Chapter 400: Disciples’ Strengthening Plan

After returning to Konoha, Muzuki, as usual, gave his disciples a day off, while he went to the Hokage Office to report on the mission.

Originally, such B-rank missions did not require a separate report to Hiruzen Sarutobi, but the unexpected situation they encountered this time was quite unusual.

Knock knock!

Muzuki knocked on the wooden door of the Hokage Office.

“Come in.”

Hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi’s voice, Muzuki immediately pushed the door open. “Sandaime-sama, it’s possible that Ninja from other Ninja Villages disguised as Konoha Ninja attacked the Sunagakure Ninja.”

“Muzuki, tell me in detail.” Hiruzen Sarutobi’s expression turned serious.

Three of the Five Great Ninja Villages had already declared war on Konoha, and Hiruzen Sarutobi did not want the last one, Hidden Sand Village, to also declare war on Konoha.

“It’s like this: I accepted an escort mission in the Land of Rain, and on the way, we were surrounded by a Sand Ninja squad led by Pakura. They attacked us under the guise of an investigation.” Muzuki began to recount the cause and effect of their encounter with Pakura.

“Pakura.” Hiruzen Sarutobi showed a thoughtful expression.

Pakura was not an unknown figure in the Ninja World; Hiruzen Sarutobi had heard her name. She was a powerful Bloodline Limit Ninja.

“Muzuki, you didn’t kill those Sand Ninja, did you?” Hiruzen Sarutobi asked after a moment of thought.

In terms of fame, Pakura was a renowned strong individual in the Ninja World, while Muzuki only had some reputation within Konoha. However, in terms of strength, Hiruzen Sarutobi did not think Pakura could defeat Muzuki.

Muzuki had mastered five Chakra Nature Transformations, possessed the Ice Release Bloodline Limit, had learned the Flying Thunder God Technique, knew many powerful Ninjutsu, and also had an intelligence advantage. Pakura could not possibly win against Muzuki.

Therefore, Hiruzen Sarutobi was not worried about Muzuki being injured; he was only concerned that Muzuki might not have controlled his strength well and killed some Sand Ninja.

If that happened, regardless of which Ninja killed the Sand Ninja who died previously, Sunagakure would blame Konoha for all of them.

“I was forced to retaliate and fought them until we could talk properly. There were no casualties.” Muzuki replied.

“Afterward, Pakura also admitted that it was their mistake and that they would conduct a new investigation.”

With his current strength, fighting against the Sand Ninja squad led by Pakura was simply crushing weaklings; there would be no unexpected situations he didn’t want.

“Muzuki, you handled it very well.” Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled and praised him. “Next, I will arrange for Anbu to conduct an investigation.”

This mission made Hiruzen Sarutobi see Muzuki’s ability to handle affairs. Not only in teaching and Ninjutsu, but Muzuki’s other abilities were also excellent.

“It’s a good thing I discovered him in time, otherwise Muzuki wouldn’t be able to truly unleash his abilities.” Hiruzen Sarutobi silently patted himself on the back and then criticized Danzo Shimura.

In Hiruzen Sarutobi’s view, a genius like Muzuki could not remain unknown forever; it must have been the darkness of Root that restricted Muzuki.

Hiruzen Sarutobi felt very regretful about this. If Muzuki had shown such talent earlier, perhaps he would have directly taken Muzuki as his disciple.

Currently, Hiruzen Sarutobi’s top candidate for Fourth Hokage was Jiraiya, followed by Tsunade, but to Hiruzen Sarutobi’s dismay, neither of them wanted to become Hokage.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had wanted to pave the way for Jiraiya many times, but Jiraiya simply gave up, practically engraving ‘I don’t want to be Hokage’ on his face.

As for Tsunade, there was even less to say. Jiraiya at least showed Hiruzen Sarutobi some respect, but Tsunade couldn’t even be bothered to acknowledge Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Hiruzen Sarutobi’s other disciple, Orochimaru, had the intention of becoming Hokage, but Hiruzen Sarutobi specifically did not want Orochimaru to become Hokage.

Because Orochimaru had changed too much; as a child, Orochimaru was merely a bit reclusive and aloof, but now, Orochimaru gave Hiruzen Sarutobi a feeling of gradually losing his humanity.

Such an Orochimaru could be a high-ranking Konoha official, but not Hokage.

After reporting, Muzuki went straight home.

This time, Hiruzen Sarutobi didn’t give any special rewards, only some Ninja training resources.

After all, Hiruzen Sarutobi had already rewarded him with free access to the Ninjutsu Library, so Muzuki had enough in terms of Ninjutsu.

