Chapter 627 I think you look like the Fourth Hokage

“Hm?!”

When Hiruzen Sarutobi heard Muzuki’s words clearly, his displeased expression turned to shock. He ignored the fact that Muzuki hadn’t knocked and stood up directly, asking,

“What do you mean’seems to have developed Wood Release’? Success is success, failure is failure.”

Wood Release is different from ordinary Bloodline Limits. It is a Bloodline Limit that has only appeared on the God of Shinobi, making it uniquely significant.

If Muzuki truly developed Wood Release, Hiruzen Sarutobi would have to overturn his previous arrangements for Muzuki.

Muzuki silently formed hand seals, condensing Wood Release Chakra, and a tender green branch suddenly sprouted from the wooden table in Hiruzen Sarutobi’s office.

The moment the branch appeared, Hiruzen Sarutobi’s pupils dilated sharply. He couldn’t help but lean in to examine the green branch closely.

Although it was unscientific for a wooden table, already made into an office desk, to grow a branch, it was very Ninja-like.

Looking at the seemingly vibrant branch, a monstrous wave surged in Hiruzen Sarutobi’s heart.

“He actually succeeded!” Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn’t believe it.

Even though Muzuki’s displayed genius had already surpassed his own, Hiruzen Sarutobi was still incredibly surprised.

Because this was Wood Release, the Bloodline Limit unique to the God of Shinobi. It hadn’t appeared in the several decades since the God of Shinobi, and even looking back hundreds of years, there was still no trace of Wood Release.

No matter how much of a genius Muzuki was, could he really be compared to Senju Hashirama, who had no equal before or after him?

However, the fact that Muzuki successfully developed Wood Release was right before his eyes. Now, Hiruzen Sarutobi had to consider a possibility: why couldn’t Muzuki be the next Senju Hashirama?

Senju Hashirama had Wood Release, and now Muzuki had it too. Senju Hashirama was a powerful figure who shook the Ninja World in his youth, and Muzuki was now the famous Raging Sun Mu Yue in the Ninja World. So why couldn’t Muzuki be the next Senju Hashirama?

Hiruzen Sarutobi’s emotions surged. With Muzuki’s current performance, even if he couldn’t become the second Senju Hashirama, there was a high probability that he would become a stronger individual than himself.

To be able to surpass him in his prime, in the current era, that would mean being unrivaled, especially since there was no Uchiha Madara in this era.

“This should be Wood Release, right?” Muzuki said, releasing the hand seals.

“That’s right, this is Wood Release!” Hiruzen Sarutobi said definitively.

As he spoke, a hint of kindness appeared in Hiruzen Sarutobi’s eyes and brows, and his gaze towards Muzuki softened in a way it never had before.

These eyes, this nose, this hair… The more Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Muzuki, the more he resembled the Fourth Hokage.

“Although I had confidence in you, Muzuki, I’m still very surprised to see you actually develop Wood Release. Your talent has already surpassed mine and is approaching that of the First Hokage,” Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed.

To have another Wood Release Ninja, not only did the descendants of the Senju Clan diligently train to try and awaken Wood Release, but Konoha’s official channels also spent a great deal of manpower and resources researching Hashirama cells, hoping to unravel the secret of the First Hokage’s Wood Release. Unfortunately, it was all in vain, with no results.

On the other hand, Muzuki, simply by relying on the information left behind by Senju Hashirama, developed Wood Release on his own.

One can only say that sometimes, when you try to plant flowers, they don’t bloom, but when you casually plant a willow, it grows into a shade.

“Not at all, I just happened to catch a flash of inspiration, which allowed me to fortunately master Wood Release,” Muzuki said, shaking his head slightly.

When Hiruzen Sarutobi said Muzuki surpassed him, it was a compliment, but Muzuki couldn’t directly accept it, or it would seem a bit disrespectful.

There’s quite a difference between saying it yourself and having someone else say it.

“Mastering Ice Release was also by chance?” Hiruzen Sarutobi asked in a joking tone.

“Perhaps my flashes of inspiration are just a bit more frequent than the average person’s.”

“Haha, well, isn’t that your special talent then?” Hiruzen Sarutobi stroked his beard and chuckled as he sat down.

After speaking, Hiruzen Sarutobi remembered something and asked,

“How’s the training squad’s work going recently?”

“The teaching is progressing very smoothly. We should see preliminary results in two months,” Muzuki replied.

“Hmm, with you as the captain of the training squad, Muzuki, I’m very relieved. However, don’t overwork yourself. It’s also important to set aside some time for your own improvement,” Hiruzen Sarutobi said with a benevolent expression.

If Konoha could produce another Senju Hashirama, that would be far more significant than a Root or an enhanced Root. Therefore, Hiruzen Sarutobi now hoped that Muzuki would spend more time improving himself.

“I will,” Muzuki nodded.

