Chapter 358 Training Roots

“Muzuki-sensei, why is the name of this move so strange? Why does it start with ‘Milong Legend’?” Might Guy asked Muzuki during their break.

Might Guy could understand Blade Intercepting Sword and Golden Skyline; Blade Intercepting Sword was because the move used a single-section staff with a chain, and Golden Skyline was due to the effect of the move, but he truly didn’t understand the ‘Milong Legend’ part at the beginning.

“It’s to commemorate a Ninja named Milong, by the developer,” Muzuki thought for a moment before saying.

Then, Muzuki adapted the stories of Milong and Milong II into a Ninja World context and told them to Might Guy.

Due to war, Milong was separated from his younger sister when he was a child. To let his sister know of his existence, to let her know he had the ability to protect her, and to make her return, Milong did not hesitate to fabricate lies and cooperate with a dark Ninja Organization to put on a show, shaping himself into a powerful hero.

Milong II had once, by chance, received Milong’s help, and thus greatly admired Milong.

By accident, Milong II inadvertently discovered Milong’s collaborative relationship with the dark Ninja Organization. The dark Ninja Organization wanted to kill Milong II to silence him, but Milong’s power was fake; he couldn’t protect the child who admired him with his strength.

Milong was already filled with immense guilt over his actions. He couldn’t bear to watch the dark Ninja Organization kill the child who admired heroes, so he stepped forward, exposed the truth, and admitted that he was not a hero, but just an ordinary Ninja.

Ultimately, Milong was severely injured and died amidst the scorn and contempt of others, while the child he saved resolved to inherit Milong’s name and live on, to fulfill Milong’s unfulfilled last wish.

“To commemorate Milong, Milong II named the Taijutsu he developed after learning Eight Extremities Heaven as ‘Milong Legend: Blade Intercepting Sword: Golden Skyline’!” Muzuki finally said.

“That is truly the essence of youth!” Might Guy said, clenching his fists.

With his abundant tear ducts, he was already in tears before Muzuki had even finished speaking.

“Such Taijutsu must be cultivated with the most youthful spirit!” Soon, Might Guy transformed this emotion into motivation for training, then threw himself into practice.

Muzuki smiled and nodded at this scene. Golden Skyline was very suitable for Might Guy; Might Guy never feared any difficult training.

“Perhaps in the future, the Ninja World will truly have a legend of Milong,” Muzuki thought to himself.

Because Might Guy really shouts out the names of the Taijutsu he uses.

Soon, the day passed in teaching and researching the Flying Thunder God Technique.

The next day, in the morning, Muzuki did not go to instruct his disciples nor to the Ninja Academy; instead, he arranged to meet Kushina.

Minato was currently the only Ninja in Konoha who had mastered the Flying Thunder God, and his proficiency was very high. Muzuki really wanted to consult Minato, but Minato was still on the battlefield and had not returned.

Muzuki thought that since Kushina and Minato were so close, perhaps Minato had tried to teach Kushina the Flying Thunder God, so Kushina might know some Flying Thunder God Techniques.

Muzuki, as before, arrived at the agreed location fifteen minutes early, but Kushina was even earlier. When Muzuki arrived, he found Kushina already standing there waiting for him.

“Good morning, Muzuki,” Kushina waved her arms, greeting Muzuki with a happy expression.

Although they hadn’t seen each other for some time, Kushina didn’t feel any sense of reunion after separation. She thought it might be because she ate the meals Muzuki sent her every day.

“Hmm, good morning,” Muzuki responded with a gentle smile, walking forward.

As soon as Muzuki walked over, Kushina eagerly went to meet him, then took the bento box Muzuki handed her.

“It’s different from last time,” Kushina opened it to find it was just ordinary Wagashi.

“Eating the same snack all the time will eventually get boring,” Muzuki explained. This time, it wasn’t that he wanted to eat it; he genuinely just wanted to try a different flavor.

Kushina chuckled and said, “If it’s made by you, Muzuki, I feel like I could eat it forever and never get tired of it.”

After saying that, Kushina picked up a dango and put it in her mouth. As she ate, Kushina’s eyes instantly lit up. Although it was a common snack, what Muzuki made was infinitely more delicious than what was bought in stores.

Kushina ate all the way to the small pavilion where they had met before.

“Ahem,” Kushina sat down, chest out, head held high, and said with a serious expression, “Although your snacks are delicious, Muzuki, your Sealing Technique progress hasn’t met my expectations. I won’t go easy on you.”

“Then I’ll trouble you,” Although Muzuki’s primary purpose for meeting Kushina was to ask about the Flying Thunder God Technique, Muzuki was also happy to learn a bit of Sealing Technique.