Muzuki’s only position was at the Ninja Academy, and Muzuki was already the Vice Principal of the Ninja Academy. Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn’t fire himself and give the principal position to Muzuki.

“There are many rogue Ninja, and many Ninja Organizations, as well as Ninja from other Great Ninja Villages.” After returning home and organizing the intelligence from the Land of Rain, Muzuki realized that the situation in the Land of Rain was perfectly suited to his plan for taking disciples.

Muzuki’s plan was as follows: he would first leave a deep impression on Yahiko and Nagato in the Akatsuki Organization, then gain fame in the Land of Rain, establish an image of a master, and attract Yahiko and the others to recruit him again.

However, Muzuki would still not agree immediately. He would refuse again and continue to gain fame in the Land of Rain. When the time was right, he would arrange some tests or something to naturally become Yahiko and their mentor.

As for how to gain fame, Muzuki would definitely choose the method with the greatest benefit.

Something that could both establish his reputation and earn Muzuki rewards would undoubtedly be teaching, as he could earn rewards for giving lessons.

At that time, the many Ninja in the Land of Rain would be Muzuki’s students.

Muzuki was not worried that no Ninja would come to his lessons, as he had been verified many times in this field.

At that time, Muzuki would just show a little of his strength, and those Ninja would scramble to attend his lessons.

…

After being dismissed, Kakashi did not immediately go to train but instead went to the Konoha Library to search for information on the Rinnegan.

It wasn’t that Kakashi didn’t trust Muzuki, but rather that Kakashi was curious about more content.

However, to Kakashi’s disappointment, he found no records of the Rinnegan’s abilities, only some myths and legends.

With the thought of’since I’m already here,’ Kakashi searched for information related to Tailed Beasts again, but still found nothing. He still didn’t understand why Tailed Beasts would go berserk.

After leaving the library, Kakashi went to find Might Guy.

Kakashi had gone to find Might Guy after returning from Roulan, but Might Guy happened to be out on a mission that time, so Kakashi didn’t find him.

“My rival, are you going to challenge me? I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time!” Might Guy asked excitedly.

It had been more than half a year since he last defeated Kakashi, and Might Guy had long wanted to fight Kakashi again.

Might Guy had never relaxed during the past six months, constantly training. He had a feeling that he was just a little bit away from the Fifth Gate.

“I’m not here to fight you; I have something to talk to you about.” Kakashi shook his head and replied.

He wanted to tell Might Guy about the future intelligence, so that Might Guy could work with them to change the future.

Hearing Kakashi say he wasn’t there to fight, Might Guy’s expression instantly changed from excitement to disappointment. He had already planned how to start the fight.

“If you really want to be challenged, it’s not impossible.” Seeing Might Guy so disappointed, Kakashi thought for a moment and said.

“Indeed, it must be a battle full of youth and passion!” Might Guy laughed heartily and gave Kakashi a thumbs-up, his two rows of white teeth exceptionally sparkling.

“But it’s limited to rock-paper-scissors.” Kakashi added.

The fully revitalized Might Guy seemed to be hit by an instant-kill skill again, wilting like a cabbage.

“Rock, paper, scissors!”

Although Might Guy was a bit disappointed, he still took this rock-paper-scissors challenge seriously.

“You won.” Kakashi said, holding up his scissors.

Might Guy looked at his fist and sighed. He still preferred a fist-to-fist battle with Kakashi; winning that way would be more satisfying.

Silently adding this victory to his total wins against Kakashi, Might Guy followed Kakashi to a secluded grove.

“We accepted a mission to investigate the minister of Roulan and encountered Ninja from the future…”

Kakashi first briefly explained the cause and effect of their encounter with Uzumaki Naruto and the others, then thoroughly explained the future intelligence to Might Guy.

Not only the future intelligence, but Kakashi also told Might Guy all the latest Akatsuki Organization intelligence they had obtained in the Land of Rain.

Might Guy was very surprised that Kakashi and the others could encounter Ninja from the future, but he immediately believed Kakashi without raising any questions.

“To change the future, we need your strength.” Kakashi said seriously.

“This is exactly the meaning of my training and becoming stronger!” Might Guy replied with a brilliant smile.

Muzuki-sensei, Obito, and Rin Nohara were all comrades Might Guy recognized, and Might Guy would definitely do everything he could to protect them.

“Don’t tell anyone besides us about this.” Kakashi reminded him.

Might Guy nodded with a serious expression.

Then, Might Guy and Kakashi went to the South Border Forest. Kakashi wanted to discuss something with Muzuki’s other disciples, and his earlier refusal to fight Might Guy was related to this matter.

