Chapter 18 Mastering the Changes in the Nature of Water Chakra

The moment Muzuki announced the start of the exam, Obito quickly retreated, forming hand signs and casting Ninjutsu as he backed away.

He knew Might Guy was very skilled in Taijutsu, so he naturally wouldn’t confront Might Guy head-on in Taijutsu.

“Clone Technique!”

Poof! Poof!

After the Ninjutsu was cast, two clones identical to Obito appeared beside him.

The three Obitos constantly crisscrossed and switched positions, trying to confuse Might Guy.

“Leaf Whirlwind!”

However, Might Guy’s speed was faster than Obito had imagined; he instantly caught up, and a lightning-fast whirlwind kick instantly dispersed two clones, while Obito’s main body was also kicked back over a meter.

“Such strength.”

Obito’s arm trembled uncontrollably a couple of times; he had taken the kick with his arm, and now his arm was throbbing with pain.

Might Guy pressed his advantage, immediately closing in to force Obito into continued close-quarters combat.

But in a pure Taijutsu confrontation, Obito was no match for Might Guy and quickly fell into a disadvantage.

“Who do you think will win?” The students watching began discussing the final victor.

“Might Guy, I think Uchiha Obito will be defeated very soon,” one student analyzed, observing the current situation.

“Not necessarily,” another student countered, “when Uchiha Obito fought Uchiha Tekka before, he also fell behind in Taijutsu, but he ultimately won with Fire Release.”

Some believed that Obito, who possessed powerful Fire Release, simply hadn’t unleashed his full power yet.

After all, Obito had genuinely defeated the former top-ranked Uchiha Tekka, so his record was quite impressive.

“Teacher Muzuki, who do you think will win?” Kimura Sugito suddenly asked.

“Might Guy,” Muzuki thought for a moment before replying.

“Yes, although that Uchiha Obito has mastered powerful Fire Release, this examination venue isn’t suitable for him to display it,” Kimura Sugito agreed.

Muzuki nodded. In truth, the two were quite evenly matched in strength.

However, Obito was currently like a turret mage with limited close-combat ability and no way to cast spells without incantations, making it difficult for him to defeat Might Guy, a high-speed warrior, in such a flat, open area.

Sure enough, in the next instant, Obito was caught by Might Guy’s opening, and a Leaf Whirlwind directly kicked him flying.

“Might Guy wins,” Muzuki announced the final result of the exam.

The student who had just thought Obito would win couldn’t help but cover his forehead; he felt that Obito never disappointed when it came to being disappointing.

When you thought he would lose against Uchiha Tekka, he won.

When you thought he would win against Might Guy, he lost.

“Might Guy, you’re amazing! How do you train?” A classmate couldn’t help but ask Might Guy for tips on getting stronger.

“How do I train?” Might Guy thought about his daily schedule, then replied, “I probably wake up at 5:30 AM and run around Konoha until class, then practice Taijutsu against a training dummy all night, and on weekends…”

“Goodbye!” The student who asked, upon hearing about waking up at 5:30 AM, immediately felt immense admiration for Might Guy in his heart; after the mention of practicing Taijutsu against a training dummy all night, he no longer wanted to listen.

He felt that even official Ninja wouldn’t train like that every day.

“Obito, are you okay?” Rin walked up to Obito and asked with concern.

Obito brushed the dust off himself and said casually:

“Of course, I’m fine! I narrowly lost this time, but I’ll definitely win next time.”

In front of the girl he liked, even if he was hurt, he had to pretend he wasn’t.

However, Rin Nohara wasn’t so easily fooled. She grabbed Obito’s arm, rolled up his sleeve, and saw several bruises, then glared at Obito and said:

“Do you think acting tough is useful? Your injuries won’t heal just by pretending. Hurry to the infirmary and get some medicine.”

With that, Rin pulled Obito towards the infirmary.

Obito kept saying he was fine, but he didn’t resist and followed Rin.

His mouth was a bit rebellious, but his body was very honest.

