Chapter 251 Sarutobi Hiruzen’s Surprise

On the fifth day after returning to Konoha, Muzuki received his Ninjutsu Pavilion pass and went to the Ninjutsu Pavilion to choose Ninjutsu.

He could choose ten Ninjutsu, and if he chose well, it would significantly boost his apparent strength.

He didn’t have many good Ninjutsu that he could openly use; usually, he used Ninjutsu that could be traced to a source. Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique and Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet were given to him by Danzo, and Vacuum Sphere was a reward from Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Additionally, he had legalized some relatively common Ninjutsu through various opportunities, such as using Water Formation Wall and Water Dragon Bullet when teaching Asuma, which would be recorded because of the Third Hokage or Anbu’s observation. He also used a Water Severing Wave during a battle with a Tailed Beast.

However, this method could only be used for very common Ninjutsu, and Hiruzen Sarutobi wouldn’t care about Ninjutsu that many people knew.

Konoha primarily controlled high-level Ninjutsu and forbidden Ninjutsu. After becoming a Ninja, it wasn’t difficult to learn common Ninjutsu.

Moreover, in battle, most Ninja couldn’t really use many Ninjutsu; most relied on Taijutsu and Ninja tools for damage. Learning too many was useless, as they didn’t have that much Chakra.

If Muzuki were to use Water Severing Wave, it would be a problem because it was a high-level Water Release developed by Senju Tobirama, which most people couldn’t learn, not even Root members.

Muzuki didn’t know if the Ninjutsu Pavilion had Tobirama’s Water Severing Wave. If it did, he would definitely choose it. Water Severing Wave was very difficult to learn, and his ability to learn it would prove his Water Release talent.

At first, Muzuki thought the Ninjutsu Pavilion would be hidden in some secret place protected by a barrier, but when he went there, he found it wasn’t on the surface at all; it was built underground, with Ninja guarding the entrance.

Muzuki showed his pass, and the guard scrutinized it before nodding and opening the door.

Inside the door, there was also a middle-aged Ninja on duty. Muzuki handed him the pass.

“You can choose any ten Ninjutsu from all available Ninjutsu, regardless of rank. However, I suggest you choose Ninjutsu that suits you, rather than just looking at the Ninjutsu rank,” the middle-aged Ninja said as he took the pass and reminded him.

It was rare for someone to get ten free choices at once, and he saw that Muzuki was very young, so he specifically reminded Muzuki.

The ranking of Ninjutsu wasn’t actually based on its power, but on the difficulty of learning it. So, the higher the rank, the harder it was to learn. Choosing a bunch of high-level Ninjutsu raised questions about whether one could learn them and how long it would take.

Of course, that’s not to say high-level Ninjutsu aren’t powerful. In fact, high-level Ninjutsu are generally quite strong. The reason they’re harder to learn is because they incorporate high-difficulty Nature Transformation and Form Transformation, along with various profound Ninjutsu knowledge. Therefore, their power won’t be lacking; the main problem is that they are very difficult to master and can waste a lot of time.

“Thank you for the reminder,” Muzuki replied with a smile.

Although this advice didn’t apply to him, it was appropriate to say thank you when faced with someone else’s kindness.

Muzuki scanned the entire Ninjutsu Pavilion. It was laid out similarly to Konoha’s library, just much smaller.

Two-meter-high bookshelves were filled with various Ninjutsu scrolls, and in front of each scroll was a small plaque with a brief description of the Ninjutsu.

Muzuki first went to the nearest Water Release Ninjutsu area. Of the five basic natures, he could currently use Wind, Fire, and Water openly, so these three would have a slightly higher priority.

Muzuki flipped through for a while and indeed saw Water Severing Wave there. The small plaque directly stated its extreme difficulty, recommending against it for Ninja who were not proficient in Water Release and skilled in Form Transformation.

Muzuki directly took down the Water Severing Wave scroll, then continued to browse. He also saw other Water Release Ninjutsu developed by Tobirama, but Muzuki didn’t choose any of them. He walked out of the Water Release area with just the Water Severing Wave and entered the Fire Release area.

Muzuki looked around and found that there was no Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique here, so he went directly to the Wind Release area. His apparent Fire Release was also sufficient.

Perhaps Wind Blade was unique to Hidden Sand Village, as Muzuki didn’t see it here, but he did see Vortex and immediately picked it up.

He had encountered Vortex twice during classes. This was more useful than Great Breakthrough, whether for Combination Ninjutsu or for solo use.

Next, Muzuki chose Lightning Release: Thunderclap, then Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall, and then also picked Mystical Palm Technique and a series of other Ninjutsu.

Being able to openly use Mystical Palm Technique was quite important to him. He wouldn’t have to secretly treat his disciples, and he could use it as a medical Ninja to approach Tsunade.

