Chapter 597: Finally Meeting the Ninja Master

Six Paths City, Land of Rain.

Although Roshi was in the Land of Rain before the lecture event promotion, he had been traveling, so he didn’t arrive particularly early.

Roshi entered Six Paths City just one day before the unrestricted lecture.

“Besides here, it’s unlikely such a scene would appear anywhere else,” Roshi sighed, scanning the cityscape.

As the lecture was about to begin, most Ninja who wanted to attend had already arrived at Six Paths City.

At this time, Ninja wearing various headbands were visible everywhere on the streets of Six Paths City.

Roshi just took a few glances and saw Ninja from several Ninja Villages.

However, what made Roshi sigh was not the number of Ninja in Six Paths City at the moment; there were far more Ninja in Iwagakure.

What made Roshi sigh was the atmosphere of Six Paths City.

Despite having Ninja from many different Ninja Villages, the Ninja were very restrained, rarely causing trouble, and there was no tense atmosphere.

This was very rare, especially given the current chaotic situation in the Ninja World.

Roshi didn’t book a hotel first but instead wandered around Six Paths City.

On the way from the northern Land of Rain to the Shinobi Sect, Roshi had often slept rough. He didn’t care much about these things; if there was no place to stay, he would just find a tree to lie under.

Six Paths City was more prosperous than Roshi had imagined.

As this was a newly established town, Roshi had thought it would be a relatively large Village. He didn’t expect Six Paths City to be more prosperous than some of the Land of Rain towns he had passed on his journey.

“Why do some buildings resemble those in Iwagakure so much?” Roshi noticed that many buildings in Six Paths City had a distinct Iwagakure style.

This made Roshi feel a strange sensation, as if Iwagakure had caught up to him.

Roshi shook his head, clearing the strange thought from his mind, and continued to wander around Six Paths City.

Along the way, Roshi encountered many Iwagakure Ninja, including some he knew, such as Ōnoki’s son, Kitsuchi.

Facing the Ninja from his former Village, Roshi maintained a normal expression, showing no flaws.

“It seems the Village’s cooperation with the Shinobi Sect is significant if even Kitsuchi is here,” Roshi thought to himself.

While he was exploring, he noticed that not many Ninja from the Five Great Ninja Villages had come; the attendees were primarily Ninja from various smaller Ninja Villages and non-Ninja Villages.

Roshi saw almost no Konoha Ninja, and not a single Mist Ninja or Cloud Ninja.

There were many Iwagakure Ninja; Roshi felt that the number of Iwagakure Ninja in Six Paths City might not be less than that of the Shinobi Sect’s Ninja.

Then there was Sunagakure. Roshi saw several Sunagakure Ninja squads, making them the second-largest Ninja Village among the Five Great Ninja Villages in terms of attendees.

“In that case, Sōsuke has unintentionally helped me,” Roshi suddenly realized something: in Six Paths City, he didn’t have to worry about Iwagakure’s pursuit at all.

Currently, Six Paths City is a mixed bag of various forces. Anything that happens will quickly spread throughout the Ninja World. Unless Iwagakure is absolutely confident they can take him away, they wouldn’t dare to make a move.

After finding a random restaurant for lunch, Roshi continued to stroll through Six Paths City.

“Isn’t that Lord Hanzo, the leader of the Amegakure? I didn’t expect him to come listen to Sōsuke-sensei’s lecture this time,” a Ninja whispered.

Roshi heard the discussion around him, curiously turned to scan the surroundings, and quickly spotted Lord Hanzo, who was accompanied by many Rain Ninja.

As one of the legendary Ninja of the Ninja World, Lord Hanzo the Half-God, Roshi had heard some of his deeds.

For instance, how he was defeated by Sōsuke using Fire Release while he used Water Release.

“Our Lord Hanzo-sama was invited by the Shinobi Sect,” a Rain Ninja on the street heard the other Ninja’s low discussion and corrected them with a serious expression.

“As expected of Lord Hanzo-sama, who holds the title of Half-God. This honor seems to be unique among Ninja,” the Ninja who initiated the discussion quickly changed his tune.

“Yes, I’ve never heard of Sōsuke-sensei actively inviting anyone,” a nearby Ninja chimed in.

Lord Hanzo, at the center of the Rain Ninja, nodded slightly to himself. This was exactly the effect he wanted.

As the esteemed Lord Hanzo the Half-God, he would, of course, only come if Sōsuke personally invited him.

After Lord Hanzo and the Rain Ninja left the street, other Ninja resumed their discussion.

“Sure enough, a country’s power makes negotiations easier. Their conflict was so great before, but now it seems they’ve completely reconciled,” said a Ninja wearing a Grass Ninja headband.

Sōsuke truly became famous in the Ninja World by defeating Lord Hanzo, so many Ninja knew about the love-hate relationship between the Shinobi Sect and the Amegakure.

