Chapter 284: Jiraiya
"This time it is still the hit training. Do your best to attack the Shadow Clone and win," Mugetsu said after creating three Shadow Clones.
Because Kakashi was participating for the first time, Mugetsu once again explained the punishment mechanism for this special training.
"Then I need to finish this quickly. Hit the Shadow Clone as fast as possible," Kakashi thought after hearing the rules.
Since it was graded special training, Kakashi naturally hoped to get a good score, and he did not want to do too many written problems.
If they were simple Ninja School questions, it would not matter, but Mugetsu's problems were not easy. Doing a few once in a while felt fine to Kakashi, but too many at once left him exhausted.
The number Kakashi could accept was around thirty problems per training session. That way, finishing in a week would only mean four or five problems per day on average, which he could easily complete while resting after training.
"Start."
"Lightning Breathing, Total Concentration Breathing."
Kakashi silently changed his breathing rhythm, focusing his breath to the absolute limit he could handle.
The moment Mugetsu shouted "Start", Kakashi immediately drew his White Fang short sword and rushed toward the Shadow Clone.
Special training was different from real combat. Real combat required dealing with all kinds of unexpected situations, so one had to conserve stamina and chakra. But a ten minute time limited training clearly did not require that.
Kakashi channeled a large amount of chakra into Lightning Release nature transformation and burst it through his lower body. His speed suddenly increased, and in the blink of an eye he was in front of the Shadow Clone.
A flash of white light sliced past, and the tree next to the Shadow Clone was cut down, but the clone itself retreated and dodged in time, remaining unharmed.
"It can react even at this speed? It seems that a normal full power attack will not be enough to finish this quickly," Kakashi thought.
Because this was training, the Shadow Clone would not attack him, so Kakashi had simply pushed his speed to the limit. Even so, he was still just a hair away from landing a hit. From this, he judged that relying on pure speed and power would not let him clear the training early.
The training was difficult, but it was within Kakashi's expectations. Even Obito, who improved very quickly, had been tormented by this training, which showed how hard it was.
Kakashi probed a few more times, only to find that no matter how he pushed his strength to the limit, he was always just a little short.
After three minutes of testing, Kakashi changed tactics. He threw a smoke bomb to hide his body, then had a Shadow Clone attract attention while his real body went underground.
After the Shadow Clone engaged in close combat for a while, Kakashi decisively emerged and used Purple Lightning. To make sure he hit Mugetsu, he split the Purple Lightning into more than a dozen bolts that rushed toward him.
Mugetsu calmly dodged and opened some distance from Kakashi's Shadow Clone, then clasped his hands together and spewed out a large wave of flames, blocking all of Kakashi's Purple Lightning.
"Ordinary tactics will not work either," Kakashi thought, pausing his offense as he quickly replayed the exchange in his mind to gather more information.
From Mugetsu's reaction, Kakashi concluded that Mugetsu had definitely known his real body was hidden in the shadows the whole time. Those movements were far too smooth.
When nine minutes passed, Kakashi still had not landed a single hit on the Shadow Clone.
"This time it seems impossible to finish early. But with this experience, I can work out a focused strategy when I go back," Kakashi thought. One minute was clearly not enough to set up an attack that could hit the clone.
During those nine minutes, Kakashi had not been charging in blindly. He had been trying to collect information.
So far, he had learned that the Shadow Clone was just a bit faster than he was, and its Ninjutsu was much stronger, which meant he could not win through Ninjutsu. He had also learned that if he did not use Ninjutsu, the Shadow Clone would not use Ninjutsu either.
These last two points supported each other. The clone's Ninjutsu was so strong that if it used it freely, they probably would not even be able to get close, even if their strength doubled.
After ten minutes, Mugetsu reported the results.
"No one hit the Shadow Clone within ten minutes. All three of you have fifty problems."
"Ah, fifty problems again." Just thinking about the horror he would face tonight, Obito's eyes gradually lost their light.
Shisui took a few deep breaths. This time, he had also tried a combat plan, but it still failed, and he even felt that this Shadow Clone was faster than the last one.
"Everyone, do your best to finish the problems. This time, there is no time limit. If you need help, you can come find me tonight," Mugetsu said with a smile.
This time, he had reset the Shadow Clone's strength. As long as his disciples did not have any breakthroughs or come up with strong plans during training, it would basically just time out at ten minutes.
However, most of his students had already graduated, so Mugetsu removed the time limit and let them complete the problems at their own pace. The real value did not lie in the problems themselves, but in the thinking they provoked and the explanations they would give afterward.
"Alright." Obito's lifeless eyes immediately regained some light. No time limit meant there would be no more hateful "installments".
