Chapter 488: A Bit of Inspiration from Breath of the Sun

After a day of training, Shisui returned home to the Uchiha Clan Compound with Zorua.

“Shisui, I’m so hungry,” Zorua said, collapsing on the floor, expressing his desire for food.

To prevent Zorua from having too much energy and playing pranks on others, Shisui had given him a rigorous workout.

Zorua didn’t have the same stamina as Riolu, so he was both tired and hungry.

“Let’s have some gourmet instant food first,” Shisui said, taking out the secret dog food he had bought from the Inuzuka Clan and pouring it into a small bowl, which he placed in front of Zorua.

Because Zorua was quite intelligent, Shisui was worried he would resist if he called it “dog food,” so he used a different term.

To properly raise Zorua, Shisui had consulted a lot of information about foxes.

Raising a fox was actually quite simple, as foxes are omnivores and can eat meat, vegetables, and fruits.

Moreover, being a Nin-Beast, a newborn Zorua was not as fragile as an ordinary fox and didn’t have as many precautions.

Shisui himself had arranged a diet for Zorua based on the requirements of various nutrients.

Zorua buried his head in the small bowl and began to eat with great relish.

Then, Shisui began to prepare dinner for himself and Zorua.

Although he was just cooking for a Nin-Beast, Shisui felt as if his home was a bit livelier with an extra presence; there was more to do, but his mood was also a bit more cheerful.

Knock knock.

Not long after Shisui finished dinner, there was a knock on his door.

When Shisui opened the door, he found an elder from the Uchiha Clan’s Dove Faction, with two Dove Faction Uchiha Jonin standing behind him.

“Shisui, have you just finished eating?” Uchiha Keqiu greeted him with a smile.

“Yes, Elder Keqiu, have you?” Shisui replied, ushering the three into the living room.

“I just finished too. I happened to be strolling nearby, so I came to talk to you about recent clan matters,” Uchiha Keqiu said with a chuckle, stating his purpose.

Although Shisui was only a nine-year-old Uchiha boy, his performance at the last clan meeting had impressed Uchiha Keqiu.

Coupled with the inclination Shisui had shown, Uchiha Keqiu wanted to train Shisui as the next elder.

No, the current Shisui no longer needed his training; Shisui merely lacked an opportunity to become an elder.

Shisui nodded, showing an interested expression but remaining silent, appearing to listen intently.

“Now, Shisui, your strength is recognized by everyone, but while the Uchiha Clan values strength, it will not easily allow someone with no contribution to the clan to hold a high position,” Uchiha Keqiu said.

Because Shisui had defeated Uchiha Sheng Qing, the Uchiha Clan members would regard them as equals, but this did not mean Shisui was qualified to be an elder.

“Now that you, Shisui, have become a Jonin, you can actually choose to join the Police Force. With your strength and Ninja rank, you will immediately be given important responsibilities upon joining the Police Force, and you can also gain the recognition of the clan members by demonstrating your abilities,” Uchiha Keqiu pointed out a clear path for Shisui.

As the exclusive department of the Uchiha Clan, in the eyes of many Uchiha, achieving success in the Police Force was equivalent to contributing to the Uchiha Clan.

One thing Uchiha Keqiu didn’t explicitly state was that the Police Force was safer.

Police Force Ninja only needed to maintain order within Konoha Village; war missions had nothing to do with them.

If Police Force Ninja had to go to the battlefield, it would only prove one thing: Konoha’s Ninja power was severely insufficient, and even Genin who had just graduated might have to go to the battlefield.

Upon hearing Uchiha Keqiu’s words, Shisui shook his head internally.

Perhaps it was the blindness of those involved or the allure of power, but the entire Uchiha Clan, surprisingly, had not a single Ninja who recognized the danger of the Police Force.

Both the Hawk Faction Uchiha and the Dove Faction Uchiha actively participated in the Police Force, as if the Police Force was the core of the Uchiha Clan.

“Elder Keqiu, do you think the Uchiha Clan’s exclusive control of the Police Force is a good thing?” Shisui did not follow Uchiha Keqiu’s topic but instead asked him a question.

Uchiha Keqiu pondered for a moment, not quite understanding why Shisui would ask such a question, as it seemed obvious.

“For our Uchiha Clan, of course, it’s a good thing. This way, even if the Konoha higher-ups intentionally ostracize us, we Uchiha still hold important power in Konoha,” Uchiha Keqiu replied.

Upon hearing this, Shisui knew there was no need to continue the conversation for now.

Because Shisui believed that to solve the Uchiha problem, the Police Force had to be reformed and could no longer function as a family department of the Uchiha Clan.

Shisui knew that things had to be done step by step. If he proposed this opinion now, he would become the public enemy of the entire Uchiha Clan, unless he could make others realize the harm the Police Force posed to the Uchiha.

