Land of Water.
Hidden Mist Village, Mizukage's Building, Conference Room.
"In the latest intelligence, Konoha has repelled Hidden Cloud in the Land of Hot Water, forcing the Hidden Cloud forces to retreat to their homeland," said the leader of the Hidden Mist Jonin.
"Hidden Rock and Konoha have once again engaged in battle in the Land of Grass, with Konoha still maintaining the advantage."
"The war between Hidden Cloud and Sand…"
The leader of the Hidden Mist Jonin leisurely read out the latest war intelligence from the continent.
"Once again, Konoha has gained the upper hand. Despite facing attacks from two major Ninja villages, they have managed to win consecutively. As one of the five great ninja villages, how is Konoha so much stronger than Hidden Rock Village and Hidden Cloud Village? Is it that Konoha is too strong, or are Hidden Rock and Hidden Cloud too weak?" said a serious-looking middle-aged Ninja with a frown.
Due to the barrier of the ocean, the Land of Water rarely participates in continental matters, as traveling there is quite troublesome.
With the development of productivity and changes in the times, this situation has gradually improved.
"Although Konoha has been winning repeatedly, that doesn't mean Konoha has the ability to take on two opponents at once. After all, Hidden Cloud and Hidden Rock haven't exhausted all their strength in fighting Konoha, so we shouldn't exaggerate Konoha's strength," analyzed a Ninja whose lower face was wrapped in bandages.
"Hidden Rock and the Raikage haven't used their full power, but who can be sure that Konoha hasn't done the same?" retorted the serious-looking middle-aged Ninja.
"Konoha's strength is too formidable. If we want to gain benefits on the continent, we must first weaken Konoha's power!"
"Genji, do you think Konoha is strong?" The Third Mizukage squinted at Genji, who was sitting to his right.
As soon as the Third Mizukage spoke, the conference room fell silent; everyone closed their mouths and turned to look at the Third Mizukage and Genji.
Although the Third Mizukage often appears cheerful and easy to talk to, those familiar with him know that it's just a facade. If you truly treat him as a nice guy, you might not even know how you ended up dead.
"I can only share some of my speculations. Although I visited Konoha, how could they possibly show me their true strength?" Genji shook his head in response.
Aside from being somewhat intimidated by the Third Hokage's imposing presence, he only observed some Genin battles and didn't gather much intelligence.
"If we're talking about strength, I believe that Konoha is still the strongest Ninja village in the world," Genji stated as his conclusion.
The Mist Elders looked at Genji, quietly waiting for his explanation.
It was precisely because it was Genji making this statement that, if any other Elder had said it, they would have been contradicted by the others.
As one of the five great ninja villages, admitting that another is the strongest without any conflict is undoubtedly a sign of weakness before battle.
Even if the other side is truly strong, one should not express that so directly; it's important to strategically belittle the enemy.
"Due to unexpected circumstances, I had a clash of momentum with the Third Hokage. He is quite strong, with a power level comparable to that of the Third Mizukage," Genji said delicately.
Although in reality, Sarutobi Hiruzen's strength surpasses that of the Third Mizukage, this is the Elders' meeting, and he had to give the Third Mizukage some face.
Moreover, those sitting in the Elders' positions are not fools; they can understand his implications.
The expressions of a few Elders changed slightly but quickly returned to normal.
At the level of the Five Kage, even if one is somewhat weaker, they wouldn't be too weak. If they can't win, they can still hold the opponent back, so the problem isn't significant.
They instinctively ignored figures like Senju Hashirama, after all, there has only been one Senju Hashirama in all these years.
The Third Mizukage's expression showed no change; he still squinted with a faint smile, making it impossible to discern his inner thoughts.
"Despite bringing some of the village's excellent Genin and gathering several young ninja above Genin rank, none reached the final battle. In terms of comparing young ninjas, we have already lost once," Genji continued.
He didn't know if Konoha had similar methods to those used by the Mist Village, but Kakashi and the others looked no older than ten years, regardless of their ninja rank, in this contest, they had lost.
Genji continued to express his speculation; in a situation where battles were occurring on two fronts, Konoha dared to hold such a Chunin Exam, which itself demonstrated confidence in their strength.
"Well, it seems that Konoha is indeed very strong now," the Third Mizukage said as he closed his eyes and spoke slowly.
"So how should we approach this powerful Konoha?"
...
Two weeks after the Shunpo training, Mutsuki completed the development of the training Breathing Technique.
This was faster than he had expected; the Enlightenment state was indeed powerful and could be useful in development.
However, Mutsuki didn't use it for training immediately but went to the Third Hokage's office instead.
"Mutsuki, is there a problem with your work?" Sarutobi Hiruzen asked with a smile as he set down the document in his hands.
Mutsuki's willingness to teach the excellent Body Flicker Jutsu he developed to train ninjas indicated how much he valued the training tasks assigned to him, which made Sarutobi Hiruzen even more pleased with him.
Mutsuki shook his head and respectfully handed two scrolls to Sarutobi Hiruzen.
"These are the Taijutsu I developed, and I would like to dedicate these two Taijutsu to the village," Mutsuki said with a gentle smile.
As he spoke, a glimmer of light shone in Mutsuki's eyes, as if he was happy to contribute to Konoha.
