Chapter 579: The First Is Today
In the Land of Grass, near the Konoha Ninja Force camp, Mugetsu was teaching Kenbunshoku Haki.
Besides Obito, Shisui, and the others, Minato was also learning Kenbunshoku Haki from him.
Mugetsu had brought it up himself. His reasoning was simple: it would be too exhausting if he were the only one capable of identifying Iwagakure spies, so Minato needed to help shoulder the burden.
Mugetsu understood very clearly that once the intelligence from the Land of Grass reached Konoha, then no matter how much Hiruzen favored him, he would find a way to make him hand over Kenbunshoku Haki.
Even if the person who possessed this technique were not Hayate Mugetsu but Hiruzen's grand disciple, Minato, or Hiruzen's disciple, Jiraiya, the result would be the same.
A Ninjutsu that could play such a huge role in war had to be handed over to Konoha no matter who possessed it. Otherwise, it would be seen as lacking the Will of Fire and not loving Konoha.
Since he would have to hand it over sooner or later, Mugetsu naturally chose to prioritize teaching Minato, whose relationship with him was closer.
Mugetsu did not actually mind Kenbunshoku Haki spreading.
After being localized, Kenbunshoku Haki had a much higher threshold than Armament Haki. Perception talent alone would already eliminate a large number of people.
Moreover, having perception talent did not necessarily mean one could learn Kenbunshoku Haki, which would filter out another large group.
Even if someone could learn it, they still might not be able to master it, which would remove yet another group.
And even if they did master it, they still might not develop Kenbunshoku Haki's more special abilities.
Konoha only had a few thousand Ninja. After all those layers of filtering, the number of Ninja who could truly improve their combat power through Kenbunshoku Haki over the next few years would likely be very small.
By then, Mugetsu might already be invincible, so there was naturally no need for him to worry about that.
If he truly had not wanted Kenbunshoku Haki to spread, there were actually many ways to prevent it.
The simplest and most direct method would have been not using Kenbunshoku Haki's ability to sense malice as the reason for exposing the White Zetsu.
The second option would have been not teaching Minato at all. Then Mugetsu could have modified a watered down version of Kenbunshoku Haki and handed that over himself.
"In the early stages of training, try not to rely on your eyes to observe. Instead, avoid the opponent's attacks by sensing their aura," Mugetsu said, emphasizing the key point of beginning Kenbunshoku Haki training.
Since there were no strong beasts around, he had everyone create Shadow Clones and train against each other.
For example, he had one of Shisui's Shadow Clones attack Obito, while one of Obito's Shadow Clones attacked Shisui, letting them alternate their roles.
Because Minato's seniority was different from Obito's and the others, his training was handled by one of Mugetsu's Shadow Clones personally.
That created a small problem. Excluding Minato, who was training under Mugetsu's supervision, the number of people learning Kenbunshoku Haki became odd, leaving one person without a partner.
This was because neither Guy nor Kakashi had joined the Kenbunshoku Haki training.
"Damn it, do I seriously have to let Kakashi split off a Shadow Clone to train with Rin?" Obito felt uncomfortable just imagining it.
Mugetsu wanted to point out that a person was not limited to creating only one Shadow Clone.
But in order to encourage more harmonious interaction among his disciples, he chose not to remind them.
In the end, Obito gave up training with Shisui and, with the spirit of "if not me, then who," paired up with Kakashi's Shadow Clone.
Perhaps because the training was important, Kakashi and Obito did not quarrel.
"Mugetsu's talent for developing Ninjutsu is no less than his talent for learning it. He actually managed to create a sensory Ninjutsu like this," Minato sighed inwardly during a break.
Minato had a strong talent for sensing and also knew sensory Ninjutsu himself, so his understanding of Kenbunshoku Haki ran much deeper than Obito's and the others'.
In terms of difficulty alone, Mugetsu's Kenbunshoku Haki was the hardest sensory Ninjutsu Minato had ever seen. Even someone with his level of sensory talent could clearly feel how difficult it was.
By Konoha's standards, Kenbunshoku Haki was undoubtedly an S rank Ninjutsu.
What surprised Minato most was its potential.
Although he had not trained with it for long, Minato could already tell from his own experience and Mugetsu's explanations that this was a Ninjutsu that could be developed along many different paths.