But this was not an easy task; Police Force reform was incomparable to Uchiha Sheng Qing’s proposal.

Uchiha Sheng Qing’s proposal merely put forward an unreasonable plan; to refute it, one only needed to point out its impracticality.

The Police Force was different. It involved power and wealth, with tangible power and money. To make the Uchiha give these up, simply writing some documents would not work.

“Teacher Muzuki has other arrangements for me, so I probably won’t have time to join the Police Force this year,” Shisui politely declined.

Although he felt that joining the Police Force now would be a waste of time, the Dove Faction was a part of the power Shisui needed, so Shisui had to find a way to get Uchiha Keqiu on his side.

“Arrangements from Raging Sun Mu Yue, huh? I almost forgot you were his disciple. Then you should follow his steps,” Uchiha Keqiu said, nodding.

Muzuki was currently a red-hot super rookie in Konoha, and Shisui following him would definitely not be worse than the Police Force; in fact, his potential was even higher.

Next, the two chatted about some other less important matters, and Uchiha Keqiu felt it was time to bid farewell to Shisui.

…

Saturday, afternoon.

At the Konoha Training Ground, Muzuki was still teaching the Darkness Breathing Technique and Darkness Burning Technique.

As an advanced ability of the Darkness Breathing Technique, the Darkness Burning Technique was significantly more difficult to master than the Darkness Breathing Technique itself.

Even with Muzuki’s skill boost in teaching, the Anbu were progressing slowly. Muzuki estimated that even the fastest one would take about four months to complete the training.

At three o’clock, Sarutobi Masanari suddenly arrived at the Training Ground.

“Squad Leader Muzuki, you continue teaching. I’m just here to casually observe,” Sarutobi Masanari said with a chuckle, noticing Muzuki’s gaze.

Muzuki nodded and cast an Appraisal Technique on Sarutobi Masanari. The last time he met Sarutobi Masanari was with a Shadow Clone, so he couldn’t use Appraisal.

Name: Sarutobi Masanari

Chakra: 38000

Skills: Fire Release Chakra Nature Transformation (Proficient: 2800/15000), Wind Release Chakra Nature Transformation (Proficient)…

Although he was Hiruzen Sarutobi’s son, Sarutobi Masanari seemed to have not inherited Hiruzen Sarutobi’s Ninjutsu talent, mastering only three Chakra Nature Transformations. While all were proficient, only Fire Release and Wind Release had decent proficiency.

Of course, comparing Sarutobi Masanari to Hiruzen Sarutobi was unfair. Compared to other Jonin, Sarutobi Masanari was already considered an elite.

Muzuki estimated that if he didn’t die, and continued to cultivate for another ten or twenty years, becoming an ordinary Kage-level Ninja should be no problem.

At this time, Muzuki’s Shadow Clone and main body were teaching separately; the main body taught the Darkness Breathing Technique, and the clone taught the Darkness Burning Technique.

Sarutobi Masanari listened to the Darkness Burning Technique for a while, and finding he couldn’t understand anything after joining midway, he went to where the main body was teaching the Darkness Breathing Technique.

This time, Sarutobi Masanari’s eyes lit up. Although he had successfully cultivated the Darkness Breathing Technique, his application was very unskillful. After listening to Muzuki for half an hour, Sarutobi Masanari was surprised to find that he had solved a cultivation problem.

“No wonder Asuma worships him so much,” Sarutobi Masanari gained a concrete understanding of Muzuki’s teaching ability.

If it weren’t for the fact that Muzuki’s status was different now, Sarutobi Masanari would have wanted to invite Muzuki to be a tutor for his own children when he had them.

Given Muzuki’s current momentum, by the time his children reached the age for cultivation, it might even be difficult to get Muzuki to accept them as disciples.

Completed a mid-level lecture.

Evaluation: S

Reward: Breathing Technique understanding increased, Darkness Breathing Technique +35, Darkness Burning Technique +21, Basic Breathing +18, Thunder Breathing +9

After claiming the reward, new insights into Breathing Techniques once again emerged in Muzuki’s mind.

“Perhaps I should first try to fuse Yang Release Chakra with Fire Release, or develop a hybrid breathing of Flame Breathing and Yang Release Breathing?” Muzuki thought.

Of these two flashes of inspiration, the latter was slightly simpler, while the former was hellishly difficult, equivalent to independently developing a Bloodline Limit.

Although Muzuki now possessed profound Ninjutsu knowledge and his proficiency in various Nature Transformations was not low, trying to develop an unappeared Bloodline Limit was still a bit of a pipe dream.

Let alone unappeared ones, even existing ones were difficult to achieve; otherwise, Hiruzen Sarutobi would have developed Bloodline Limits himself long ago.

