Chapter 405: Fame in the Ninja World

Name: Hanzo

Chakra: 130500

Skills: Water Release Chakra Nature Transformation (Mastery: 6100/15000), Fire Release Chakra Nature Transformation (Mastery: 2000/15000), Water Instant Body Technique (Mastery), Fire Release: Exploding Flame Array (Mastery)…

Among the Kage-level powerhouses Muzuki had appraised, Hanzo was one with relatively few skills, possessing only two mastery-level Nature Transformations, and most of his Ninjutsu were Water Release.

Although he had fewer skills, it didn’t mean Hanzo was weak. His Water Release Chakra Nature Transformation proficiency was not low, and he also had some mastery-level Water Release Ninjutsu.

Muzuki, who was familiar with the plot, also knew about some of Hanzo’s strengths not displayed on his panel: poison.

Hanzo had a Nin-Beast called Salamander, capable of spewing extremely potent, wide-ranging poison mist. Additionally, Hanzo himself had a Salamander’s poison sac implanted, which was why he always wore a mask.

If he didn’t wear a mask, the poisonous gas produced by Hanzo’s breathing could paralyze those around him.

Muzuki had to admit that Hanzo’s poison-based style somewhat countered the Breathing Technique; using the Breathing Technique while in the presence of poisonous gas would accelerate the invasion of toxins.

Muzuki was well aware of this drawback of the Breathing Technique from the beginning, so he had been planning to improve it. However, this level of improvement was even more difficult than developing a new Breathing Technique, hence the slow progress.

Muzuki had two approaches: alleviation and complete cure.

Alleviation meant adding a detoxification or poison resistance effect to the Breathing Technique, while a complete cure involved changing the Breathing Technique’s operational method so it no longer relied on normal breathing.

The former was considerably simpler than the latter, and Muzuki planned to improve it incrementally.

Besides that, one could also rely on equipment, such as wearing gas masks or oxygen masks.

The advantage of equipment was simplicity, but the disadvantage was that it could be damaged in combat.

Given the intensity of Ninja combat, being grazed by a Ninjutsu would usually destroy it.

Seeing Muzuki return safely, the Ninja’s anxious hearts finally settled.

Regardless of their personal opinions of Hanzo, any Ninja from the Land of Rain, when thinking of a powerhouse, would first recall the Demigod Hanzo.

“According to the information Hanzo provided, I’ve been put on a bounty, and the bounty amount in the black market has reached 3.5 million Liang. Next, some Ninja of Fortune might come to attack me.”

Upon returning to the team, Muzuki immediately shared the information he had obtained from Hanzo.

“Among them, there might be some Ninja of considerable strength, so the journey ahead will no longer be safe and carries a certain risk,” Muzuki warned.

If it were just a few people, Muzuki was confident he could protect them, but Muzuki wasn’t 100% sure he could protect all seventy-two people, as there were ruthless individuals like Kakuzu among the Ninja of Fortune.

If Kakuzu came, and he didn’t focus solely on Muzuki but instead attacked the team members to distract Muzuki, Muzuki couldn’t protect everyone. At most, he could kill Kakuzu to avenge them.

“Three million five hundred and fifty thousand Liang…” Ikechou’s pupils suddenly constricted.

As a wandering Ninja, he had never seen so much money, so he understood the allure of that amount.

“Those of you who wish to leave the team can do so now; no one will blame you for it,” Muzuki offered proactively.

The Ninja looked at each other, all showing signs of contemplation.

It had to be said, this was indeed a very difficult decision.

Many of them were of average strength; otherwise, they wouldn’t be thinking of learning Ninjutsu from Muzuki to become stronger.

“Ninja Master Sōsuke, don’t underestimate the Akatsuki Organization’s strength! We will not only protect ourselves but also protect you,” Yahiko said with a laugh.

Excluding Nagato as an exception, his and Konan’s strength was not weak, and Yahiko would not leave for such a reason.

Rather, he wanted to stay by Muzuki’s side even more, worried that Muzuki might encounter danger.

“My strength is average; I will try my best not to be a burden,” a Ninja decided to stay.

Leaving would certainly be safe, but that was all it would be; there was no other meaning.

Staying, however, was different. Not to mention the Ninjutsu they could learn by following Muzuki, even just watching Muzuki travel around the Land of Rain made him feel like he was witnessing new history. Compared to his previous life, he felt he had lived aimlessly.

After a period of struggle, Ikechou finally made a decision he wouldn’t have made before: he, too, would stay.

After making this decision, Ikechou himself found it unbelievable that his cautious self would actually confront danger.

