Naruto: Strength Through Teaching

Asuma stopped in his tracks, momentarily doubting whether he had heard correctly.

Although it wasn't praise like being proud of you or something impressive, it was an evaluation Asuma had never received before.

When he first achieved first place in practical combat at the Academy, he excitedly returned home to tell Hiruzen.

However, Hiruzen didn't react much; he simply nodded casually, as if it was something trivial.

Initially, Asuma hoped to hear "I'm proud of you" from Hiruzen. At that time, Asuma greatly admired his Hokage father, who was the Hokage—someone everyone aspired to and respected.

No matter how many accomplishments Asuma achieved at the Academy, he could never earn Hiruzen's recognition. His expectations gradually diminished; he started hoping for Hiruzen's praise, but later he would be satisfied even with just a nod from him.

But there was no nod of acknowledgment from Hiruzen for his achievements. In Asuma's memory, Hiruzen only lectured him, telling him to learn from his composed older brother and to aspire to be like Orochimaru from his Academy days.

"You don't need to say that; this is what Yumi-sensei taught us," Asuma replied, curling his lips.

Although Asuma still showed no favorable expression towards Hiruzen, it was clear that the atmosphere had eased significantly.

"If you don't understand something, feel free to ask me. I have quite a bit of insight into Combination Jutsu," Hiruzen said, exhaling white mist.

"Can you really teach it well?" Asuma was very skeptical about that.

He didn't doubt Hiruzen's understanding of Combination Jutsu or his own abilities—after all, being Hokage held significant weight—but whether he could teach effectively was another matter.

"Then I'll teach Mutsuki first and let him teach you?" Hiruzen said, speechless at being questioned again about his teaching ability.

Daring to openly question his abilities like that, Asuma was probably the only one in all of Konoha.

"I think that sounds pretty reliable," Asuma said, his eyes lighting up. He felt that this approach might be better than Hiruzen teaching him directly.

"Go practice now," Hiruzen said, rubbing his forehead and urging Asuma to leave. This child was truly worrisome.

Asuma hummed a little tune as he walked out of the Hokage's office, feeling quite good, even gently closing the office door behind him.

Hiruzen sighed and began to handle his official duties again.

Before long, the office door was opened again, and Shimura Danzo walked in.

"Hiruzen…" Shimura Danzo began to speak but was directly interrupted by Hiruzen.

"Why didn't you knock, and you should address me by my title during work hours," Hiruzen said, his face stern.

Shimura Danzo was a bit confused; he usually acted like this, and he hadn't seen Hiruzen say anything about it before. Why was he acting like he had eaten an explosive tag today?

"Hiruzen, you—"

"It's work hours now," Hiruzen emphasized again.

Shimura Danzo was puzzled about what had gotten into Hiruzen today, but given that rank carried weight, he reluctantly called out, "Third."

Only then did Hiruzen's expression soften as he asked, "What's on your mind?"

"I need Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Obito to join Root," Shimura Danzo stated directly.

"Are you still short two Chunin in Root?" Hiruzen was not inclined to agree to Danzo's request.

"They are Chunin now, but they have great potential; Root needs ninjas like them," Danzo continued.

"That's out of the question. Root cannot expand any further. If I find out that Root is secretly developing illegal members again, I will cut Root's funding," Hiruzen said in a warning tone.

He knew that Danzo was not an honest person, and even if he refused, Danzo might still pull some strings in the shadows, so he issued the warning in advance.

"Hatake Kakashi can be left out, but Uchiha Obito must join Root. An Uchiha like him is too dangerous; we must remain highly vigilant to prevent the next Uchiha Madara from appearing," Danzo revealed his true intentions.

What he truly wanted was Obito, and bringing up Kakashi was merely a pretext for this statement.

Shimura Danzo had always remembered his sensei Senju Tobirama's teachings: the Uchiha were inherently evil beings, and vigilance against the Uchiha Clan was necessary at all times.

If it were an ordinary Uchiha, it might be acceptable, but Uchiha Obito had already awakened his double Tomoe Sharingan at just nine years old and had also mastered excellent Fire Release techniques, which made Shimura Danzo quite uneasy.

Though he was secretly training a Wood Release ninja, that Wood Release ninja was significantly younger than Obito. If Obito were to betray like Uchiha Madara before the Wood Release ninja had matured, it would be problematic.

"Obito is an Uchiha with the Will of Fire; he is not dangerous. I believe that under Minato's guidance, Obito will become the next Kage," Hiruzen said, placing his pipe in his mouth and taking a puff.

