Chapter 545 Konoha is the first and the first

“An unfamiliar ceiling.”

When Sasori opened his eyes again, he found himself in a strange, empty small room.

Sasori rubbed his brow; Nagato had been ruthless with him, and Sasori was still sore all over.

Sasori surveyed his surroundings, and the iron door at the entrance instantly told him he was in a place similar to a prison.

“Sōsuke-sensei, he’s awake.”

Sasori heard Nagato’s voice and looked towards the door, seeing Muzuki and Nagato approaching.

“What is the meaning of this, Shinobi Sect? I didn’t make a move within your Six Paths City. Do you also intend to meddle in my personal grudge with the Konoha Ninja?” Sasori thought for a moment, then said expressionlessly.

Although he was a Sunagakure rogue Ninja, he was an unknown one; Sunagakure had not issued a warrant for him, nor had they widely publicized his defection.

Because Sasori’s act of killing the Third Kazekage had not been exposed, Sasori was only deemed a rogue Ninja for inexplicably leaving Sunagakure.

So, even if his true appearance was revealed, Sasori did not feel that his rogue Ninja identity had been exposed.

“Sasori, grandson of Chiyo, the Sunagakure Advisor.” Muzuki did not play games and directly exposed Sasori’s identity.

Sasori subconsciously tried to pull out his scroll to release his puppets but found nothing.

Since they had captured Sasori, how could Muzuki possibly leave him with anything? All of Sasori’s belongings had been taken.

To prevent Sasori from hiding puppet scrolls within his body, Muzuki even used his Byakugan to check.

Unable to retrieve his puppets, Sasori tried to gather Chakra but found that the Chakra within his body was like stagnant water, unable to be mobilized; he had been subjected to a Sealing Technique.

“The former genius puppeteer of Sunagakure, now a rogue Ninja of Sunagakure,” Muzuki continued.

With his identity completely exposed, Sasori’s expression changed slightly, but he found himself utterly without any power to resist.

“So, what do you want to do?” Sasori stared intently at Muzuki and Nagato.

The identity of a rogue Ninja was considered the lowest of the low in the Ninja World. The Shinobi Sect needed no reason to act against him and did not have to worry about attracting trouble by killing him.

“That question should be ours to ask you. If you hadn’t attacked a Youth Martial Arts Tournament participant, I wouldn’t have made a move against you,” Nagato said in a deep voice.

Of course, there was another reason, and that was why Nagato was so ruthless: Sasori had attacked not only a Martial Arts Tournament participant but also Nagato’s fellow disciple.

However, this was a secret that needed to be kept, so Nagato could not say it.

“Kakashi Hatake’s father, Konoha White Fang, killed my parents on the battlefield, so I want to kill him for revenge, that’s all,” Sasori replied indifferently.

For Sasori, there was nothing left to hide; his life and death were now entirely in the hands of the Shinobi Sect.

Nagato froze, speechless for a moment.

There was no other reason; he could not refute this, and to some extent, he could even understand Sasori.

Because Nagato had truly experienced the pain of his parents being killed before his eyes, that unforgettable anguish, Nagato still remembered it clearly.

“Based on the crimes you have committed, you are required to undergo ten years of labor reform in the Shinobi Sect. During this period, if you commit no other errors, you will be released,” Muzuki did not engage in the usual talk of mutual understanding and eliminating hatred but instead announced Sasori’s punishment.

“Talk no Jutsu” also requires a foundation. Although Muzuki understood Sasori, Sasori did not understand Muzuki, nor Nagato.

At this point, if Muzuki were to speak of letting go of hatred and mutual understanding, it would not only fail to make Sasori truly let go of his hatred but would also cause his perception of Muzuki to plummet to rock bottom.

“Ten years, huh? That’s not too late,” Sasori accepted the outcome.

In Sasori’s mind, in this situation where he was the fish and they were the cleaver, it was already good enough to be alive. It wouldn’t be too late to seek revenge after ten years.

Of course, if he had a chance to escape in the interim, Sasori would certainly not choose to obediently stay for ten years. He dared to kill even the Third Kazekage, so escaping from prison would not weigh on his conscience at all.

“Nagato, I’ll leave him to you for now. Take him to the construction team,” Muzuki turned to Nagato and said.

This was also a training exercise Muzuki gave Nagato. If Nagato could successfully guide Sasori out of hatred, it would be a significant growth for Nagato himself.

“Alright.” Nagato nodded, his gaze towards Sasori revealing a sense of determination.

For Sasori, who had a similar experience, Nagato was determined to pull him out of the ocean of hatred. He would not persuade Sasori to abandon revenge, but he would make Sasori discover better, more meaningful things.