She didn’t know until she tested him, and when she did, Kushina was extremely surprised by Muzuki’s progress in Sealing Technique. Muzuki used both the Five Elements Seal and the Four Symbols Sealing very skillfully, and Muzuki answered all of Kushina’s various difficult questions very smoothly.

“Most people learn slower and slower, but why do you learn faster and faster, Muzuki?” Kushina was a bit confused.

But she quickly understood. Kushina pounded her left palm with her right fist, revealing an enlightened expression: “Could this be the accumulation of knowledge finally paying off?”

Muzuki smiled faintly and said nothing.

He had just revealed most of his Sealing Technique level, so Kushina’s shock was within his expectations.

Having reached this level of strength, there was no need to hide things so deeply; revealing a bit more actually made more sense.

“As expected of someone taught by me, Kushina!” Kushina’s fair chin tilted slightly upward, and a proud smile appeared on her face.

At this moment, she was very satisfied with her teaching level, because she had only taught two people Sealing Technique: one was Minato, and the other was Muzuki. Even Muzuki, who learned much later, had a Sealing Technique level sufficient to easily defeat most of the Ninjas in Konoha’s Sealing Squads.

Kushina was very happy, so she taught Muzuki a few more Sealing Techniques of the Uzumaki Clan.

Muzuki quietly learned, and after Kushina finished teaching, he began to talk to Kushina about the Flying Thunder God.

“I’m currently learning the Flying Thunder God Technique, but I have no ideas. It would be great if Minato were in Konoha.”

Muzuki expressed his difficulties in practicing the Flying Thunder God.

“The Flying Thunder God Technique, huh? That Ninjutsu is indeed very difficult to learn. Minato tried to teach me before, but I couldn’t learn it at all.”

Recalling the time she spent learning the Flying Thunder God, Kushina scratched her hair.

“But I think Minato is also partly to blame. When I asked him about the technique, he always said it just ‘whooshed’ by, but he couldn’t explain how it ‘whooshed’,” Kushina complained.

Kushina’s words made Muzuki fall into contemplation. This was not a good sign. If it was truly as Kushina said, then he might not be able to gain Flying Thunder God experience from Kushina or Minato.

Muzuki and Kushina chatted for a long time, finally concluding that on the matter of the Flying Thunder God, Kushina truly couldn’t provide any help.

Then Muzuki turned the topic back to Sealing Technique.

Around noon, Muzuki personally stir-fried a few hot dishes to reward Kushina, and then the two went their separate ways home.

Although he couldn’t get the Flying Thunder God Technique from Kushina, Muzuki wasn’t too disappointed. After all, Kushina didn’t know the Flying Thunder God herself; he had just gone to try his luck, and Kushina had also taught him new Sealing Techniques.

In the afternoon, Muzuki went to the South Border Forest to instruct his disciples in their training.

Kakashi still thought Muzuki would teach him a new ability today, after all, Obito and the others had learned, but he waited for a long time and there was no movement, which made Kakashi a little anxious.

Whether it was Obito’s Fire Style: Orochi Nagi or Might Guy’s Golden Skyline, they both looked very powerful, especially Golden Skyline, which truly had great destructive power.

Kakashi didn’t fret for too long. Halfway through their afternoon training, Muzuki stopped him.

“Although you can now use the Transparent World, which resolves the reaction issue, you still need to learn the Lightning Release Chakra strengthen cells technique. It can be used to strengthen other body parts,” Muzuki said.

After Thunder Breathing reached Constant State, it not only strengthened nerves but also included techniques for strengthening other body parts, further boosting the body’s explosive power to increase the power of techniques.

Good news, Muzuki did teach him a new ability. Bad news, the new ability was not what he expected.

He had thought it would be a powerful Ninjutsu or Taijutsu like Obito’s and Might Guy’s, but it turned out to be advanced training for Thunder Breathing.

Although it didn’t quite match his expectations, Kakashi was still very serious when learning.

Because he knew this was probably the most suitable for him at the moment. If there was something more suitable, Muzuki would definitely teach him, after all, Muzuki had directly taught him powerful secret techniques like Breathing Technique and Armament Haki.

If Muzuki knew Kakashi’s thoughts, he would definitely nod. That was indeed the case.

In terms of Lightning Release Ninjutsu, Kakashi already had Purple Lightning and Pseudo-Darkness, two powerful Lightning Release techniques. Kakashi generally used Earth Release Ninjutsu for support, and he had practiced a lot of that himself.

Kakashi’s Thunder Breathing had reached Constant State, and he had also mastered the Transparent World, plus those Ninjutsu. In fact, Kakashi’s repertoire of techniques was quite extensive now.

