Chapter 630: Yamato Hits Gold, New Perfect Skill
"Yamato's trust level is maxed out too."
Mugetsu nodded slightly when the message appeared.
The importance of trust levels was self-evident. A higher trust level not only provided more Chakra feedback, but also allowed higher-level skills to appear through critical rewards.
"I wonder what perfect-grade reward will appear this time."
A trace of anticipation appeared in Mugetsu's eyes.
Every disciple who reached Trust Level Four came with one guaranteed perfect-grade reward.
Perfect-grade skills were far too precious. Even Mugetsu did not possess many of them at the moment, and every single one formed a crucial part of his strength.
Mugetsu's ideal reward would be a perfect-grade Chakra Nature Transformation, preferably in the nature he was least proficient in.
A Ninja's strength was inseparable from Chakra. Even Taijutsu consumed Chakra, and Chakra Nature Transformation, as one of Chakra's fundamentals, could drive the improvement of multiple abilities at once.
If Mugetsu's Lightning Release Chakra Nature Transformation reached perfect grade, then the power of his No Thought Strike would soar. His Lightning Release under Lightning Release Chakra Mode would also become far stronger, and all his various Lightning Release Chakra techniques would rise in power because of the stronger Nature Transformation.
Suppressing those thoughts, Mugetsu continued reading the Wood Release Ninjutsu scroll left behind by Hashirama.
It was not merely for show. Mugetsu was truly studying Wood Release.
Putting aside Hashirama's aura, Wood Release itself was an extremely powerful ability. It combined offense and defense, and it was especially effective against Tailed Beasts.
Around seven in the evening, just as Mugetsu was preparing to teach the Anbu squad leaders and team leaders, the memories of his Shadow Clone flowed into his mind.
"Yamato's new training plan… I'll handle it after I get back. I can trigger the reward then as well."
Mugetsu's movements did not stop. He quickly walked toward the training team's Training Ground.
After school, Yamato had found his Shadow Clone in the South Border Forest and asked Mugetsu how he should balance school and training.
Although the Shadow Clone did not know that Yamato's trust level had increased, it did not immediately give an answer, because devising a suitable and reasonable training plan would take some time.
That made it convenient for Mugetsu to trigger Yamato's reward tomorrow.
Today's disciple feedback quota had already been used, so even if the trust level had broken through, he could not trigger the reward immediately.
...
The next afternoon, after Yamato returned from the Ninja Academy, Mugetsu went directly to his house.
Mugetsu arrived slightly earlier than Yamato and waited nearby for about three minutes before seeing him.
"Teacher Mugetsu."
Yamato was a little surprised to see Mugetsu, then noticed the things he was carrying.
He immediately thought of the request he had made yesterday and felt touched.
Not only had Mugetsu helped him finish the training plan so quickly, he had even brought it directly to his home.
"Teacher Mugetsu, please come in."
Yamato quickly invited Mugetsu inside.
Mugetsu nodded and entered Yamato's home.
"Teacher Mugetsu, please wait a moment. I'll pour you some water."
Yamato originally wanted to say he would make tea, but then remembered there was no tea at home at all.
First, Yamato himself did not drink tea. Second, there had never been any need to entertain guests.
Mugetsu placed the secret medicine and training plan he had brought onto the table. He did not immediately discuss training, instead asking about Yamato's feelings toward school.
"How have the past two days at school been? Are you getting used to it?"
"Everything is fine, except the Ninjutsu knowledge classes are very boring," Yamato answered honestly.
Most students liked courses related to Ninja and disliked pure academic subjects like history and literature. But because of his past experiences, Yamato's feelings were the opposite of ordinary students. He liked history, culture, and subjects like those.
"Then it seems you don't dislike going to school," Mugetsu said with a smile.
Yamato nodded in agreement.
Far from disliking it, he actually liked it somewhat. If school did not slightly delay his training, he might even be willing to stay at the Ninja Academy for a longer time.
"Enjoy your school life properly," Mugetsu reminded him. "Once you graduate, even if you return to school, you won't be a student anymore."
As he spoke, Mugetsu picked up the items he had brought and placed them in front of Yamato.
"This is the new training plan I made for you, and this is a semester's worth of secret medicine."
"Thank you for your trouble," Yamato said gratefully.
He truly felt fortunate to have met Mugetsu. If he had remained in Root, although someone would have taught him training and he would not have starved, his life definitely would not have been this good.
Most likely, he would never have been able to attend school. It would have been difficult for him to meet seniors like Kakashi and the others, and he would have missed out on such a meticulous teacher.
[You gifted your disciple cultivation secret medicine. Due to your disciple's immense gratitude, a super critical strike was triggered. Reward: Wood Release, Perfect Grade.]
As the message appeared, a vast amount of Wood Release training memories poured into Mugetsu's mind.