The Amegakure used cooperation as an excuse to lure Sōsuke into a trap for an ambush, which led to the battle between Sōsuke and Lord Hanzo, and later to Sōsuke becoming famous throughout the Ninja World.

“After all, they are Ninja from the same country,” a nearby Grass Ninja replied.

In the adult world, interests come first. Given the chaotic situation in the Ninja World, the reconciliation between the Shinobi Sect and the Amegakure was reasonable.

“If only Lord Hanzo would challenge Sōsuke-sensei like Pakura did, I’d really love to see the full power of Fire Dragon Dance.”

The conversation quickly shifted from the relationship of the Shinobi Sect to the power of Lord Hanzo and Sōsuke.

“That’s impossible. Pakura challenged him because she hadn’t fought Sōsuke-sensei before. How could Lord Hanzo challenge someone he can’t win against?”

“Not necessarily. After all, both sides are cooperating now. If Lord Hanzo really challenged him, Sōsuke-sensei wouldn’t let Lord Hanzo lose too much face, would he? He’d most likely go easy and make it a draw.”

Lord Hanzo’s Shadow Clone, disguised as an ordinary Ninja nearby, grew increasingly dark.

So, even if he defeated Sōsuke now, people would still think Sōsuke went easy on him?

Also, why do they always like to bring up Fire Dragon Dance? Are there no other Fire Release in the Ninja World?

If he could live his life over again, Lord Hanzo truly wished he could travel back in time and kill Danzo Shimura with a single blow when he came knocking.

They called it cooperation, but the Amegakure suffered losses, and he, Lord Hanzo, lost face, while Danzo Shimura’s side only lost a few Konoha Ninja.

Although displeased, Lord Hanzo had no interest in troubling a few ordinary Ninja. After a quick scan, he dispelled his Shadow Clone.

As the Shadow Clone’s memories flowed back, Lord Hanzo, sitting in the Shinobi Sect reception room, instantly darkened his face, but quickly reverted to his usual composed expression.

Muzuki was slightly taken aback by this, wondering why Lord Hanzo suddenly displayed such a rapid change in expression.

“Sōsuke, don’t say I didn’t warn you. While I accepted your invitation, if you suddenly ask me to cooperate with you on a certain activity during the lecture, I might not agree,” Lord Hanzo said expressionlessly.

Lord Hanzo indeed had no intention of challenging Sōsuke. It wasn’t about winning or losing; it was meaningless.

Although he himself had no such thoughts, Lord Hanzo felt that Sōsuke might want to use him as lecture material.

During the last unrestricted lecture, Sōsuke specifically called on him to extinguish fire with Water Release. Lord Hanzo felt it wasn’t impossible that Sōsuke might ask him to fight on stage this time.

To avoid becoming a teaching background, Lord Hanzo chose to state his position in advance.

“Of course, that’s fine,” Muzuki smiled faintly and nodded.

He couldn’t be 100% sure of Lord Hanzo’s thoughts, but he could guess some of them.

Muzuki had considered using Lord Hanzo as material, but not by defeating him in battle; that would be a bit too insulting to Lord Hanzo.

Lord Hanzo nodded calmly, feeling much more at ease.

If he were truly defeated by Sōsuke for a second time in front of thousands of Ninja, he would completely become Sōsuke’s background.

Lord Hanzo then quickly left the Shinobi Sect reception room and returned to the residence arranged for him by the Shinobi Sect.

Just thinking about those people saying that even if he won against Sōsuke, it would be because Sōsuke went easy, Lord Hanzo felt completely uncomfortable sitting with Sōsuke.

He had only lost to Sōsuke once, so why did they assume he could never win against Sōsuke?

On the other side, after seeing Lord Hanzo off, Muzuki began to review his lesson plan.

The number and quality of Ninja attending this time were even better than the last, so he had to ensure the teaching quality was excellent to achieve an S rating.

After checking, Muzuki used Kenbunshoku Haki to cover the entire Six Paths City.

Too many Ninja had come, and relying solely on the Shinobi Sect’s limited number of Ninja made it difficult to ensure no problems arose.

“Hmm?” He hadn’t felt anything before, but once he did, Muzuki truly sensed a few familiar Chakra signatures that shouldn’t have been there.

Since those Chakra signatures were within Muzuki’s Byakugan range, Muzuki activated his Byakugan directly and performed an Appraisal Technique on each one.

【Name: Hirasuishoku】

【Chakra: 8300】

【Skills: Water Release Chakra Nature Transformation (Mastery Level)…】

【Name: Kyokuto Den】

【Chakra: 7600】

【Skills: Fire Release Chakra Nature Transformation (Mastery Level)…】

“It really is those Root Ninja,” Muzuki thought after reading the Appraisal Technique information, realizing he hadn’t been mistaken.

The information detected by the Appraisal Technique is the most accurate; even White Zetsu, with the strongest known disguise ability, couldn’t fool the Appraisal Technique.

