Chapter 545: Konoha Takes First
"An unfamiliar ceiling."
When Sasori opened his eyes again, he found himself in a strange, empty little room.
He rubbed his brow. Nagato had shown him no mercy, and his whole body still ached.
Sasori quickly looked around, and the iron door at the entrance instantly told him what kind of place this was.
A prison cell.
"Sōsuke-sensei, he's awake."
Hearing Nagato's voice, Sasori turned his head toward the door and saw Mugetsu and Nagato walking over.
"What is the meaning of this, Shinobi Sect?" Sasori asked expressionlessly after a brief pause. "I didn't make my move inside Six Paths City. Do you also intend to interfere in my personal grudge with that Konoha ninja?"
Although Sasori was a rogue ninja from Sunagakure, he was still an unknown one. Sunagakure had neither issued a bounty on him nor publicly announced his defection.
Because his murder of the Third Kazekage had not yet been exposed, Sasori was only regarded as a ninja who had left Sunagakure without permission.
So even though his true face had been seen, Sasori did not think his identity as a rogue ninja had necessarily been exposed.
"Sasori, grandson of Chiyo, adviser of Sunagakure," Mugetsu said, directly exposing his identity without any attempt to circle around the issue.
Sasori instinctively reached for a scroll to release his puppets, only to find nothing there.
Since they had captured him, Mugetsu naturally had not left him with any tools. Every item on Sasori's body had already been confiscated.
To make sure Sasori had not hidden any puppet scrolls inside his body, Mugetsu had even checked him thoroughly with the Byakugan.
When Sasori failed to retrieve his puppets, he immediately tried to mobilize his chakra instead, only to discover that the chakra in his body was like stagnant water, completely unresponsive.
He had been placed under a sealing technique.
"The former genius puppeteer of Sunagakure, now a rogue ninja of Sunagakure," Mugetsu continued.
With his identity fully exposed, Sasori's expression changed slightly, but he found that he no longer had the slightest ability to resist.
"So, what do you want?" Sasori stared coldly at Mugetsu and Nagato.
The identity of a rogue ninja was one of the lowest statuses in the Ninja World. The Shinobi Sect did not need any special reason to act against him, nor did they need to fear causing trouble by killing him.
"That question should be ours," Nagato said in a low voice. "If you hadn't attacked a participant in the Youth Martial Arts Tournament, I wouldn't have made a move against you."
Of course, there was another reason he had hit so hard.
That was because Sasori had not only attacked a tournament participant, but also Nagato's fellow disciple.
But that was a secret that could not be revealed, so Nagato could not say it aloud.
"Kakashi's father, the White Fang of Konoha, killed my parents on the battlefield," Sasori replied indifferently. "I want to kill him for revenge. That's all."
Nagato fell silent for a moment.
He could not refute those words.
To some extent, he could even understand them.
After all, Nagato himself had once watched his parents die before his eyes. That unforgettable pain still remained carved into his heart.
"Based on the crimes you have committed, you are sentenced to ten years of labor reform under the Shinobi Sect," Mugetsu said without trying to talk about understanding each other or letting go of hatred. "If you commit no further offenses during that time, you will be released after ten years."
Talk no Jutsu still needed a foundation.
Mugetsu might understand Sasori, but Sasori did not understand Mugetsu, nor Nagato.
At a moment like this, if Mugetsu started talking about mutual understanding and abandoning hatred, it would not truly make Sasori let go of anything. It would only make Sasori's opinion of him plummet to the bottom.
"Ten years, huh? That's not too late," Sasori accepted the verdict.
In his current situation, where he was the fish on the chopping block, simply being allowed to live was already a decent result. Waiting ten years for revenge was still not too late.
Of course, if he got the chance to escape in the meantime, Sasori would never obediently stay for ten full years.
He had dared to kill even the Third Kazekage. Escaping prison would not burden his conscience in the slightest.
"Nagato, I'll leave him to you for now. Take him to the construction team," Mugetsu said as he turned to Nagato.
This was also a form of training for Nagato.
If Nagato could truly guide Sasori away from hatred, then that in itself would be major growth for Nagato.
"Understood." Nagato nodded, his gaze toward Sasori carrying firm determination.
Because Sasori had suffered a similar experience, Nagato had no intention of leaving him to drown in hatred forever.
Nagato would not persuade him to abandon revenge entirely, but he would make Sasori discover that there were things in this world more meaningful than hatred.
