Chapter 262 Gold Coins Exploded

The five disciples surrounded Muzuki and moved forward, arriving at the place where they had stored their gifts.

Once they reached the location, Kakashi used Earth Release Ninjutsu to retrieve the gifts buried underground.

“Muzuki-sensei, you can open your eyes now,” Obito said when he saw the gifts appear.

Muzuki opened his eyes, and a large gift box, slightly covered in dust, came into view.

“Muzuki-sensei, thank you for your guidance these past days,” all the disciples said gratefully to Muzuki.

“Muzuki-sensei, quickly open the gift and take a look. This is a gift we five made together; everyone participated in its creation,” Obito said with a mischievous grin, looking forward to Muzuki’s expression when he saw their gift.

“You made it yourselves? Then I’m really looking forward to it,” Muzuki said with a smile, slowly reaching for the gift box.

All the disciples watched Muzuki, focusing on his hands and face, wanting to see what expression Muzuki would have when he saw the gift they had prepared together.

When the box was opened, the sculptures inside were revealed. Muzuki looked at them, first with a hint of surprise, then his smile grew warmer, and finally, his face showed deep satisfaction.

To be honest, when he actually saw the gift his disciples had prepared for him, Muzuki was genuinely a little surprised.

Initially, it was just a slight guess Muzuki had due to some flaws in his disciples’ behavior, but it wasn’t until they came to bury the gifts at night that Muzuki officially confirmed it.

Because Tenten was training in the South Border Forest, Muzuki had a Shadow Clone hidden there to prevent any problems, so he knew about the disciples’ intention to give him a gift in advance.

Although he already knew, seeing the thoughtful gift his disciples had prepared for him, Muzuki felt a little touched.

It was easy to tell that each character sculpture was made by a different person. Kakashi’s sculpture was exquisitely detailed, with meticulous attention to every aspect from his face to his clothes.

Might Guy’s sculpture was very bold, focusing on characteristic features, depicting his bowl cut and thick eyebrows, while other details were greatly simplified.

Because he observed them very carefully, Muzuki even noticed that the short blade in the hand of Shisui’s sculpture was the birthday gift he had given Shisui.

When he saw his own sculpture, Muzuki once again felt the sincerity of his disciples. His sculpture could be said to have integrated the essence of all the other sculptures. The head was extremely delicate; even Muzuki himself had to admit it was proportionally scaled down from his own head. Furthermore, although various parts looked slightly uncoordinated, it was a minor flaw that did not detract from the overall excellent quality. Muzuki guessed someone made overall adjustments after it was finished.

Muzuki stood in the very center, maintaining a similar distance from each disciple. Obito was practicing Fire Release, Kakashi was practicing Thunder Breathing sword techniques, Shisui was practicing with a short blade, Rin Nohara was practicing Mystical Palm Technique, and Might Guy was practicing Taijutsu. Every disciple was practicing with a serious expression; this was their daily training routine.

“I am very satisfied with this gift. It must have been difficult for you all to create such a wonderful gift while still training Tenten,” Muzuki said with a gentle smile, patting his disciples’ small heads.

Perhaps at first, he had taught Obito with a very utilitarian goal, trying every means to make Obito and the others trigger rewards, but after spending time together, Muzuki’s thoughts had slowly changed.

Now, he preferred to naturally utilize his disciples’ emotions to acquire rewards. After all, the essence of the system was that the stronger his disciples became, the stronger he would become. As long as his disciples could grow up healthy, his gains would not be small.

“It’s nothing, really. Compared to the help you’ve given us, Muzuki-sensei, the time we spent on the gift is insignificant,” Obito said with a joyful smile, seeing that their feelings had been conveyed.

From being a dead last to the top of the Ninja Academy, defeating the genius he once admired, and then becoming known as a genius himself, the extent of his turnaround within this year was immense, and Obito’s gratitude towards Muzuki was just as great.

“Yes, Muzuki-sensei, you can be even greedier. Your help to us has long exceeded the scope of an ordinary teacher,” Shisui also said with a smile, seeing Muzuki’s gentle expression.

