In fact, Danzo knew the reason why Sarutobi Hiruzen rejected his proposal.
But Danzo believed that the problem wasn't with him, but with Sarutobi Hiruzen. Danzo was wholeheartedly devoted to Konoha, and strengthening the Root Organization would only benefit Konoha, not harm it. Sarutobi Hiruzen should place more trust in him.
Considering that Mokgetsu had classes all day, Sarutobi Hiruzen went to find Mokgetsu after school at the Ninja Academy.
Knock knock!
Very soon, the wooden door of the Hokage Office was knocked on.
"Come in," Sarutobi Hiruzen said after taking a sip of hot tea.
From outside, Mokgetsu immediately pushed open the door and entered, greeting Sarutobi Hiruzen with a respectful expression.
Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded in response with a smile.
"The Anbu and Root have had some fresh blood added, and I want you to conduct special training for them to enhance their strength. I will arrange for other teachers to substitute for your classes at the Ninja School," Sarutobi Hiruzen said directly without wasting any words.
Mokgetsu made a surprised expression and then said, "Both the Anbu and Root are elite gathering places; I'm afraid I can't teach them much."
"No need to be modest, Mokgetsu. Your teaching abilities are evident to all. You just go and teach them," Sarutobi Hiruzen said with a trusting demeanor.
"Thank you, Third Hokage-sama, for your trust. I will do my utmost to help them enhance their strength," Mokgetsu said gratefully.
Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled and stroked his small mustache—this was the art of language. Even when simply issuing a task, he could still receive Mokgetsu's gratitude.
Then Sarutobi Hiruzen also discussed Asuma's training issues with Mokgetsu. As it was already after work hours, they walked out of the Hokage Building together after the chat.
"Anbu and Root together..." On the way home, Mokgetsu pondered the new task Sarutobi Hiruzen assigned him.
This was somewhat different from Danzo's expectations, clearly a result of compromise between both parties.
However, this was a good thing for Mokgetsu, as his system favored teaching more people with higher quality to easily trigger better rewards.
If it were just some new members of the Root Organization, Mokgetsu would worry about not meeting the conditions, but with both organizations combined, it wouldn't be an issue.
Back home, Mokgetsu began contemplating the special training content. This was not the same as the holiday training at the Ninja School; those who could enter the Anbu or Root were at least elite among Chunin, or even Jonin.
The title of Konoha Jonin carried great weight; if one were too one-sided in their abilities, even if their strength was sufficient, they might only become a Special Jonin in the end.
This was Mokgetsu's opportunity to prove his teaching abilities. If Mokgetsu taught well, his value as a teacher would be further amplified and he would be entrusted with even more, making his future actions more convenient.
If significant reforms were to be made in the Ninja School, Hiruzen wouldn't trust Mokgetsu to lead those changes without some special achievements under his belt.
The results of the two holiday training sessions Mokgetsu led at the Ninja School were outstanding, but the more impressive the record, the better.
However, Mokgetsu didn't overly stress this, as with his current ninja knowledge and teaching skills, simply teaching people to enhance their strength wasn't too difficult.
For Mokgetsu now, the two most important things were developing a portable Chakra supply and learning the Flying Thunder God.
A backup Chakra supply could alleviate his Chakra recovery speed issues to some extent. Once used up, he could directly take from the backup without having to refine it again.
The Flying Thunder God would allow him to teleport long distances instantly, which would be incredibly useful in many situations.
Mokgetsu spent 20 minutes sketching a plan and then focused on learning Fuinjutsu.
After studying Fuinjutsu for two hours, Minato came to Mokgetsu's house and discussed Ninjutsu with him. Mokgetsu learned the Flying Thunder God from Minato, and Minato listened to Mokgetsu talk about Rasengan development. It wasn't until almost bedtime that Minato went home.
After Minato left, Mokgetsu briefly studied the Breathing Technique before sleeping. Before going to bed, Mokgetsu checked the progress of life missions for each of his disciples.