…
Once Might Guy had mostly recovered, Mugetsu and the others left the Land of Rain and returned to Konoha.
The moment they arrived at the gate, Mugetsu saw three familiar figures.
"Mugetsu-sensei!" Kotetsu Hagane, Izumo Kamizuki, and Anko Mitarashi greeted him in unison.
Mugetsu smiled and returned the greeting.
"Why are you two on gate duty again?" Obito asked curiously.
Even though the mission was B rank, if he had to choose, he would rather take a C rank mission to subdue bandits.
Guarding the gate was just too boring. It meant standing there all day doing the same thing.
"Although you're Obito nii, I still have to correct you. This isn't gate duty," Izumo said with a serious face. "This is guarding Konoha's main gate."
"That's right. We are defending Konoha itself and stopping all invading enemies at the front line," Kotetsu added solemnly.
The two stood on either side of the gate with their arms crossed and their faces stern. If they had been a little taller, the scene might actually have looked impressive.
Obito scratched his head. What they said technically wasn't wrong.
He looked at them with admiration.
As expected of his future Shadow Guards. They really were not ordinary ninjas. Even a gate mission could be described so grandly.
"Actually, it's just because the pay for this mission is pretty good, and other D rank missions are boring too. So we sometimes take this one," Anko said from where she leaned against the wooden gate, ruthlessly exposing the truth.
No matter what, guarding the gate was still a B rank mission. The minimum reward for a B rank mission was eighty thousand ryo, which was an excellent amount for a newly graduated squad like theirs. It also made their mission record look much better.
"Do you know about the Youth Martial Arts Tournament?" Obito suddenly coughed twice, remembering something. "That tournament that gathered young talents and genius ninjas from all over the Ninja World?"
Kotetsu nodded repeatedly. "Oh, that one! I've heard of it. It sounds really incredible."
Obito also nodded, a proud smile appearing on his face.
"Could it be that you won first place, Obito nii?" Anko asked curiously.
Obito's manner reminded Anko of the way Izumo and Kotetsu acted after scoring full marks on a theory exam, so she instinctively guessed he had taken first place.
"Uh…"
Obito's expression froze.
He had never expected Anko to ask that directly.
This was a Ninja World level tournament. Did she think first place was something he could just casually grab?
Shouldn't she have asked whether he made the top eight first? Then he could have smoothly brought up his top two finish himself.
"Heh." Kakashi let out an unrestrained laugh.
Obito glared at Kakashi, then his mind spun rapidly and he declared, "Among all the Konoha participants, I took first!"
Once the condition was added, that statement became true.
After all, the only person above him in the final rankings was Nagato, who belonged to the Shinobi Sect of the Land of Rain.
"That still sounds really amazing," Izumo praised, giving him plenty of face.
This wasn't even flattery. Restricting the scope to Konoha, first place really was impressive.
"Oh! Obito nii is Konoha's number one!" Kotetsu shouted excitedly.
His voice immediately attracted the attention of people passing near the gate.
Obito went numb.
You can't shorten a sentence like that. People would think he had become Konoha's top ninja.
"Stop, stop, stop! I said first among the Konoha participants in the Youth Martial Arts Tournament. Don't randomly remove words!" Obito hurriedly corrected him when he saw all the curious looks.
He did like what Kotetsu had just said.
It was just that, for now, it was still a little too early for that title.
"Kotetsu, Izumo, are you planning to keep Obito here and have him guard the gate with you?" Kakashi reminded them.
Only then did Obito realize that while he had still been standing at the gate, Mugetsu and the others had already gone ahead into the village.
"I'll come guide you guys sometime later!"
Obito waved to the trio and hurried inside as well.
"You can arrange your schedules however you want today and tomorrow," Mugetsu said. "If you're free the day after tomorrow, come to the South Border Forest for training. Obito, Shisui, you two must come. No absence. I have a new ninjutsu to teach you."
Even though this trip had not officially been a mission, it had still been far from easy, so Mugetsu decided to give them two days of rest.
"A new ninjutsu." Obito's eyes lit up immediately, locking onto the key phrase.
Mugetsu had not said what kind of ninjutsu it was or how powerful it would be, but Obito had a strong feeling that it definitely would not be ordinary.