Shisui became a disciple earlier than Obito and Might Guy, but his trust level three promotion was later than Obito and Might Guy. However, his trust level four was much earlier, showing how much Shisui trusted Muzuki after that birthday.

In Shisui’s heart, Muzuki was almost like family, always accompanying him, caring for him immensely, and immediately comforting him whenever he felt even slightly down.

“It’s because of you, Muzuki-sensei, that my youth could ignite so quickly!” Listening to Obito and Shisui’s words, Might Guy couldn’t help but recall the changes since becoming Muzuki’s disciple, and tears of emotion streamed down his face.

Although he was ridiculed and only got into the Ninja Academy through supplementary enrollment, Might Guy’s goal had always been to be the strongest. He firmly believed that he could continuously strive towards being the strongest through relentless effort.

However, the path to becoming the strongest was arduous. Because he was a supplementary enrollee, coupled with his consistently poor performance and ranking last in exams, Might Guy quickly became known as the dead last to everyone. No one believed he could truly become strong; they only thought he would struggle to graduate.

When he challenged Kakashi, he was defeated in one move. When he participated in the practical exam, he was quickly defeated in the first round, receiving an extremely low score. At that time, his efforts seemed to have little effect.

When he accidentally heard someone mocking his father, he couldn’t help but feel angry and wanted revenge, but he was easily defeated by the opponent, only able to helplessly watch as the opponent continued to mock.

The continuous setbacks, even for someone as strong-willed as Might Guy, would occasionally cause a flicker of doubt, though it would quickly disappear, it always caused temporary unhappiness.

Everything changed after he met Muzuki. In the first exam of the first semester of Fourth Grade, Might Guy became first in his class for the first time, and for the first time, he participated in the Grade Level Practical Exam, achieving second place. This was just the beginning. With Muzuki’s guidance and his own efforts, he successfully secured first place in the year-end exam.

Soon after learning Rock Breathing, he encountered someone speaking ill of his father again. It wasn’t the same group of people, but the words were similar. Might Guy, as before, directly confronted them, but this time he was stronger. He used his own strength to protect his father’s reputation, defeating the two Ninja who mocked his father.

At that moment, Might Guy truly felt that all his efforts were worthwhile; he had protected what he wanted to protect.

Then he surpassed his genius friend, whom he had always regarded as his rival, proving that a hardworking genius is also a genius.

All of this, without Muzuki’s help, he would not have been able to accomplish within a year.

“Because Muzuki-sensei is here, dreams don’t seem so out of reach,” Rin Nohara said softly.

She had a very grand dream, but lacked the talent to match it.

She wanted to save people injured by war and prevent war from happening again, but this was not a dream an ordinary person could achieve.

So, during her time at the Ninja Academy, Rin Nohara greatly admired Kakashi, believing that a genius like Kakashi might be able to achieve it.

After studying with Muzuki, Rin Nohara felt different. Mystical Palm Technique gave her the power to heal teammates, and Mystical Palm Technique gave her the ability to fight enemies. She felt that she too could stand alongside Kakashi and the others to achieve her dream.

Listening to the other disciples’ words, Kakashi, who joined the team latest, also had memories flash through his eyes.

He joined the team relatively late, but learned a lot from Muzuki, not just Ninjutsu and secret techniques, but also many life lessons, and shared some unforgettable moments with Muzuki.

Muzuki found him depressed by the river, talked with him to resolve his doubts, protected him so calmly that his clothes weren’t even damaged after he was ambushed by an enemy Jonin, and when he suffered insomnia agonizing over his father’s death, Muzuki took him back and patiently guided him. The taste of the hearty breakfast the next day still lingered in Kakashi’s memory, and Muzuki’s figure standing alone as a rearguard was deeply etched in his mind.

Thinking of this, Kakashi handed Muzuki the gift he had prepared separately and said:

“Muzuki-sensei, this is a personal gift I prepared for you. I’m truly grateful for these past few months.”