"Mutsuki, you are very thoughtful," Sarutobi Hiruzen said with a smile, stroking his goatee.
While the power of the two Taijutsu Mutsuki developed was yet to be evaluated, Sarutobi Hiruzen appreciated Mutsuki's actions.
The five D-rank Ninjutsu that Mutsuki had previously developed had already been added to Konoha's Ninjutsu library.
"The jutsu I submit to the village is really insignificant compared to the rewards the village has given me," Mutsuki said humbly.
By using this Breathing Technique to teach ANBU Root, it was equivalent to submitting it to Konoha, so Mutsuki figured he might as well submit it to Sarutobi Hiruzen to earn a little extra reward.
Konoha does not strictly require ninjas to submit their developed Ninjutsu, but there are rewards for submissions—the stronger and more effective the Ninjutsu, the greater the reward.
Not only would Mutsuki submit it to Sarutobi Hiruzen, but he would also inform Danzo to maintain his persona.
Upon hearing Mutsuki's response, Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled and opened the two scrolls, one titled Shunpo and the other Darkness Breathing.
After briefly examining the scrolls, Sarutobi Hiruzen found that Darkness Breathing had significant potential.
Seeing that Sarutobi Hiruzen had started to check the scrolls' contents, Mutsuki began his explanation.
Although Mutsuki felt that Sarutobi Hiruzen likely already knew about Shunpo, he could not assume what his superior knew, so he diligently explained both Taijutsu.
Since Shunpo was much simpler, Mutsuki quickly finished explaining it before focusing on Darkness Breathing.
"Darkness Breathing can enhance the body by absorbing a large amount of oxygen. The more concentrated the breathing, the greater the enhancement, which can improve overall physical strength and accelerate the recovery of injuries."
"After becoming proficient in Darkness Breathing, one can accumulate breathing power to enhance instantaneous bursts, allowing for attacks that exceed one's own strength."
The basic abilities of the Breathing Technique include enhancing the body and accelerating recovery, but Mutsuki's most significant modification was to remove the training enhancement from the Breathing Technique and increase the bonuses when using the Breathing Technique. Thus, Darkness Breathing does not have a Constant realm.
Compared to a standard Breathing Technique, Darkness Breathing resembles a burst-type Secret Jutsu.
Sarutobi Hiruzen is a Ninjutsu professor with mastery over thousands of Ninjutsu, but he is also quite skilled in Taijutsu. He quickly deduced that the best use of Darkness Breathing would be for ambushes and assassinations.
Using power beyond one's physical limits will inevitably bring a corresponding burden, so Darkness Breathing cannot be used for too long.
Of course, this burst-type Ninjutsu is also very useful in regular combat, but ambushes and assassinations offer a better cost-effectiveness.
"This is truly an ingenious Taijutsu," Sarutobi Hiruzen praised.
Mutsuki's Darkness Breathing is not aligned with most of the existing Taijutsu in Konoha. The ability to develop such a level of Taijutsu in a new field shows that Mutsuki's talent for developing techniques is even stronger than he imagined.
"Shunpo can be classified as a B-rank Taijutsu, while Darkness Breathing can be classified as an A-rank Taijutsu," Sarutobi Hiruzen said after a moment of thought.
The ranking of Ninjutsu is merely a reflection of the difficulty in learning it, and all Ninjutsu in Konoha are rated according to this standard.
Of course, in general, Ninjutsu that is more difficult to learn tends to have greater power. It's not entirely incorrect to say that high-difficulty Ninjutsu is strong; however, lower-ranked Ninjutsu isn't necessarily weak.
Take the Great Fireball, for example; this Fire Release Ninjutsu is only a C-rank technique, yet Uchiha clan members, from Ninja Academy students to Jonin, often use it.
Mutsuki nodded, indicating that he had no objections.
He specifically developed Darkness Breathing to be straightforward, so getting an S-rank evaluation would indeed be problematic.
"I plan to use Darkness Breathing for training; this Taijutsu is very suitable for ANBU and Root," Mutsuki then expressed his thoughts.
"Haha, then I'll be looking forward to the test in two months," Sarutobi Hiruzen said, exhaling a puff of white mist with a smile.
Members of Root and ANBU clearly don't have that much time to participate in tests, so Mutsuki set up an exam only on the day the special training ended to showcase his training results.
"In two months, Mutsuki, if you want to learn Ninjutsu, just go directly to the Ninjutsu library. If there's something not available there, come to me to apply."
Sarutobi Hiruzen ultimately decided to grant Mutsuki the authority to freely browse the Ninjutsu library.
Normally, Mutsuki's current achievements would not be enough to earn such privileges, but he was a genius in Ninjutsu, and Sarutobi Hiruzen was very satisfied with him in all aspects.
"Giving you this privilege now might draw some criticism, but after the training ends and everyone knows your abilities, there won't be any issues," Sarutobi Hiruzen explained the timing.
Although the rewards still outweighed the contributions, this made it somewhat more justified, and it would motivate Mutsuki to engage more in teaching.
"Thank you, Third-sama." Mutsuki expressed his understanding with an excited smile.
"In the future, except for certain special Ninjutsu, I won't have to conceal anything," Mutsuki thought to himself, realizing that Sarutobi Hiruzen was more generous than he had expected.
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