Chapter 130 The War is Coming (4k)

“Let’s check the Nature Transformation under Flame Breathing, use a bit more Chakra,” Muzuki said after thinking for a moment.

Obito nodded, adjusted his Breathing Technique, entered the Flame Breathing state, inhaled a large amount of oxygen, condensed a large amount of Chakra in his throat, and then incredibly quickly spewed out a large burst of flames.

Too many flames were spewed out, and the uncontrolled flames drifted freely in all directions. Muzuki, to prevent the forest from catching fire, used Water Release to stop them.

Shisui quietly watched this scene. Familiar with Obito, he could clearly feel the improvement in Obito’s Chakra Nature Transformation.

Only such rapid progress would cause flames to fly wildly. If Muzuki hadn’t intervened in time, Obito himself would have been burned.

“Teacher Muzuki, eating spicy food really increases training speed!” Although completely drenched in water, Obito was still excited.

He felt that his progress had suddenly accelerated because he had eaten Muzuki’s cooking.

After all, in his opinion, yesterday was a very normal day; there was nothing different from usual except for Muzuki’s cooking.

“What did you do after training yesterday when you went back?” Muzuki asked.

Muzuki didn’t think it was the cooking’s credit. If cooking could cause such a surge in proficiency, then it should have had an effect yesterday. It wouldn’t have only taken effect after Obito went back. Cooking illusions don’t have a delayed effect or display.

“I didn’t do anything, just went home normally, and then after practicing the Breathing Technique for a while at home, I made progress,” Obito replied after thinking.

“Tell me in more detail,” Muzuki said.

“On the way home yesterday, Rin encouraged me, and then we agreed…”

“You can skip that.”

“After parting with Rin, I met a Grandma who had fallen, and I carried her to the hospital for treatment…” Obito recounted various small episodes on his way home, basically, he was either helping an elder or on his way to help an elder.

“After getting home, I practiced the Breathing Technique for a while, and suddenly I felt a bit hot, and then it became like this,” Obito replied.

“So that’s it. It should be that Obito’s actions and state of mind aligned with the characteristics of Flame Breathing,” Muzuki knew the reason for Obito’s rapid progress after hearing his description.

Obito was too well-suited to the personality requirements of Flame Breathing. The enthusiastic and cheerful Obito would actively help people in difficulty in front of him; his heart was as fiery as a flame.

“Shisui, you should also eat more spicy food. Your Breathing Technique will definitely change quickly like mine,” Obito shared his success story with Shisui.

“Is it really because of eating spicy food?” Shisui felt it was a bit unreliable.

It wasn’t that he doubted Obito was lying to him; Obito definitely wouldn’t lie about such important matters. But after listening to their conversation, Shisui felt that the real reason might not be because Obito ate very spicy food.

“Stop chatting, let’s eat first,” Muzuki handed the lunch boxes to them.

Eating it might not lead to rapid progress, but it would definitely be better than not eating it.

Shisui opened the lunch box and saw several neatly arranged large peppers inside, falling into contemplation. Was he supposed to eat the peppers directly now?

“There’s meat inside the peppers,” Muzuki reminded.

Shisui took a bite and found that the pepper indeed contained meat, but that meat actually had chili powder inside, making it spicier than just eating the outer pepper. However, the taste was still top-notch.

After delivering their meals, Muzuki went to deliver food to Might Guy. Might Guy’s meal was beef stew with potatoes.

Muzuki gave Might Guy an appraisal and found that Might Guy’s proficiency had increased by one point, reaching twenty points of proficiency.

“It seems it wasn’t stuck, just simply too difficult, so the increase was slower,” Muzuki thought to himself.

Looking at the current progress, Muzuki felt he didn’t need to worry about Obito’s training task anymore.

Unless Might Guy had another sudden enlightenment and a surge in proficiency, Obito’s Breathing Technique proficiency would definitely be much higher than Might Guy’s in a month, giving him some advantage in raw strength.

When the afternoon training ended, Muzuki told Shisui and Obito to go back together.

Today, Shisui’s Flame Breathing proficiency increased from fifteen to sixteen, a steady rise.

But if Shisui could learn from Obito and also make rapid progress, that would be ideal. If not, it was fine too; with Shisui’s self-discipline, he would train just the same when he went back.

“Although you are excellent overall, there are things you can learn from Obito,” Muzuki said to Shisui.

Muzuki still hoped Shisui could be more cheerful and optimistic.

In the original story, Shisui had very little screen time and mostly lived in flashbacks, but to commit suicide to awaken his friend’s Mangekyo Sharingan, Muzuki felt he couldn’t be a normal person.

There were many crazy people in this Ninja World, but Muzuki didn’t want to see his disciple become crazy.

