Mutsuki's words made a look of surprise appear on Shisui's face.
Although Shisui was not arrogant, he had confidence in his own abilities, as he had only recently been defeated by Kakashi in his entire life.
But Mutsuki mentioned that there were people in that Ninja organization who could kill him instantly, which made Shisui think about how there were always stronger people out there, even if Yahiko and the others didn't seem very old.
"There's no need to pay too much attention to it. Just focus on training. Everyone has their own path of growth, and the outcome can't be determined until the end," Mutsuki said, looking into the distance.
Nagato's panel did seem quite impressive, but those Rinnegan weren't truly Nagato's—they belonged to Uchiha Madara.
Since they weren't Nagato's own Rinnegan, he couldn't use the unique Dojutsu of the Rinnegan, only the basic abilities like Shinra Tensei and Bansho Ten'in.
If it were a Rinnegan awakened by the individual, the person could use the special Dojutsu. Uchiha Madara's Rinnegan ability is Limbo: Border Jail, while Sasuke's is Amenotejikara. The effects of the Rinnegan's special Dojutsu are certainly not comparable to the basic abilities.
Of course, the basic abilities of the Rinnegan are weak when referring to battles between beings of the caliber of Uchiha Madara, Senju Hashirama, and the Six Paths, but even the basic abilities of the Rinnegan can easily defeat lower-level opponents under the shadow of the Kage.
Shisui nodded and quickly regained his composure. He had never thought of himself as the greatest genius in the Ninja world, so he didn't feel any loss of pride. He simply marveled at how vast the Ninja world was and how many geniuses there were, with such powerful Ninjas casually appearing on a simple mission like this.
Since Yahiko and his group had already dealt with the mountain bandits, Mutsuki's team handled the remaining two bandits and then reported back to the client.
The speed with which Mutsuki's team completed the mission greatly surprised the middle-aged client, who praised Konoha, the renowned hidden village of the Ninja world, saying the efficiency was unmatched.
On the way back to Konoha, Anko couldn't help but sigh.
"I can't believe I was worried for a bit, but it turns out they were just two weak bandits." Anko complained.
After all, they were really preparing for life-and-death battles, and Anko, no matter how carefree she was, wouldn't be so oblivious to something like that.
"Isn't it great? In that case, we only had to take care of two bandits and got the reward for a C-rank mission." Shizune said with a smile.
She was quite happy; after all, just going out for a stroll earned them so much money.
"The money from the mission can be used to buy liver supplements for Tsunade-sama. Oh, and I need to save some to buy something for Yumi-sensei," Shizune was already planning how to use the money in her mind.
"Heh, true. The mission reward can buy a lot of Dango," Anko chuckled.
She thought Shizune's idea made sense. It was like when a friend comes over to your house, sees your room is a mess, helps tidy it up, and then your parents think it was you who cleaned and praise you, even giving you some pocket money as a reward.
Even though the money wasn't much, they were still happy since it was essentially free.
The journey back was smooth, with no Ninja encountered along the way.
"Let's disband for today. We'll train hard tomorrow," Mutsuki said after returning to Konoha.
Although this mission had little combat, the long journey still left them mentally and physically exhausted, so Mutsuki decided to let his disciples rest for the day.
"Mhm," Anko nodded eagerly, like a little chick pecking at food, clutching the money Mutsuki had given her and rushing towards the Dango shop.
Shizune said goodbye to the team and headed toward Tsunade's house, as rare moments of rest were to be cherished.
Shisui, however, didn't hesitate and made his way directly to the southern forest. He hadn't defeated Kakashi yet to regain his position as Mutsuki's strongest disciple, so he needed to make the most of his time to train and improve.
Mutsuki then went to the Hokage Building's mission hall to submit the completed task and afterward made his way to Tsunade's house.
Even though this mission had some unexpected events, it didn't require any special reporting.
For a C-Rank Mission, when unexpected Ninjas appear, there are usually two options: one is to ask the client to increase the payment to match the mission's rank, or the other is to simply walk away without completing the task.
Although Mutsuki's mission had some surprises, the Ninja in the bandits had already been dealt with by Yahiko and the others, so Mutsuki treated it as a normal C-Rank Mission and submitted it.
When Mutsuki arrived, Tsunade felt both happy and annoyed. She was happy because she could enjoy a good meal soon, but annoyed because she'd have to use up a lot of brain cells again.
She had been happily slacking off, but because of her bet with Mutsuki, she had to end her carefree life and go back to studying Ninjutsu.
Tsunade deeply regretted it—so much so that she started trying to quit gambling. But she relapsed quickly, and after a few days, she was back to her old habits.
"I should have introduced you to Orochimaru. That guy loves researching Ninjutsu," Tsunade said, rubbing her forehead.
But she quickly shook her head and added, "Forget it, it's better if you don't meet him. That guy's been researching Ninjutsu so much that his mind isn't right anymore. He's even thinking about immortality."
When Orochimaru was young, he was only a bit eccentric and calm, but Tsunade felt that the Orochimaru of today was truly a little abnormal.
