Chapter 474: Anbu Chief Instructor Mu Yue

At three in the afternoon, while Muzuki was training his disciples, a memory suddenly appeared in his mind—it was his Shadow Clone that he had left at home.

Muzuki had the Shadow Clone continue training the disciples, while his main body headed to the Hokage Building to see Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Just now, Hiruzen Sarutobi had sent a Ninja to find his Shadow Clone at home, saying that there was a mission for Muzuki and asking him to go to the Hokage Office to understand the mission details.

Knock, knock.

After arriving at the Hokage Office door, Muzuki quickly knocked on the wooden door.

“Come in.”

After receiving Hiruzen Sarutobi’s permission, Muzuki pushed the door open and entered the Hokage Office, greeting, “Lord Sandaime.”

Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled and nodded in response.

“The mission is to train the Anbu and Root, and the number of people will be more than last time,” Hiruzen Sarutobi explained.

Last time, Hiruzen Sarutobi was unsure what level Muzuki could maintain when teaching Jonin and Chunin, so he only sent some new recruits. This time, Hiruzen Sarutobi planned to mobilize as many Anbu as possible for Muzuki to conduct special training.

The Darkness Breathing Technique developed by Muzuki was indeed effective; some Anbu new recruits who had achieved success in their training performed better in missions than some older Anbu.

Hiruzen Sarutobi planned to popularize the Darkness Breathing Technique throughout the entire Anbu, not only for existing Anbu members but also for all future Anbu members.

However, no existing Anbu members were proficient enough in the Darkness Breathing Technique to teach others, so Hiruzen Sarutobi could only ask Muzuki to work harder and teach more people.

“I understand, I will do my best to teach them,” Muzuki nodded and replied.

Danzo Shimura had actually already informed him about this, but Danzo Shimura’s explanation was rather vague and not very specific.

“Muzuki, I have full confidence in your teaching ability. Whether it’s the classes you lead or your disciples, they are all more outstanding than the last,” Hiruzen Sarutobi said with a smile, stroking his goatee.

He now only hoped that the war would end quickly and enter a period of peace, as a talent like Muzuki could play a greater role in peacetime.

If it weren’t for the war, Hiruzen Sarutobi could have directly handed over eighty percent of the Anbu to Muzuki for training.

Hiruzen Sarutobi also had another idea: to have Muzuki teach others how to be teachers, to see if he could improve the overall teaching level of Ninja Academy teachers and squad leaders.

Hiruzen Sarutobi did not expect others to reach the same teaching level as Muzuki, but even if they had half, no, one-third of Muzuki’s level, Konoha could develop and mature for a decade or two, and the overall strength of the entire Ninja Village might reach an unprecedented peak.

Even if Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara were strong, they could only make themselves strong, while Muzuki could help others become stronger with him.

“For the convenience of teaching, I have set up a training squad exclusively for you in the Anbu, Muzuki. This training squad is half a rank higher than a regular squad in the Anbu structure, but still lower than an Anbu captain,” Hiruzen Sarutobi briefly introduced the Anbu structure to Muzuki.

The lowest rank in the Anbu is a regular member, followed by a squad leader who can have three subordinates, above the squad leader is a squad captain who can have four squads under him, and above the squad captain are the vice-commander and commander.

Hiruzen Sarutobi felt that directly giving Muzuki an Anbu captain position would be a bit against the rules, but Muzuki’s contributions were significant, and he was excellent in all aspects. Giving him only a nominal squad captain position would seem stingy, so Hiruzen Sarutobi ultimately created a special squad that was neither too high nor too low.

“Currently, this training squad only has you, the squad captain. If you find any talented individuals in teaching, Muzuki, you can recruit them.”

“Thank you, Lord Sandaime,” Muzuki showed an expression of both shock and gratitude.

Although his outward emotions weren’t as rich, Muzuki was also a little surprised internally, because Danzo Shimura hadn’t mentioned this at all.

“I’m not comfortable accepting your thanks; I merely gave you a nominal squad captain position,” Hiruzen Sarutobi waved his hand.

He actually felt he had given quite enough, but he certainly couldn’t say that out loud, otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to gain good favor.

After Hiruzen Sarutobi finished giving his instructions, Muzuki quickly left the Hokage Building and returned to the South Border Forest.

“The training squad has no practical use for me,” Muzuki thought on his way back to the South Border Forest.

A squad captain was already considered a mid-to-high-level position in the Anbu, and Muzuki’s special squad captain position was even half a level higher, but these were all nominal things, because Muzuki didn’t even have a subordinate he could command.

In Muzuki’s eyes, this squad captain position was not as practical as a Ninja Academy teacher, who could at least get Ninjutsu by teaching classes.