Shisui showed a thoughtful expression and nodded, preparing to observe Obito carefully on the way home.

If Obito’s progress in practicing such a secret technique as the Breathing Technique was always faster than his, then there must be something he was doing better.

And so, Shisui began his journey of observing Obito.

“Rin, did my Shadow Clone do anything strange at the Ninja Academy?” Obito asked.

“No, it was just like you usually are, Obito,” Rin Nohara replied with a smile.

“That’s good. I was worried the Shadow Clone would affect my image at the Ninja Academy.”

Shisui watched this scene and silently noted in his mind that Obito really liked to chat with Rin Nohara.

No one knew better than Obito himself whether his Shadow Clone had done anything strange, yet Obito still asked. The question was meaningless; clearly, Obito just wanted to talk to Rin Nohara.

However, today they didn’t encounter any elders who needed help, and they both went home smoothly.

The next day, Shisui and Obito met to train in the South Border Forest.

On the way to breakfast, Obito helped a Grandma, and Shisui noticed that Obito was smiling after helping the Grandma.

After successfully arriving at the South Border Forest, Shisui no longer paid attention to Obito and instead focused on his own training.

He would continue to observe Obito on the way back in the afternoon.

However, this time was a bit more difficult than yesterday; they encountered an old man carrying a large sack, visiting relatives in Konoha.

The old man was from a Village near Konoha. His daughter had married into Konoha, and recently, his crops had a good harvest, so he wanted to give some to his daughter’s family to taste.

The sack the old man was carrying wasn’t much; it might be heavy for an ordinary person, but for Ninja with Chakra like them, it was nothing.

But after they took the old man to the address, they found that his daughter’s family had moved. To not waste the old man’s kind intentions, Obito went door-to-door nearby to inquire about information and then went to search. By the time they found them, it was already very dark.

Shisui now understood why Obito’s arrival time at the South Border Forest was inconsistent. If he occasionally encountered such things, it would indeed be difficult to arrive on time.

“Thank you so much! These aren’t anything valuable, please take some home with you,” the old man said gratefully, wanting to share the contents of the sack with Obito and Shisui.

“No need, Grandpa! Even without us, you definitely would have found them in the end,” Obito refused with a simple smile, waving his hand.

Refusing the reward, Obito and Shisui returned to the Uchiha clan compound and went their separate ways.

Lying in bed, Shisui was still recalling his memories of Obito from the past two days.

After carefully observing Obito, Shisui truly felt that Obito was a very unique Uchiha, unlike any other Uchiha he had ever seen, so different that he didn’t seem like an Uchiha at all.

Most of the time, Obito appeared very careless. Even though he was already considered excellent among his peers, he could even trip or bump into things while walking without paying attention.

Moreover, Obito rarely controlled his emotions; almost all his emotions were displayed on his face.

In terms of noticing those who needed help, Obito’s observational skills were maxed out; he could notice things Shisui couldn’t.

After observing for three days, Shisui found Muzuki.

“Teacher, if Obito’s Breathing Technique improved because of his enthusiasm for helping people, I’m afraid I can’t learn it. I can’t genuinely search for strangers who need help from the bottom of my heart like him,” Shisui said honestly.

Shisui didn’t reject helping others, but he couldn’t do it to Obito’s extent.

Hearing Shisui’s words, Muzuki smiled. He ruffled Shisui’s head and chuckled:

“You can learn from Obito, but there’s no need to imitate. Perhaps your heart is kinder than you imagine.”

He didn’t know exactly what Shisui and Obito did, but he could see that although Shisui’s Flame Breathing progress wasn’t as fast as Obito’s, its speed wasn’t slow either.

…

Monday noon, Muzuki once again received news that a Jonin meeting was being held.

Since it was at the Ninja Academy, Muzuki went alone this time.

Minato and Kushina arrived a bit earlier than Muzuki. When Muzuki arrived at the meeting room, they were already standing inside.

Muzuki stepped forward and greeted them both.

“It’s only been a few days, and they’re having another meeting,” Kushina expressed her exasperation.

Muzuki smiled and didn’t join in the complaining. There were too many people here, and some things couldn’t be said casually. He was different from Kushina; Kushina had a special status. Let alone complaining about meetings, even cursing a bit wouldn’t be a big problem for her.

Last time, he briefly got to know some Jonin. This time, Muzuki continued to familiarize himself, not saying much, just chatting a few words.

After everyone had arrived, the Third Hokage explained why a second Jonin meeting was being held so quickly.

“The Hidden Cloud Village of the Land of Lightning has declared war on us,” Hiruzen Sarutobi said with a serious expression.

“Hidden Cloud Village? Aren’t they currently invading the Land of Wind and fighting the Hidden Sand Village?” a Jonin said with surprise.