Kenbunshoku Haki could sense chakra over a wide area like ordinary sensory Ninjutsu. It could also be applied in combat to predict enemy attacks. It could even be pushed further into the realm of sensing deeper emotions, such as goodwill and malice.
If not for Kenbunshoku Haki's extreme requirements in both sensing talent and difficulty, Minato felt that some members of the Hyuga Clan might eventually find themselves out of work.
In addition, the value of the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan would also decline.
"Mugetsu, I've got good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?" Just then, Jiraiya walked over with a grin and looked at Mugetsu.
Everyone present turned toward him. After such a great victory, how could there still be bad news?
Could it be that the intelligence squad had discovered that Iwagakure had sent even more reinforcements into the Land of Grass?
"The good news," Mugetsu thought for a moment before answering.
He felt that neither the good news nor the bad news could be anything too serious. Otherwise, Jiraiya would not have been standing there so leisurely, letting him choose.
"The good news is that the higher ups are going to reward you heavily. You'll probably get a large sum of money, and if you want, you might even be offered an important position in one of Konoha's departments," Jiraiya replied.
For a Ninja to grow stronger, money was indispensable. Setting aside all kinds of training resources, the consumption of Ninja tools alone already cost a great deal. It was entirely normal for Konoha to reward meritorious Ninja with large sums of money.
And with higher pay often came promotion.
Of course, because of the nature of being a Ninja, not everyone wanted to sit in an office handling administrative work. That part depended on personal preference.
For example, although Jiraiya was one of the famous Sannin, if it were not wartime, his only real identity in Konoha would still be that of a Jōnin.
Because Jiraiya had to travel the world in search of and in service to the Child of Prophecy, it was naturally impossible for him to sit in a fixed Konoha post.
Tsunade had also once held an important position in Konoha's medical department, but after entering her current laid back phase of life, she had resigned of her own accord.
"So what's the bad news?" Obito asked curiously.
"The higher ups want Mugetsu to take some Ninja back to Konoha. The kind that has to leave tomorrow," Jiraiya sighed.
"Shouldn't that also count as good news?" Minato asked in confusion.
Going back to Konoha was obviously more comfortable than remaining on a dangerous battlefield.
"If Mugetsu goes back, who's going to make food this good for us?" Jiraiya said as he patted Minato on the shoulder, looking thoroughly disappointed.
Minato scratched his head and had to admit that Jiraiya did have a point. Mugetsu returning was indeed bad news for them.
Not only would the quality of their meals take a sharp dive, but they would also lose a combat powerhouse capable of suppressing a Jinchūriki.
"It's almost noon anyway. I'll go prepare lunch," Mugetsu said with a faint smile.
Jiraiya was not just hinting. He practically had the words "I want to freeload a meal" written all over his face.
"You can all stop training for now. Eat first, rest a bit afterward, then continue later," Mugetsu told his disciples.
Shisui and the others obediently stopped. Those who could help went to help. Those who could not simply waited quietly for the meal.
Once the meal officially began, the atmosphere became even quieter.
When eating Mugetsu's cooking, only newcomers would waste time talking. The veterans already knew that the right approach was to talk less and eat more. Missing even a few extra bites for the sake of one sentence was too great a loss.
"That was satisfying," Jiraiya commented after finishing his meal.
Although Mugetsu had to leave tomorrow, Jiraiya was happy for the moment.
Everyone else nearby wore similarly approving expressions.
"Your contribution this time is so great that the next issue of the Leaf Newspaper will definitely feature you as the centerpiece. You've truly become the number one of Konoha's new generation now," Jiraiya said while picking at his teeth.
Minato had appeared in the Leaf Newspaper quite often, but usually as more of a supporting figure.
Once the latest issue was published, Mugetsu's prestige would definitely surpass Minato's.
At that point, all that talk about the two strongest of Konoha's new era would disappear. There would be no more "Mugetsu of the South, Minato of the North." Mugetsu would become the undisputed strongest of the new generation.
Of course, if Minato also managed to win a great victory against a famous and powerful opponent in a short time, the balance could shift back.
But realistically, that would be very difficult.
"It's just an empty title. There's no real meaning to it," Mugetsu said, shaking his head slightly.