The combat exam on the second day after determining the class’s top performer concluded here.

Tomorrow’s exam would involve the top two from each class participating in a combat exam to determine the top student of the entire grade.

After the exam, Might Guy prepared to thank Muzuki and say goodbye to go home; he wanted to tell his father, Might Duy, the good news.

Might Guy could already imagine his father crying tears of joy and shouting about youth.

However, Muzuki didn’t let Might Guy leave immediately; instead, he took Might Guy to an secluded spot, stating he had something to give him. Muzuki smiled:

“Might Guy, congratulations on taking first place.”

After speaking, Muzuki took out a small booklet and handed it to Might Guy:

“This is a Taijutsu training manual I casually wrote when I had some free time recently. It also contains some of my ideas for the subsequent development of Leaf Whirlwind. Consider it a gift for your first-place finish in the class.”

Might Guy saw the manual, but he also noticed Muzuki’s hand holding the manual.

Muzuki’s hand looked clean on the surface, but the sharp-eyed Might Guy noticed some faint smudges of gray on Muzuki’s palm, like ink stains that had been diligently washed but not entirely removed.

After looking at the contents inside, Might Guy instantly understood everything.

This was not something casually written in his free time; it was likely something he had painstakingly pondered and written specifically for him. Even if he hadn’t taken first place, it would have been given to him under some other pretext.

The ideas for the subsequent development of Leaf Whirlwind inside made Might Guy feel as if it was tailor-made for him. Might Guy would not believe it if it hadn’t taken time and effort.

“Teacher Muzuki, I will definitely not let your efforts be in vain! I will become the strongest Taijutsu Ninja in the future!” The emotional Might Guy was directly moved to tears.

Muzuki took out a tissue to wipe away Might Guy’s tears, patted Might Guy’s shoulder, and smiled:

“It’s good that you think that way. For a teacher, a disciple getting stronger is the best reward.”

As he said this, Muzuki’s expression was incredibly sincere.

“Mhm!” Might Guy nodded heavily. At this moment, his belief in becoming stronger became even firmer.

Watching Might Guy gradually walk away, Muzuki looked at the system message, a smile appearing on his face.

【You gifted your disciple a Taijutsu training manual. Due to your disciple’s immense gratitude, the reward received a huge critical hit, granting Water Release Chakra Nature Transformation Mastery.】

【Disciple Might Guy’s trust level has increased. Current trust level: Three.】

“Good luck,” Muzuki felt the new memories in his mind and was in a very good mood.

Generally, rewards from teaching disciples are related to what the disciple excels at; for example, Shisui and Obito tend to yield more Fire Release, and Might Guy tends to yield more Taijutsu. However, there are exceptions, and sometimes unrelated rewards appear.

Compared to a certain Taijutsu proficiency, a Chakra Nature Transformation mastery was undoubtedly much better. Muzuki was very satisfied; if he accumulated more of these, he might even be able to develop a Bloodline Limit himself.

As for the increase in trust level, that was an added bonus.

Muzuki felt that in the future, for high-quality items, he should plan carefully before giving them away, stimulating the emotions to the maximum to make it easier to get good things.

For instance, this time, if he had just given it to Might Guy casually, he probably would have gotten a small burst, like a proficient-level Ninjutsu or Taijutsu.

But by giving it when Might Guy was excited about getting first place, and subtly letting Might Guy see the ink stains on his hand that wouldn’t wash off, and then adding some inspirational words, the effect was completely different.

Giving a gift when he took first place would make Might Guy remember Muzuki’s teaching grace—could he have gotten this first place without Muzuki’s guidance? This initially stimulated his emotions.

Then, letting Might Guy see the ink stains on his hand, realizing the effort behind this gift, and imagining Muzuki’s hard work, amplified his emotions. Finally, a bit of inspirational talk instantly ignited his emotions.

“After tomorrow’s exam, the results should be out in a couple of days.” Muzuki was still wondering if the system would issue exam rewards.

Logically speaking, if the students perform so well, the teacher should be rewarded.