Chapter 280: Battle with the Strongest Taijutsu Master
Mugetsu had a habit of arriving early. The agreed time was 2 PM, and he reached the training ground at 1:50 PM with Obito.
"Genma, Ebisu, Guy."
Seeing the three of them training, Obito chuckled and called out a greeting.
Hearing Obito's voice, the three stopped and looked over, then noticed Mugetsu standing beside him.
"Teacher Mugetsu? Obito? Why are you here?" Genma asked, puzzled.
He didn't know what Teacher Chen and Guy had talked about that day, only that it was related to training.
"Teacher Mugetsu and your sensei have something to talk about. By the way, where is your sensei? I don't see him," Obito said, looking around.
He searched the field, but the muscular giant he'd imagined was nowhere to be seen.
"Has he not arrived yet?" Obito asked, confused.
"Isn't he sitting under that tree?" Genma pointed toward a large tree not far away, where Teacher Chen was sitting and reading a book.
Obito followed the direction of Genma's finger and saw a middle–aged man in a rustic yellow jacket and yellow tights.
"That's Teacher Chen?" Obito asked, his face full of doubt.
Looking at Teacher Chen, Obito felt that even standing up he wouldn't be much taller than Obito himself, and he didn't have especially strong muscles. There was even a slightly lecherous smile on his face.
To Obito, this looked nothing like Konoha's strongest taijutsu user. He just seemed like an ordinary, slightly shabby middle–aged uncle.
"What, I don't look like it?"
Before Genma could answer, Teacher Chen, relying on sharp perception, closed his book and suddenly appeared right in front of Obito.
"So fast!"
Obito's pupils contracted as he stared at Teacher Chen, who had appeared in front of him in an instant. He hadn't even seen how the man moved.
"Hello, senior. I am Hayate Mugetsu."
Mugetsu placed a hand on Obito's shoulder and greeted Teacher Chen with a calm smile.
Teacher Chen carefully examined Mugetsu, then nodded and briefly introduced himself.
After that, he gave Mugetsu a look, signaling for him to step aside to talk away from the disciples.
He wanted to question Mugetsu's training methods, and that was not something he wanted the students to hear. He also wanted to leave Mugetsu some dignity.
Once the two moved a short distance away, Teacher Chen spoke bluntly:
"Since you were able to take part in a battle against a Jinchuriki, you must be a capable ninja. But you should also understand how dangerous overtraining is for the body. The body has limits. Problems may not appear now, but by middle age they will be severe.
"Guy's training volume is too high. Just from what I've seen, it already exceeds what an ordinary person can withstand."
Although he admired Guy's perseverance, he believed this would shorten Guy's peak years, and even his lifespan.
Facing Teacher Chen's questioning, Mugetsu's expression stayed relaxed. He answered with a gentle smile:
"First of all, senior, thank you for caring so much about Guy."
Teacher Chen stared at Mugetsu. What he wanted was an explanation, not gratitude.
"If it were an ordinary person, they indeed could not handle this kind of training volume."
Mugetsu acknowledged Teacher Chen's point, then continued,
"But Guy is not an ordinary person. His talent in taijutsu is exceptional, and his body's endurance is much stronger than that of a normal person."
Might Guy's strength came largely from hard work, but his body was, in fact, better than average. He wasn't born with monstrous strength, but his endurance far surpassed that of standard ninja.
In other words, if Guy did not work hard, he would be an average person. But if he did, he had a chance to catch up to geniuses.
"I can see that. But even if his body is stronger, this training volume is still too reckless," Teacher Chen replied.
He had practiced taijutsu his entire life and understood these things very well. That was exactly why he valued Guy so much. Superhuman perseverance plus a body with high endurance was the perfect taijutsu seedling.
"If that was all there was, this training volume would indeed be too much," Mugetsu said, "but I also have a secret medicine that eliminates fatigue and restores the body. With Guy's strong endurance and the medicine's recovery, this amount of training is just right for him."
The secret medicine granted by the system was, indeed, extremely powerful and matched Guy perfectly.
"How can a secret medicine be that strong? Which one are you using?" Teacher Chen asked. He also used medicinal aids for training, but he didn't believe their effects could be that good.
"My secret medicine isn't sold anywhere," Mugetsu replied, shaking his head.
Even if Teacher Chen searched the entire ninja world, he wouldn't find the medicine provided by the system.
Teacher Chen didn't know whether to believe him or not. If things were as Mugetsu said, there would be no problem. But Mugetsu's explanation about the medicine felt very vague.
"Also, Guy has already trained in Eight Gates. Senior, you know about that forbidden jutsu, right?" Mugetsu continued.
"Eight Gates? So it's that forbidden technique. No wonder his aura would suddenly spike when he sparred with me," Teacher Chen muttered, his expression thoughtful.
He had never fought someone who had mastered Eight Gates, but he had heard of the jutsu's fearsome reputation.