The rewards for life missions were generous. If any disciple's progress was close to the settlement node, Mokgetsu would help them accelerate the progress, just like with Obito that time.
Mokgetsu reviewed all his disciples' life missions; currently, Obito had the highest progress, having already settled once.
Next was Might Guy, whose mission progress had surprisingly reached 9.4%, just 0.6% short for another settlement.
Third was Shisui, though he was far behind Obito and Might Guy in progress.
Last was Kakashi, the only one with zero progress, but his mission was a bit special. It was hard to say who, between him and Shisui, would settle first.
"If Might Guy can open the Fourth Gate of the Eight Gates in a normal state, then improving by 0.6% should be no problem," Mokgetsu thought.
Mokgetsu determined that the key factors in advancing Might Guy's life mission progress were power and fame, based on the growth at different stages.
Improving strength would enhance progress, and gaining fame would too. For instance, during the third round of the Chunin Examination, because of the large audience and Might Guy's great performance, his mission progress increased after the battle.
But according to Mokgetsu's records, strength improvement usually enhanced progress more significantly than fame gains did.
If it was just short by 0.1% or 0.2%, Mokgetsu might have made Might Guy undertake some impressive tasks, and perhaps completing those would do the trick.
For 0.6%, Mokgetsu felt that training Might Guy to open the Fourth Gate would be quicker, and Might Guy was already close to reaching the Four Gates.
The next day, Mokgetsu communicated with Teacher Chen about letting Might Guy temporarily leave the team for special training.
However, Mokgetsu maintained fairness among his disciples; he wouldn't pressure Might Guy alone.
"Everyone might need to work a bit harder; the upcoming training may be a bit challenging," Mokgetsu said with a warm smile to his disciples.
"Youth means more training!" Might Guy laughed heartily with a thumbs up.
The more challenging the training, the more excited Might Guy became—these were the stairs to the strongest path for him.
Upon hearing Mokgetsu's words, Obito's face turned pale, sensing a bad omen.
Mokgetsu rarely talked about the difficulty of training; if he mentioned it, it meant it was really tough, like the last stint with Breathing Technique Constant State training.
Constant State training was the scariest training Obito had ever experienced. He had truly fallen asleep standing up for the first time. The exhaustion was one thing, but having to do exercises as well made Obito feel deep pain.
Kakashi's expression turned somewhat serious as he recalled the last Breathing Technique Constant State training.
Shisui's expression didn't change; difficult training generally meant significant improvement, representing a chance for a shortcut to surpass others.
Shizune noticed a shift in the atmosphere but didn't quite understand it. Mokgetsu didn't say much—was it just a bit more difficult?
As if sensing Shizune's thoughts, Obito looked at her with a sympathetic gaze.
"Such a naively innocent child, she has no idea what she's about to face," Obito sighed.
Smack!
Mokgetsu's fingers precisely tapped Obito's forehead.
After a simple punishment for the playful Obito, Mokgetsu quickly began arranging training programs.
This special training aimed at providing targeted training according to each disciple's unique traits.
Might Guy had to open the Fourth Gate, while Kakashi had to thoroughly grasp the Transparent World, and Obito needed the Breath of Flame Chakra Mode...
Mokgetsu's strategy was to transform the disciples' foundation into strength as quickly as possible to increase combat power.
Although Shizune was an exchange student, she was considered half a disciple, so Mokgetsu also included her in a way.
Initially, Shizune was puzzled but smiled, and after training started, she somewhat missed her days of studying under Tsunade.
Although Tsunade often made her do chores, Shizune felt it wasn't as exhausting as training all day.
"Has Rin always gone through this? No wonder she's become so strong," Shizune's mental image of Nohara Rin became even more vivid.
"Must not give up; Tsunade-sama will surely be surprised when she checks my training progress," Shizune racked her brains for motivation.