Chapter 587: Minato, Am I Just a Substitute?
"Finally back. That was really dangerous this time."
Dekai looked at the towering Konoha gates in the distance, and a smile appeared on his dark, round face.
"Yeah. You really can't underestimate any of the Great Ninja Villages."
Izumo nodded in agreement. Iwagakure had truly given them a huge scare this time.
If it had not been for Jiraiya and Minato's overwhelming strength, their entire unit might have been wiped out there.
"I just hope this lesson makes Iwagakure behave for a while. Jiraiya-sensei hasn't had a proper rest in a long time either," Minato said with a sigh.
Since Iwagakure had made no immediate moves, the higher ups rotated out the ninja who had been stationed on the battlefield for too long so they could rest.
As for Jiraiya, he should have been able to return to the village and recover as well, but because Iwagakure had nearly pushed into the Land of Fire last time, the higher ups were still wary. In the end, they kept Jiraiya in the Land of Grass as the unit commander.
"Yeah." Dekai nodded. "But Iwagakure took heavy losses this time. Even if they still have ideas, they probably won't dare send another large force against Konoha anytime soon."
"Otherwise, if another Great Ninja Village took advantage of the opening, wouldn't Iwagakure be in real trouble?"
"It's hard to say." Izumo let out a helpless sigh. "Reality doesn't always follow logic."
If a novel lacked logic, readers could point it out. But if reality itself stopped making sense, who could you complain to?
The group chatted as they entered Konoha.
Out of habit, even though Minato wanted to see Kushina and Mugetsu as soon as possible, he still first went to report to Hiruzen as the representative of the returning unit.
Knock. Knock.
Minato rapped lightly on the wooden door of the Hokage's office.
"Enter."
Hiruzen's voice came from inside.
Minato opened the door, stepped in, and quietly closed it behind him.
"Sandaime-sama," Minato greeted respectfully.
"Ah, Minato, you're back."
Hiruzen set down the documents in his hand and chuckled as he stroked his short beard.
Many people respected him, and many entered the Hokage's office with proper manners.
But there were not many young powerhouses like Minato who were both strong and so polite.
When Hiruzen's own three disciples were Minato's age, they had not been as strong as him, and their tempers had been much worse.
That was why Hiruzen found both Mugetsu and Minato particularly pleasing to the eye. One could only say that comparisons really were infuriating.
If either Mugetsu or Minato had been born ten years earlier, he would not be so troubled now over the matter of the Fourth Hokage.
After Minato finished his report, Hiruzen remembered what Mugetsu had told him earlier about already teaching Minato Kenbunshoku Haki, so he asked, "Minato, how is your Kenbunshoku Haki training going?"
"I've grasped a bit of the feeling, but I'm still some distance away from truly mastering it," Minato answered honestly.
"This perceptive ninjutsu really is extraordinarily difficult. The fact that you've already made this much progress is no simple thing," Hiruzen praised.
He was not just speaking out of politeness. Hiruzen himself had also tried training Kenbunshoku Haki and knew exactly how difficult it was.
As the Professor of Ninjutsu who had mastered more than a thousand techniques, if even he found a ninjutsu difficult, then it was truly difficult.
"It's mostly because Mugetsu is a good teacher."
Only after Mugetsu left, forcing Minato to practice Kenbunshoku Haki on his own, did Minato fully understand just how good Mugetsu was at teaching.
When Mugetsu taught him, even if he did not advance by leaps and bounds each day, he still improved every single day.
After Mugetsu left, Minato could clearly feel how much slower his progress had become.
"Minato, there's no need to be so modest. I think both of those things are true," Hiruzen said with a nod.
Mugetsu had organized too many special training sessions by now. His teaching ability had long since been recognized by all of Konoha's higher ups.
In fact, it was precisely because of that teaching ability that Hiruzen had once hesitated to let Mugetsu go to the battlefield.
Konoha did not lack Sannin level geniuses to the point of none ever appearing. From time to time, one would still emerge.
But Mugetsu's ridiculous teaching talent was something Hiruzen had never even heard of before, let alone seen.
In Hiruzen's eyes, even setting Mugetsu's personal combat strength aside, Mugetsu's importance alone exceeded that of a thousand man ninja force.
