Should I continue being a villain in the ninja world after transmigrating?

Chapter 19 Apology and Forgiveness

While the atmosphere between Zeref and Orochimaru was tense, in Konoha, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Kakashi, and Mavis, who had failed to stop the two, were also in a bad mood.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, unwilling to give up, ordered his sensory ninjas from the Anbu to investigate. As expected, they found no trace of Zeref or Orochimaru in the vicinity.

Zeref's problem was already troublesome enough, and now Orochimaru's thorn in his side has been dragged into it as well. Hiruzen Sarutobi felt a throbbing headache coming on.

Knowing the Third Hokage's worries, Kakashi looked at Mavis, who had been frowning and silent since Zeref left, and asked, "Mavis, based on your understanding of Zeref, why do you think he chose to leave with Orochimaru?"

At this point, Kakashi paused, then put it more clearly: "Or rather, could Zeref choose to join forces with Orochimaru, which would be detrimental to Konoha?"

Mavis rested her chin on one hand, a thoughtful look in her eyes. After thinking for a moment, she said, "Zeref and Orochimaru must have a relationship of mutual exploitation. Perhaps Zeref will cooperate with Orochimaru in doing something, but he will certainly not be under Orochimaru's control."

At this moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi also walked over, his face still looking very grim.

Waving for the surrounding Anbu to move away, Hiruzen Sarutobi asked, "You said before that Zeref possesses an immortal body, so can this curse be passed on to others?"

Seeing Mavis's puzzled expression, Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed and told her about Orochimaru's morbid desire for immortality and his appalling human experiments.

Mavis frowned in utter disgust and said without hesitation, "The contradictory curse only exists on me and Zeref; it cannot infect or be passed on to others!"

"Furthermore, Zeref would never cooperate with Orochimaru's research on immortality!"

Seeing Mavis's unwavering determination, Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression softened slightly. Now, he could only trust Mavis's judgment of Zeref.

……

After Zeref left Konoha, the cognitive confusion magic he used naturally lost its effectiveness.

Those who had never met Zeref were fine, since the magic was supposed to only work after encountering Mavis and Zeref. However, those who had more contact with Zeref and Mavis experienced some confusion in their memories.

For example, Asuma's team who ate barbecue together before, and Team 7 who were teammates.

"Aaaaaaah! What on earth is going on?!" Naruto crouched down, clutching his head, looking like he was about to break down.

"Zeref and Mavis, you're not our comrades?!" Naruto asked incredulously.

With the magic's disorienting effect gone, Naruto and Sakura were horrified to discover that Team 7 had always only had three members!

For some reason, memories of Zeref and Mavis being their companions had appeared in their minds! This was absolutely terrifying!

Not to mention Naruto, who is usually very expressive, even Sakura was unusually stunned.

Mavis said with some remorse, "I'm sorry, Naruto, Sakura, I lied to you before, I'm really sorry!"

Sakura glanced at Kakashi standing to the side with some hesitation. The clever girl guessed from Kakashi's calm reaction that even if Mavis had deceived the entire Hidden Leaf Village before, the Hidden Leaf Village should now accept Mavis's existence.

Then I remembered that Mebius hadn't done anything out of line during this time.

Meeting Mavis's sincere and apologetic gaze, Sakura scratched her head awkwardly and said somewhat awkwardly, "Since you've sincerely apologized, I'll forgive you this time."

Mavis's eyes lit up as she looked at Sakura with gratitude. Just as she was about to express her thanks, she was stunned by Naruto's shout.

"It's alright, Mavis! Since you meant no harm, I forgive you. After all, we're comrades!" Naruto shouted.

"Naruto, Sakura... thank you..." Mavis said, clasping her hands together in front of her chest, deeply moved.

Kakashi, who was quietly watching this scene, couldn't help but smile, looking at Naruto and Sakura with gentle eyes.

At this moment, Sakura seemed to have thought of something and asked hesitantly, "Then Zeref... has he really left Konoha?"

Naruto looked at Mavis and complained, "Even though I've only met Zeref a few times, he was still a member of Team 7! How could he leave Konoha with a rogue ninja?! More importantly, how could Zeref just leave you here alone?!"

Mavis lowered her clasped hands, sighed softly, and said calmly, "I cannot condone what Zeref wants to do, so he and I are now enemies."

Naruto couldn't help but want to say something more, but was interrupted by Kakashi who came forward.

"Alright, let's leave the matter of Mavis and Jelf here."

Kakashi reached out and pressed his hand on Naruto's golden head to stop him from asking further questions, and continued, "Since Mavis isn't a ninja, only Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke will participate in this Chunin Exam."

When the Chunin Exams were mentioned, Naruto's attention was immediately diverted.

He couldn't help but complain, "Sasuke took another day off today! And today's topic was something important about Mavis and Zeref!"

Mavis blinked, cleared her throat, and said, "I've already apologized to Sasuke privately."

In fact, Sasuke knew that Mavis needed to explain things to Naruto and Sakura today, which is why he specifically asked for leave.

After all, Sasuke wasn't under any magic spell back then, and he even actively protected Zeref and Mavis.

Sasuke, who is not good at acting, really didn't know how to react to Mavis's apology to Team 7, so in order not to be suspected, he simply asked for leave.

Upon hearing Mavis's words, Kakashi gave Mavis a somewhat ambiguous look.

In fact, Kakashi had some doubts about Sasuke's previous close relationship with Zeref and Mavis.

But there was no evidence, and besides, he didn't want Sasuke to be questioned again now that things had settled down, so he kept quiet about it, only thinking to himself that he should pay more attention to Sasuke's condition recently.

Meanwhile, Sasuke was at the same place where he had previously studied magic with Zeref, continuing his meditation training.

Perhaps due to the different world, or perhaps because he was too used to using chakra, Sasuke's meditation, though having gained some direction, was still quite a distance from condensing magic.

After finishing his meditation, Sasuke's expression turned grim as he thought about Zeref, who had suddenly and silently left Konoha.

Although Zeref had already taught Sasuke the secrets of gravity magic, for Sasuke who hasn't even mastered magic yet, having someone to guide him and not having anyone to guide him are still very different!

However, Sasuke thought that he should also consult Mavis, and his expression improved slightly.