Chapter 269 Progress in Life Mission

Although most of his disciples had graduated, Muzuki’s daily life hadn’t changed much; he simply went from teaching five people to teaching one.

Of course, teaching one person was much easier than teaching five, giving Muzuki more time to practice his own skills.

On the afternoon of the first day after his disciples were assigned to their squads, Muzuki practiced the Great Waterfall Technique for a while before sitting down to rest and opening the system’s mentor-disciple section to check the information on his disciples’ life missions.

He would open it occasionally to check the mission progress.

The last time he checked, Might Guy’s progress was the most advanced, reaching 0.5%, while Shisui’s and Obito’s had no movement yet.

“It actually increased so much at once,” Muzuki mused, looking at Obito’s 3% progress.

“Is it because Minato is Jiraiya’s disciple?” Muzuki instantly grasped the core point.

Of course, not just anyone could become Hokage. The First Hokage was chosen by all Konoha Ninja, while subsequent Hokage usually had some connection to the previous one.

For example, Hiruzen Sarutobi was Senju Tobirama’s disciple, Minato was Hiruzen Sarutobi’s grand-disciple, Fifth Generation Hokage Tsunade was Hiruzen Sarutobi’s disciple, and Sixth Generation Hokage Kakashi was Minato’s disciple.

However, judging only by identity and not ability was also foolish. They became Hokage not just because of their identity; their ability played the major role. For instance, Minato’s two teammates, who Jiraiya also raised from a young age, lacked the ability, so no one thought they could become Hokage.

Muzuki felt that the Hokage lineage identity was like a buff that increased in effectiveness the stronger one’s ability was. When you had a Hokage lineage identity and strong power, your chances of becoming Hokage increased significantly.

Having only power without identity, or only identity without power, wouldn’t work.

He estimated that after Minato became Hokage, this bonus would further increase. At that time, Obito would be the previous Hokage’s grand-disciple and the current Hokage’s disciple, essentially stacking the buffs.

Aside from Obito’s sudden surge, Shisui’s and Might Guy’s progress remained unchanged.

After dinner, Muzuki went to Hiruzen Sarutobi’s home. It had been some time since he had previously asked about Shuriken Shadow Clone. He wanted to ask Hiruzen Sarutobi about the Great Waterfall Technique, further solidifying his image as a Ninjutsu genius, and laying the groundwork for his upcoming power increase.

“Sandaime-sama, do you have time now? I’ve encountered some issues recently while practicing the Great Waterfall Technique,” Muzuki asked after greeting Hiruzen Sarutobi.

“I happen to be free,” Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was preparing for a post-dinner stroll, nodded in agreement.

“However, the Great Waterfall Technique cannot be performed in the yard. Let’s go to the nearby small river,” To avoid flooding his own house, Hiruzen Sarutobi did not directly guide him in the backyard as he did last time.

“I’m going too!” Asuma also wanted to join in the fun.

“Why are you going? You don’t even learn Water Release,” Hiruzen Sarutobi wasn’t keen on Asuma tagging along.

Because he knew Asuma would most likely praise one and disparage the other, and the one he disparaged would be him, his old father.

“I’m not going to learn Water Release from you. What can you learn from just performing it once and saying a few words? I just want to see if Muzuki-sensei’s Ninjutsu has gotten stronger,” Asuma directly retorted.

“That’s because everything I say is the essence and the key points,” Hiruzen Sarutobi tried to make Asuma understand that his teaching ability was no worse than Muzuki’s.

He mastered countless Ninjutsu, could skillfully apply all seven Chakra Nature Transformation, and even taught the three Sannin who were famous throughout the Ninja World. He didn’t understand why, to Asuma, he was inferior to Muzuki.

“I don’t know about key points or not, I just know that when I learn with Muzuki-sensei, I learn things very quickly,” Asuma stated that he only recognized facts.

He knew his old father had three very strong disciples, but Asuma had been taught by Hiruzen Sarutobi before, and it was indeed not as good as Muzuki.

Asuma could rank the teachers who had taught him: Muzuki was first, Hiruzen Sarutobi was second, and his Jonin teacher was third.

Just as Hiruzen Sarutobi was speechless, Muzuki stepped forward to mediate, first confirming that Hiruzen Sarutobi’s guidance was indeed useful, and then also spoke up for Asuma.

“Just let Asuma come along. I’ve made significant breakthroughs in Wind Release Chakra Nature Transformation recently, so I can teach him a bit,” Muzuki said with a smile.

At this moment, simply watching was clearly not ideal. The best option was to ease the atmosphere while helping both sides.

After all, Asuma was Hiruzen Sarutobi’s son, and Hiruzen Sarutobi certainly wouldn’t be truly angry. Helping Asuma speak up at this point could even earn him some goodwill from Hiruzen Sarutobi.