Muzuki believed that Kakashi’s most important task now was to improve his physical abilities to increase his Chakra and physical strength. Otherwise, with Kakashi’s current Chakra, using Thunderclap Flash at full power and then Purple Lightning would practically incapacitate him. In such a situation, having more Ninjutsu would be useless.

Once his Chakra increased, and he learned Armament Haki, even just using Thunder Breathing, Transparent World, and Armament Haki, his strength would not be weak.

Due to the difference in the new abilities learned, Kakashi studied even harder, hoping to make another breakthrough in his Breathing Technique soon.

Muzuki had already explained the Breathing Technique to them in detail. The Breathing Technique could be divided into four stages in total, and he was currently just entering the second stage.

Once he reached the third stage, he could enter the Lightning Release Chakra Mode, and his strength would increase significantly.

After returning in the evening, Muzuki did not practice the Flying Thunder God but instead focused on researching Sealing Technique.

The Yin Seal obtained from Tsunade was Muzuki’s main research target now.

This was a brand new challenge for Muzuki, because he wasn’t learning it; he was researching how to decipher the Yin Seal and then develop a similar Ninjutsu.

The Yin Seal was also a Sealing Technique of the Uzumaki system. Muzuki, having learned from Kushina, found his research relatively smooth, feeling much better than learning the Flying Thunder God.

Because when learning the Flying Thunder God, he felt no progress at all, whereas researching the Yin Seal, although difficult, he could feel himself moving forward.

…

Root Office.

Bang!

“Hiruzen is truly too conservative! At a time like this, he still wants to restrict Root’s power,” Danzo Shimura, whose proposal had been rejected, grew angrier the more he thought about it and couldn’t help but slam the table.

As the Ninja World situation became increasingly chaotic, Danzo Shimura repeatedly requested Hiruzen Sarutobi to expand Root’s influence to gain more advantages for Konoha in the war, but all his requests were denied. He was only allowed to replenish losses, not expand, with the reason being that Konoha’s current situation was good and expansion was unnecessary.

This left Danzo Shimura speechless. He believed that Konoha, having an advantage now, should further expand its gains and acquire greater benefits in the war to solidify its position as the top Ninja village.

But Danzo Shimura truly had no recourse, because not only did Hiruzen Sarutobi oppose it, but the two Advisors also firmly stood with Hiruzen Sarutobi.

“Can I only secretly develop power outside?” Danzo Shimura frowned deeply.

He had two major trump cards for developing Root: one was to illegally increase Root members, and the other was to secretly cultivate Root forces outside Konoha.

The former was temporarily out of the question because he had just been reprimanded by Hiruzen Sarutobi, so only the latter remained.

But the latter was the most troublesome, because Ninjas cultivated this way not only lacked Root’s official designation but also Konoha Ninja’s official designation, meaning they couldn’t receive money from Konoha.

Although Danzo Shimura was a bit reluctant, it seemed there was no better option now. Due to the inability to expand and only replenish, the war had even caused the overall strength of his Root organization to decline, as the veterans who sacrificed themselves were stronger than the newly recruited ones.

Aburame Ryoma, who was nearby, noticed Danzo’s hesitation and spoke up, “Lord Danzo, without expanding, strengthening the existing personnel can also enhance the overall strength of the organization.”

He was also considered a high-ranking member of Root, with a position only below Danzo and Orochimaru, so he was aware of some of Root’s current issues.

“Hayate Mugetsu isn’t he good at teaching? We can let him try to train the newly joined members,” Aburame Ryoma suggested.

“Hayate Mugetsu…” Danzo Shimura’s eyes flickered as he fell into thought.

He didn’t actually believe Muzuki had this ability, because teaching Ninja Academy students was different from teaching Root Ninjas. Root Ninjas were at least elites among Chunin.

“Bring me Hayate Mugetsu’s records after he entered the Ninja Academy,” Danzo Shimura said after finishing his contemplation.

Kakashi and Obito had left a deep impression on Danzo Shimura during the Chunin Exams, and Muzuki had also taught them, but he didn’t know how much of a role Muzuki specifically played, after all, one of them was the son of the White Fang and the other was an Uchiha who had awakened his Sharingan.

Soon, a Root Ninja brought all of Muzuki’s teaching records after he entered the Ninja Academy, including both class performance and holiday special training results.

Danzo compared Muzuki’s results with those of other teachers and instantly understood why Hiruzen Sarutobi wanted to poach Muzuki back then. Even if he only stayed to teach at the Ninja Academy, he was still a talent.

Danzo decided to try Muzuki out. If it succeeded, he would save a lot of money; if not, there would be no loss.

Thinking this, Danzo picked up a scroll and began to write.

There’s one more chapter, but it will be quite late. I suggest reading it tomorrow morning after you wake up.