Chapter 92 Breath of Fire (35)

“Teacher Muzuki, I think I can handle more pressure. Please give me extra training!” Asuma earnestly requested Muzuki.

The first practical test was scheduled in two days, and Asuma felt he could still struggle a bit more.

This time, it wasn’t a secret battle with only Muzuki present; Kurenai Yuhi would also be watching. Even if he had to lose, he had to lose with some dignity.

“Why the sudden request for extra training? Is it for the practical test?” Muzuki asked with a smile.

It was really easy to guess what a kid like Asuma was thinking.

“Yes, you guessed it, Teacher.” Asuma showed an embarrassed smile.

“Temporary extra training alone won’t improve your strength.” Muzuki dismissed Asuma’s idea.

For theoretical exams, cramming at the last minute can be somewhat useful; if you happen to encounter reviewed material during the test, it means a few extra points.

For practical combat, just practicing more in the last two days won’t be effective, because those two extra days won’t lead to any significant physical improvement.

Unless one possesses super learning ability, learning one Ninjutsu a day would mean learning two more Ninjutsu in two days, which would be useful. However, Asuma clearly didn’t have such learning ability.

“Then what should I do?” Asuma asked, placing his hopes on the omnipotent Teacher Muzuki.

“Do you really want to improve your strength?” Muzuki asked.

He wasn’t without a method, but the process would be quite brutal.

“More than anything,” Asuma replied.

“To improve your strength in just two days, there’s only one way: combat,” Muzuki said after some thought.

With only two days, the method Muzuki could think of was a large amount of combat, in other words, a large amount of getting beaten.

“Fight my Shadow Clone. For the rest of the time, as long as you have the strength to stand up, continuously fight my Shadow Clone. This way, even in two days, you can improve your strength to a certain extent.”

For the practical test, combat was the examination content. Asuma engaging in such extensive combat was equivalent to cramming for a theoretical exam, which was much more reliable than two days of extra training.

Asuma could already imagine how miserable he would be just by listening to Muzuki, but for Kurenai Yuhi, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and nod in agreement.

One could only say that if you want to be glorious in front of others, you must suffer in private.

For the rest of the time, Asuma was basically getting beaten in various ways by Muzuki’s Shadow Clone.

Even Muzuki’s Shadow Clone, whose strength was intentionally suppressed, was not something the current Asuma could defeat.

When Asuma was exhausted and resting against a large tree, he grumbled:

“If you ask me, the old man is just getting senile. A Ninja like you, Teacher Muzuki, is still a Chunin. If you ask me, you should be promoted to Jonin.”

When Muzuki fought him just now, including the Shadow Clone, Muzuki used a total of eight Ninjutsu, including Fire Release and Water Release. His Ninjutsu setup was also good, with both offense and defense.

“The current me is indeed not qualified to be promoted to Jonin.” Muzuki denied.

Based on his performance just now, he was at most a Chunin who knew a few more Ninjutsu. It was only because Asuma was too weak that he thought so.

“Hiruzen Sarutobi, are you watching?” Muzuki thought to himself, his expression unchanged.

The reason he suddenly displayed a bit of strength was naturally not to help Asuma train, but for the Third Hokage to see.

Even if the Third Hokage himself wasn’t watching, it would be seen by the Anbu monitoring him, and then reported to the Third Hokage.

Muzuki’s idea was very simple: it was a setup.

Hiruzen Sarutobi wasn’t completely aware of his background. As long as Muzuki didn’t display anything too outrageous, from the Third Hokage’s perspective, this was Muzuki’s own talent.

In fact, Muzuki had already laid a foundation once before, and it was the kind with witnesses. It was when Kushina said that Muzuki had a talent for Sealing Technique.

As the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Kushina was naturally under constant Anbu surveillance.

It was precisely because he considered this point that Muzuki displayed talent in Sealing Technique. Otherwise, with his cautiousness, he would have pretended to learn it in ten days.

Having talent in Sealing Technique, being particularly strong in teaching, and not being bad as a Ninja—such a young person would be more worth saving.

Muzuki was deliberately showing his value from an angle where Root couldn’t see him, but the Third Hokage could.

If he was pulled out of Root, then he could further display his abilities without worrying about Root’s issues.

Because once Muzuki was transferred to the Third Hokage’s side, as long as he didn’t suddenly display abnormal strength, his subsequent progress would be attributed to talent that Root failed to discover, which was then discovered and cultivated by the Third Hokage.

Muzuki wanted to develop steadily, but he wouldn’t always remain a Chunin teacher, because the identity of a Chunin teacher actually limited his development ceiling.

If he really remained an ordinary Chunin teacher, would he have had this summer special training opportunity? He probably would have been called to Root by Danzo during the holidays to do grunt work.

The higher his status and the stronger the power he displayed, the greater the space Muzuki would have to earn rewards.

For example, if he wanted to reform the Ninja Academy curriculum and add some public classes for several classes to attend together, if he were just an ordinary teacher, no one would listen to his suggestions.

But if this summer special training went well and he was promoted to Special Jonin, Muzuki felt his suggestions would be seriously considered.

…

On Sunday morning, Muzuki was leading Obito in training for Shave.

At this time, Might Guy and Shisui had already fully mastered it, so only Obito was learning.

“Shave is actually very simple. Just use the technique you used before, stacked three times or more,” Muzuki explained while demonstrating.

“My legs can’t take it anymore, it’s so hard.” Obito tried again according to Muzuki’s instructions, but unfortunately, he still couldn’t succeed.

It sounded easy when Muzuki said it, and it didn’t feel difficult when he mentally conceived the action, but when he actually tried to practice it, Obito felt that the ease he felt earlier was all an illusion; it was too difficult.

Let alone stacking it three times, he couldn’t even stabilize it when stacking it twice.

“Just practice more. Shisui and the others didn’t learn it in just a few days either,” Muzuki said.

He used Appraisal Technique to check Obito’s proficiency, which was already over forty points.

Because he had previously broken down a part of it and taught it to Obito, he was able to pick it up quickly when he actually started teaching.

By the end of the training, Obito still hadn’t managed to complete the three-stack burst, but he was able to stabilize two stacks, which was still a decent improvement.

【Disciple Uchiha Obito diligently trained under your guidance and gained some strength. You received a reward — Flame Breathing (Proficient Level)】

Muzuki was a bit surprised; he didn’t expect another Breathing Technique.

When Muzuki checked the Flame Breathing memories that suddenly appeared in his mind, he was instantly astonished by the Hokage version of Flame Breathing. Although they were both Breathing Techniques, their effects were completely different from Rock Breathing; it could be called a secret technique!