The only reason he had finally allowed Mugetsu onto the battlefield was because Mugetsu had mastered Flying Thunder God, which meant he could still preserve his life even if the situation collapsed.
"Mugetsu will soon be organizing a long term special training session for Kenbunshoku Haki. I've already added your name to the list, Minato. If you're not on a mission, you can go train there," Hiruzen said.
Part of the reason Minato had been called back was to let him rest.
The other part was to help him master Kenbunshoku Haki as soon as possible.
Minato nodded in thanks.
With his relationship with Mugetsu, even if he did not participate in the official training, Mugetsu would still make time to teach him.
Still, Minato felt it was not good to keep taking up too much of Mugetsu's personal time. Mugetsu always seemed to be busy with something.
After leaving the Hokage Building, Minato went to see Kushina.
From experience, he knew Mugetsu was probably teaching his disciples in the afternoon, so now was not the best time to disturb him.
He planned to visit Mugetsu around dusk, when he was most likely to be home.
Minato quickly arrived at the residence specially prepared for the Nine Tails Jinchuriki.
The ANBU on guard saw that it was Minato and did not appear to stop him.
Minato extended his senses slightly and found Kushina in her bedroom, so he walked over and knocked on the door.
Kushina, who had been reading sealing technique materials inside, was startled by the sound. Remembering what she had said to Mugetsu while shopping earlier, she quickly got up and opened the door.
The moment she saw it was really Minato, she threw her arms around him.
"That hateful old Sandaime. He kept you outside on missions for so long. Is he trying to work you to death?"
Minato smiled helplessly. "This really has nothing to do with Sandaime-sama. Keeping the flames of war away from the Land of Fire is the duty of every Konoha ninja."
Kushina pouted. She was not actually angry. She was only complaining a little. She was not the type to make trouble for no reason.
Sniff. Sniff.
Kushina pressed her face against Minato's chest and started sniffing at him seriously.
Only after confirming there was no scent of some other woman on him did she finally let go and pull him into the bedroom.
It was not that she distrusted Minato. It was just that Minato's face was far too easily liked by girls, and she was worried that some bad woman might trick that honest fool.
"Kushina, how is your Rasengan training going?" Minato asked.
The Rasengan and Flying Thunder God Technique complemented each other perfectly, but he had never created the Rasengan for himself. From the start, his intention had been for Kushina, with her huge reserves of chakra, to make use of it.
The Rasengan might look like a small chakra sphere, but in practice it consumed a great deal of chakra. It required compressing and rotating a huge amount of chakra at once.
"I've already mastered it!"
Kushina proudly held out her right hand and released her chakra.
Soon, a chakra sphere about one and a half times the size of a basketball appeared in her palm.
Minato's eyes lit up. As the creator of the Rasengan, he could tell at a glance that Kushina had not only learned it, but had already become quite proficient with it.
"It's all thanks to Mugetsu. When it comes to teaching ninjutsu, he's even a little better than me teaching sealing techniques," Kushina said as she dispersed the Rasengan.
To return the favor from before, Mugetsu had made time whenever he could to teach her the Rasengan.
"Then I'll have to properly thank Mugetsu later. It really was a blessing to become neighbors with him," Minato said with a warm smile.
He felt that one of the luckiest things to happen to him in recent years had been buying the house beside Mugetsu's, then getting to know him, then becoming his friend.
Of course, with Mugetsu's talent and ability, even if they had not met as neighbors, they would probably have known each other eventually.
But whether they would have grown this close was another matter.
Because they had been neighbors, they had quickly become friends who often shared meals.
Then came sealing technique instruction, and through one interaction after another, their relationship deepened until now, when they could trust each other completely.
"Yeah. That house you bought back then was a real bargain," Kushina agreed with deep conviction.
Putting everything else aside, just being able to eat those unmatched meals already made it worth the price.
"Ahh, when can I move around freely again? I want to eat hot food fresh from the pot too!" Kushina cried as she rubbed her head against Minato's chest in frustration.
The food always arrived quickly enough that it never got cold, but Kushina still felt that dishes tasted best straight from the pan.
Minato sucked in a sharp breath.
A girlfriend who was too strong was also a problem. When she started acting spoiled, his body really struggled to handle it.