After choosing, Muzuki went to the entrance to register with the Ninja on duty.

Looking at the ten Ninjutsu Muzuki had chosen, the middle-aged Ninja couldn’t help but feel a little strained. Among the ten Ninjutsu, there were six different Chakra Nature Transformations, and all were high-level Ninjutsu of B-rank or higher.

“Are you sure you want to choose these? You can still change them now. If I register them, you won’t be able to,” the middle-aged Ninja reminded him one last time.

“Yes, I’m sure. Thank you,” Muzuki nodded with a smile.

Seeing Muzuki nod, the middle-aged Ninja said nothing more and helped Muzuki complete the registration.

After choosing the Ninjutsu, Muzuki went to South Border Forest to continue teaching his disciples. In addition to teaching his disciples, Muzuki also practiced the Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique that Hiruzen Sarutobi had given him.

To better solidify his image as a genius Ninjutsu Ninja, he would seek Hiruzen Sarutobi for Ninjutsu instruction, and then openly use the Ninjutsu Hiruzen Sarutobi taught him.

Perhaps because he had master-level Water Release Chakra Nature Transformation, plus many memories of practicing Water Release in his mind, Muzuki’s practice progress was quite fast, much faster than his impression of the original owner’s Fire Release practice. He mastered the Great Waterfall Technique in about a week.

At seven o’clock that evening, the day he mastered it, Muzuki went to Hiruzen Sarutobi’s house.

“Muzuki-sensei,” Asuma immediately smiled and greeted Muzuki when he saw him.

“Muzuki-sensei, why are you here? It’s so late, you can’t be here for tutoring, can you?” Asuma asked curiously.

He hadn’t trained with Muzuki for a long time and missed it quite a bit.

“Muzuki must be here to ask me about Ninjutsu,” Hiruzen Sarutobi, sitting in a chair, said leisurely.

Before Muzuki could answer, Asuma looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi with a suspicious expression and said, “You teach Muzuki-sensei? Really? What would you teach?”

Feeling his son’s distrust, Hiruzen Sarutobi’s face couldn’t help but darken. He was the Third Hokage, renowned throughout the Ninja World, a Ninjutsu professor who had mastered thousands of Ninjutsu and secret techniques. Teaching Muzuki, this young Jonin, was more than enough.

“The Sandaime is going to teach me Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique and Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique. Both are A-rank Ninjutsu, and both are quite powerful. The Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique, in particular, was created by the Sandaime himself,” Muzuki said with a smile at this moment.

Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced at Asuma, his look as if to say, even the teacher you respect so much respects me.

Asuma immediately felt a surge of displeasure and said, “Is this Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique really that powerful? Why have I never heard of it? The First Hokage’s Wood Release, for example, is famous throughout the Ninja World and known by everyone.”

Hiruzen Sarutobi was speechless. Comparing the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique to Wood Release was certainly impossible. This was just an offensive Ninjutsu developed based on the Shadow Clone Technique; how could it compare to Wood Release?

“It certainly can’t compare to the First Hokage’s Wood Release, but you’ll see how powerful it is in a moment,” Hiruzen Sarutobi decided to teach Muzuki while also broadening Asuma’s horizons.

Hiruzen Sarutobi led the two into the backyard, then threw a handful of Shuriken into the air.

“Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!” Hiruzen Sarutobi quickly formed hand signs after the Shuriken flew out.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!!

The Shuriken split into two, then two split into four. In the blink of an eye, one Shuriken transformed into thousands of Shuriken, all fiercely embedding themselves into the ground.

Thousands of Shuriken landed at once, immediately splashing up a large amount of green grass and sand, and the ground was annoyingly covered with Shuriken.

“How was that?” Hiruzen Sarutobi stroked his small beard, looking at Muzuki and Asuma with a smile.

This Ninjutsu was one of his proudest creations, incredibly powerful.

The Shuriken thrown by a Ninja were not on the same level of power as projectiles thrown by ordinary people. For a Ninja of his caliber, a thrown Shuriken could pierce through boulders. And the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique could turn one such Shuriken into a thousand or ten thousand, making it difficult for enemies to dodge.

“The power is indeed pretty good,” Asuma had to admit that this seemingly unimpressive Ninjutsu was actually quite formidable.

“Muzuki, have you looked at the Ninjutsu scrolls I gave you these past few days?” Seeing his son impressed by the power of his Ninjutsu, Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled with satisfaction, then asked Muzuki.

“Yes, I’ve already started learning it. I can use it preliminarily, it’s just not as proficient as you, Sandaime-sama,” Muzuki thought for a moment and replied.

“You can use it already? Then demonstrate it for me to see,” Hiruzen Sarutobi was slightly surprised.

Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique was even more difficult than Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu, because creating Shadow Clones of a material object like a Shuriken was harder than creating Shadow Clones of oneself. It was considered one of the more difficult A-rank Ninjutsu.

If Muzuki could learn it in half a month, Hiruzen Sarutobi would have been very impressed. But Muzuki could use it after only a week, which made it hard for him not to be surprised.

Muzuki pulled out a Shuriken, quickly threw it, and immediately gathered Chakra to form hand signs.

“Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!”

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!!

The Shuriken quickly created clones, soon turning into dozens of Shuriken, which then embedded themselves into the ground.

Hiruzen Sarutobi exhaled wisps of white smoke, his gaze towards Muzuki filled with even more admiration. He had originally just thought that educating talent was useless in Root, but he unexpectedly discovered a Ninjutsu genius.

“So amazing! Did you learn it in just a few days? As expected of Muzuki-sensei!” Asuma said excitedly.

“Cough, cough.” Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was smoking, choked on Asuma’s words.

He created thousands of Shuriken and it was only ‘pretty good’, but Muzuki created dozens and it was ‘amazing’. Whose son was this, anyway?

“Asuma, go back inside and take a bath quickly.” With the thought of ‘out of sight, out of mind’, Hiruzen Sarutobi sent Asuma back into the house.

“Muzuki-sensei, keep up the good work! When you learn it, come and teach me. The old man doesn’t know how to teach people at all,” Asuma cheered Muzuki on before leaving, casually badmouthing his own father.

“Muzuki, please excuse him,” Hiruzen Sarutobi rubbed his forehead, a little headache, and said to Muzuki with a helpless expression.

He, a dignified Ninjutsu professor, was told by his own child to his face that he couldn’t teach people.

“Children Asuma’s age are more rebellious and don’t always say what they mean. He probably still respects you very much in his heart,” Muzuki said with a smile.

In fact, in Muzuki’s judgment, it was almost inevitable that Hiruzen Sarutobi and Asuma would have conflicts when Asuma was young, as there were too many contributing factors.

The conflict between Asuma’s personality and Hiruzen Sarutobi’s personality, and the pressure that came with being the Third Hokage’s son, led to too many points of discord between them.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was indeed very good at being a politician, but as a father, his performance was actually quite ordinary.

“I know he’s still young, so I don’t pay too much attention. He’ll understand everything I’ve done for him when he grows up,” Hiruzen Sarutobi took off his pipe, a hint of a smile on his face.

Then, Hiruzen Sarutobi began teaching Muzuki the secret to consistently creating more Shuriken with the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique.

“Muzuki, what do you think of working at the Ninja Academy?” Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly asked Muzuki.

“If you don’t want to work at the Ninja Academy, I can make you a Jonin instructor, and your students can remain the same as your intern squad.”

Now that Muzuki had shown the strength to defeat Hidan and displayed unusual Ninjutsu talent, Hiruzen Sarutobi had the idea of nurturing Muzuki as a priority.

Compared to teaching at the Ninja Academy, Jonin instructors had more flexible teaching hours, could decide their disciples’ teaching schedules themselves, allowing them more time to improve their strength, and could earn a lot of money by completing missions to purchase training resources.

Muzuki shook his head, declining the Third Hokage’s kind offer, and explained with a smile:

“Thank you for your kindness, Third Hokage-sama, but I really enjoy teaching at the Ninja Academy and I really like the students there. I genuinely feel relaxed and happy teaching at the Ninja Academy.”

“But please rest assured, Sandaime-sama, besides teaching, I am also diligently improving myself. The more knowledge I master, the more excellent students I can teach.”

Hiruzen Sarutobi wanted to say that you don’t need to be that powerful to teach Ninja Academy students, but the words caught in his throat and turned into encouragement. After all, it was Muzuki’s own choice.

He guessed that perhaps Muzuki had seen too much darkness during his time in Root, which was why he liked the Ninja Academy, full of innocent children, so much.

“Danzo, you almost ruined a genius.” Relieved that he had pulled Muzuki out of Root, Hiruzen Sarutobi decided that after the war, he would strengthen his control over Root.

Besides demonstrating the learned Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique, Muzuki also asked Hiruzen Sarutobi some questions about the Great Waterfall Technique, laying the groundwork for his next Water Release demonstration.

…

The next day at noon, after completing their morning training, everyone began to rest. Muzuki selected some of Shisui’s problems to explain, and had all the students come to observe and learn.

4k, maybe I’ve been staying up too late coding recently, always writing until one or two in the morning. Today, my condition is a bit off, my brain feels very sluggish. I probably won’t reach 10k words today, maybe around 7k, to prevent sudden death.