Based on Obito's current performance, Hiruzen did not consider him dangerous; on the contrary, he had high hopes for Obito. Having Minato guide Obito was undoubtedly more reliable than Shimura Danzo.

"Hiruzen, have you forgotten sensei's teachings?" Danzo said, dissatisfied.

"Those Uchihas are too dangerous. The village has treated them so well, yet they still think about rebellion."

Danzo attempted to make Hiruzen understand the danger of the Uchiha by referencing the hawkish Uchiha coup during Senju Tobirama's administration.

"Sensei also said that Uchiha should be guided appropriately," Hiruzen shook his head and replied.

"Instead of worrying about this, you should focus more on gathering intelligence from enemy countries." Hiruzen completely rejected Danzo's proposal.

Seeing that Hiruzen showed no signs of yielding, coupled with his earlier attitude, Danzo's anger surged.

"Hiruzen, you will regret this!" Danzo coldly left that remark before slamming the Hokage's office door shut.

Hiruzen continued to handle his official duties with a calm demeanor, feeling much more at ease inside.

Maybe I couldn't do anything about my son, but how could I not deal with you, Danzo?

Hiruzen would not allow Root to continue expanding; if it grew too powerful, it would become uncontrollable.

Root was a department established by Shimura Danzo under the guise of training ANBU, initially just a small subsidiary of ANBU. However, under Shimura Danzo's efforts, its influence continually expanded, and it was beginning to take on the air of the "ANBU of ANBU."

Hiruzen would certainly not allow this to happen; if Root's strength were to surpass that of ANBU, it would be chaotic.

While Hiruzen felt comfortable in his office, Danzo, upon leaving, became increasingly enraged as he thought about it.

In his youth, he was no less capable than Hiruzen, yet now he found himself firmly suppressed by him.

"If sensei had chosen me back then, Konoha would definitely be even stronger now!" Shimura Danzo thought resentfully.

Although Hiruzen was slightly stronger than him in terms of ability, Hiruzen's indecisiveness in handling matters was something Danzo believed he could never match.

Shimura Danzo was eager to advance; he truly wanted to one day tell Hiruzen, "I am the Hokage."

At that moment, Shimura Danzo suddenly thought of one of his subordinates who was no longer a member of Root.

It seemed that Mutsuki was Uchiha Obito's mentor and held Mutsuki in high regard, so Mutsuki should have a good understanding of Uchiha Obito.

With that in mind, Shimura Danzo immediately returned to Root to write a letter for a ninja to deliver to Mutsuki.

He needed Mutsuki's assessment of Obito to determine Obito's level of danger. Additionally, Danzo asked Mutsuki to pay close attention to Obito, reporting immediately if Obito showed any thoughts detrimental to Konoha, which would give Danzo a reason to bring Obito to Root.

As for why it was Mutsuki instead of directly sending other Root members to monitor Obito, it was partly because Minato Namikaze had sensing abilities, which would expose Root, and partly because Mutsuki, as Obito's mentor, would not raise any suspicions in Obito.

Currently, Obito's strength was not at a level that warranted individual surveillance; a few ANBU were already monitoring the entire Uchiha clan, especially since it was a time of war.

...

[Disciple Hatake Kakashi worked hard and achieved a perfect score in the Chunin exams, promoting him to Chunin, and received rewards: Chakra +1800, random Kekkei Genkai extraction scroll]

[Disciple Might Guy worked hard and achieved an excellent score in the Chunin exams, promoting him to Chunin, and received rewards: Chakra +1500, Taijutsu extraction scroll · S (Mastery level)]

[Disciple Uchiha Obito worked hard and achieved an excellent score in the Chunin exams, promoting him to Chunin, and received rewards: Chakra +1200, Ninjutsu extraction scroll · A (Mastery level)]

[Extraction scroll: The higher the level, the easier it is to obtain excellent rewards]

This time, the rewards were surprisingly abundant, exceeding Mutsuki's expectations. The total Chakra gained from the three disciples alone amounted to four thousand five hundred points, which directly pushed Mutsuki's Chakra over seventy thousand.

As for the remaining rewards, Mutsuki felt it was too soon to say whether they were good or bad because the lottery system had too much unpredictability. If he ended up drawing something worthless or a duplicate, even a Mastery level reward would be of no use.

However, Mutsuki saw from the system's description that higher-level Lottery scrolls wouldn't have the possibility of drawing worthless items.

Mutsuki thought for a moment, then washed his hands in the bathroom. Afterward, he prayed to all the deities he knew, including the Dao Ancestor, Buddha, and God, before starting the Lottery.

After all, it didn't cost anything, so it was worth believing a little; if it was useful, it would be a great gain, and if not, there was no loss.