Ikechou thought more deeply than the others; a 3.5 million Liang bounty might not immediately attract powerhouses like Muzuki, but as Muzuki killed the bounty hunters he attracted, Muzuki’s bounty would increase, becoming increasingly dangerous.

But he ultimately decided to stay, for reasons he didn’t fully understand.

In the end, no one chose to leave the team; everyone chose to continue following Muzuki.

This surprised Muzuki a little; he had thought at least some would leave, as these Ninja hadn’t been with him for long.

The black market bounty did not affect Muzuki’s actions. He continued to tour the Land of Rain at his own pace.

They eliminated bandits when encountered, completed local villagers’ requests for food, stayed longer for difficult requests, and less for simple ones, gradually stepping foot in more and more places.

“Turns out, I didn’t understand the Land of Rain as much as I thought,” Yahiko sighed.

He had once believed he knew the Land of Rain well enough, but only after following Muzuki and walking to every village in the Land of Rain did Yahiko realize that what he knew was just the tip of the iceberg.

Various villages and towns had different difficulties and conflicts, and he had been solely focused on bringing peace to the Land of Rain. Now he realized there were conflicts in some villages and towns that he couldn’t resolve.

“But aren’t you learning about it now?” Muzuki smiled and patted Yahiko’s head.

Muzuki’s main goal was to make Nagato a disciple on the system’s list, and in this process, he didn’t mind cultivating a revolutionary.

In the afternoon, Muzuki and his group arrived at a new village. At the village entrance, two small children were arguing about something.

“The sun is closer to people when it first rises than at noon.”

“No, no, no, the sun should be farther away when it rises than at noon.”

“When the sun first rises, it’s as big as a wheel, but at noon, it’s like a plate. Isn’t that the principle of things looking smaller when far away and bigger when close?”

“The sun is cool when it first comes out, but it’s very hot at noon. Isn’t that the principle of things being hot when close and cool when far?”

The two children argued fiercely, neither willing to yield.

“Uncle in white clothes, you look very smart. Who do you think is right?” one of the children asked Muzuki.

Muzuki showed a thoughtful expression and stepped forward, seemingly about to say something.

Whoosh!!

The two children suddenly burst into action, pulling out Kunai and stabbing towards the seemingly unprepared Muzuki.

“Ninja Master Sōsuke, be careful!” the attentive Ninja shouted quickly.

They wanted to help Muzuki but found it was too late.

Bang, bang!!

Two dull thudding sounds rang out.

Muzuki swung his fists at an extremely fast speed, striking the two attacking Ninja and knocking them to the ground.

Due to the heavy impact, their Transformation Technique instantly failed, revealing their original appearances.

“How is this possible?! He’s so fast!” The Ninja of Fortune looked at Muzuki in disbelief.

At such close range, Muzuki shouldn’t have been able to react.

Seeing Muzuki successfully deal with the sneak attackers, the accompanying Ninja breathed a sigh of relief and immediately surrounded the two attacking Ninja of Fortune.

Muzuki smiled faintly without speaking. He had mastered Transparent World, possessed sensory Ninjutsu, and had the Byakugan; no matter how well a normal Transformation Technique was practiced, it couldn’t deceive him.

After interrogating the two and obtaining information, Muzuki directly killed them.

This surprised Muzuki’s followers; it was the first time they had seen Muzuki kill someone, and they had thought Muzuki would be the type to use love to pacify enemies.

“When facing enemies who wish to kill us, we can retaliate in kind,” Muzuki said calmly.

Muzuki didn’t kill often, but when faced with someone who wanted to kill him, Muzuki would never show mercy.

The Ninja all nodded, feeling that their understanding of Muzuki had deepened somewhat.

As Muzuki continued his journey, the attacks gradually increased, and the strength of the attacking Ninja grew stronger.

However, thanks to the efforts of Muzuki, Yahiko, and others, there were no casualties in the team.

But Muzuki received bad news from the Ninja of Fortune he defeated: his bounty was continuously increasing, having already soared to 10 million Liang.

This was within Muzuki’s expectations; the more Ninja he defeated, the greater the credibility of the sage art inheritance, and naturally, the higher his bounty would become.

To enhance the combat capabilities of his followers, Muzuki assigned some less powerful Ninja of Fortune for them to deal with, allowing them to practice what they had learned in real combat.

As attacks became frequent and battles increased, Ninja Master Sōsuke’s reputation in the Land of Rain and even the Ninja World grew, and the Shinobi Sect once again entered the sight of many Ninja.

Even Obito and others far away in Konoha occasionally heard of this name.

“Ninja Master Sōsuke? How can he have that title? It’s more fitting for Muzuki Sensei,” Obito scoffed.

