Chapter 116: Three Generations of Kindness (45)

Upon returning home, Muzuki opened the scroll Hiruzen had given him and took a look.

After reading it, Muzuki realized it was essentially a Special Jonin appointment letter, bearing the signature of Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Hokage. It was more formal than his Chunin promotion; in his original memories, becoming a Chunin only involved a single sheet of paper, whereas a Special Jonin appointment was at least written on a scroll.

Casually placing the scroll in his study, Muzuki began to review the Sealing Technique materials Kushina had provided.

The Five Elements Seal was much more difficult than Muzuki had imagined, truly living up to its reputation as a super high-difficulty Sealing Technique. Twelve days had passed since he first began to learn the Five Fingers Seal, yet Muzuki’s Five Elements Seal was still stuck at over eighty proficiency, unable to reach introductory level.

Muzuki was considering whether to use the Ninjutsu Proficiency Scroll on the Five Fingers Seal, thinking it would allow him to instantly master the Five Elements Seal.

After some thought, he decided against it. Using a Ninjutsu Proficiency Scroll on a practice Ninjutsu with almost no practical use would be too wasteful. After all, it wasn’t like he couldn’t learn it eventually; his Sealing Technique talent was indeed excellent.

Muzuki wanted to save such a valuable item, which could directly elevate a Ninjutsu to proficient level regardless of its difficulty, for high-difficulty Ninjutsu.

If he had the chance to acquire the Flying Thunder God and successfully learn its basics, then the Ninjutsu Proficiency Scroll would come in handy.

According to the system’s rule that obtaining the same Ninjutsu could stack proficiency, perhaps continuously using several Ninjutsu Proficiency Scrolls could even result in a mastered Ninjutsu.

After some time, Muzuki heard a knock on the door downstairs, so he put down the Sealing Technique materials and went to open it.

“Jonin Mutsuki, this is something Sandaime-sama asked me to deliver to you.” The Ninja handed three scrolls to Muzuki.

Muzuki thanked him and invited him in for tea, but the Ninja shook his head, politely declined, and left.

Muzuki thought to himself that the Ninjas under Hiruzen were indeed more disciplined than Danzo’s; at least they wouldn’t appear in his house silently and knew to knock.

Muzuki opened the scrolls one by one. The first scroll contained two Ninjutsu: Water Release: Water Colliding Wave and Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique.

Both Ninjutsu were quite good. Water Colliding Wave not only required few hand seals but also offered both offense and defense; it could transform water into a water vortex to protect oneself or control water like a waterfall to attack the enemy. The Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique was also a very flexible Fire Release.

However, Muzuki had already reached proficient level in the Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique, and he had also acquired Water Colliding Wave once through teaching.

Still, it wasn’t a total loss; he could now openly use these two Ninjutsu.

As for the second scroll, it was a straightforward three hundred thousand ryo in cash.

Considering a Ninja Academy teacher’s monthly salary of one hundred thousand ryo, Hiruzen Sarutobi had essentially given him triple his salary this time.

Muzuki accepted it with a clear conscience; it was what he deserved.

He alone had taught eight Fourth Grade classes, along with some outstanding students from other grades and some graduated Genin. Even if Hiruzen Sarutobi had given him ten times his salary, it would have been his deserved compensation.

The third scroll outlined Hiruzen Sarutobi’s work arrangements for him going forward.

The Ninja Academy would start in nine days, and teachers began a week earlier than students, so Muzuki would be heading to the Ninja Academy in two days.

Hiruzen Sarutobi stated that he wanted to promote Muzuki to Vice Class Leader of the teacher’s class, but since Muzuki had been at the Ninja Academy for a short time and had only served as a regular teacher, it might cause controversy. Therefore, he would have Muzuki serve as a grade director for one semester and then promote him to Vice Class Leader of the teacher’s class in the third semester.

The content of this scroll was what Muzuki valued most. He didn’t care about the salary increase from promotion, but he could use the authority gained from promotion to secure more rewards for himself.

Through the summer special training, he knew that rewards for large classes were double those for regular classes.

So, he could apply for a curriculum reform at the Ninja Academy, adding more large classes to obtain more rewards.

Moreover, increasing large classes could also alleviate the teaching pressure on Ninja Academy teachers. For teachers like Ikeya Yu, who taught two classes, their schedules were almost full.

Of course, it was impossible for all classes to be large classes. Muzuki was confident in managing Ninjutsu and Taijutsu classes for hundreds of people, but ordinary Chunin teachers did not have this ability and would surely make a mess of teaching.

Muzuki planned to apply for an increase in large classes for theoretical subjects, such as Ninja World history, Konoha history, and mathematics.

Theoretical classes were relatively less difficult to teach than Ninjutsu and Taijutsu classes; teaching to any number of people from the front was the same, and as long as students listened carefully, the effect wouldn’t be too different.

Through this scroll, Muzuki could feel the goodwill Hiruzen Sarutobi extended to him.

Hiruzen Sarutobi might tolerate a Root Ninja quietly serving as a regular teacher, but Hiruzen Sarutobi would never actively promote a Root Ninja to a high-ranking position in the Ninja Academy.

Muzuki estimated that he would soon be able to leave Root, perhaps without even needing to break the cursed seal himself; Danzo might even have to personally remove it for him then.

In Konoha, Danzo could not outmaneuver Hiruzen Sarutobi, because the Hokage truly could do whatever he wanted.

During dinner that evening, Muzuki casually informed Kushina and Minato of his promotion to Special Jonin.

“Does Sandaime-sama ever move this quickly?” Kushina was a bit surprised, not expecting Sandaime to finalize Muzuki’s Special Jonin promotion on the very day it concluded.

“From now on, we can all go to meetings together,” Minato said with a gentle smile, happy for Muzuki’s promotion to Special Jonin.

There was a significant difference between a Chunin and a Jonin, even a Special Jonin; they were directly two different levels.

It might not be obvious in everyday life, but during wartime, their influence was completely incomparable. A Jonin could lead a team to execute important missions.

“Before, I thought your Sealing Technique talent was good, Muzuki, and you might be promoted to Special Jonin based on that. It seems I underestimated you, Jonin Mutsuki,” Kushina said with a smile, sighing.

After she had tested Muzuki’s Sealing Technique talent, she had wanted to help Muzuki through Sealing Technique, but Muzuki was so excellent in teaching that he became a Special Jonin through his teaching ability just as his Sealing Technique was getting on track.

“Compared to you and Minato, I’m still far behind. Becoming a formal Jonin is my next goal,” Muzuki replied with a chuckle.

“You can definitely do it if you train hard,” Minato encouraged.

Since Kushina had brought up the topic of Sealing Technique earlier, Muzuki smoothly transitioned the conversation to Sealing Technique training, bringing up some of the issues he was encountering.

He wouldn’t place all his hopes on others; he still had to do his own research, and he would continue to study Sealing Technique.

It’s always good to have more skills. Even if it wasn’t to break the Root cursed seal, mastering more advanced Sealing Techniques could still enhance his overall strength.