Mutsuki first used the lowest-level Ninjutsu extraction scroll · A.

Immediately, a huge spinning wheel appeared in front of Mutsuki. A casual glance revealed a variety of abilities from different realms on it.

"So it's not just ninjutsu from Naruto; I can also draw skills from other worlds for localization," Mutsuki realized he had been mistaken.

Because those Ninjutsu Proficient scrolls and Mastery scrolls couldn't upgrade skills like Nature Transformation, Mutsuki had initially assumed that all Ninjutsu extraction scrolls contained only Naruto's ninjutsu.

Mutsuki clicked the center of the wheel, and it spun dazzlingly before slowly coming to a stop. The skill indicated by the pointer gradually enlarged in the spinning wheel's display, and Mutsuki's mind was filled with information about this skill.

[Ninjutsu extraction scroll · A has been consumed, obtained skill——Orochinagi (Mastery level)]

Orochinagi is a Must Kill technique from the Kusanagi style of ancient martial arts. Mutsuki didn't know how it performed in the King of Fighters world (Used by Kyo Kusanagi), but after localization, it turned out to be a very powerful Fire Release, particularly suitable for those practicing Flame Breathing to learn.

Mutsuki then used the Taijutsu extraction scroll · S.

[Taijutsu extraction scroll · S has been consumed, obtained skill——Legend of the Mi Long · Blade and Sword · Golden Skyline (Mastery level)]

Seeing this reward, Mutsuki was somewhat surprised. He quickly sorteded his memories and realized that this was indeed the Taijutsu he remembered as being extremely powerful.

Golden Skyline is somewhat similar to the Third Raikage's Hell Stab, as both use the fingers for attack; however, it's only somewhat similar because Golden Skyline does not rely on fewer fingers to be stronger, nor does it have Nature Transformation.

The localized Golden Skyline is an incredibly pure Taijutsu that, when mastered to a certain extent, can unleash great power even without Chakra.

Mutsuki felt this made sense because Golden Skyline, in its original world, was a technique developed by ordinary people without any special abilities; it was Taijutsu that pushed the body to its limits.

He was very satisfied with this reward. This Taijutsu was not only powerful but also extremely suitable for Guy. As for the other disciples, Mutsuki thought it would be quite challenging for them to learn it.

Finally, Mutsuki turned his attention to the Kekkei Genkai extraction scroll. This scroll had no rank and was truly a gamble based on luck.

Both Rinnegan and Tenseigan were considered Kekkei Genkai, so there was a possibility of drawing them, but ordinary Byakugan and Sharingan were also options, along with other Kekkei Genkai like Explosion Release and Lava Release.

Without hesitation, Mutsuki clicked to draw.

[Random Kekkei Genkai extraction scroll has been consumed, obtained reward——Ice Release]

Mutsuki let out a small sigh; it seemed his luck wasn't particularly good.

Then, he thought to himself that even if he had drawn Rinnegan or Tenseigan, he wouldn't be able to use them right now due to insufficient Chakra. Although these two would greatly enhance his power, without enough Chakra, he wouldn't be able to withstand them.

For Mutsuki, not drawing the Mangekyo Sharingan was actually a good outcome, as at this stage, the Mangekyo Sharingan would bring more drawbacks than benefits. The regular Sharingan had significant side effects, and unless it was a power like Kamui, it wasn't worth it at all.

In comparison, Ice Release was quite good; he could even create Ice Blocks to cool down during hot times.

Mutsuki glanced at his current status panel.

[Name: Mutsuki Yumi]

[Chakra: 72,800]

[Skills: Golden Skyline (Mastery), Orochinagi (Mastery), Ice Release (Beginner)…]

Mutsuki decided to wait until the special training was over before he transformed the Earth and Lightning Nature Transformations to Mastery level and shifted his focus on obtaining rewards to accumulate more Chakra.

He had basically mastered several Proficient-level Ninjutsu in each Chakra attribute, and he had even more skills below Proficient level, along with quite a few Mastery-level skills, allowing him to handle a considerable number of situations. Therefore, Mutsuki aimed to boost his Chakra to 100,000 before deciding what rewards to focus on based on the circumstances.

If there were clear hard battles against enemies, he would either accumulate Chakra or focus on rewards that countered them; otherwise, he would continue to level up all around and become a complete fighter.

That evening, Mutsuki received a letter from Danzo. After reading the contents, he smiled slightly. It was a good idea for him to try to catch Obito's weaknesses.

---

Don't forget to check out my patreon where you can read up to 50 advanced chapters https://www.patreon.com/CrazyNinja