“Since Muzuki, you have something to teach, then let him follow along,” Hiruzen Sarutobi thought for a moment and finally agreed to Muzuki’s suggestion.

Muzuki indeed possessed real skills, and it was a good thing for Asuma to learn more from Muzuki.

“Since you say you learn things quickly with Muzuki, then you must study diligently. The Chunin Exams are not far off. If you become strong enough, your teacher will recommend you to participate in the Chunin Exams,” Hiruzen Sarutobi reminded him.

“Do I even need you to tell me that? I’ll definitely study hard,” Although he knew his old father was concerned, Asuma still couldn’t communicate with Hiruzen Sarutobi amicably.

On the way to the small river, Asuma and Hiruzen Sarutobi’s conversation was pretty much the same. Although the words were quite biting, the overall atmosphere was still good, like family members who annoy each other but have a good relationship.

Upon reaching the location, Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately had Muzuki perform the Great Waterfall Technique once, then asked about Muzuki’s problems, providing explanations and demonstrations.

Asuma quietly watched the two communicate without interrupting, and after Muzuki showed obvious improvement in his practice, he shouted out a cheer.

“Muzuki-sensei, you still say you’re not a genius! You can learn so fast even from the old man!” Asuma exclaimed excitedly.

He was surprised because Muzuki performed so well, and excited because he was looking forward to Muzuki teaching him Wind Release Chakra Nature Transformation later.

Even Muzuki, who was so humble, said he had made significant breakthroughs. Asuma felt that Muzuki must have made great progress.

“Thanks to the guidance of Sandaime-sama,” Muzuki smiled, giving the credit to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

“It’s mainly because your Ninjutsu talent is outstanding, Muzuki. My guidance merely serves as a guide,” Hiruzen Sarutobi said, stroking his goatee and shaking his head.

Although he believed his teaching ability was not weak, teaching Muzuki was not like teaching a disciple. He could only say he gave a few pointers, and Muzuki’s ability to learn these two A-rank Ninjutsu in a short time was entirely due to his strong learning ability.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had a fleeting thought of taking him as a disciple. Although he had three disciples who were famous throughout the Ninja World, it was a pity that none of them had inherited his vast array of Ninjutsu and powerful Combination Ninjutsu.

Muzuki’s performance was simply a weakened version of himself. If he personally trained him, Muzuki might just become the next Professor of Ninjutsu.

“Let’s see after the war ends,” Hiruzen Sarutobi thought for a moment, temporarily abandoning the idea of taking Muzuki as a disciple.

The Ninja World situation was chaotic, and he was very busy. He didn’t have much time to teach Muzuki. Taking a disciple without teaching anything would be meaningless.

After giving his pointers, Hiruzen Sarutobi went home, telling Asuma before he left to go home after learning and not to wander around.

“Seriously, I’m a Ninja now, not a kid. He still has to say things like that,” Asuma couldn’t help but complain.

“That has nothing to do with being a Ninja. You’re only ten years old. Sandaime is worried about you,” Muzuki said with a smile, tapping Asuma on the head.

“Let’s not talk about that. Muzuki-sensei, hurry up and teach me Nature Transformation!” Asuma said with an expectant look.

Muzuki nodded and began to teach Asuma Wind Release Chakra Nature Transformation.

There were about ten days left until the Ninja Academy started, and he planned to set aside some time to teach Asuma and improve Asuma’s strength.

…

“Rin, don’t be afraid when you encounter enemies. Just stay by my side, and I’ll protect you,” On the way to the Hokage Building, Obito, as a senior, shared mission experience with Rin Nohara.

Because they performed very well yesterday and passed the training in one go, Minato Namikaze decided to take them on a mission.

“How should I put this, you probably won’t get a mission that involves encountering enemies today,” To prevent Obito from being too disappointed later, Minato Namikaze decided to give Obito a heads-up.

“Generally, newly graduated Genin like yourselves can only take D-Rank mission. Obito, you’ve interned, so you should know the specifics of D-Rank mission.”

“I know, D-Rank mission are all odd jobs, like picking up trash or helping with farm work,” Obito nodded. He had done quite a few D-Rank mission.

“But we were granted permission for C-Rank Mission during our internship, so it’s impossible for us to regress after becoming official Ninja, right?” Obito felt that taking C-Rank Mission should be no problem.

He had even completed an S-rank Mission; only being able to take D-Rank mission was too unreasonable.

Minato thought for a moment and felt that Obito was still too optimistic. Hiruzen Sarutobi granted privileges to Muzuki’s squad, but now they were Minato Squad, and Ninja rules were very rigid.

Obito’s eyes lit up when he saw Sawada Kazuya, an old acquaintance, among the Registration Ninja in the hall. He immediately greeted Sawada Kazuya familiarly, “Uncle Sawada, good morning.”