Some Wood Release Ninjutsu he was still learning were instantly comprehended, while the Wood Release Ninjutsu he had already learned gained even deeper insights.
"Then train well. That's the best way to repay me," Mugetsu said with a smile, patting Yamato's head.
Although the reward was not the basic Chakra Nature Transformation he had envisioned, in a sense, it was even better.
Bloodline Limits were far harder to improve in proficiency than ordinary Nature Transformations.
The proficiency feedback from teaching had requirements: the student had to actually learn what was being taught. In other words, if Mugetsu taught Wood Release or Ice Release, it would not have the same effect as ordinary Nature Transformation, because those were genuinely difficult to learn through study alone.
Unless Mugetsu taught a group of Ninja who already possessed Wood Release or Ice Release, it would not work. But the Ninja World did not have that many Ninja who had mastered Bloodline Limits.
After triggering the reward, Mugetsu did not leave immediately. He ate dinner with Yamato before returning to the training team to prepare for the evening classes.
After finishing his work with the training team, Mugetsu used Flying Thunder God to teleport outside Konoha, then used Thunder Breathing to travel to the southwest of the Land of Fire.
That region was remote, economically underdeveloped, and far from every battlefield, making it a good place to test Ninjutsu.
Mugetsu quickly entered an uninhabited mountain area, then activated his Byakugan, Transparent World, Kenbunshoku Haki, and other abilities to carefully investigate his surroundings.
After confirming no one was nearby, he began practicing.
"Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"
As Mugetsu rapidly formed hand signs, a massive amount of Chakra in his body quickly transformed into Wood Release Chakra, stimulating trees to grow from the earth.
Rumble, rumble!
Countless trees burst out of the ground and grew rapidly, making the already dense forest on the mountain grow to an almost eerie degree.
Looking at the vast expanse of thick trees, Mugetsu nodded slightly.
Although he had never personally seen Hashirama's Deep Forest Emergence, he had seen Danzo's stats and watched Danzo perform Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence.
The Deep Forest Emergence Mugetsu casually performed was far stronger than Danzo's, both in range and in the thickness of the trees. At the very least, it should not be considered real estate-grade Wood Release.
"Wood Release: Advent of a World of Flowering Trees!"
Mugetsu once again condensed a large amount of Wood Release Chakra.
Bang, bang!
Massive vines emerged from the earth, growing and expanding rapidly before sprouting flower buds.
Advent of a World of Flowering Trees was an enhanced version of Deep Forest Emergence. The vines it created were not only longer and thicker than the trees from Deep Forest Emergence, but they could also release pollen that induced unconsciousness.
To prevent Danzo from mastering this Ninjutsu, Mugetsu had even prepared corresponding medicines and breathing masks at the time.
However, Danzo never learned it, so Mugetsu's preparations went unused.
Since there were no enemies present, Mugetsu directly canceled the Ninjutsu without releasing the pollen.
"Wood Release: Wood Golem Jutsu!"
Boom, boom!
As Mugetsu poured in a massive amount of Chakra, the trees beneath his feet expanded further, then merged and transformed. In the end, they formed a giant wooden figure roughly forty meters tall.
Mugetsu stood atop the towering Wood Golem and looked down at his surroundings, experiencing a unique sense of exhilaration.
Regardless of whether it was powerful or not, piloting a giant construct certainly looked cool.
Mugetsu controlled the Wood Golem and swung its fist toward a small mountain peak.
Bang!
The instant the fist struck, the mountain peak shattered, and rocks of various sizes scattered in every direction.
The wood created by Wood Release was different from ordinary trees. Its hardness changed depending on the strength of the Chakra poured into it.
For example, Hashirama's Wood Golem could even grab a Tailed Beast Ball and throw it back.
After one strike, Mugetsu canceled the Wood Golem and cleared away some of the traces.
"I'm still missing Sage Mode," Mugetsu thought as he refined Chakra on the spot.
If one were to speak of Hashirama's most impressive Wood Release, it could only be Sage Art: True Several Thousand Hands.
The giant Wood Golem looked like a small toy when sitting on the head of True Several Thousand Hands, and the technique could grab the Nine-Tails as easily as a chick.
When all the arms of True Several Thousand Hands attacked together, they could even directly shatter Madara's Armored Susanoo.
Even in the later stages, when cheats were everywhere, this was still an extremely powerful Ninjutsu.
"Should I contact Jiraiya or Tsunade?" Mugetsu pondered while traveling.
Actually, obtaining Sage Mode would not be too difficult for him. The Three Great Holy Lands each possessed their own Senjutsu, and Mugetsu's relationships with Jiraiya and Tsunade were both good. Through them, he could train in Senjutsu at Mount Myoboku or Shikkotsu Forest.
