In the office of the Hokage of Konoha, the Sandaime was smoking while listening to Kakashi's report. The advisor Utane Koharu was also there, Mito Kado En had not arrived yet, and strangely, even Shimura Danzo had come. It seemed that the matter of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and the Book of Seals had even alarmed the Dark Lord of Konoha.

Shuimu stood opposite with his head bowed, waiting for the big man to judge him.

After listening to Kakashi's report, the Third Hokage tapped his pipe, exhaled a puff of smoke, and turned to look at Mizuki.

"Mizuki, do you have any objection to Kakashi's statement?"

"No, Master Sandaime, everything is true."

"So, you admit that you instigated Uzumaki Naruto to steal the Book of Sealing?"

"Yes, I did everything."

"So what is your purpose? Do you want to obtain the Book of Sealing?" The Third Hokage suddenly emphasized his tone and asked sternly, "Or are you colluding with others to rebel against the village?"

Hearing this, Shui Muxin said, "Here we go."

"I have no need for the Sealed Book. It is not something I can control. I have not colluded with anyone else. I did all this by myself. I have no dissatisfaction with the village and have no intention of rebellion."

Utatane Koharu at the back couldn't help it, "Nonsense, if you don't want to be a rebel ninja, why do you do this? Don't think about hiding it, Konoha has plenty of ways to make you tell the truth."

"My target is Iruka." Mizuki heard the question and gave an unexpected answer.

That's right, from the beginning, Mizuki knew that he had missed the chance to clear his name due to his unclear suspicion. Time was too short to change the situation, so there was only one way to solve the problem - in one sentence, that is: no double punishment for one crime, hide the big crime with the small crime, and then change the subject to divert attention. As long as the third Hokage didn't know that he was involved with Orochimaru and tried to defect, everything could be manipulated.

Mizuki looked at Kakashi on the side and thought: With you here, I can be more convincing and save a lot of trouble.

The third generation was obviously not satisfied with Mizuki's answer.

"Are you and Iruka at odds? If I remember correctly, you and Iruka have been friends for many years. Do you resent Iruka for taking the position of teacher at the ninja school before you?"

"I have."

"Once? Does that mean it's gone now? That's an interesting statement." Danzo pointed out the meaning of Mizuki's words mercilessly, "Don't try to erase your guilt with words. If you don't tell us your true purpose and motive, we will take further action to get the truth."

**Naked threat, undisguised pressure on Mizuki.

"It is just to avoid this situation that I have to do so many things I don't want to do." Shuimu thought helplessly.

In fact, when he first came here, Shuimu also thought about confessing his problems directly, but what should he say and what should he not say? If he only talked about the deception of taking back the secret documents, then what was his motive for turning himself in? Since he had already done evil and made a false report to deceive Konoha, why did he turn himself in? Was he threatened by something and had to confess to Konoha to cover up more problems?

If I confessed my connection with Orochimaru, it would not be a simple matter. I would be tortured for colluding with an S-rank rebel. With my willpower as a white-collar worker, the chances of getting through it were slim, not to mention the Yamanaka family's mind-reading secret technique. If my identity as a time traveler was exposed, it would not be a matter of detention and torture. It was chilling to think about it. In this world where supernatural powers were rampant, it was not easy to keep a secret without power.

That's why Mizuki directed a play, found an excuse that fits his identity and status, made a mistake, took the opportunity to confess some things, and avoided further investigation. The key lies in the guidance of his own positioning. Konoha must not let him feel that he is a traitor or even an enemy, but just an ordinary ninja who has done some harmful things and made mistakes, and he must not let people catch him and make use of the situation. From the perspective of the entire Konoha high-level situation, it is very likely to happen, that is, the contradiction between conservative moderates and radicals. If handled well, the contradiction between the enemy and us can be reduced to the contradiction of internal ideological differences. This is the method that can only be used by the absolute crushing of intelligence by the traverser.

"Danzo-sama, Sandaime-sama, I used to be dissatisfied because Iruka, who was inferior to me in every aspect, took away my teaching position. However, after so long, I have realized that Iruka is indeed more suitable than me to be a teacher in a ninja school. His patience and sense of responsibility towards a group of little ghosts are far beyond my reach. And this is not what I want to prove~"

"What exactly do you want?" the third generation asked further.

"I want Iruka to understand that he is a good teacher at the ninja school, but definitely not a good ninja teacher. Hokage-sama, I firmly believe that."

"It's simply unreasonable that you instigated the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki to steal the Book of Sealing for such a boring reason." Utane Koharu scolded.

Mizuki didn't answer. The Sandaime and Danzo didn't say anything either. There was silence for a while.

After a while, Danzo asked, "So you let Uzumaki Naruto secretly learn the forbidden techniques from the Book of Sealing and then defeat Iruka. It would be most convincing to have him admit that he made a mistake in judgment and was surpassed by someone he thought had no ninja talent, right?"

"Yes," Mizuki admitted.

"Why do you disagree with Iruka? Is it just that you have a different opinion? I remember I had already instructed you to report for the graduation exam, but you still did unnecessary things." The third generation continued.

"I'm sorry, Sandaime. I always believe that for children of ninja schools, once they graduate, they should be treated as ninjas, and the tricks of ninja games should be stopped. Unexplained naivety will only ruin the future of these children. It is too indulgent and too arrogant to reject a child from the door of ninja just because of excessive concern about a few weaknesses. Only strength is the greatest reliance on the road of ninja, and those who can pass the test of various tasks are qualified ninjas."

