| |
| Kanji | ミズキ |
| Debut | |
| Novel | Naruto: A Shinobi Story |
| Appears in | Novel |
| Character Status | |
| Status | Deceased |
| Birthdate |  October 21
|
| Age | Part I: 27 |
| Gender |  Male
|
| Height | Part I: 1.79 m |
| Weight | Part I: 69.4 kg. |
| Blood Type | AB |
| Affiliation(s) |  Otogakure
|
| Previous Affiliation(s) |  Konohagakure
|
| Previous Occupation(s) | Academy Instructor |
| Rank | Part I: Chūnin |
| Classification | Missing-Nin |
| Ninja Registration | 011141 |
| Nature Type | |
 Earth Release Yin Release
| |
| Jutsu | |
| Shinobi Techniques: Hazy Genjutsu, Silent Killing, Soft Physique Modification Earth Techniques: Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall, Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole Technique, Earth Release: Underground Projection Fish Technique | |
| Weaponry | |
| Fūma Shuriken | |
|
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Mizuki (ミズキ) was a chūnin of Konohagakure and a former instructor at the Academy.
Background[]
Mizuki as a child.
Mizuki was originally a childhood friend to Iruka Umino and stood up for him until he was overwhelmed by sheer jealous rage when Iruka was getting better treatment by everyone else. Despite his newfound hatred towards Iruka, Mizuki pretended to be his friend to be noticed and to discreetly keep Iruka miserable.
Sometime after Mizuki became a chūnin, he was assigned, alongside two other men, on the Secret Document Recovery Mission (機密文書奪還任務, Kimitsu Bunsho Dakkan Ninmu). During their retreat, one of the comrades suffered a leg injury, and Mizuki suffocated the man to death, believing that the injury would cause him to be a hindrance to the mission’s success, and then falsely reported that the comrade had died from the injury, which Mizuki exaggerated in severity. Orochimaru witnessed this transgression, and after praising Mizuki for being able to take such bold actions.
It was because of the controversy of Mizuki’s actions and report during the mission that he was denied the position as an Academy instructor despite his performance in the test. Despite the lack of evidence leading to the investigation being dropped and eventually granting Mizuki the position, he nevertheless was infuriated when he overheard the committee’s reason for initially not promoting him, leaving him to despise Konohagakure, especially when Iruka, who only performed well with Mizuki’s assistance, made the cut. This feeling of being unappreciated for what he believes to be justifiable actions, along with meeting Orochimaru, made Mizuki decide that he would do whatever it took to rise to power and glory, even becoming a secret follower of Orochimaru.
Personality[]
Mizuki appeared to be very polite and kind-hearted man, but he does not really care for anything or anyone beyond his own rise in power. He takes pride in the fact that he is not bound by things like morals or teamwork and is willing to sacrifice whatever he has to do to complete his goals. His desire for power seems to come from an inferiority complex, as he hypocritically cannot stand having anyone look down on him, despite enjoying looking down on others. He showcased his underhanded and ruthless methods since childhood, as exemplified by his having a manipulated friendship with Iruka for his own benefits and later murdering a comrade who suffered a minor injury, justifying his actions by claiming he is merely eliminating any potential hindrances for the mission’s smooth success. Mizuki’s defining characteristics are being greatly ambitious and dishonorable.[1]
Mizuki’s craving for power and acknowledgement led him to hate Iruka for gaining more attention than him and pretended to be Iruka’s friend to live off of that attention, as well as discreetly inflict misery on Iruka. Because of this, during their confrontation, Mizuki constantly mocked Iruka while refusing to surrender and repent no matter how many times Iruka tried to convince him to. Due to his disregard for comradeship and friendship, Mizuki detests the Will of Fire, as shown by his insulting it when Iruka tried to encourage Mizuki to look back into it and dismissing it as irritating nonsense. Mizuki also has a particular hatred for Naruto, to the point of seeing him only as the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. His avarice even drove him to sabotaging the Uzumaki’s education.