Muzuki believed that the development of Bloodline Limits was somewhat mystical; if luck struck, let alone a Bloodline Limit, even a Bloodline Trait could be developed.

Muzuki temporarily suppressed the thoughts in his mind. These were all long-term projects, and rushing them was useless.

After dinner, Muzuki went to the Training Ground to instruct Yamato.

Over the past two weeks, Muzuki had focused on teaching Chakra control and Earth Release and Water Release Ninjutsu.

“Today, we won’t practice Ninjutsu. Today, you will learn the Basic Breathing Technique,” Muzuki prepared to have Yamato enter the next stage of cultivation.

Under Muzuki’s continuous improvements, the current Basic Breathing Technique was an excellent foundational Breathing Technique. It could enhance training effects while also allowing seamless transition to various elemental Breathing Techniques.

Compared to the more difficult elemental Breathing Techniques, the Basic Breathing Technique was much simpler.

However, if there were no subsequent Breathing Techniques, cultivating the Basic Breathing Technique would be inferior to cultivating the Darkness Breathing Technique.

Because the Darkness Breathing Technique was not only relatively simple and quick to learn, but also offered greater benefits than the Basic Breathing Technique. The only problem was its low ceiling, even with the Darkness Burning Technique.

“When you master concentrated breathing to a certain extent, you can apply it to your training. It’s best to integrate it into your daily breathing.”

Yamato didn’t quite understand but silently memorized Muzuki’s words.

“The weather has warmed up recently, but don’t forget to stay warm. It’s easiest to catch a cold during seasonal changes,” Muzuki reminded him as he was about to leave.

Actually, Muzuki thought that Yamato, with his Hashirama cells, shouldn’t get sick easily.

Muzuki mainly wanted to annoy Danzo Shimura. With a teacher like him, when Danzo Shimura tried to PUA Yamato, Yamato would inevitably compare Muzuki and Danzo Shimura. In this comparison, it would be clear who was better, and Danzo Shimura’s PUA would fail.

After returning, Muzuki first looked at some Wood Release Ninjutsu data for a while.

He did have a proficient level of Wood Release with a thousand proficiency points; it would be too abstract not to know even one Wood Release Ninjutsu, so he should at least learn something like Wood Clone first.

After reviewing Wood Release, Muzuki went to Minato Namikaze’s house next door for a visit and exchanged ideas on Sealing Technique with him.

Minato Namikaze’s overall Sealing Technique level was not as good as Kushina’s, but he had a very unique understanding of Sealing Technique.

“Muzuki, you’ve come at just the right time. I was just about to look for you,” Minato was just preparing to visit Muzuki’s house.

“Let me guess, you’re going out on a mission?” Muzuki asked after some thought.

Minato Namikaze nodded with a helpless expression.

“Originally, I planned to rest for another week, but our intelligence Ninja just discovered that Iwagakure has sent many Ninja to hide in Land of Grass. Sandaime is worried that something might happen on the Land of Grass battlefield, so he asked me to go,” Minato Namikaze explained.

Unlike Jiraiya and Orochimaru, due to the nature of his Ninjutsu, Minato Namikaze was like a brick, moved wherever needed, often acting alone or leading an elite squad on various high-difficulty combat missions.

“That’s really tough,” Muzuki sighed.

It was no wonder Minato Namikaze could become the Fourth Hokage in the original story. On one hand, Jiraiya and Tsunade didn’t want to contend, and on the other hand, Minato Namikaze himself was dedicated. If he continued like this, who could rival Minato Namikaze’s accomplishments?

“It’s a good thing it’s today. If the mission had come any earlier, I wouldn’t have been able to teach Kushina the Rasengan,” Minato Namikaze was already used to being busy, only worrying about Kushina.

“Rasengan?” Muzuki feigned confusion.

He felt he needed to make something delicious to repay Kushina, otherwise, if Minato really used that name, he would also be nailed to the pillar of shame.

“Isn’t this name great? Kushina helped me name it,” Minato’s smile carried a hint of pride.

Although he thought his own name was also good, Kushina’s Rasengan was clearly a bit more suitable.

Muzuki nodded in agreement. All Ninja who learned the Rasengan in later generations needed to thank Kushina for seizing the naming rights, otherwise, Ninja who liked to say Ninjutsu names would have a tough time.

“Muzuki, please take care of Kushina when you’re in Konoha. If you have time, it would be best if you could teach her the Rasengan. If you teach her, Kushina should be able to master it very quickly,” Minato, who was about to leave, couldn’t help but nag a little.

“Okay,” Muzuki agreed with a nod.

Whether it was making an extra meal or teaching Ninjutsu, these were things he could do easily.

“Muzuki, goodbye,” Minato Namikaze waved to Muzuki and walked towards Konoha’s gate.

Muzuki watched Minato Namikaze leave.