He genuinely did not care much about such things. Having a reputation comparable to Minato's was already enough. There was little real benefit in rising beyond that.
After all, Mugetsu had no dream of becoming Hokage.
If he had some Konoha prosperity system, then greater authority and becoming Hokage might indeed be very necessary. But as the owner of a teacher system, becoming Hokage would only be asking for trouble.
At the end of the day, Mugetsu was a transmigrator, and one who had only been in this world for a little over three years.
He did not care about Konoha as an institution in and of itself. There were many reasons why he had gone to the battlefield, but pure protection of Konoha had never been one of them.
Compared to Konoha as a political entity, Mugetsu cared far more about the people within it, the ones he actually knew.
The students who called him "teacher" with genuine affection. The disciples who trusted him completely. The friends who had supported him and whom he supported in return.
"It's not entirely meaningless. Things like this are still very useful if you want to become Hokage," Jiraiya explained.
Konoha usually selected its Hokage according to seniority, but if someone's prestige and achievements were high enough, then those things could, to some extent, override seniority and other obstacles.
It was just that Mugetsu was not truly part of the Hokage lineage, nor was he a direct disciple of Hiruzen or Jiraiya.
Otherwise, with the momentum he had now, if he had any ambition at all, he could practically have secured a Hokage seat already, whether as the Fourth or the Fifth.
"So Minato, you'll need to work harder. Otherwise, you may not be able to compete with Mugetsu for the Fifth Hokage position in the future," Jiraiya said, deliberately encouraging him.
Jiraiya knew very well that Minato had always been working toward becoming Hokage.
"Yes. Although Mugetsu is outstanding, I won't give up," Minato nodded seriously.
He admitted that the current him was inferior to Mugetsu, whether in personal strength or in the ability to command a Ninja force in battle.
But Minato was not someone who gave up easily. Not being as good as Mugetsu now did not mean he would never be able to catch up in the future.
If he worked hard and still could not surpass him in the end, then Minato would accept it.
Losing after giving everything was always better than looking back in regret because he had never really tried.
Obito ruffled his hair, his mood suddenly becoming a little complicated.
According to the information Yamato and Naruto had brought from the future, Minato had indeed become Hokage, and not the Fifth but the Fourth.
If they successfully changed the future and Mugetsu did not die, would that mean Minato would fail to compete with Mugetsu and never become the Fourth Hokage?
Obito had no doubt that Minato would lose to Mugetsu.
After all, no matter how strong Minato was, he was still a mortal. His opponent, meanwhile, was the seemingly all powerful Lord Mugetsu.
"For Lord Mugetsu's sake, I can only let Minato-sensei suffer a little," Obito thought with a trace of guilt.
Compared to Mugetsu's life, Minato losing the chance to become Hokage was a small matter.
To Obito, even his own dream of becoming Hokage could be abandoned for Mugetsu's sake.
That afternoon, Mugetsu received a mission from Root. Danzo wanted him to locate the body tissue of the Iwagakure spy.
Mugetsu ignored the mission outright.
He had specifically made sure Danzo would not get White Zetsu's body, which was why he had his Shadow Clone kill the White Zetsu in the first place. There was no way he would now help Danzo locate White Zetsu remains.
Mugetsu guessed that Danzo had also read the battlefield intelligence and turned green with envy, so he had only sent the order with a "might as well try" sort of attitude.
...
The next day, Mugetsu and the others departed under Jiraiya and Minato's reluctant gazes.
Since Iwagakure's attitude was still unclear, Mugetsu did not take many people with him. He only brought a few dozen Ninja, all of whom had already spent some time on the battlefield.
Other than Mugetsu and his disciples, the rest of the support unit stayed behind.
Because Hiruzen's order had been to return to Konoha as quickly as possible, Mugetsu's group moved at top speed and soon made it back.
"It hasn't even been half a month, but it feels like a very long time has passed," Obito sighed as he once again saw the peaceful sight of Konoha's main gate.
This was not his first time participating in a war, but the impression it left on him was no less strong than the first battlefield he had experienced.
It was also the first time he had ever seen a Konoha Ninja force look like a pack of strays.
When they first met up, the morale of the Konoha force had visibly sunk to the bottom.