When Mizuki overheard the Third Hokage and the examination committee suspecting his field of conduct as a reason for not promoting him, he felt that they wronged him for accomplishing a mission no matter the cost, and developed a grudge against the village for feeling they neither appreciate nor understand his powers and efforts. He reached his tipping point of betraying the village when Orochimaru praised his actions and gave him a cursed seal; Mizuki came to the delusion that Orochimaru truly acknowledged his potential and held the renegade to high regard. Mizuki believed if he went to Orochimaru, he would be granted even more power and attempted to steal the Scroll of Seals as a means to please him.
Mizuki has proven himself to be sadistic; even as a child, he found satisfactions by watching Iruka wallow in misery of losing his parents, stating that having someone to look down on feels great. Upon his second confrontation with Iruka and Naruto, Mizuki declared that he intends to kill them slowly and painfully, as payback for having him arrested. During this, he constantly mocked Iruka’s ideals of comradeship and memories, while derogatorily regarding Naruto as a “monster fox” and “nine-tails brat”.
Appearance[]
Mizuki’s full appearance.
Mizuki has white shoulder-length hair with a slight hint of blue to it and green eyes. He wore the standard attire of the Konoha-nin before his defection, which included flak jacket and forehead protector that he wore like a bandanna.
Abilities[]
While being a chūnin indicates having capable skill, in the manga, not much of Mizuki’s skill was seen beyond proficiently wielding large shuriken, both as melee and throwing weapons; however, he claimed that he can use the Scroll of Seals to gain infinite power, showing confidence in his own potential.
He was also revealed to be a very clever and talented ninja with a knack for learning advanced techniques, having taught himself various techniques and creatively coordinated them together to corner his opponents. He never advanced beyond chūnin because of suspicions concerning his mission conduct. Even the Third Hokage admits he is an excellent shinobi. He was also shown to be a very cunning manipulator, having almost succeeded in taking the Scroll of Seals for himself while using Naruto as a scapegoat.
Ninjutsu[]
Mizuki gained mastery of a random assortment of techniques. While mostly improvised, he proved very capable of using them in creative combinations which made him a difficult opponent for Iruka and Naruto. Mizuki was able to use Earth Release, which allowed him to hide underground and then stretch his arm from below to strike down his unsuspecting foe, and a binding illusion which he used to nearly kill Iruka and but was proven ineffective against Nine-Tails’ chakra-empowered Naruto.
Physical Prowess[]
Mizuki possessed a surprisingly extreme amount of raw strength, able to quickly pressure Iruka in their initial clash with a single hand in taijutsu. Also, Mizuki’s eyesight adapted to fighting in darkness and likewise able to seamlessly move about while keeping himself undetected.
Part I[]
Prologue — Land of Waves[]
Main article: Naruto: A Shinobi Story/Prologue — Land of Waves
Naruto surrounding Mizuki with thousands of shadow clones.
Playing on the youth’s desire to graduate, Mizuki duped Naruto Uzumaki into stealing Konoha’s Scroll of Seals for him. Originally, Mizuki had the plan set up to have Naruto as a scapegoat and kill him to hide the truth of his deception and secretly leave the village with the scroll in his possession; however, Mizuki’s plan is derailed when Iruka found Naruto first and decided to reveal Naruto’s identity as the Nine-Tails’ jinchūriki to ensure he runs off disillusioned; however, overhearing Iruka standing up for him, Naruto comes to his teacher’s to aid, unconsciously having an initial jinchūriki transformation. He used the Shadow Clone Technique, but with the Nine-Tails’ chakra he accidentally invented the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, he learned from the scroll to beat Mizuki death for harming Iruka.
Trivia[]
- Mizuki’s name means “cornel”, a variety of the dogwood shrub.
- According to the first databook:
- His favorite food is chirashizushi while his least favorite food is ramen.
- His dislike of ramen is likely a metaphor for his hatred towards both Naruto and Iruka.
- His favorite phrase is “Positive thinking” (ポジティブ・シンキング, pojitibu shinkingu).
- His favorite food is chirashizushi while his least favorite food is ramen.
Reference[]
- ↑ First Databook, page 121