However, Mugetsu had always had one concern: the mysterious Sage Ancestors of the Holy Lands.
In the original work, aside from the Great Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku, the Sages of Ryuchi Cave and Shikkotsu Forest had very little screen time.
Tsunade and the others only summoned independent-consciousness clones of Katsuyu the Sage.
Although there was not much plot involving them, the Sage Ancestors of these Holy Lands definitely should not be underestimated.
For example, the Great Toad Sage possessed the power of foresight and had lived from the era of the Sage of Six Paths until now. Its prophecies even spanned the entire Naruto series.
A long-lived being who had mastered Senjutsu. Mugetsu did not believe the Great Toad Sage's strength would be weak.
What if it saw Mugetsu's future, was dissatisfied with that future, and wanted to interfere? Wouldn't Mugetsu be delivering himself to its doorstep?
As for Katsuyu the Sage, Mugetsu knew too little about it. The unknown itself was a risk.
Because of these concerns, and because Mugetsu was currently in a golden period of rapid growth where researching other things could also greatly increase his strength, spending time on the high-risk Sage Mode was not very cost-effective. That was why he had never tried contacting the Holy Lands to train in Senjutsu.
After returning to Konoha, Mugetsu placed his Pokémon Egg beside him and continued researching Breathing Techniques.
He always carried the Pokémon Egg with him, placing it into the system space whenever he left home.
Mugetsu discarded distracting thoughts and quickly entered a focused state.
He needed Sage Mode, but it was not urgent, because even if he obtained Sage Mode now, he would still be unable to learn True Several Thousand Hands.
True Several Thousand Hands was a Senjutsu that even Hashirama found slightly strenuous to use. Its consumption was easy to imagine, and Mugetsu currently could not afford such an exaggerated amount of Chakra.
An hour later, Mugetsu stopped his research and prepared to sleep.
Just as he turned off the light, the Pokémon Egg suddenly emitted a faint green glow, which then quickly disappeared.
At the same time, Mugetsu inexplicably felt his body become a little lighter.
Curious, Mugetsu activated his Byakugan and looked at the Pokémon Egg. Unfortunately, he still could not penetrate the layer of light and see the creature inside.
"It should be close to hatching," Mugetsu thought. "If it's a Legendary Pokémon, then after cultivating it for a while, combined with my own strength, maybe I can visit those Holy Lands."
Judging from the system's localized Pokémon skills, the localized Legendary Pokémon would clearly be very powerful. With a Legendary Pokémon as a Nin-Beast, plus his own strength, he should be able to escape even if something went wrong.
...
"Teacher Chen, if you find anything unusual, please immediately fire a signal flare, and I will dispatch troops to support you," Homura said to Teacher Chen.
Teacher Chen was strong and experienced enough, so Homura decided to let him lead the other team to eliminate the Hidden Mist forces.
"I understand, Advisor Homura. The same goes for your side," Teacher Chen nodded.
His strength and experience meant he did not need to address Homura as "Lord."
"Depart!"
Homura and Teacher Chen each organized their troops and set off in two different directions.
Homura knew that the Hidden Mist's assassination capabilities were very strong, so he brought two Jonin from the Hyuga Clan and had them take turns activating their Byakugan to scout ahead while they traveled.
"Advisor Homura, there is a large area of dense mist created by Mist Ninja ahead. It is impossible to determine the enemy's numbers!" a Hyuga Jonin reported as they approached their destination.
The Byakugan could see Chakra through ordinary smoke, allowing it to determine the number and strength of enemies.
But Ninjutsu like the Hidden Mist Jutsu were different. The mist itself was made of Chakra, so what the Byakugan saw was nothing but Chakra.
"Wind Release Ninja, step forward. Use Wind Release to disperse the mist. Slow our pace and continue advancing!" Homura thought for a moment before giving the order.
After preparing for so long, he could not retreat because of one patch of mist.
Otherwise, there would be no need to fight at all. There were plenty of Mist Ninja who could use the Hidden Mist Jutsu.
Thus, Homura led his troops forward steadily.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu!"
Suddenly, a giant Water Dragon shot out from the mist.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!"
Homura reacted extremely quickly, forming hand signs in rapid succession to create a massive earth wall that blocked the Water Dragon.
"I can't believe you still dared to attack proactively."
Homura's eyes locked onto the short figure emerging from the gradually thinning mist.
"Heh. Why wouldn't I dare?" Yagura sneered.
"There are about five hundred enemies!" the Hyuga Jonin quickly reported as the Hidden Mist Jutsu gradually dispersed.
Homura remained calm. That was roughly within his expectations, so the battle would be easy.
"No, a large number of Mist Ninja are approaching from afar!" another Hyuga Ninja suddenly discovered a crucial fact.
Homura's expression changed dramatically.
.....
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