Although splitting the problems into installments had made him feel relaxed for a while, just thinking about the extra total made Obito feel they were an incredibly evil existence.
After afternoon training, considering it was Obito and the others' last day of rest, Mugetsu announced that he would make a grand feast for them. For this, he bought a lot of ingredients.
However, coincidentally, an unexpected guest arrived that evening.
"Haha, it is quite lively here. Looks like we came at just the right time," Jiraiya said with a hearty laugh as he and Minato walked into Mugetsu's home.
The war with Iwagakure had come to an end. Although there was no complete ceasefire yet, there were no more large scale battles, so Jiraiya had returned to Konoha to rest.
"Minato sensei, Toad Uncle, why are you here?" Obito greeted Jiraiya.
"What Toad Uncle? I am the Toad Sage," Jiraiya corrected him.
"Cough, cough, Toad Sage is a hidden title. The one most people know is one of the Three Sannin. I am Jiraiya, the most handsome white haired man among the Three Sannin."
Since there were also two children he did not know, Jiraiya introduced himself in a grand manner.
"Are you the Jiraiya sama who is as famous as Lady Tsunade?" Rin Nohara asked with a surprised expression.
The Three Sannin were very well known in Konoha. Even new graduates like Rin knew their names.
"That is right, the legendary Jiraiya sama is me." Jiraiya puffed out his chest and raised his head proudly.
Minato gently rubbed his forehead as he watched Jiraiya proudly introducing himself to a group of kids.
Shisui's expression was a little strange. These Sannin did not seem very reliable.
"You picked a really good time. I was just about to make a big feast," Mugetsu said with a chuckle.
Jiraiya's arrival was indeed quite coincidental. Some time had already passed since Mugetsu chose the Mystical Palm Technique as a reward, so now he could use a perfectly normal excuse to ask Jiraiya to introduce him to Tsunade for guidance.
"A feast." Jiraiya's eyes lit up. He was sure this was the nicest sentence he had heard in days. This was Mugetsu's feast. How many delicious dishes would there be?
Minato immediately went to the kitchen to help after hearing Mugetsu's words.
Jiraiya stayed in the living room, telling the children about his experiences traveling the ninja world.
"Toad Uncle, do you have that much free time? You actually get to travel around so many lands," Obito asked, becoming interested as he listened to Jiraiya talk about visiting different places.
So far, he had only been to a few small neighboring lands, and he always left very quickly.
"I am not traveling just for fun. I have very important business, something that concerns the fate of the entire ninja world," Jiraiya said, raising an eyebrow.
He had been searching for the Child of Prophecy from the Great Toad Sage's vision. After the war ended completely, he would continue his journey.
"What kind of thing is so important that it concerns the fate of the entire ninja world?" Obito looked at Jiraiya suspiciously. He knew Jiraiya was very strong, but "the entire ninja world" still sounded exaggerated.
"Even if I told you, you would not understand. Anyway, a fool who cannot even call people by the right name definitely cannot be the Child of Prophecy," Jiraiya said, then burst out laughing.
Among all the disciples Jiraiya had taught, the one who most resembled the Child of Prophecy was Nagato, because Nagato possessed the legendary Rinnegan of the Sage of Six Paths. His second choice was Minato, whose talent as a ninja was extremely high.
"I am not a fool. The elders of our Uchiha clan all say I am a genius," Obito retorted.
Rin was right there, so how could Obito let himself be called a fool?
"It is said that only fools get anxious and try to explain themselves when someone calls them a fool," Jiraiya added.
"I…" Obito's expression froze. He wanted to argue, but because of Jiraiya's words, he had to hold it in.
"Hahaha, you are a really interesting kid, not like those usual Uchiha at all." Obito's look of wanting to speak but not daring to made Jiraiya laugh even harder.
It was his first time seeing such an innocent Uchiha like Obito. The more he watched him, the more he wanted to tease him.
Kakashi: …
What else could he say? In Kakashi's mind, Jiraiya's image continued to crumble.
Kakashi silently took note of Jiraiya's teasing method, planning to use it on Obito later.
"Jiraiya sama, could you tell me something about Lady Tsunade?" Rin looked at Jiraiya with expectant eyes.
Jiraiya thought for a moment. His first thoughts were Tsunade's gambling problem and her habit of running out on bills. But looking at Rin's hopeful little face, he still chose to talk about Tsunade's good points instead.
"Here is the chicken soup," Mugetsu said as he carried a large pot of soup to the table.
Following that came all kinds of dishes, most of them from the great cuisines of his previous life, with a smaller portion being dishes local to the world of Naruto.
As plate after plate of fragrant food was brought out, no one kept chatting. They all swallowed and stared eagerly at the dishes on the table.
When Mugetsu placed the last dish, a war without smoke began.
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