Although the Third Kazekage of Hidden Sand Village had disappeared, as one of the Five Great Ninja Villages, it had its foundations. Hidden Cloud Village couldn’t defeat Hidden Sand Village in a short period of time.

At this moment, for Kumogakure to declare war on Konoha, there could only be one possibility: Kumogakure wanted to fight on two fronts, attacking both Konoha and Sunagakure simultaneously.

“Those hateful Cloud Ninja barbarians, they truly deserve to die!” Kushina cursed without holding back.

Hearing this news, Muzuki wasn’t surprised. After all, Konoha was going to be attacked by the Four Great Shinobi Villages later. This was just two declarations of war, and they hadn’t even officially started fighting yet.

Muzuki could somewhat guess the thoughts of the Kumogakure Ninja.

Before the Third Kazekage disappeared, Kumogakure and Konoha already had considerable friction, indicating that Kumogakure had strong intentions towards Konoha.

However, because something so major happened with Hidden Sand Village, with the Kazekage directly disappearing, Kumogakure decided to strike first against the leaderless Hidden Sand Village.

If Iwagakure hadn’t declared war on Konoha, Muzuki estimated that Kumogakure probably wouldn’t have declared war on Konoha without gaining a significant advantage against Hidden Sand.

But with Iwagakure declaring war on Konoha, it was different. Although Kumogakure would be fighting on two fronts, Konoha, which needed to deal with Iwagakure, would also have to fight on two fronts.

Would the Third Raikage believe that Kumogakure would be inferior to Konoha under similar circumstances? Of course not. If that were his thinking, Kumogakure wouldn’t be so aggressive in the Ninja World.

Muzuki estimated that the Third Raikage’s idea was probably to simultaneously consume Konoha’s strength while engaging Hidden Sand, then first defeat Hidden Sand, then sweep Konoha, and finally take down Iwagakure, which was fighting Konoha, to dominate the continent.

Muzuki could only say that the idea was good, but they overestimated their own strength and underestimated Konoha’s strength and Iwagakure’s ambition.

From the direction of the Third Shinobi World War later, it wasn’t hard to see that Ōnoki was very ambitious. If it weren’t for the Third Raikage’s ferocity, a large number of Kumogakure Ninja would have died in Iwagakure’s encirclement.

“We should immediately send spies to interfere with their operations against Hidden Sand,” Danzo said.

As long as Hidden Sand could tie down enough Kumogakure Ninja, Konoha wouldn’t have to worry about too much pressure from fighting on two fronts.

Nara Shikaku fell into thoughtful contemplation. If Kumogakure wanted to attack Konoha, it would be easier than Iwagakure.

Because if Kumogakure wanted to attack Konoha, there were generally two options: either enter from the Land of Hot Springs in the northeast, or from the Land of Rice Fields directly to the north.

The Ninja forces in the Land of Hot Springs were weak, and the Land of Rice Fields was even weaker, not even having a Ninja Village.

This meant Konoha had a very large defensive area to worry about, and all areas bordering the Land of Rice Fields and the Land of Hot Springs needed to be defended.

“We need to prevent Kumogakure from defeating Hidden Sand, and at the same time, strengthen our border defenses,” Nara Shikaku said.

This time, he agreed with Danzo’s opinion; they absolutely could not allow Kumogakure to free up its forces to fully attack Konoha.

Muzuki could sense that the atmosphere of this meeting was more somber than the last one. Many Jonin showed very serious expressions.

“Hidden Sand and Kumogakure are already fighting, and Iwagakure will soon be at war with the Village. This time, the Third Shinobi World War is probably about to break out,” Minato said worriedly after the meeting ended.

Minato had extensive mission experience, but he had never experienced a Shinobi World War. When the Second Shinobi World War ended, he was still studying at the Ninja Academy.

However, just by reading the written records, he could feel the cruelty of the Shinobi World War: a large number of Ninja dying in battle, and even a Village’s Kage could die during the great war.

Kushina had a special status; if the war intensified, Kushina would definitely go to the battlefield. This was what Minato was worried about.

“Those Kumogakure black barbarians truly love to cause chaos!” Kushina’s face also looked displeased.

However, Kushina wasn’t worried about herself going to the battlefield, but rather remembered her own country that was destroyed by war.

Kushina hated war. She had personally witnessed how her country and Village perished amidst the chaos of war, and that memory was still vivid.

“Obito’s training mission, student exam rewards, Class 1, Grade 1 improvement rewards…” Muzuki silently thought about the rewards that were closer to him.

War was gradually approaching, and at present, his strength was not enough to protect himself in a chaotic environment.

And there’s still more to come.