"Eight Gates draws out the body's power by removing its limits. The stronger the body, the less damage it suffers when the gates are opened — and the greater the power of the Eight Gates," Mugetsu said, then stopped.
Teacher Chen was not stupid. He understood what Mugetsu was implying.
By this point, Teacher Chen was already convinced. Mugetsu understood Guy better than he did and had taken more factors into account.
"Guy wants to become strong, to become one of the top ninja in the world. But his Ninjutsu talent is very ordinary. Only taijutsu can carry his dream," Mugetsu finished.
His words made Teacher Chen fall deep into thought.
Besides being the instructor for Guy and his two teammates, Teacher Chen actually had another disciple.
That disciple was in an even worse position than Guy. Guy, at least, could learn some basic Ninjutsu if he spent enough time. But that disciple had no talent in Ninjutsu at all. He couldn't learn Ninjutsu or Genjutsu and could rely only on taijutsu. Even graduating from the Academy had taken everything he had.
Teacher Chen had been moved by his perseverance and accepted him as a disciple, intending to pass all his taijutsu on to him. But because his disciple was still too weak, he couldn't learn Leaf Dragon God yet.
"You're a good teacher. No wonder Guy respects you so much," Teacher Chen sighed, waking from his thoughts.
In his eyes, a teacher who could help a student move toward their dream was the best kind of teacher.
Mugetsu smiled, exchanged a few polite compliments with him, and then made his real request.
"I've long heard of your title as Konoha's strongest taijutsu ninja, senior. Please give me a chance to challenge the strongest."
His main purpose in coming here was to fight Teacher Chen and show his own taijutsu strength.
Teacher Chen waved his hand.
"What 'strongest'? It's just people making noise. If we were really talking about strength, the Third Hokage's taijutsu is stronger than mine. But a sparring match… we can have one."
Seeing how clearly Mugetsu understood taijutsu and how well he guided Guy, Teacher Chen knew Mugetsu's own taijutsu would not be weak. After thinking for a moment, he agreed.
"Should we fight here, or pick another place? If we fight here, these kids can see what a real ninja battle looks like," Teacher Chen suggested.
Watching strong fighters was valuable. It broadened one's horizons and allowed them to learn the strengths of the powerful. Of course, if the gap was too large, they wouldn't learn anything because they wouldn't even be able to see the details.
"Here is fine. We'll stop before anyone gets seriously hurt," Mugetsu said, nodding with a small smile.
The location didn't matter much to him. What mattered was that Teacher Chen, a ninja with influence, would see his taijutsu.
Teacher Chen then flashed back over to his disciples and called out:
"Mugetsu and I are going to spar. Watch carefully and learn. See what a real ninja battle is like."
"Ah? You're going to fight Teacher Mugetsu?" Genma blurted out in surprise.
He felt it was a bit unfair — the ninja praised as Konoha's strongest taijutsu user fighting a Special Jonin who mostly taught at the Academy.
"No, Teacher Mugetsu is also someone who can defeat a Jonin," Genma quickly remembered the story Obito had told about their mission.
But then he hesitated again. Against someone called 'strongest', even a powerful Jonin might not count for much.
"What, you have an opinion?" Teacher Chen raised an eyebrow.
He didn't actually know Mugetsu's detailed record, only that Mugetsu had fought alongside Jiraiya and helped repel a Jinchuriki on the battlefield.
"No, no opinion," Genma said quickly, shaking his head. He was afraid Teacher Chen would turn around and make him spar instead.
Teacher Chen really would do that sometimes. He liked giving them difficult challenges.
"Teacher Mugetsu and Teacher Chen…"
Pushing his glasses, Ebisu recalled the terrifying power of the Leaf Dragon God and felt that Mugetsu might be in danger.
Hearing that Mugetsu and Teacher Chen were going to fight, Obito's face lit up with anticipation. He felt incredibly lucky that he had tagged along today and could watch Teacher Mugetsu fight.
He wasn't worried about Mugetsu losing at all. Obito's faith in Mugetsu was absolute. Even if Mugetsu only used taijutsu, Obito did not think Teacher Chen could beat him.
In Obito's mind, Mugetsu was the all–capable Sage. Being Konoha's strongest taijutsu user would be nothing to him.
Guy's eyes shone with curiosity. Up to now, the strongest battle he had ever seen was the one between Mugetsu and Maito Dai, who had opened Six Gates. He wondered if this match would surpass that.
"How will Teacher Mugetsu deal with Teacher Chen's Leaf Dragon God?" Guy wondered.
For now, he had no way to break Leaf Dragon God. The wind pressure was too strong. If he got close, he'd be shredded in moments, but if he didn't get close, there was no way to break the technique.
After explaining things to their students, Teacher Chen and Mugetsu picked a spot not too close and not too far from the others as their battlefield.
If they fought too far away, the disciples wouldn't be able to see anything clearly, and watching would become meaningless. If they fought too close, the battle would easily drag the kids in and injure them.
"Battle start!"
Obito, acting as announcer, shouted loudly.
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