The Sharingan. A Sharingan just like mine."

Zabuza turned his head, his eyes landing on a pair of special eyes patterned like four-pointed shuriken.

"This is..." Zabuza felt a surge of dread as he recalled rumors he had once heard.

"That's right. Someone used the Mangekyo Sharingan to control the Fourth Mizukage." Naruto gently provided the answer.

Regardless of whether anyone had actually controlled him in the past, in the future history books, it would be recorded this way.

Nobody willing to admit it?

The wandering rogue Uchiha Rokutong announces that he takes full responsibility for this incident.

If all else fails, they could always pull out another figure named Uchiha Red Center.

Sensing Zabuza's lingering resistance, Naruto offered words of comfort: "Don't be nervous. That person wasn't me."

Although he was fully capable of directly controlling Zabuza and creating a clone like he had done before—

However,

Such control lacked a soul; it merely produced a walking corpse mechanically executing orders.

That was why this was his first time attempting to use genjutsu to make the subject cooperate wholeheartedly of their own volition.

So far, the results were promising.

Naruto continued, "After discovering that the Fourth Mizukage was manipulated by genjutsu, you finally understood why the Bloody Mist policy existed in the first place."

"After enduring intense psychological torment, you made your resolve: for the sake of the Hidden Mist's future, you chose with tears in your eyes to assassinate the Fourth."

"It is a pity your strength fell short, forcing you to become a rogue ninja in the end."

"Sigh..." Zabuza let out a heavy sigh, seemingly lamenting the tragic trajectory of his own life.

"Even while wandering the ninja world, you continuously accumulated funds and power, searching for an opportunity to strike back. Even if you could never return, you still wanted to save up money to contribute to the village."

"That is who you are, Zabuza. You are the hero of the Hidden Mist!"

The stoic Zabuza was now weeping openly.

This person truly understood him!

"Zabuza, surely you haven't forgotten your dream of becoming the Mizukage, have you?"