Chapter 368: Developed Breathing Method

Land of Water.

Hidden Mist Village, Mizukage Building Conference Room.

“According to the latest intelligence, Konoha repelled Kumogakure in the Land of Hot Springs, forcing Kumogakure forces to retreat to their homeland,” said the Hidden Mist Anbu Leader.

“Iwagakure and Konoha are once again fighting in the Land of Grass, and Konoha still holds the advantage.”

“The war between Kumogakure and Sunagakure…”

The Hidden Mist Anbu Leader unhurriedly read out the latest war intelligence from the continent.

“Konoha has gained the advantage again. Facing attacks from two major Ninja Villages simultaneously, they can still win repeatedly. As fellow Five Great Ninja Villages, why is Konoha so much stronger than Iwagakure and Kumogakure? Is Konoha too strong, or are Iwagakure and Kumogakure too weak?” a serious-looking middle-aged Ninja frowned and said.

Due to the ocean barrier, the Land of Water rarely participated in continental affairs, as it was troublesome to travel there.

With the development of productivity and changes in the times, this situation gradually changed.

“Although Konoha has been winning repeatedly, this does not mean Konoha has the ability to fight two enemies at once. After all, neither Kumogakure nor Iwagakure have used all their strength in fighting Konoha. There’s no need to imagine Konoha’s strength as overly exaggerated,” analyzed a Ninja with the lower half of his face wrapped in bandages.

“Iwagakure and Kumogakure haven’t used their full strength, but who can be sure Konoha has?” the serious-faced middle-aged Ninja retorted.

“Konoha’s strength is too great. If we want to gain benefits on the continent, we must first weaken Konoha’s strength!”

“Gen’yū, do you think Konoha is strong?” the Third Mizukage, who had been resting with his eyes closed, narrowed his eyes and looked at Gen’yū, who was sitting to his right.

As soon as the Third Mizukage spoke, the conference room instantly fell silent, everyone closing their mouths and looking at the Third Mizukage and Gen’yū.

Although the Third Mizukage often appeared to be smiling and easy to talk to, those familiar with him knew this was just a facade. If you truly treated him as a kind old man, you wouldn’t even know how you died.

“I can only offer some of my conjectures. Although I’ve visited Konoha, why would Konoha show me its true strength?” Gen’yū shook his head and replied.

Aside from being intimidated by the Third Hokage’s aura, he only observed Genin battles and didn’t gain much intelligence.

“In terms of strength, I believe that the current Konoha is still the strongest Ninja Village in the Ninja World,” Gen’yū first stated his conclusion.

The Hidden Mist higher-ups all looked at Gen’yū, quietly waiting for his explanation.

It was precisely because Gen’yū was the one speaking. If it had been any other higher-up, they would certainly have been refuted by the others.

As fellow Five Great Ninja Villages, admitting the other party was the strongest without a war was undoubtedly a sign of being intimidated before the fight even began.

Even if the opponent was truly strong, it shouldn’t be stated so directly. One must strategically belittle the enemy.

“Due to an unexpected situation, I had a clash of auras with the Sandaime. He is very strong, no weaker than the Third Mizukage,” Gen’yū said tactfully.

Although Hiruzen Sarutobi’s actual strength was stronger than the Third Mizukage’s, this was a high-level meeting, and he had to save some face for the Third Mizukage.

Moreover, those who could reach high-level positions were not foolish and could understand his hints.

The expressions of several high-ranking officials changed slightly, then quickly recovered.

At the Five Kage level, even if one was weaker, it wouldn’t be by much. If they couldn’t win, they could at least hold the opponent back, so the problem wasn’t significant.

They subconsciously disregarded outliers like Senju Hashirama, as only one Senju Hashirama had appeared in so many years.

The Third Mizukage’s expression remained unchanged; he still narrowed his eyes and maintained a faint smile, his inner thoughts unreadable.

“Despite bringing excellent Genin from the Village and also gathering several young people above the Genin rank, not a single one reached the final battle. In terms of comparing young Ninja, we have already lost once,” Gen’yū continued.

He didn’t know if Konoha used the same methods as Hidden Mist, but Kakashi and the others looked at most ten years old from their appearance. Regardless of their Ninja rank, Hidden Mist had lost in this competition.

Gen’yū continued with his conjectures. The fact that Konoha dared to hold such a Chunin Exams while fighting on two fronts was itself a display of confidence in their strength.

“Then it seems the current Konoha is indeed very strong,” the Third Mizukage closed his eyes, then slowly said.

“So, what attitude should we adopt to face this powerful Konoha?”

…

Two weeks after the Shunpo training, Muzuki completed the development of the Breathing Technique for training purposes.

This was faster than he had anticipated; the enlightened state was indeed powerful and could also be useful in development.

However, Muzuki did not immediately use it for training but instead went to the Third Hokage’s office.

“Muzuki, have you encountered any problems with your work?” Hiruzen Sarutobi put down the documents in his hand and asked with a chuckle.

Muzuki’s willingness to teach and train Ninja with the excellent Body Flicker Technique he developed showed that he took the training mission personally assigned by Hiruzen Sarutobi seriously, which made Hiruzen Sarutobi even more satisfied with Muzuki.

Muzuki shook his head, then respectfully handed two scrolls to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

“These are the Taijutsu I developed. I wish to offer these two Taijutsu to the Village,” Muzuki said with a gentle smile.

As he spoke, a faint glow shimmered in Muzuki’s eyes, as if he was happy to be able to contribute to Konoha.