Minato stayed with Kushina until dusk, then finally left and headed to Mugetsu's house.
By then, Mugetsu had just returned home and was in the kitchen preparing ingredients.
After receiving permission to enter, Minato skillfully walked into the kitchen. "Need a hand?"
Mugetsu did not bother being polite. "Wash the potatoes and peel them. Then…"
He immediately assigned Minato a few relatively simple tasks.
Once all the dishes were finished, Mugetsu and Minato carried them to the table together and prepared to eat.
"Mugetsu, thank you for looking after Kushina. You've been taking care of her daily life and even teaching her the Rasengan," Minato said sincerely with a smile.
Usually, Minato spoke very little when eating Mugetsu's cooking.
There was only one exception: when the person sitting across from him was Mugetsu himself.
"It's all just things I do along the way. You don't have to take it so seriously," Mugetsu replied, shaking his head.
Minato and Kushina had truly helped him a lot.
If not for the two of them, he would never have found a way to quickly get started with sealing techniques.
Minato had also played a major role in helping him master Flying Thunder God in the early stages.
Beyond that, Minato and their shared connections had brought Mugetsu many opportunities as well.
Without Minato introducing him to Jiraiya, for example, getting Tsunade's help would have been far more difficult.
"Have you run into any problems while training Kenbunshoku Haki?" Mugetsu asked after dinner.
"When it comes to sensing attacks outside my field of vision…"
Minato immediately began talking about the issues he had encountered.
Only after he started speaking did he remember that he had originally planned not to take up Mugetsu's private time, and instead intended to solve those problems later during the formal special training.
But the two of them had discussed training so many times that Minato had responded almost on instinct.
By the time he realized what he had done, Mugetsu was already explaining things to him.
And because Mugetsu's explanation was so clear, Minato could not bring himself to interrupt. He quickly became absorbed in the lesson.
Only later, when Minato excitedly began sharing the insights he had gained, did he remember his original intention and reveal an embarrassed look.
"If you really feel that I'm the one losing out here, then teach me a bit about Flying Thunder God in return," Mugetsu said, seeing right through his thoughts.
"Mugestsu, have you run into any problems with Flying Thunder God?" Minato asked at once.
In other areas, Minato was not especially confident comparing himself to Mugetsu.
But Flying Thunder God was different.
That was the technique he understood best.
Mugetsu gave a slight nod.
He had only solved the lack of talent required for Flying Thunder God by drawing it from the system in the first place.
Without that natural foundation, it was only normal that pushing his already proficient Flying Thunder God to an even higher level was extremely difficult.
Any technique, once it reached proficiency, became much harder to improve further.
This time, their roles reversed.
Minato became the teacher, and Mugetsu became the one asking questions.
After the explanation was over, Minato finally felt much more at ease.
This kind of mutual exchange made him feel better. Constantly receiving Mugetsu's goodwill without returning anything always left him embarrassed.
After that, Minato stopped taking up Mugetsu's time and headed home to read.
Minato was someone who genuinely loved books. Whenever he had free time, reading was usually his first choice.
And he read everything.
Dry ninja theory texts, practical combat manuals, and also ninja novels full of dramatic plots.
The next morning, after asking around about how Obito and the others had been doing lately, Minato went with Mugetsu to the South Border Forest.
After all, he was the team leader of Obito, Kakashi, and Rin.
It was one thing that he had been unable to personally lead them on the battlefield and had needed Mugetsu to help in his place. But now that he was back in Konoha, he still had to act like their actual teacher.
Otherwise, he would be far too negligent.
Because of the time spent talking with Minato, all of Mugetsu's disciples had already arrived in the South Border Forest by the time they got there.
"Mugetsu-sensei. Huh? Minato-sensei, why are you here?" Obito greeted Mugetsu automatically first, then only noticed Minato standing beside him.
From a distance, before he could see clearly, he had even mistaken Minato for a Shadow Clone Mugetsu had sent ahead.
Minato scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"Is there any chance that Minato-sensei is actually our real instructor?" Kakashi asked slowly.
Kakashi had to admit that Obito had not been completely wrong this time.
They had spent so much more time following Mugetsu lately that even he himself had paused for a moment when he saw Minato approaching.
.....
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