A squad captain could only have four squads of subordinates, which combined were not enough for Muzuki to trigger the class reward.

Compared to the squad captain position, the teaching mission Hiruzen Sarutobi gave Muzuki was quite good. The Anbu Ninjas all had a certain level of strength, which could trigger the Intermediate Class’s class rewards. If he could get an S-rank evaluation every day, the total gains would be very considerable, even teaching Nature Transformation and improving the proficiency of Bloodline Limits like Ice Release.

“I wonder when I’ll be able to trigger the Advanced Class’s class reward,” Muzuki believed there should be an even higher tier of class reward, but the trigger conditions were very high, with strict requirements for the students’ strength.

After returning to the South Border Forest, Muzuki temporarily stopped thinking about these miscellaneous matters and focused on guiding his disciples. He only started preparing the training plan when he returned home.

The training wouldn’t start that quickly, as it would require many adjustments to fixed arrangements to extract enough Anbu, which would take a considerable amount of time. Muzuki had plenty of time to prepare the Anbu training plan.

…

Around ten o’clock at night, Muzuki, who was developing and refining the Yang Seal, suddenly heard the door of the house next door open.

Muzuki curiously activated his Byakugan and looked towards the next door.

Next to him was Minato Namikaze’s house, which had been vacant for some time.

As the wall in his vision gradually blurred, a familiar figure entered Muzuki’s sight.

“Did he return early?” Muzuki closed his Byakugan and looked back at the manuscript on the table.

Although Minato’s letter previously said he might only have a chance to return in a few months, Orochimaru volunteered to fight, and the Land of Hot Springs battlefield no longer needed Minato as much, so his rest time could naturally be brought forward.

A minute later, the door to Muzuki’s house was knocked.

Muzuki quickly tidied up his manuscript and went downstairs to open the door.

“Muzuki, long time no see,” Minato greeted with a sincere smile.

Orochimaru’s support was so timely. Generally speaking, after a major battle, one would need to rest for some time. However, Orochimaru quickly supported Minato Namikaze, which directly gave Minato Namikaze, who had been fighting on the front lines for a long time, a chance for a vacation.

At that time, when the higher-ups asked Minato Namikaze if he needed time to rest and adjust, Minato Namikaze didn’t hesitate and directly requested a break.

Now, there was no battle to be fought in the Land of Hot Springs for a short period, and it didn’t make much sense for him to stay with Orochimaru; it was somewhat a waste of combat power.

“Minato, long time no see,” Muzuki smiled warmly and invited Minato Namikaze into the house.

“Sorry for disturbing you so late, Muzuki. How about we talk tomorrow?” Minato Namikaze hesitated for a moment, then said.

Actually, Minato Namikaze had rushed back at full speed, hoping to arrive early enough to join Muzuki for dinner.

Minato Namikaze was in another country, plus the issue of departure time, so even with his full-speed rush, Minato Namikaze was still very late.

Now it was already close to bedtime, and Minato Namikaze didn’t want to trouble Muzuki too much.

Muzuki had also just returned from the battlefield not long ago, and the East Coast Battlefield was much more intense than the Land of Hot Springs Battlefield. Since the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki’s incident, the Land of Hot Springs battlefield had become peaceful.

“No, you came at just the right time. I was just about to make a late-night snack. We can eat and chat,” Muzuki said with a smile, uttering words that Minato Namikaze couldn’t refuse.

Minato Namikaze was very conflicted now. He felt that Muzuki might be saying this intentionally for him, but he also really wanted to eat the late-night snack Muzuki made.

“I’ll help you make it,” Minato Namikaze finally chose to help Muzuki as a way to alleviate his guilt.

Muzuki nodded in agreement, then casually asked, “Is ramen okay, or do you want something else?”

Minato Namikaze remembered the ramen Muzuki made in Roran and quickly nodded; that was perfectly fine.

Next, Muzuki kneaded the dough while Minato chopped some side dishes, and the two worked together in the kitchen.

During the process of making the late-night snack, they chatted about what they had encountered during the time they hadn’t seen each other.

“Everyone is very troubled by the current situation in the Ninja World. Jiraiya-sensei said he doesn’t even have time to write novels,” Minato Namikaze shared Jiraiya’s complaints on the battlefield with Muzuki.

“Then Obito’s troubles are somewhat similar to Lord Jiraiya’s, but he feels he doesn’t have time to read Ninja novels,” Muzuki said with a smile.

During his time on the East Coast Battlefield, Obito was busy with missions and training all day, and the remaining time he basically just collapsed and slept, so he indeed had little time for entertainment.

“That sounds like something Obito would say, but Kakashi would probably lecture him,” Minato Namikaze said with a smile, thinking of something.