At their current level, learning average ninjutsu would hardly improve them at all. The fact that Mugetsu had deliberately reminded them in advance made Obito feel even more certain that this would be something huge.
"Is it Fire Release?" Shisui asked after thinking it over for a moment.
Mugetsu had specifically called for both of them, and the greatest overlap in their abilities was naturally Fire Release.
The light in Obito's eyes dimmed a little.
If it was Fire Release, he genuinely could not be sure how strong it would be. In his eyes, Fire Release always felt like the bottom of the barrel.
Even among Konoha's Hokage, he had never heard of anyone being especially famous for some overwhelmingly powerful Fire Release technique.
"Yes. It's Fire Release," Mugetsu nodded. "And it's a very strong Fire Release."
Obito's hope flared right back up.
After all, this was the all capable Mugetsu Immortal. Even if Fire Release were garbage, Mugetsu Immortal could still turn garbage into treasure.
"Mugetsu-sensei, how does it compare to No Thought Strike?" Obito asked directly.
He had long since had enough of being weaker than Kakashi. Even during arguments, he always felt like he was at a disadvantage and lacked confidence.
"The same level," Mugetsu answered simply.
Obito clenched his fists, his face full of excitement.
The days of Fire Release being at the bottom were finally coming to an end.
Once he mastered this new Fire Release technique, he wanted to see how Kakashi would dare keep acting so arrogant.
When Kakashi heard Mugetsu's answer, he turned his head slightly.
A Fire Release on the same level as No Thought Strike.
Just hearing that description, he could already feel the terrifying power behind it.
That was No Thought Strike, after all. An ultimate Lightning Release sword technique so extreme that Kakashi himself would collapse after a single slash.
"Could Mugetsu-sensei really be some kind of sage reborn?" Kakashi thought to himself.
The abilities Mugetsu displayed had gone far beyond what he could describe with ordinary words.
At only twenty one years old, Mugetsu was simply abnormal.
Countless Breathing Technique secret arts, Armament Haki, Golden Skyline, and monstrous techniques like No Thought Strike had all been created by Mugetsu himself. And Kakashi knew full well that Mugetsu still possessed many other powerful abilities that had never been fully revealed.
From a purely time based perspective, Kakashi could not understand how Mugetsu had ever developed so many secret arts, ninjutsu, and taijutsu in the first place.
Normally, the development of a truly powerful ninjutsu or secret art should be measured in years.
At Mugetsu's current age, even if he had only created Flame Breathing alone, he would already be a super genius.
After all, Flame Breathing was not just one technique. It was a complete system with numerous effects. It could temper the body, and it also included powerful abilities like Breathing Technique Chakra Mode and Transparent World.
"What kind of absolute death trap could actually kill a Mugetsu-sensei like that?" Kakashi thought of another deeply troubling question.
He believed Mugetsu's current strength should already be on the same level as the Sannin, perhaps even at the peak of that tier, because Mugetsu simply had too many methods.
And yet a Mugetsu like that, someone with so many options, still died in battle in the future.
Kakashi truly could not imagine how such a thing was even possible.
No ninja could completely restrain Mugetsu in a fight. On top of that, Mugetsu had highly advanced Thunder Breathing and a space time ninjutsu like Flying Thunder God. Even if he could not win, he should have had every chance to escape.
Kakashi genuinely could not figure it out.
Could it be that monsters like Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama returned from the dead and killed Mugetsu?
"The most important thing right now is still training," Kakashi thought, forcefully suppressing the chaos in his mind as he headed straight for the South Border Forest.
As long as he had enough strength, then no matter what kind of deadly situation Mugetsu would face in the future, Kakashi would at least have the power to help.
But if he remained weak, then even if he learned what death trap awaited Mugetsu, he might still be powerless to change it.
Obito and Shisui also openly headed toward the South Border Forest.
As two of the weaker ones among Mugetsu's disciples, they had always been working hard to catch up to Kakashi and Might Guy, and ideally to surpass them.
"See you all later. I'm going to Tsunade-sensei's place," Rin said, waving goodbye.
To her, strength mattered, of course. But her first priority was still support as a medical ninja.
The battle against Sasori had made her deeply aware that her ability to deal with poison was still insufficient, so she wanted to ask Tsunade for more training in detoxification.
Might Guy also said goodbye to everyone and returned home.
His injuries still had not fully healed, so intense training was out of the question for now. At most, he could only do some mild recovery exercises.
.....
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