“Hmm, good morning. Congratulations on becoming an official Ninja,” Sawada Kazuya responded with a smile, looking at the forehead protector on Obito’s head.

“Can you pick a good C-Rank Mission for our squad?” Obito asked with a chuckle.

“No,” Sawada Kazuya refused directly.

“Ah, then we won’t trouble Uncle Sawada. We’ll pick ourselves.”

“Your squad can only take D-Rank mission, not C-Rank Mission,” Sawada Kazuya explained seriously, then took out a D-Rank mission scroll.

“Huh?” Obito was stunned. He hadn’t expected it to be so ridiculous, having to start from D-Rank mission again.

Kakashi, meanwhile, showed an ‘I knew it’ expression. He had guessed this would happen, after all, even he, a Chunin, had to dutifully do odd jobs when joining a new team. Obito’s resume was impressive among students, but it clearly wasn’t enough to break the rules.

“Uncle Sawada, didn’t the Sandaime grant us the right to perform C-Rank Mission before? And we’ve even completed S-rank Mission. Isn’t it a bit unreasonable that we can only take D-Rank mission now?” Obito asked, puzzled.

On the way, he had been telling Rin Nohara how dangerous missions were and how to deal with them. Now that he had to do odd jobs, he was certainly unhappy.

“That was during your internship in Muzuki’s squad. Now the squad is different, and the team members are different, so you can only follow the normal new Genin rules,” Sawada Kazuya explained the reason. It was impossible to inherit special privileges unless the Third Hokage spoke up.

“Even if you have the ability to perform C-Rank Mission, you also need to consider whether your teammates have the same ability.”

Obito recalled Rin Nohara using her monstrous strength and felt that C-Rank Mission should be no problem.

The development of events was within Minato’s expectations. He began to look at D-Rank mission. Although he knew his disciples were strong enough, he couldn’t force Sawada Kazuya to give them higher-level missions; that would be too unethical.

And as Obito looked at the D-Rank mission scroll, a good idea popped into his head.

When they first interned, they could only perform D-Rank mission. It was only after they completed all the D-Rank mission that Hiruzen Sarutobi allowed them to try C-Rank Mission.

“Minato-sensei, just help us take ten of them. We’ll finish them quickly and let Rin get familiar with missions,” Obito suggested. He decided to go all out and finish the D-Rank mission.

“Then we’ll take all the missions on this scroll,” Minato said, looking at Sawada Kazuya.

“No problem,” Sawada Kazuya agreed. He knew Obito’s and Kakashi’s efficiency; ten D-Rank mission wouldn’t take long to complete.

“Kakashi, let’s use Shadow Clone together later to increase mission efficiency and finish the missions quickly,” Obito said to Kakashi after walking out of the Hokage Building. He planned to team up with Kakashi.

Obito himself could create two Shadow Clone to work, and Kakashi could also create two. Adding their original bodies, that would be seven people working on the missions together.

“Why use Shadow Clone? You’ll be exhausted then,” Kakashi didn’t know why Obito suddenly became so proactive, so he asked.

“Have you forgotten? Before, we only got the chance to do C-Rank Mission after we finished all the D-Rank mission. Maybe it’ll work this time too,” Obito revealed his brilliant plan.

“Not necessarily,” Kakashi felt that such things were hard to say, and there was no specific standard.

“Then let’s compete to see who completes more D-Rank mission. You, a Chunin, aren’t scared of me, a Genin, are you?” Obito challenged.

Kakashi:…

Although it was a very low-level taunt, he had to admit that Obito’s words made him very annoyed, so he immediately agreed.

The speed at which the two completed missions filled Rin Nohara with motivation, making her movements faster.

Under tireless hard work, their squad completed thirty D-Rank mission in one day. After finishing and dispelling their Shadow Clone, Obito was exhausted, but to complete C-Rank Mission that allowed them to leave the village faster, he decided to continue this mode tomorrow until there were no more D-Rank mission to do.

While Obito was grinding missions, Muzuki also received rewards from the system.

“Disciple Kakashi, Uchiha Obito worked hard to complete the entrusted mission, gaining a growth reward: Chakra + 5.”

“Disciple Kakashi, Uchiha Obito worked hard to complete the entrusted mission, gaining a growth reward: Chakra + 4.”

Perhaps because they were stronger, the rewards for Obito and his team completing D-Rank mission were pitifully small, even dropping to only two or three points for both of them combined later on. Fortunately, the number of times was high enough that the total amount was actually decent, quite a bit more than the Chakra gained from a day of classes.

Since he wasn’t leading the team himself, Muzuki inexplicably felt a sense of getting something for nothing; his Chakra increased out of thin air while he sat at home.

4.2k, feeling a bit unwell today.