Kakashi felt that without Muzuki, he might still be living like a zombie, numb and meaningless.

“Another gift,” Muzuki said, a little surprised, not expecting Kakashi to have prepared an additional gift for him.

“We all prepared one together, and then each prepared one individually,” Shisui explained, also handing his gift to Muzuki.

His gift was not easy to carry, so he had also put it in the South Border Forest. As soon as he arrived, he had sent a Shadow Clone to retrieve it, and it had just arrived.

“We have to thank Muzuki-sensei for your guidance. How can one gift be enough? One each is the least we can do,” Obito said with a mischievous grin, taking out a gift box and handing it to Muzuki.

“This gift embodies my youth!” Might Guy said with a radiant smile as he gave his gift to Muzuki.

Looking at these small hands and the gifts they held, Muzuki smiled sincerely. He accepted all the gifts and stored them together in a scroll.

“It’s time for dinner. Let’s all go to my place to eat,” Muzuki didn’t say any more words of thanks, but instead invited all his disciples home for dinner.

With his current strength, he didn’t need to hide too much. It wouldn’t matter if the news that Shisui and Rin Nohara were his disciples got out; in fact, it would further demonstrate the strength of his teaching ability.

“Yay!” Obito couldn’t help but jump up and cheer. After the excitement, being able to eat a dinner made by Muzuki was one of the happiest things in the world for Obito.

“Hmm, but I need to go back and tell my family first, otherwise Mom and Dad will worry about me,” Rin Nohara agreed with a smile.

Shisui quickly nodded. He had not yet been to Muzuki’s home in the Main urban area. Kakashi, who also lived alone, also nodded directly in agreement.

Finally, Muzuki took Shisui and Kakashi to his home in the Main urban area first, while the other disciples went home to inform their elders before going to Muzuki’s house.

When Muzuki arrived at the door, he just happened to see Minato about to knock on his door.

“Minato,” Muzuki greeted Minato. Usually, at this time, he would be about to start preparing dinner.

Hearing a familiar voice, but from behind him, Minato was a little stunned.

“I had some things to take care of today, so I came back a little late. Let’s go in together,” Muzuki said with a smile.

“Minato-senpai,” Kakashi greeted Minato.

Although Shisui didn’t know Minato, he politely addressed him as Minato-senpai.

Minato smiled in response, then walked into Muzuki’s home with the others.

“Why does this person feel a bit like Muzuki-sensei?” A thought immediately popped into Shisui’s mind as he looked at Minato’s warm smile.

Coupled with Minato’s familiar demeanor upon entering, Shisui guessed that Minato was a close relative of Muzuki.

As if sensing Shisui’s thoughts, Kakashi quietly reminded him:

“Minato-senpai just looks a bit like Muzuki-sensei, and they have a very good relationship, but they’re not relatives.”

Kakashi felt that if someone saw the two of them for the first time, it would be easy to misunderstand.

Shisui’s expression was a little surprised, but he quickly adjusted it back to normal.

“Is that child also your disciple?” Minato noticed Shisui’s gaze and asked curiously.

“Yes,” Muzuki nodded, acknowledging it. He had prepared for this when he brought Shisui over.

“Muzuki, you are truly diligent. Including this one, you already have five disciples,” Minato praised, feeling that Muzuki was a model teacher in the Ninja World.

As a Jonin instructor, he could also earn some commission fees while taking on disciples. Muzuki was purely cultivating talent for Konoha.

“Five disciples aren’t too bad. When I was doing special training, I once taught over three hundred students in one go,” Muzuki said with a chuckle.

Minato’s expression was a little surprised. That was quite a lot. Konoha only dispatched a little over a thousand Ninja during the war with Iwagakure.

“Muzuki-sensei, we’re here.”

Obito’s voice came from outside the door.

“Come in, everyone,” Muzuki replied, slightly raising his voice.

Then Obito, Rin Nohara, and Might Guy walked into Muzuki’s home.

“Minato-senpai,” Upon seeing Minato, Obito greeted him and introduced Minato to Rin Nohara.