It was also the first time Obito had participated in a large scale war where the total number of combatants exceeded three thousand.
Konoha had sent twelve hundred Ninja. Iwagakure had nearly two thousand. In total, both sides combined had more than three thousand two hundred fighters.
During the battle, Obito had felt as though the enemy were endless, to the point that he had not even dared to enter Flame Breathing Chakra Mode.
He had been afraid that if he exhausted his chakra, he would only become a burden to everyone else.
"That's because the pressure this time was greater than in any of the previous battles," Kakashi replied.
On the Hidden Mist battlefield, they had not needed to think too much. They only had to execute the orders Orochimaru gave them.
But Land of Grass had been different.
First, they were suddenly called in to support Jiraiya's force. At that time, they did not even know what had happened on the front line. They only knew that the unit had been defeated.
That kind of unknown yet clearly powerful enemy naturally created tremendous psychological pressure.
Later, Mugetsu had also allowed them to become part of the informed inner circle regarding the ambush plan, drawing them directly into the broader affairs of the force.
"Maybe that's true. I really wish war would disappear completely," Obito said sincerely as he recalled the battlefield scenes of blood spraying and severed limbs flying.
The Sharingan gave Obito exceptional eyesight.
So when he saw an uncle he had greeted just a few hours earlier get stabbed straight through the heart by a sharp Kunai, even if it was only someone whose name he did not know, he still felt terrible.
"Then you'll have to study more and work harder," Kakashi said.
This time, for once, he did not mock Obito. He simply encouraged him in a calm tone.
Obito turned to look at Kakashi in surprise, as if thinking, You can say things like that too?
"Just look at Lord Mugetsu and Minato-sensei, then look at yourself. Do you really think the current you is worthy?" Kakashi added in the tone Obito knew all too well.
Obito instantly felt that the familiar Kakashi had returned, along with his urge to punch him.
"You naturally evil, hateful white-haired menace. How dare you underestimate me like that," Obito cursed inwardly.
In order to prove Kakashi wrong, he decided that after going home to see his grandmother, he would head straight to the South Border Forest and train.
Once they entered Konoha, Mugetsu dismissed the ordinary Ninja first.
"I'll go report the mission details to the Sandaime," he said.
"Goodbye, Lord Mugetsu," the Ninja waved farewell to him and quickly left.
Many of them had not seen their families for quite some time and were eager to reunite and talk.
"You all are dismissed too. If you want to go home, then go home. If you want to train, then head to the South Border Forest," Mugetsu told his disciples, who were still standing behind him.
"For the next two days, rest however you like. If nothing unexpected comes up, then after two days we'll resume training as usual."
Obito and the others had recently entered a key period in their growth. Once they fully mastered the new abilities Mugetsu had taught them, each of them would experience a considerable increase in strength.
So although they had just returned from a major battle, Mugetsu did not give them much time off and explicitly told them to return to training after resting.
Madara's actions were becoming more and more blatant, and Obito and the others needed to become stronger to protect themselves from the chaos ahead.
"Yes, Lord Mugetsu, understood," Obito nodded.
He definitely planned to train, especially after Kakashi had mocked him again.
Still, Obito intended to go home and see his grandmother first before heading to the South Border Forest.
The others all nodded as well.
Their thinking was largely the same as Obito's.
Kakashi, however, did not plan to go home. Instead, he intended to buy a copy of the Leaf Newspaper and then head straight to the South Border Forest to train.
He was curious how Konoha would report this great victory and how they would portray Mugetsu.
After finishing his instructions, Mugetsu headed toward the Hokage Building.
Thump.
He arrived outside the Hokage's office and gently knocked on the door.
"Come in."
The Sandaime's voice came from within.
Only then did Mugetsu push open the wooden door and enter.
"Sandaime," Mugetsu greeted respectfully.
"Mugetsu, you really are someone who knows how to surprise people," Hiruzen said with a broad smile.
"The reason I pushed through all objections to choose you as the commander was because I valued your steady temperament and believed you could turn the situation around."
"And in the end, you truly gave me a great surprise. You eliminated more than sixteen hundred enemies, which is four hundred more than the total number of men in your own unit."
Hiruzen did not mention Kenbunshoku Haki. Instead, he simply praised Mugetsu's achievements.
.....
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