“Is Danzo planning to make a move on the Shinobi Sect?” Muzuki pondered.

Muzuki understood Danzo Shimura too well. He most likely wanted to seize the so-called sage art inheritance and Nagato’s Rinnegan.

“What is he planning to do this time?” Muzuki couldn’t immediately figure out what method Danzo Shimura would use.

The Root’s strength was sufficient for intelligence gathering, but forcibly taking things from the Shinobi Sect was almost impossible, even if Danzo Shimura led the operation himself.

The Shinobi Sect’s apparent strength was not weak among the various Ninja Organization. The Shinobi Sect had Sōsuke, who could defeat Lord Hanzo, Kakuzu, the legendary Ninja of the black market, and Nagato, a genius strong enough to earn the title of “First Genius.”

Just the three of them combined constituted a formidable force.

“He won’t be asking me to go, will he?” Muzuki thought of his identity as a Root Ninja.

Having a representative of Konoha’s young Ninja attack a strong neutral Ninja Organization seemed absurd, but if the order came from Danzo Shimura, Muzuki felt it was reasonable.

After all, Danzo Shimura’s operations were not something ordinary people could understand.

“He might also continue to use the Amegakure,” Muzuki racked his brain, trying to put himself in Danzo Shimura’s shoes and think from his perspective.

Danzo Shimura essentially had two choices: either directly use Konoha’s power, or cooperate with other Ninja forces that had intentions of attacking the Shinobi Sect.

From Danzo Shimura’s perspective, the Amegakure was a very good choice. First, they had a history of jointly opposing the Shinobi Sect, and second, there was an irreconcilable conflict between the Amegakure and the Shinobi Sect.

Moreover, a more weakened Amegakure after a fight would be more in Konoha’s interest.

“Sunagakure also has a high probability.”

The Land of Rain borders the Land of Wind, and Sunagakure certainly wouldn’t want its former subordinate, whom it could easily manipulate, to become a threat.

Furthermore, Sunagakure was currently the only major Ninja Village in the Ninja World that had not declared war on Konoha. Muzuki felt that the probability of Danzo Shimura collaborating with Sunagakure was not small.

After reminding the Ninja responsible for guarding the Ninja encampment, Muzuki paid no further attention.

There was no point in capturing those Root Ninja. To avoid exposing his secrets, Danzo Shimura had used every possible method on his Root subordinates. Even with the Yamanaka Clan’s secret techniques, no information could be extracted from their minds.

Rather than tipping them off, it was better to pretend not to notice. At a crucial moment, this information asymmetry could even be used to transmit false intelligence.

…

The next day, the second unrestricted lecture began on time.

Although the Shinobi Sect now had its own town, Muzuki did not plan to hold unrestricted lectures very frequently, and the town needed continuous expansion, so no dedicated lecture hall was built.

It was still similar to the first time; Muzuki simply chose a Training Ground, placed a podium there, and nothing else.

However, the rudimentary lecture environment did not dampen the enthusiasm of the attending Ninja.

For example, Roshi had thought arriving thirty minutes early would be sufficient, but when he got there, he found the area around the podium already packed with people.

Roshi looked at the dense crowd, feeling as if a large army had assembled.

“How early did these people arrive?” Roshi muttered helplessly to himself.

“It shows that Sōsuke truly is very skilled, otherwise he wouldn’t receive such support,” Four-Tails said.

Not just Roshi, but Four-Tails was also quite curious about Sōsuke now.

Because Sōsuke not only established a Ninja force called the Shinobi Sect but also had a disciple with the Rinnegan.

Four-Tails always felt that Sōsuke might have some connection to the Six Paths Sage.

“We’ll know soon enough,” Roshi scanned left and right, and after noticing that Sōsuke hadn’t arrived yet, he retracted his gaze.

Walking all the way from the northern Land of Rain to here, Roshi had actually gained many unexpected insights, so the trip was not in vain.

However, his primary motivation was ultimately the man named Sōsuke. If Sōsuke turned out to be a Ninja who lived up to his reputation, then there would still be a slight sense of regret.

When there were still ten minutes until the lecture began, Muzuki arrived.

“Sōsuke-sensei.”

The Ninja who had attended Muzuki’s previous lecture event all bowed and greeted him.

“Mm, good morning,” Muzuki smiled slightly and raised his hand in response.

Immediately, the crowd automatically parted, clearing a path for Muzuki to the podium.

Roshi’s position should have allowed him to see Sōsuke, but unfortunately, he was a bit short and his view was blocked by people. Even standing on his tiptoes didn’t help.

Roshi could only gather Chakra to make the earth beneath him rise, and only then did he see Sōsuke’s appearance.

PS: One 4k chapter first.

Another chapter will be written and posted tomorrow at noon or in the afternoon during my break.

Can’t stay up too late tonight.

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