Just as Muzuki was bidding farewell to Hiruzen Sarutobi and preparing to leave the Hokage Office, he stopped, turned around, and said apologetically,

“My apologies, Sandaime, I was too excited just now and forgot to knock.”

Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled and shook his head, indicating that he didn’t mind.

If Muzuki could truly become the next Senju Hashirama, Hiruzen Sarutobi would accept it even if he never knocked when entering the Hokage Office from now on.

However, he felt that Muzuki definitely wouldn’t do that, after all, Muzuki wasn’t Danzo.

“The second Wood Release Ninja…” Looking at Muzuki’s departing back, Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn’t help but recall Senju Hashirama’s mighty power of clapping his hands and instantly creating a vast forest.

The news of Muzuki developing Wood Release, in Hiruzen Sarutobi’s view, was even more important than the war intelligence Minato Namikaze had sent back.

The deterrent power of a second Senju Hashirama was far greater than any Tailed Beast Jinchuriki.

After leaving the Hokage Building, Muzuki returned home.

Normally, Muzuki would go directly to the training squad, but Minato Namikaze now needed to learn Wind Breathing, so Muzuki had to set aside some of his free time for teaching.

Muzuki first spent an hour explaining the theory to Minato Namikaze in his living room, then made lunch. After eating, he took Minato Namikaze to the Training Ground to practice.

Minato Namikaze had good Breathing Technique talent and had already cultivated Basic Breathing to a Constant State, possessing an excellent foundation, so he picked it up very quickly.

Coupled with Muzuki’s teaching and guidance, his proficiency soared, and he quickly mastered Wind Breathing, continuing to make rapid progress.

“This is truly an incredible secret Jutsu. Perhaps you, Muzuki, will leave a profound mark in the history of Ninjutsu because of this secret Jutsu,” Minato Namikaze said with a smile.

In Minato Namikaze’s view, Muzuki had created a completely new type of secret Jutsu. Each Breathing Technique had its own characteristics and was incredibly powerful, to the extent that Ninja clans could adopt them as inherited secret Jutsu.

“Sometimes, leaving too many names isn’t a good thing,” Muzuki thought of some gacha games from his previous life that gender-bent historical figures.

Let alone people, even ships would be gender-bent and put into the gacha pool.

Although he played games in his previous life, the thought of potentially becoming one of those characters made Muzuki a bit uncomfortable.

If it was something like, “No way, Raging Sun Mu Yue is still shady?” then it might be somewhat acceptable.

“I don’t think so,” Minato Namikaze seemed a bit confused.

He thought that as long as it wasn’t like Uchiha Madara, who defected and inexplicably wanted to destroy Konoha, leaving a name should be a good thing.

Muzuki didn’t explain, he just smiled and continued his instruction.

It was too difficult to explain gacha mobile games to someone who had never played video games.

However, given Konoha’s current technological level, Muzuki felt that smartphones and such should develop within a hundred years.

Being so close to his era, no one should make him into a game character. As for later, he didn’t know.

Since he didn’t need to teach the regular members this afternoon, only the squad leaders and above from the training squad in the evening, Muzuki taught until dinner time.

Finally, after having dinner with Minato Namikaze, he went to the training squad.

Finding that Shisui was still at the training squad, Muzuki called Shisui to the captain’s office.

“Shisui, you don’t have to attend the Darkness Breathing Technique class at night anymore. It’s a bit of a waste of your time,” Muzuki said.

After all, Shisui had been practicing Breathing Techniques for several years and had already mastered Flame Breathing. Learning Darkness Breathing Technique, a degraded version of the Breathing Technique, was too simple for him.

“Wouldn’t it look bad if I’m the only one?” Shisui voiced his concern.

Shisui was worried that his actions would affect Muzuki’s reputation, as everyone else attended except him.

“No, I’ll explain the situation. If anyone meets the standard for Darkness Breathing Technique, then they don’t have to come either,” Muzuki explained.

His evening classes for these squad leaders were originally intended to quickly improve their Darkness Breathing Technique level. If their level was already sufficient, what was the point of attending class?

“Don’t overthink it, it’ll just add extra pressure on yourself,” Muzuki said, patting Shisui’s head.

He felt that Obito and Shisui could balance each other out, making things even.

“Thank you, Teacher Muzuki,” Shisui nodded in gratitude.

Saving this time would be great, whether for reading to enrich himself or for other training.

After returning home, Shisui thought for a moment and finally headed to Uchiha Fugaku’s house.

Not to see Uchiha Fugaku, but to see Uchiha Itachi.

He had been busy with the training squad recently and hadn’t visited Uchiha Itachi for a while.

To instill good values in Uchiha Itachi through immersion, Shisui had set a goal for himself to see Uchiha Itachi at least once every two weeks.

After politely greeting Uchiha Fugaku and his wife, Shisui walked towards Uchiha Itachi.

“Big Brother Shisui,” Uchiha Itachi greeted Shisui with some happiness.