"Strength is the most important thing? Shuimu, your idea is very dangerous. But this reason is too far-fetched." The third generation shook his head regretfully after hearing this.

"It's not about strength, it's about mission. Strength is an important part, but not everything."

"What you say is much the same, it's just a matter of degree. After all that, you're still envious of Iruka."

At this point, Shuimu felt that things were a bit out of control, but the goal had not been fully achieved. However, the current situation was not unacceptable.

"Although I don't think that's the case, I can't completely deny it, Hokage-sama."

“That’s how it is!”

There was another silence.

"We are stuck in a deadlock. What should we do? Should we confess on our own initiative? Or should we wait for another opportunity?"

The only sound in the room was the sound of smoking, and no one spoke. Just when Shuimu was about to lose control of the atmosphere, the voice of the third generation came again.

"Shuimu, do you have anything to say about your last secret document recovery mission?"

Finally asked, Mizuki suppressed the ecstasy in his heart, pretended to be surprised and looked at the third generation, then lowered his head hesitantly, and then seemed to have made up his mind and said: "I lied, Hokage-sama."

"Please explain the specific situation again."

"We are not strong enough to complete the mission with a man who has a severe leg injury and is unable to move. I'm sorry, sir."

"So it was you who killed your teammate?" asked Sandai in shock.

"Yes." Mizuki replied.

Although I had known for a long time that there was something wrong with Shuimu and had been investigating for some time, I still found it hard to accept when I heard it with my own ears.

Utane Koharu, who was standing next to her, pointed at Mizuki with a shaking finger and said angrily, "I can't believe there is a ninja in Konoha who kills his fellow ninjas. He is so lawless. Such a person is not worthy of being a ninja."

Hearing this, Shuimu was speechless. Where was Hatake Kakashi's face going to be? I really wanted to see what Kakashi's face looked like now.

In fact, Mizuki is definitely not the only one who killed his companions during the mission in Konoha. The copy ninja next to him, Hatake Kakashi, is far more famous than him. And Kakashi's act of killing his teammate Nohara Rin directly caused Uchiha Obito to turn evil. But the Hatake family is really interesting. Kakashi killed his teammates for the mission, and his father gave up the mission for his teammates, but in the end no one understood him and committed suicide in anger.

So it seems that the seriousness of this matter is far less serious than imagined. Killing teammates is rare, but it is definitely not just one or two. Abandoning teammates when the mission is unfavorable, or even having to kill teammates to prevent being caught alive and leaking information is not so unacceptable, but it will be criticized by Konoha at this time and place. On the contrary, the deceptive behavior of making false reports in order to avoid possible blame and punishment later made the top management more wary. This behavior will undoubtedly be labeled as unscrupulous and cannot be reused. After all, the ninja village is a semi-militarized mercenary organization. No one will trust a person who deceives his superiors.

At this point, there was no need to ask any more questions. The Third Hokage ordered, "Kakashi, send Mizuki out." He sent the embarrassed Kakashi away and then said to Mizuki, "You go back first, but you are not allowed to leave the village. Before the punishment measures are taken, it is best not to do anything that may cause misunderstanding."

Kakashi and Mizuki accepted the order and retreated.

"Do you want to investigate further, Sandaime?" asked Utane Koharu.

"No need." The Sandaime replied, "The incident is already very clear. A lot of truth has been revealed during the investigation of the secret document recovery mission, and Mizuki's answer is just a confirmation. Regarding the Sealed Book incident, it is indeed impossible to find Mizuki's purpose and motive for wanting to seize the Sealed Book. After all, many of the ninjutsu on it are forbidden techniques that I cannot use. And Mizuki's actions did not show any suspicion of wanting to seize the Sealed Book. Through observations with the telescope technique, no signs of defection were found. The statement against Iruka should be credible. Although Mizuki is still evasive about the specific reason, it is also an insignificant matter and there is no need to delve into it."

"Even so, there must be severe punishment. The impact is too bad."

"Yeah, I'll take care of it."

"I think ninjas with bad behavior should be expelled. Such unscrupulous behavior damages the reputation of Konoha." Utane Koharu insisted.

Danzo on the side interjected: "The ninja who made the mistake is also a Konoha ninja, not to mention he completed the mission."

"But Mizuki lied and deceived Konoha." Utane Koharu retorted.

Danzo didn't argue, he just looked at the Sandaime.

The third generation who was in the middle took a deep puff of his cigarette and then sighed...

After leaving the Hokage building, it was already bright outside and there were many people on the street. Although very tired, Mizuki could really breathe a sigh of relief. Since he was not taken to the torture department on the spot, he should have escaped the fate of tiger bench, pepper water, skinning, tendon extraction, soul searching and mind reading. Orochimaru's matter was not exposed, and the secret that he was a time traveler was kept. The debt of his predecessor was also paid off this time. Although there will be many people criticizing him, as long as he is punished this time, no one will have an excuse to use these things to make a fuss. As time goes by, the Hokage will die in a few months, and Konoha will be short of manpower. It is estimated that no one will care about these things in the past. Besides, changing from a suspect to a person with a criminal record may be a good thing. Restricting actions and surveillance is also a disguised protection. More important things and tasks in the near future will not be assigned to him. Most of the time, I will do some dirty and tiring work, and maybe I can avoid some dangers.

Thinking of this, Shuimu couldn't help but speed up his pace to go home. He could finally have a good night's sleep. In less than a day, he had burned more brain cells than in a year. If he prepared well, there would be no more difficult things like this one.