After the Second Ninja World War, the Sannin had a reunion where they briefly discussed the future. Tsunade said she didn't want to do anything, Jiraiya mentioned he would continue traveling to find a disciple who could change the world, and Orochimaru talked about researching Ninjutsu to achieve immortality.
Mutsuki smiled but didn't speak. At this stage, he had no intention of interacting with Orochimaru. Although Orochimaru hadn't defected yet and was still one of the leading candidates for Hokage, as a fellow Sannin, Tsunade could criticize him freely, but it would be inappropriate for him to join in.
Mutsuki reached into his ninja tool pouch, and just when Tsunade thought he was about to pull out a scroll filled with questions, Mutsuki instead took out a pack of cards.
"This is a tabletop game I thought of during my free time. Constantly studying can be mentally exhausting, so playing this game might help to relax a little," Mutsuki said with a warm smile.
Although Tsunade wasn't likely to break their bet, Mutsuki still hoped their cooperation would be more pleasant, so he created a ninja world version of a tabletop game, inspired by one from his past life.
"Game?" Tsunade said with curiosity, picking up a few cards from the table and flipping them over.
"Uchiha Tajima, skill Genjutsu, make the opponent guess the suit of the card in their hand. If they guess wrong, they lose some health. Skill Fire Release, normal kill can be converted into fire kill." Tsunade read the small print on the card.
"Interesting, but making a game out of the Uchiha Clan's ancestor—aren't you worried about causing trouble?" Tsunade said, intrigued.
"Senju Butsuma, skill Senju Clan, increases health limit by one. Skill Benevolence, after giving two cards, can recover one health point."
"Well, even the Senju are in this." Tsunade's expression became serious.
"Do you know? This is my..."
"What do you want to eat tonight?" Mutsuki interrupted and asked.
"I haven't had white-cut chicken in a while. Let's have that tonight, and also some spicy stir-fried pork with extra meat, and..." Tsunade began listing off the dishes she wanted without hesitation.
Tsunade wouldn't mind if Senju Butsuma was made into a game, and she probably wouldn't have any objections even if her grandfather, Senju Hashirama, was made into one either.
Tsunade even thought that if Senju Hashirama knew about it, he might actually be pleased.
However, the game here refers to a normal game, with no insults or degrading involved; otherwise, Tsunade would have to step in with a heavy hand.
"Hyuga Tennin, skill Gentle Fist, can treat kills as flashes and flashes as kills. Skill Byakugan, at the start of the turn, you can choose one character to view all their cards."
Tsunade looked through the cards while listening to Mutsuki explain the rules, becoming more and more interested in the game called Ninja Kill.
However, Mutsuki didn't immediately start playing with Tsunade. Instead, he resumed discussing the research on Yang Seal and its corresponding Ninjutsu.
"The game cards aren't finished yet, so we won't play today," Mutsuki explained.
Although making a few cards was easy for him, sometimes there's merit in taking things slow.
Tsunade flipped through the cards and noticed that many were missing, including many that Mutsuki had previously mentioned.
"Then let's play tomorrow. I'll first tell you about my progress over the past few days," Tsunade nodded and said.
She wasn't a child, so she could wait a day; it wasn't that urgent.
Mutsuki activated his Enlightenment state and listened attentively to Tsunade's explanation.
"Since your Stone Breathing can maintain for twenty-four hours without interruption, we can modify the Sealing Jutsu like this..." Tsunade began her formal explanation.
After hearing her, Mutsuki was glad he had sought Tsunade's help. Tsunade truly deserved her title as the strongest medical Ninja in the ninja world, her ability in research related to the human body was truly remarkable.
If he had tried to research it alone, it would have taken at least double the time, and it wasn't impossible for it to take three or even four times as long.
The next day, after training, Mutsuki brought the missing cards he had mentioned and played a few rounds with Shizune and Tsunade.
"Can we get more character cards? Five Ninjas is too few. After playing for a while, it starts to lose its fun," Tsunade expressed her opinion after playing for a few days.
Due to the limited number of Ninja cards, bad luck could result in several rounds with the same Ninja.
"How about you make cards for my grandfather and the others? I've already thought of their skills—Wood Release, deal four points of damage to any character," Tsunade encouraged.
"I'll go flip through some history books these days," Mutsuki smiled and politely declined Tsunade's suggestion.
The reason he created cards for Senju Butsuma and the others was that Mutsuki only intended to play privately with Tsunade. Senju Hashirama was too closely related to them, so it was better not to include him.
"You can make a card for me too. I don't mind. Skill: Enhanced Strength, increase damage for kills and duels by one; Skill: Medical Ninjutsu, restore one point of health whenever one point of health is lost," Tsunade said with a smile.
Mutsuki said he would consider it.
If Tsunade really wanted, Mutsuki could make a character card for her. However, the skills would definitely not be as Tsunade suggested, as that would be too overpowered.
This was also why Mutsuki didn't want to create a card for Senju Hashirama. If it was too strong, it would be over the top; if it was too weak, it wouldn't feel right. The name Senju Hashirama alone already suggested a potential for overwhelming damage.
---
Don't forget to check out my patreon where you can read up to 50 advanced chapters https://www.patreon.com/CrazyNinja