“That’s good, it saves you from getting carried away by a novel one day and putting the squad in danger,” Muzuki nodded, repeating Kakashi’s words.

Minato Namikaze’s smile deepened; he could already imagine the scene at that time in his mind.

Obito holding a Ninja novel and complaining, Kakashi reprimanding him calmly, and Rin Nohara covering her mouth and snickering as she watched the two.

“When it comes to being a teacher, I have a lot to learn from you, Muzuki,” Minato Namikaze sighed slightly, thinking of his disciples whom he hadn’t seen for a long time.

Minato Namikaze genuinely felt that he was far inferior to Muzuki when it came to being a teacher.

Not only in teaching Ninjutsu, but Muzuki surpassed him in all aspects.

If Obito and the others became famous powerhouses in the Ninja World in the future, and someone praised Minato Namikaze for being a good teacher because of them, then Minato Namikaze would truly be ashamed.

Because Obito and their strength had little to do with Minato Namikaze; it was mainly Muzuki’s credit. Minato Namikaze only taught them some taijutsu and mission experience.

“No one is born knowing how to be a teacher, and in fact, you’ve done very well, Minato. Obito and the others are very satisfied with you,” Muzuki said while finishing the ramen.

He wasn’t just comforting Minato. Given that they had a teacher like Muzuki, it was already very rare for Obito and the others to still think highly of Minato Namikaze as a good teacher.

It should be known that after being taught by Muzuki, Obito basically complained about this Chunin teacher one day and that Chunin teacher the next. He wasn’t satisfied with any teacher except Muzuki.

“Since you, Muzuki, acknowledge me, then I certainly can’t say I’m bad,” Minato Namikaze said, making a rare joke.

As the ramen was gradually completed, Minato Namikaze became more and more expectant. He had rushed back to Konoha at full speed just to eat this meal early.

After the ramen was ready, Muzuki handed one steaming bowl of ramen to Minato Namikaze.

Smelling the enticing aroma, Minato Namikaze almost wanted to grab his chopsticks right in the kitchen and devour it.

More than half a year, heaven knew how he had endured these past six months.

But Minato Namikaze had strong self-control. He forcibly suppressed his desire, carried the ramen to the dining table, sat down, and waited for Muzuki to sit down before he officially began to eat.

At this moment, Minato Namikaze could no longer hold back. Without saying “Itadakimasu,” he picked up his chopsticks, grabbed a mouthful of ramen, and stuffed it into his mouth.

When that familiar and astonishing sensation surged into his heart again, Minato Namikaze immediately felt a burst of satisfaction, and a sense of happiness arose spontaneously.

Then Minato Namikaze didn’t stop. First, he put a piece of char siu into his mouth, then picked up another mouthful of noodles, and after chewing, he took a sip of the ramen broth.

It was worth it. Minato Namikaze felt it was worth it, even if he had to travel another journey the distance of the Land of Fire, it would still be worth it.

Minato Namikaze, engrossed in eating his late-night snack, only remembered after he finished eating that he had gone silent after starting to eat. He quickly expressed his gratitude to Muzuki.

“It’s nothing, just a small matter,” Muzuki said with a slight smile, shaking his head.

For him, with his chef skill, it wasn’t much trouble. On the contrary, Minato and Kushina had helped him a lot since he transmigrated.

“Muzuki, how is your Flying Thunder God Technique training progressing? Do you need me to explain it to you again?” Minato felt he still needed to repay Muzuki.

Minato’s most impressive skill was the Flying Thunder God, and since Muzuki was also training in the Flying Thunder God, Minato believed he could use this time to help Muzuki refine his Flying Thunder God.

“The progress is going smoothly, but an explanation is not needed,” Muzuki politely declined Minato’s offer.

Muzuki was clear about his space-time talent; it was completely incidental to the system’s skill rewards, and his Master-level Flying Thunder God was forcefully raised by the Master Scroll.

Minato explaining it to him would be a complete waste of both their time, as Muzuki couldn’t learn anything in that manner.

“If you have time, Minato, I’d like to have a practice battle with you tomorrow to feel the difference between our Flying Thunder God Techniques,” Muzuki then suggested.

Muzuki’s Flying Thunder God proficiency was much lower than Minato’s, but Muzuki had other abilities, and he wanted to test his ability to deal with Ninjas like Minato.

“For a practice battle, either tonight or in a few days, I might be a bit busy recently,” Minato thought for a moment and replied.

He had just returned from the battlefield, and things would be quite busy in the coming days, as he had also been a battlefield commander for some time.

“It’s fine, I’m not in a hurry. Just call me when you’re free,” Muzuki said, getting up to clear the dishes.

Muzuki considered that Minato was physically and mentally exhausted from traveling, and it was indeed too late now, so he felt tonight was not a good time.