“To help everyone improve their strength faster, I propose a practical combat test every three months. The last two in the test will receive a penalty.” Kakashi stated his idea.

Perhaps to others, their strength at the age of ten was already that of super geniuses, but Kakashi felt it wasn’t enough. Such strength was not enough to change history; they needed at least the strength of Uzumaki Naruto or Yamato.

“Rin, you don’t have to participate in this, since your main training is Medical Ninjutsu.” Kakashi looked at Rin Nohara and said.

When estimating combat power, Kakashi only considered Rin Nohara to be a regular Chunin; a Medical Ninja’s Chakra should of course be saved for healing.

Rin Nohara nodded helplessly. She did want to participate, but if the strength difference was too great, it would be meaningless.

“I agree, and I think today is a good day. Let’s start the first practical combat right away!” Might Guy was the first to support Kakashi.

“I think so too.” Shisui nodded in agreement.

Although Shisui was not confident in defeating any of the three, Kakashi, he felt that this would be more conducive to improving his strength.

“I have no objections either, but what is the penalty?” Obito asked curiously.

“It’s simple. Whatever punishment everyone hates, that’s what it will be.” Kakashi replied.

Due to individual differences, some punishments might be rewards for certain people, so Kakashi felt that personalized punishments were necessary.

A hint of dread appeared on Obito’s face, and he quickly spoke, “I really hate…”

“For example, Obito, you don’t like studying and doing test papers, so your punishment will be studying and doing test papers.” Kakashi interrupted.

“I think I hate eating green peppers more. How about we change it to eating ten green peppers instead?” Obito tried to change the punishment.

“After all, I understand myself best.”

Kakashi gave Obito a faint look. “If you really hated eating green peppers more, you wouldn’t have suggested substituting it.”

Obito, of course, understood himself very well, but he also lied to himself.

“Test papers are indeed Obito’s weakness.” Rin Nohara recalled Obito’s lifeless expression when he was punished with test papers and covered her mouth, chuckling softly.

“After all, doing test papers with his knowledge level is indeed a big challenge.” Kakashi immediately added another jab.

Obito’s face turned red, trying to argue, “I scored eighty points in the science section of the Chunin Exams! That’s eighty points!”

Although this was with a little help from Muzuki, it also involved his effort.

“So you mean you’re not afraid of doing test papers, then? Then you shouldn’t have suggested substituting it.” Kakashi’s mouth curved upwards as he continued, looking at the fuming Obito.

Obito didn’t know how to retort, so he could only silently curse “Damn Kakashi” in his heart and implicitly accept that this was his punishment.

Kakashi was harsh on Obito, but also on himself, and quickly volunteered his own punishment.

“If I’m among the last two, for one continuous week, no matter what Obito says, I won’t refute him.” Kakashi said solemnly.

In Kakashi’s opinion, this punishment was torture for him, because Obito would definitely go all out and say all sorts of annoying things.

With Obito and Kakashi as examples, Shisui and Might Guy also showed no mercy, each giving themselves a sufficiently unpleasant punishment.

Next was the actual practical combat.

The four drew lots to determine their opponents for the first round. The two eliminated in the first round would both receive punishment, while the two winners would fight again, and the winner would be Muzuki’s strongest disciple for the next three months.

Since she didn’t have to participate in the practical combat, Rin Nohara took on the odd jobs, helping Obito and the others with the drawing of lots.

“Shisui is number one, Obito is number two, Kakashi is number three, and Might Guy is number four.” Rin Nohara announced the results of the draw.

“My rival, this is the bond between us!” Might Guy laughed heartily and gave Kakashi a thumbs-up, his earlier disappointment instantly vanishing.

Kakashi’s expression turned serious. No matter how strong Might Guy was, he had to win this fight, otherwise, he couldn’t imagine how arrogant Obito would be during those seven days.

Shisui and Obito exchanged glances, both igniting with intense fighting spirit.

Shisui really wanted to win, not just because of the penalty, but also because of his competitive spirit.

Shisui was the youngest among Muzuki’s disciples, but he was the first to learn from Muzuki. He was more used to being the strongest than the weakest.

“Obito, your Flame Breathing Chakra Mode is very strong, but you don’t know that I can already skillfully use Armament Haki, do you?” Shisui’s confidence stemmed from Armament Haki.

From the very beginning, Shisui’s Armament Haki progress was far ahead of Obito and the others. While others were still confused, Shisui could already use Haki that was sometimes effective and sometimes not.

Stayed up too late last night, feeling mentally tired, writing very slowly