Although Shisui hadn’t sought him out recently, they didn’t have a specific meeting arrangement anyway, so Uchiha Itachi’s joy at seeing Shisui far outweighed any displeasure.

“I’ve been busy with work recently. I only had free time today,” Shisui explained.

“What kind of work?”

“It’s classified work that I can’t talk about.”

“Then can you tell a story? That shouldn’t be classified.”

“Sure. Where did I leave off last time?”

“You were talking about going on a bandit subjugation mission.”

…

Land of Water, Mizukage Building.

“Kumogakure forces and the Konoha Ninja Force are fighting a major battle in the Land of Hot Springs.” The Third Mizukage looked at the latest intelligence regarding Konoha, a smile playing on his lips.

At this moment, he could only say that it had to be Kumogakure. As soon as they made a move, they caused a big stir, first breaking through the Land of Fire’s defenses, then clashing head-on with Konoha’s border forces.

Unlike Iwagakure, which was dragging its feet and hadn’t even managed to break through the Land of Fire’s defenses.

“In that case, perhaps Yagura Karatachi can act directly now,” the Third Mizukage showed a thoughtful expression.

Originally, he had intended to observe for a while longer, but then he reconsidered. If Hidden Mist were to make a move now, it might encourage Kumogakure to intensify their efforts or attract other major Ninja Villages to join the fray.

The Third Mizukage closed his eyes, and after a period of deep thought, he picked up a pen and began to write orders.

It would be very difficult for Hidden Mist to defeat Konoha alone, so they had to seize the opportunity.

Moreover, this surprise attack carried risks, but the risks were smaller compared to the potential gains, making it cost-effective.

Other major Ninja Villages might fear being backstabbed by other observing major Ninja Villages, but Hidden Mist Village had no such worries.

Because other Ninja Villages would have to travel by boat for a long time to attack Hidden Mist Village, and the major Ninja Villages located inland were not skilled in naval combat, making it difficult to invade the Land of Water.

Even if Hidden Mist miscalculated and suffered another defeat, they would only lose Ninja killed in battle.

The Third Mizukage’s orders quickly reached Yagura Karatachi, who had only recently arrived in the Land of Waves.

Yagura Karatachi held the secret letter from the Third Mizukage in his right hand, his left hand clenched into a fist, and a hint of excitement flashed across his face.

The opportunity came even faster than he had imagined. He had thought he would have to stay in the Land of Waves for two or three months.

“Hayate Mugetsu, this time I will absolutely not be as miserable as last time,” Yagura Karatachi thought to himself.

During the last Hidden Mist night raid, just as they seemed to have the advantage, Muzuki first unleashed a Ninjutsu that could turn night into day and suppress Water Release, then he slew Hidden Mist powerhouses on the battlefield, turning the tide.

This time, Yagura Karatachi specifically consulted Hidden Mist’s secret Jutsu scrolls and found a method to create rainy weather using Chakra.

If Muzuki were to use that Rie Yang Ninjutsu again, Yagura Karatachi would activate his secret Jutsu to change the weather to overcast and rainy.

Even if he couldn’t completely negate the opponent’s Ninjutsu, he could at least partially offset its effects.

“Assemble the forces, prepare to invade the Land of Fire!” Yagura Karatachi gathered the Jonin of his forces, explained the attack plan, and finally shouted sternly.

“Yes, Lord Yagura!” The Jonin nodded in agreement, and after leaving the meeting room, they quickly began to make arrangements for their respective subordinates.

Soon, the ships carrying the Ninja forces sailed mightily towards the Land of Fire.

The people of the Land of Waves, meanwhile, breathed a sigh of relief. They had thought Hidden Mist was going to fight a war there.

They were already a poor, small island nation with limited resources. If they were to be engulfed by war again, life truly wouldn’t be worth living.

Last time, Yagura Karatachi chose to land in the southern part of the East Coast. The southeast was an underdeveloped region of the Land of Fire, not highly valued, and had fewer defensive forces.

This time, Yagura Karatachi chose the northeastern coastal region as his landing point.

This involved the core reason why the Third Mizukage chose to dispatch troops at this time.

The Third Mizukage did not intend to attack Konoha’s homeland in a single surprise attack. He wanted everyone to see a Konoha that was gradually weakening.

A bit further north from Yagura Karatachi’s landing point was the conflict zone between Kumogakure and Konoha in the Land of Hot Springs.

To prevent their own Ninja forces from being ambushed from behind, Konoha would inevitably rush to send troops to block them.

At this point, the Hidden Mist forces would not engage Konoha in a head-on battle, but instead conduct guerrilla warfare, maneuvering around.

The main goal was to exhaust Konoha’s energy and attract other Ninja Villages to join the fray.

Fighting Konoha together was best, but fighting others was also acceptable. For Hidden Mist, neither was a bad thing. The muddier the waters on the continent, the more chaotic the situation, and the fiercer the fighting, the more advantageous it would be for Hidden Mist.