“Don’t let Minato-senpai and Muzuki-sensei’s similar looks fool you, they’re not brothers. Of course, it doesn’t rule out that they’re twins separated at birth.”

Rin Nohara looked at Minato curiously, feeling that he indeed resembled Muzuki quite a bit.

Slap!

A transparent burst of force accurately hit Obito’s head, making a crisp sound.

“Minato, I’m sorry, Obito’s thinking isn’t quite normal, please bear with him,” Muzuki said to Minato with an apologetic look.

“It’s fine, I don’t mind,” Minato said with a smiling shake of his head, his gaze towards Obito and Rin Nohara filled with curiosity and goodwill. These two were also his future students.

Then Muzuki continued to cook in the kitchen, while Minato helped beside him.

Although Minato really wanted to stay for dinner and get to know his three future students in advance, Kushina was still waiting for him to eat, so he could only say goodbye to Muzuki after the meal was ready.

Because he had quite a few disciples, plus portions for Kushina and Minato, Muzuki prepared an incredibly lavish feast, featuring not only various dishes from his previous life but also local Ninja World cuisine.

“This is too much happiness! Eating so many dishes at once!” Smelling the different aromas filling the table, Obito’s mouth began to water uncontrollably.

“Eat quickly, some dishes don’t taste as good when they’re cold,” Muzuki also sat down at the table and reminded them with a smile, picking up a vegetable to eat.

Muzuki’s action was like blowing a charge horn; the five disciples immediately began to eat at high speed.

During the intense eating, in order to quickly grab what they liked, Obito activated his Sharingan, and Kakashi used Chakra to strengthen his body, causing his chopsticks to appear as blurs.

After eating, the disciples all helped clean up. They weren’t good at cooking, but washing dishes and wiping tables were things anyone with hands could do.

“Muzuki-sensei, you can see if the gift is to your liking,” Obito suggested after the chores were done.

The other disciples also looked at Muzuki. The gift they made together had already been approved; it would be even better if their individual gifts could make Muzuki happy.

Muzuki smiled and nodded, taking the gifts out of a scroll.

He first unwrapped Shisui’s gift because it was the longest and most conspicuous.

Muzuki opened the exquisite gift box, which contained a approximately one-meter-long katana. He took the katana out and examined it carefully.

“Wow, what a cool sword!” Obito praised when he saw it. He thought the flame pattern on the scabbard was simply too cool.

“It is indeed beautiful enough,” Muzuki nodded in approval, then drew the blade from its sheath and infused it with Fire Release Chakra.

Blazing flames ignited on the blade, leaving trails of fire in the air as Muzuki swung it.

Seeing this effect, Muzuki knew that the sword must have cost a lot of money, likely incorporating some precious materials.

“Muzuki-sensei, I want to learn this!” Obito’s eyes lit up, as if he could already see his cool figure defeating one strong enemy after another with a flaming blade.

“This is simple. You just need to continue diligently studying Flame Breathing to be able to do it,” Muzuki said with a chuckle as he returned the sword to its sheath.

The localized Breathing Technique doesn’t force one to use a sword, but if one wants to use a sword, it’s possible.

“Of course, even if you learn it, don’t use it at home like I did. If you can’t control it, you’ll burn down the house,” Muzuki reminded him.

“Shisui, I can tell you put a lot of thought into this. I’m very happy to receive such a wonderful gift,” Muzuki showed a genuine smile.

Shisui, an orphan, gave him such a valuable gift. If he didn’t know that Shisui would definitely not accept it, Muzuki would have wanted to give Shisui five hundred thousand Ryo.

Shisui’s lips curved upwards, and he smiled, saying, “As long as Muzuki-sensei is happy.”

Next, Muzuki unwrapped Obito’s gift and found it was an inkstone carved with a dragon, though the dragon wasn’t very imposing, and the details were quite lacking.

“I still had too little time. When my skills improve, I’ll give Muzuki-sensei an even better-looking one,” Obito scratched his head and chuckled awkwardly.

