Mokgetsu successfully sparked the curiosity of all the older students with just two sentences. They were eager to immediately learn the Dark Burning Jutsu to try enhancing their effects.
"Go and try to push your breathing to the utmost, but don't be reckless." After laying the groundwork, Mokgetsu began formal instruction.
Though this so-called Dark Burning Jutsu was only recently developed by Mokgetsu, its essence was merely a degraded version of the Breathing Chakra Mode and was explained as smoothly as the Breath of Darkness.
"Originally, the Breath of Darkness was already powerful enough. Adding this Dark Burning Jutsu is truly the development of a secret technique capable of establishing a Ninja Clan in the Ninja World," Sarutobi Shinji thought with admiration.
He felt that if Mokgetsu's Breath of Darkness and Dark Burning Jutsu were to be passed down as family secret techniques, and developed smoothly, a hundred years later, the Ninja World might see another powerful clan, the Habu Clan.
"Fortunately, I was chosen again; otherwise, I would have lost out greatly," Tobita Kenji thought with relief.
As usual, even if he hadn't participated in the training, Sarutobi Hiruzen, who had promoted the Breath of Darkness, would certainly have provided the opportunity to learn the Dark Burning Jutsu.
But whatever standards and requirements there might be, it was hard to say, and without Mokgetsu's guidance, it would also be very difficult to learn.
[Completed an intermediate lesson]
[Rating: S]
[Reward received: Breathing Technique Understanding Enhancement, Breath of Darkness +48, Basic Breathing +22, Breath of Thunder +11]
After the day's course ended, a notification popped up with the lesson rewards.
Mokgetsu set his sights on the first reward: Breathing Technique Understanding Enhancement. The reason he chose to grind the Breathing Technique was for this reward.
This is a reward only obtainable with an S-level rating in an intermediate class, which can increase his understanding of the essence of the Breathing Technique.
After organizing the knowledge in his mind slightly, Mokgetsu headed in the direction of Tsunade's house.
A single lesson reward was far from enough to improve his proficiency in the Breathing Technique. To develop the Breath of Yang as he envisaged, he needed to grind more lesson rewards.
...
Root Base.
"What did Mokgetsu teach today? Any differences between Root and Anbu? How was the teaching?" Danzo asked the Root Ninja who had just finished the training.
Danzo was dissatisfied with this training session.
Of course, it had nothing to do with Mokgetsu. This dissatisfaction was directed at Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Because Sarutobi Hiruzen had arranged for twenty-five Anbu to enter the training, while Root could still only send fifteen the same as before.
This blatant double standard could not be tolerated by Danzo, and upon receiving the specific arrangements, he directly stormed into the Hokage Office.
Due to his anger, this time Danzo overlooked some details, and upon entering the office, was admonished by Sarutobi Hiruzen for not knocking. Subsequently, he was continuously targeted for some small issues, leaving Danzo very displeased.
The most frustrating thing for Danzo was that even after confronting Sarutobi Hiruzen, he refused to increase the number of Root members in training.
Sarutobi Hiruzen's reasoning left Danzo unable to refute.
"Root is a subordinate organization of Anbu. If Anbu only has twenty-five participants, why should Root be the same?" Sarutobi Hiruzen stated.
What else could Danzo say but leave with a warning that Hiruzen would regret it, then slammed the door on his way out.
"Teacher Mokgetsu taught the Breath of Darkness and its corresponding advanced technique, the Dark Burning Jutsu today. There's no difference between Root and Anbu in terms of the learning content. Teacher Mokgetsu taught excellently as usual," the Root Ninja answered each question.
Danzo nodded slightly, asked some more details to confirm there were no issues, and then allowed the Anbu Ninja to leave.
"Hiruzen, you've changed. Surely I was right not to tell you about the Wood Release Ninja," Danzo muttered in frustration as he thought about the anger he felt in Sarutobi Hiruzen's presence.
In the past, Danzo had considered whether to inform Sarutobi Hiruzen about the existence of the Wood Release Ninja, in order to ensure they receive the maximum nurturing.
For Konoha, Wood Release holds a special place, and many Konoha Ninja believe that Wood Release surpasses any Kekkei Genkai, with the strongest ninjutsu being Wood Release Ninjutsu.
Since the founding of Konoha till today, only one Wood Release Ninja has appeared, and that is the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, known as the God of Ninjas.
This inevitably leads to boundless imagination that any Wood Release Ninja might also reach the heights of the God of Ninjas.
Those slightly more rational might still be driven to erroneous conclusions by Senju Hashirama's once-terrifying power, thinking that even if they can't reach Senju Hashirama's height, they might achieve two-thirds or even half.
Now, Danzo has completely given up the idea of sharing the information with Sarutobi Hiruzen, because Sarutobi Hiruzen would surely use all kinds of reasons to take the Wood Release Ninja from Root, and would never give them back.
Danzo would never let that happen. It's not purely about enhancing Root's power but for the sake of Konoha.
Because Danzo feels that only in Root can the strongest Wood Release Ninja be cultivated, while Wood Release Ninja who went to Sarutobi Hiruzen would not be able to further develop their powers, and that would be a great pity for the whole of Konoha.
"It's time to check on his training."
Danzo, accompanied by two of his trusted Root subordinates, headed to a hidden area near Konoha.
The Wood Release Ninja that Danzo owns is, in fact, the only successful subject of Orochimaru's Hashirama Cells experiment. But because of some unforeseen circumstances, Orochimaru believed all had failed, and Danzo took advantage of the situation.
Arranging the Wood Release Ninja outside the village is not only to prevent discovery by Sarutobi Hiruzen but also to avoid Orochimaru finding out and reclaiming the Wood Release Ninja.