…

When Might Guy had mostly recovered, Muzuki and the others left the Land of Rain and returned to Konoha.

Upon arriving at the gate, Muzuki saw three familiar figures.

“Muzuki-sensei.” Kotetsu Hagane, Izumo Kamizuki, and Anko Mitarashi greeted him in unison.

Muzuki responded with a smile.

“Why are you guys on gate duty again?” Obito asked curiously.

Although the mission was B-Rank, if Obito had to choose, he would rather do a C-Rank bandit subjugation mission.

Gate duty was too boring, just standing still at the gate for an entire day.

“Although you are Obito-nii, I must correct you. This isn’t gate duty; it’s guarding the main gate of Konoha!” Izumo Kamizuki corrected him with a serious expression.

“That’s right, we are guarding Konoha, blocking all invading enemies for Konoha,” Kotetsu Hagane nodded, continuing Izumo Kamizuki’s words.

The two stood on either side of the main gate, arms crossed, with serious expressions. If not for their lack of height, it might have actually looked the part.

Obito scratched his head, realizing that what they said wasn’t wrong.

Obito looked at the two with admiration. As expected of his future Shadow Guards, they were indeed not ordinary Ninja. Even gate duty could be described with such grandeur.

“Actually, we just found that the mission reward was pretty good, and other D-Rank missions are also boring, so we occasionally do this one,” Anko, leaning against the wooden door, revealed the truth.

No matter what, guarding the gate was a B-Rank mission. The minimum pay for a B-Rank mission was 80,000 ryo, which was a very good income for a newly graduated team like theirs and also made their mission record look better.

“Do you know about the Youth Martial Arts Tournament? It’s that competition that gathers all the young talents and genius Ninja from the entire Ninja World,” Obito thought of something and coughed twice, saying.

Obito was not someone who liked to keep his achievements hidden. If he got second place and no one knew, then his second place would be for nothing.

“Oh, oh, I’ve heard of that. It seems like a very impressive competition,” Kotetsu Hagane recalled relevant memories and said.

Obito nodded, a proud smile on his face.

“Could it be that Obito-nii, you won first place?” Anko asked with curiosity.

Obito’s demeanor made Anko feel as if she was looking at Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki, who scored full marks in theory, so she thought Obito might have won first place.

“Uh…” Obito’s expression froze.

He truly hadn’t expected Anko to immediately ask about first place. This was a Ninja World-level competition; was first place something you just got by asking?

Shouldn’t she have asked if he made it to the top eight first? That way, he could have casually mentioned his top-two achievement.

“Heh.” Kakashi laughed without restraint.

Obito glared at Kakashi, his thoughts racing, and said, “Among all Konoha participants, I was first!”

Adding a qualifier, he was indeed first. After all, besides him, the only other person in the top two was Nagato, who was a Shinobi Sect Ninja from the Land of Rain.

“That sounds very impressive too,” Izumo Kamizuki praised, giving him plenty of face.

This wasn’t specifically flattery. After all, being limited to Konoha, being ranked first was indeed very impressive.

“Oh, oh, Obito-nii is Konoha’s number one!” Kotetsu Hagane excitedly shouted.

Kotetsu Hagane’s voice attracted the attention of the passing crowd near the gate.

Obito was dumbfounded. You can’t shorten sentences like that! People would think he had become Konoha’s number one Ninja.

“Stop, stop, stop! It’s first place among all Konoha Ninja participants in the Youth Martial Arts Tournament. Don’t randomly delete or change words!” Noticing the curious gazes of other Ninja, Obito quickly corrected him.

He liked what Kotetsu Hagane said, but for him, it was still too early for that.

“Obito, are you going to stand guard with them?” Kakashi reminded him.

Only then did Obito realize that besides himself, who was still standing at the gate, Muzuki and the other disciples had already entered Konoha.

“I’ll guide you guys when I have time in the future.”

Obito waved at the gate-guarding trio and also walked into Konoha.

“You all can arrange your schedules for today and tomorrow. If you’re free the day after tomorrow, you can come to the South Border Forest to train. Obito, Shisui, you two must come and not be absent. I have a new Ninjutsu to teach you,” Muzuki said.

Although this wasn’t a mission this time, it was still not easy, so Muzuki gave them two days off.

“A new Ninjutsu.” Obito’s eyes lit up, automatically locking onto the keyword.

Although Muzuki hadn’t said what kind of Ninjutsu it was or how strong it would be, Obito had a premonition that the new Ninjutsu would not be simple.

Because with their current strength, learning ordinary Ninjutsu wouldn’t provide much improvement, and Muzuki had specifically given an early reminder, which made Obito feel even more that the new Ninjutsu would be very strong.