“I’m very satisfied with this one,” Muzuki said with a smile, patting Obito’s head.

Actually, he didn’t care much about the gift itself, but rather the thought his disciple put into it moved him.

An inkstone or a katana, if he wanted them, couldn’t he get them?

Next, Muzuki unwrapped Kakashi’s gift, which was a nice-looking brush. There were also faint words, “Conviction,” on the brush.

“Kakashi, I will make good use of this brush of yours that embodies conviction,” Muzuki’s mind flashed with some of his previous conversations with Kakashi, and he said with a smile.

“It just has the words ‘conviction’ written on it. If it can’t be used someday, I’ll make a new one,” Kakashi replied. No matter how well a brush was protected, it was ultimately a consumable.

The mask covered Kakashi’s expression, but from Kakashi’s words and eyes, Muzuki felt that Kakashi was in a very good mood.

Seeing that Kakashi’s gift was a brush, Obito instantly felt that not giving a brush was the right decision. It wouldn’t be good if the gifts were identical, and even worse if his was inferior.

Might Guy’s gift surprised Muzuki a little, because it wasn’t a green jumpsuit, or even a jumpsuit at all, but rather a picture book. The art style was cartoonish. Muzuki flipped through it and found that Might Guy had drawn everything that happened after he met him, essentially a diary.

“This is truly a significant undertaking,” Muzuki exclaimed, as Might Guy’s memory was generally average, and drawing was also an unfamiliar field for Might Guy.

“Recording youth is no problem for me, who is full of youth!” Might Guy showed two rows of big white teeth and laughed heartily.

He really wanted to give a jumpsuit, not because it was easy, but because he wanted to promote the jumpsuit. However, just as Obito said, not everyone liked jumpsuits, so Might Guy ultimately held back, and he found that drawing was also a good way to express ideas.

Rin Nohara’s gift was also very special: a flower that was about to bloom.

“I had my family buy seeds and planted this myself,” Rin Nohara said with a smile.

“Although I have no experience in growing flowers, I will try my best to keep it alive,” Muzuki said with a smile, thanking her.

He felt that if his disciples could return gifts to their teacher, they should have received substantial rewards by now.

Taking advantage of everyone’s happiness, Muzuki also took out some suitable calligraphy works and gave them to his disciples.

For example, Might Guy received something related to self-improvement and effort, while Kakashi received something related to conviction. Obito received something about unwavering determination, reminding him not to forget his goals…

【You gifted your disciple your personal calligraphy. Due to your disciple’s immense gratitude, the reward was a huge critical hit, and you received the reward — Wind Release Chakra Nature Transformation (Mastery Level)】

Seeing the sudden reward pop up, Muzuki nodded with satisfaction in his heart.

He specifically gave Kakashi the first gift because he felt he had too much Fire Release and taijutsu, and wanted to get some other rewards. As a result, Kakashi directly gave him a Mastery-level Wind Release Nature Transformation.

The disciple return rewards would occasionally randomize. Muzuki felt that this randomization was very good. Kakashi, who was skilled in Lightning Release and Earth Release Ninjutsu, would definitely have opportunities to get Lightning Release and Earth Release in the future, and none of his current disciples were skilled in Wind Release.

“I’m truly grateful. Today was simply too joyful,” Muzuki exclaimed to his five disciples.

Putting aside the new Chakra Mastery reward, he was genuinely very happy today.

His praise for his disciples was positive feedback for them, and his disciples’ thoughtful preparation of gifts for Muzuki was also positive feedback for him.

Receiving so many heartfelt gifts all at once, Muzuki wasn’t a heartless person; he couldn’t help but feel something.

“As long as Muzuki-sensei is happy, that’s all that matters. Your happiness proves our efforts were worth it,” Obito said with an excited smile.

The other disciples all nodded. Muzuki usually told them that their growth was his greatest reward, and today it was their turn.

“Muzuki-sensei, your happiness is our greatest affirmation,” the disciples said in unison.

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