Obito believed that only Muzuki deserved the title of Ninja Master. In terms of teaching quality, Muzuki had taught them, several recognized young geniuses. In terms of student numbers, Muzuki had once led special training for nearly seven hundred people.

“Don’t underestimate this guy. It’s said his strength can rival Hanzo’s,” Kakashi said, shaking his head. He knew a bit more than Obito.

Although it was just a rumor, Kakashi felt that Sōsuke’s strength must be considerable; otherwise, Hanzo wouldn’t even need to act, and Hanzo’s followers alone could give Sōsuke a hard time.

“Regardless of his strength, his ambition is definitely not small, daring to shout the slogan of restoring the Shinobi Sect.” Many pieces of information about the Shinobi Sect came to Kakashi’s mind.

When he first met Muzuki, Muzuki had told him some knowledge related to Ninja Sect. Recently, Kakashi had learned more history related to the Shinobi Sect while researching information about the Six Paths Sage.

The Shinobi Sect could be said to be the origin of Ninja. Establishing a force called the Shinobi Sect in the Ninja World was almost a provocation to all other Ninja forces.

Danzo Shimura was one who felt provoked. He immediately found Hiruzen Sarutobi, wanting to send an elite Konoha Ninja squad into the Land of Rain.

“This Sōsuke is definitely not simple. To be on the safe side, Konoha must strengthen its presence in the Land of Rain,” Danzo Shimura said in a deep voice.

“This way, whether it’s a conspiracy by the Land of Rain or some scheme by this Sōsuke, we won’t be too passive.”

The Land of Rain bordered Konoha, and Danzo Shimura believed that Konoha’s current strength in the Land of Rain was insufficient to cope with the chaos in the Land of Rain.

“The situation in the Land of Rain is complex, and Konoha is already engaged in numerous wars; it’s not advisable to get involved,” Hiruzen Sarutobi directly rejected Danzo Shimura’s proposal.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had no interest in the so-called sage art inheritance. Ninjutsu wasn’t stronger just because it was older; Ninjutsu developed and improved by new-era Ninja based on previous Ninja was more effective.

Besides that, Hiruzen Sarutobi had another concern: he worried that Konoha’s excessive strength in the Land of Rain would arouse suspicion from Sunagakure.

Currently, the Land of Rain was mainly a struggle between Sunagakure and Kumogakure, with Iwagakure occasionally causing trouble.

If Konoha sent more Ninja to the Land of Rain, it might give Sunagakure the false impression that Konoha wanted to be its enemy.

“Hiruzen, you are too indecisive! This might be our chance to break the stalemate!” Danzo Shimura said with a gloomy face.

Although Danzo Shimura couldn’t articulate how to break the stalemate, it didn’t stop him from mouthing off a few words.

Because Hiruzen Sarutobi’s refusal was too direct, it greatly displeased Danzo Shimura, who felt that Hiruzen Sarutobi wasn’t taking his advice seriously.

“I am the Hokage!” Hiruzen Sarutobi reminded him calmly.

As Hokage, his power was absolute. When in a good mood, he might chat with Danzo Shimura, but for truly crucial decisions, Hiruzen Sarutobi would choose to trust himself.

Danzo Shimura’s face instantly darkened, and he walked towards the Hokage Office door without a word.

“Hiruzen, you will regret this!” With that, Danzo Shimura slammed the Hokage Office door shut and left the Hokage Building.

Danzo Shimura grew angrier the more he thought about it on his way back to Root.

He was angry that Senju Tobirama had passed the Third Hokage position to Hiruzen Sarutobi instead of him, and he was angry that Hiruzen Sarutobi gave so little face to him, his old classmate.

Most people would get angry for a moment and then calm down, but Danzo Shimura was not to be trifled with. If Hiruzen Sarutobi didn’t give him face, then he would act on his own; his Root wasn’t developed for nothing.

Danzo immediately issued orders for a portion of Root Ninja to go to the Land of Rain, followed by mobilizing Root forces outside Konoha to also head to the Land of Rain.

If it weren’t for fear of being detected by Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo would have wanted to go to the Land of Rain himself; he was very curious about that sage art inheritance.

…

A Ninja with stitches on his body exchanged a corpse for a bag of money at an exchange office. He lowered his head and flipped through the bounty book.

“Sōsuke, title Ninja Master, capable of fighting with five Chakra natures, bounty 13 million Liang, an additional 5 million Liang for live capture.”

The stitched Ninja closed the book and nodded with satisfaction.

“A perfect capture can yield 18 million Liang, which is quite good.”