“Is it Fire Release?” Shisui thought for a moment and asked.

Muzuki mentioned both of them at the same time, and their biggest overlapping ability was undoubtedly Fire Release.

The light in Obito’s eyes dimmed slightly.

If it was Fire Release, Obito really couldn’t be sure of its strength. Fire Release felt like it was at the bottom of the barrel to him.

Even the Hokage of Konoha hadn’t been heard of having any powerful and impressive Fire Release Ninjutsu.

“Yes, it’s Fire Release, and it’s a very strong Fire Release,” Muzuki nodded and replied.

Muzuki’s answer rekindled hope in Obito’s heart. After all, this was the versatile Muzuki Immortal; even if Fire Release was at the bottom of the barrel, Muzuki Immortal could still turn decay into wonder.

“Muzuki-sensei, how does it compare to One Thought Cut?” Obito asked directly.

He couldn’t stand being weaker than Kakashi anymore. Even in arguments, he felt a bit inferior to Kakashi, lacking confidence.

“The same level,” Muzuki continued to answer.

Obito clenched his fists, his face excited. The days of being a Fire Release bottom-feeder were finally coming to an end. Once he mastered the new Fire Release Ninjutsu, he’d see how Kakashi could still be so arrogant.

Kakashi slightly turned his head when he heard Muzuki’s words. The same level as One Thought Cut. Just hearing that description, Kakashi could feel the overwhelming power.

That was One Thought Cut, an ultimate Lightning Release sword technique that would knock Kakashi himself down with a single strike.

“Could Muzuki-sensei really be an immortal reincarnation?” The various abilities Muzuki displayed left Kakashi at a loss for words to describe him.

Muzuki, as a twenty-one-year-old Ninja, was truly abnormal.

Numerous Breathing Technique Secret Techniques, Armament Haki Secret Technique, Golden Skyline, and powerful techniques like One Thought Cut were all created by Muzuki alone, and Muzuki clearly had other unknown but powerful abilities.

From a temporal perspective, Kakashi completely didn’t understand how Muzuki developed these Secret Techniques, Ninjutsu, and Taijutsu.

Normally, the development of powerful Ninjutsu and Secret Techniques should be measured in years.

At Muzuki’s age of twenty-one, even if he had only developed one Flame Breathing, he would still be considered a super genius.

That was a Breathing Technique with many effects. Not only could it effectively train the body, but it also had two powerful abilities: Breathing Technique Chakra Mode and Transparent World.

“What kind of terrifying death trap could kill a Muzuki-sensei like that?” Kakashi thought of another matter worth pondering.

Kakashi believed that Muzuki’s strength should be on the same level as the Sannin, but at the peak of that level, because Muzuki had an extremely wide array of methods.

That Muzuki, who possessed numerous methods, would actually die in battle, was something Kakashi found hard to imagine.

No Ninja could restrain Muzuki in battle, and Muzuki possessed both a highly advanced Thunder Breathing and a space-time Ninjutsu like Flying Thunder God Technique, making it easy to escape even if he couldn’t win.

Kakashi truly couldn’t imagine how Muzuki could be killed.

Kakashi couldn’t figure it out. It couldn’t be that super strong deceased individuals like Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama came back to life and killed Muzuki, could it?

“The most important thing now is to train.” Kakashi suppressed all sorts of thoughts in his mind and walked straight towards the South Border Forest.

As long as he had strength, no matter what predicament Muzuki encountered, he would be able to help. Conversely, if he lacked strength, even if he knew about the death trap Muzuki might face, he might be powerless to change it.

Obito and Shisui also openly advanced towards the South Border Forest.

As the relatively weaker individuals among Muzuki’s current disciples, they had always been working hard, wanting to catch up to Kakashi and Might Guy, and even surpass them.

“Goodbye everyone, I’m going to Tsunade-sensei’s place,” Rin Nohara waved goodbye.

Although strength was very important to Rin Nohara, she believed her primary role was support, as a medical Ninja.

The battle with Sasori made Rin Nohara feel that her ability to deal with poisons was still lacking, so she wanted to go to Tsunade’s place to learn more about detoxification.

Might Guy also bid farewell to everyone and returned home. His injuries had not fully healed yet, so intense training was not advisable; he could only perform some recovery exercises.

PS:

The Third Shinobi World War is most of the content, not all of it. Why do I feel like your comments suggest I’m ending the story after the Third Shinobi World War?

The necessary content will be there, it’s just that the length won’t be extensive. Additionally, after the main story concludes, Xiao Ju will also write some extras depending on the situation, which might fill in elements not present in the main story or some interesting side stories.