Chapter 24 New training begins

The next day, after Muzuki finished his morning classes, he went to the Hokage Building.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was, after all, the Third Hokage, and he couldn’t wait for Muzuki’s reply in the school office every day, so Hiruzen Sarutobi told Muzuki that if he was interested in being a tutor, he should go to the Hokage Building to find him.

Muzuki was stopped on the floor of the Hokage Office, but he had expected it and was let through after saying that the Third Hokage had sent him.

Muzuki knocked on the wooden door of the Hokage Office.

“Lord Third, I’ve thought it over,” Muzuki stated his identity and purpose.

“Ah, Habsheng, come in,” the Third Hokage’s voice came from inside the door.

Muzuki opened the door and entered, surprised to find not only the Third Hokage but also Minato inside.

Minato was also surprised to see Muzuki enter, not expecting to meet the new neighbor he had met yesterday in the Hokage Office today.

“This is Teacher Habsheng from our Ninja Academy. His teaching ability is particularly strong; even I can’t help but want to invite him to be Asuma’s tutor,” the Third Hokage said with a smile, putting down his pipe.

Then the Third Hokage noticed their expressions and asked,

“Minato, you two know each other?”

Minato nodded and said, “We’re neighbors. Habsheng’s house is right next to mine.”

“That’s truly fate. Habsheng, Minato, you two can interact more. You are both excellent Ninja in your respective fields,” Hiruzen Sarutobi praised.

“Not at all, I just do my best,” Muzuki said modestly.

Minato also said a modest remark and then left. He had a good impression of Muzuki, but the Hokage Office was not a good place for a chat.

Muzuki had the same thought; the place was not suitable, so he didn’t interact much with Minato either.

“Lord Third, after I went back, I seriously considered it. If I arrange my time reasonably, I can spare a few hours on weekends to teach Asuma,” Muzuki stated his answer.

“Good, with you, Habsheng, to teach him, I won’t have to worry about Asuma’s growth,” Hiruzen Sarutobi said with a chuckle, his words full of trust in Muzuki.

“I will try my best not to disappoint your expectations, Lord Third, and teach Asuma with all my effort,” Muzuki showed a grateful expression, indicating that he would definitely take the tutoring job seriously.

What followed was the rather cliché discussion of salary. The Third Hokage was quite generous, offering a price of two thousand ryo per hour, teaching a total of eight hours over the two weekend days, with weekly payments.

Muzuki set the time to start at 1 PM and end at 5 PM.

Today was Friday, and Muzuki had no classes in the afternoon, so he went directly to the small river where he usually trained. Shisui was there, practicing Fire Release with Muzuki’s Shadow Clone.

Since easily taking first place in his grade in that exam, Shisui had followed Muzuki’s advice to use a Shadow Clone for school and then train with Muzuki during school hours.

After Muzuki arrived, he dismissed the Shadow Clone. Shisui, sensing Muzuki’s main body arrive, also temporarily stopped his training and greeted Muzuki, “Teacher Muzuki.”

Muzuki nodded, took out a square towel, and handed it to Shisui with a smile, “Take a break and wipe off your sweat.”

Shisui thanked him and took the towel, wiping the sweat from his forehead and neck, then sat leaning against the big tree with Muzuki.

Muzuki performed an appraisal on Shisui.

【Name: Uchiha Shisui】

【Chakra: 580】

【Potential: SS-】

Compared to a month ago, his Chakra had improved significantly. On one hand, it was due to increased training intensity, and on the other, Shisui’s body was gradually developing, and his growth rate would be even faster in the future.

What displeased Muzuki somewhat was how simplistic this panel was; it only showed Chakra and potential.

After resting for a while, Muzuki spoke:

“Shisui, starting today, the training plan will change. We’ll begin training in Body Flicker Technique and enhancing Chakra control.”

Since Shisui could earn the title of Shisui the Body Flicker during the Third Shinobi World War, Muzuki felt it was perfectly fine to teach Shisui some Body Flicker Technique first.

“Understood.” Shisui nodded without objection. After a month of learning, he had complete faith in Muzuki’s teaching ability.

Body Flicker Technique is not actually the name of a Ninjutsu, but rather a broad category of Ninjutsu. Any technique that achieves a flickering effect can be called a Body Flicker Technique.

At a higher level, Space-Time Ninjutsu like Flying Thunder God can also be considered a Body Flicker Technique, as can techniques that vitalize the body to increase speed, like Lightning Release Chakra Mode.

However, Muzuki naturally didn’t know Flying Thunder God or Lightning Release Chakra Mode. The Body Flicker Technique he mastered was the most common type.

It involved forming hand signs to gather Chakra in the legs and then bursting it out, strengthening the body to achieve high-speed movement. The drawback was that using it too many times would cause muscle fatigue and injury in the legs.

Although it was just an ordinary D-rank Taijutsu, it was very practical in combat, good for both surprise attacks and retreats.

Shisui’s talent still didn’t disappoint Muzuki. Although he hadn’t yet activated his Sharingan, his formidable talent allowed Shisui to learn the Body Flicker Technique directly after Muzuki completed one demonstration and explanation.

After Ninja Academy dismissed, Might Guy and Obito soon arrived at the training ground.

“You two, don’t rush to train yet. I’ve devised a two-month special training plan for you,” Muzuki called out to Might Guy and Obito, who were about to start training.

Hearing Muzuki’s gentle voice, Obito thought Muzuki was going to teach something new again and looked at Muzuki expectantly, asking,

“Teacher Muzuki, are you going to teach us a new powerful Ninjutsu?”

“You haven’t even fully grasped Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique and Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique yet, why would I teach you new Ninjutsu?” Muzuki shook his head.

“Then what kind of special training is it?” Obito was a little disappointed to hear there was no new Ninjutsu to learn.

“Training that will allow you to defeat Hyuga Homura in the next final exam,” Muzuki said with a smile.

“Obito, your Taijutsu is too weak. Forget Hyuga Homura, even if you fought the current Might Guy, he could prevent you from even using a single Ninjutsu, so you must strengthen your Taijutsu training.”

Hearing Muzuki’s words, Obito wanted to say something but found he couldn’t refute it, because his battles with Hyuga Homura and Might Guy had all ended in defeat, just as Muzuki described.

Although Ninja battles sometimes looked no different from a mage duel, if you truly acted like a cannon-mage and didn’t practice Taijutsu, you’d be the quickest to die on the battlefield. Generally, strong Ninja would more or less have some Taijutsu proficiency.

“As for Might Guy, what you need to do is strengthen your strong point. You need to become faster, so fast that even if Hyuga Homura’s Byakugan sees your movements, he won’t have time to dodge.”

The Byakugan’s observation ability is strong, that’s true, but Might Guy doesn’t need his speed to surpass the Byakugan’s observation; he only needs it to surpass Hyuga Homura’s reaction time.

“From now on, for every hour of training, you two will have half an hour of actual combat. You can only use Taijutsu; no Ninjutsu allowed.”

“Ah, no Ninjutsu?” Obito was dumbfounded. He already couldn’t win, and now he couldn’t even use Ninjutsu? Wasn’t this just pure beatdown?

“If you don’t want to be defeated by Hyuga Homura again next time, then you shouldn’t use Ninjutsu,” Muzuki replied.

Obito thought about the boast he made in front of Rin Nohara. Even though he already foresaw the painful training life ahead, he could only nod with tears in his eyes.

A new round of training began. Muzuki wondered if this special training would trigger a reward for his disciples’ strength growth. He hadn’t triggered it once yet, and he didn’t know how much they needed to improve to do so.