“Muzuki, you have a good heart,” Hiruzen Sarutobi said with a smile, stroking his goatee.

Regardless of the power of the two Taijutsu Muzuki developed, Hiruzen Sarutobi appreciated Muzuki’s actions.

The five D-rank Ninjutsu Muzuki had developed earlier had also been added to Konoha’s Ninjutsu library.

“The Ninjutsu I submitted to the Village are truly insignificant compared to the Ninjutsu the Village rewarded me with,” Muzuki said humbly.

If he used this Breathing Technique to teach the Anbu and Root, it would be equivalent to giving it to Konoha. So, Muzuki simply went to Hiruzen Sarutobi first to submit it and could also earn a few more rewards.

For Ninjutsu developed by Ninja within the Village, Konoha does not force everyone to submit them, but there are rewards for submission. The stronger the Ninjutsu and the better its effect, the greater the reward.

Not only would he submit it to Hiruzen Sarutobi, but he would also inform Danzo, to maintain his persona.

Hearing Muzuki’s reply, Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled and opened the two scrolls. One was Shunpo, and the other was called Darkness Breathing Technique.

Hiruzen Sarutobi briefly looked at both scrolls and found that the Darkness Breathing Technique had a lot of substance.

Seeing that Hiruzen Sarutobi had already begun to examine the contents of the scrolls, Muzuki began his explanation.

Although Muzuki felt that Hiruzen Sarutobi most likely already knew about the Shunpo, Muzuki could not assume what his superior knew, so he diligently explained both Taijutsu.

Since Shunpo was much simpler, Muzuki quickly finished explaining Shunpo and then focused on the Darkness Breathing Technique.

“The Darkness Breathing Technique can strengthen the body by absorbing large amounts of oxygen. The more focused the breathing, the greater the enhancement. It can improve the body’s overall strength and can also accelerate the recovery of injuries when wounded.”

“Once the Darkness Breathing Technique is mastered, one can also accumulate breathing power to increase instantaneous bursts, allowing for attacks far exceeding one’s own strength.”

Body strengthening and accelerated recovery are basic abilities of Breathing Techniques. Muzuki’s most important modification was to remove the enhancement of training by the Breathing Technique and increase the bonus when using the Breathing Technique, so the Darkness Breathing Technique does not have the Constant State realm.

Compared to a normal Breathing Technique, the Darkness Breathing Technique is more like an explosive secret technique.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was a Ninjutsu Professor who had mastered thousands of Ninjutsu, but in fact, his Taijutsu was also not bad. He quickly realized that the best use of the Darkness Breathing Technique was for surprise attacks and assassinations.

Using strength beyond one’s body would inevitably bring a corresponding burden, and the Darkness Breathing Technique certainly could not be used for too long.

Of course, this type of explosive Ninjutsu would certainly be useful in normal combat, but surprise attacks and assassinations were more cost-effective.

“Truly a Taijutsu full of ingenious ideas,” Hiruzen Sarutobi praised.

Muzuki’s Darkness Breathing Technique was not the same path as most of the existing Taijutsu in Konoha. To develop this level of Ninjutsu in a new field, Muzuki’s talent for developing techniques was even stronger than he had imagined.

“Shunpo can be classified as B-rank Taijutsu, and Darkness Breathing Technique can be classified as A-rank Taijutsu,” Hiruzen Sarutobi said after some thought.

The rank of Ninjutsu is merely a difference in learning difficulty. All Ninjutsu in Konoha are rated according to this rule.

Of course, generally, the harder a Ninjutsu is to learn, the greater its power. Saying that high-difficulty Ninjutsu are strong is not entirely wrong, but lower-ranked Ninjutsu are not necessarily weak.

For example, the Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique, although only a C-rank Ninjutsu, is often used by Uchiha from Ninja Academy students to Jonin.

Muzuki nodded, indicating he had no objections.

He had deliberately developed the Darkness Breathing Technique to be simple; it would be problematic if it received an S-rank evaluation.

“I plan to use the Darkness Breathing Technique for training. This Taijutsu is very suitable for Anbu and Root,” Muzuki then stated his idea.

“Haha, then I’ll look forward to the test in two months,” Hiruzen Sarutobi exhaled white mist and laughed.

Anbu and Root members obviously didn’t have that much time to participate in tests, so Muzuki only set up an exam on the last day of the special training to demonstrate his training results.

“In two months, if you want to learn Ninjutsu, you can go directly to the Ninjutsu Pavilion to find it. If it’s not in the Ninjutsu Pavilion, come to me to apply.”

Hiruzen Sarutobi finally decided to grant Muzuki the authority to freely consult Ninjutsu in the Ninjutsu Pavilion.

Normally, Muzuki’s current merits would not be enough to gain such authority, but Muzuki was a Ninjutsu genius, and Hiruzen Sarutobi was very satisfied with him in all aspects.

“Giving you this authority now might cause controversy, but after the training ends and everyone knows your ability, there will be no problem,” Hiruzen Sarutobi explained the timing issue.

Although the reward was still greater than the merit, it made it somewhat more legitimate and would also motivate Muzuki to teach more enthusiastically.

“Thank you, Sandaime-sama,” Muzuki showed an excited smile, indicating his understanding.

“From now on, except for certain more special Ninjutsu, I don’t need to hide them anymore,” Muzuki thought to himself. This time, Hiruzen Sarutobi was more generous than he had expected.

PS: I finished writing at 2 AM yesterday and had some insomnia, only falling asleep at 4 AM. I feel a bit tired today. I’ll rest tomorrow and aim for 10,000 words tomorrow.