A Root ninja handed Makoto a scroll.
"Night, this is Lord Danzo's latest directive."
Makoto nodded and took the scroll. "Night" was the codename he used within Root.
The two didn't exchange any further words. After handing over the scroll, the Root operative immediately vanished using the Body Flicker Technique. Makoto was essentially one of Root's hidden pieces; too much contact would be troublesome if the ANBU discovered it.
Before the Root ninja left his sensing range, Makoto performed an appraisal.
Name: Hirasuishoku
Potential: B
Chakra: 7000
Evaluation: A somewhat capable Jōnin
Seeing the chakra value of seven thousand, Makoto couldn't help feeling a little envious. He didn't even have five thousand himself—there was a gap equivalent to five six-year-old Shisui Uchihas.
Once his Sensory Ninjutsu could no longer detect the Root ninja, Makoto returned to his room and opened the scroll to read Danzo's newest order.
"Uchiha Shisui in your class is a prodigy of the Uchiha clan. Monitor his activities, confirm his personality, and conduct an evaluation."
After reading it, Makoto sighed inwardly.
Danzo's wariness toward the Uchiha clan had practically reached a pathological level.
Shisui was only six years old, having just entered the Ninja Academy.
Yet simply because he already had a reputation as a prodigy within his clan, Danzo wanted him monitored and evaluated.
Of course, there was also the possibility that Danzo had other plans for him—perhaps intending to recruit him into Root.
But Makoto doubted Danzo's plan would succeed.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, would definitely remind Danzo who the Hokage truly was.
Hiruzen might tolerate the existence of Root, but he would never tolerate a Root that grew excessively powerful.
The potential ceiling of a genius Uchiha was simply too high. No one knew how far such a prodigy might grow.
Therefore, a talented Uchiha had only two acceptable paths: remain obediently within the Uchiha clan, or join the ANBU.
After reading the message, Makoto burned the scroll away with Fire Release, reducing it to ashes.
This new directive was still within Makoto's acceptable range. In fact, even if Danzo hadn't sent someone specifically, Makoto would have reported Shisui's talent anyway during his next report.
Given Danzo's obsession with the Uchiha, concealing it was meaningless—it would only draw suspicion onto himself.
Makoto formed a hand seal and created a Shadow Clone.
The clone went off to practice ninjutsu, while his original body began focusing on chakra cultivation.
At present, chakra was his greatest weakness.
Even if he mastered countless techniques, without sufficient chakra it would be difficult to display their true power.
A ninja with little chakra, no matter how skilled, had a limited upper bound. Meanwhile, a ninja with vast chakra reserves would never be truly weak.
In many ways, chakra determined both a ninja's floor and ceiling.
The Next Day
Since he didn't have a class that morning, Makoto used the time to visit the Ninja Academy archives room.
He planned to collect the written exams from the past few years for the fourth grade. Since the process went smoothly, he also grabbed the first-year exams while he was at it.
His primary goal was to take on disciples, but improving the two boys' theoretical grades wasn't just talk.
After studying the papers, Makoto noticed something interesting.
The exam questions barely changed from year to year.
Each question followed the same type, only with slightly different wording or numbers. Some papers even reused identical questions.
Makoto nodded with satisfaction.
He now felt confident the two of them could pass.
They probably didn't even need intensive drilling. Just practicing with the previous two years' exam papers should be enough for them to reach a passing score.
After taking several papers, Makoto left the archive room and headed to the staff office.
The moment he stepped inside, he heard an argument.
"Yesterday she kept listening to everything I said. Obviously she's very interested in me!"
"Is it possible she just didn't want to talk to you?" someone retorted.
"When it came time to pay, she even suggested splitting the bill. She's already thinking about me!"
"Or maybe she was afraid you'd use 'I'll treat next time' as an excuse to ask her out again."
Makoto saw Aya Ueda mercilessly roasting Iketani Isamu.
He turned toward Kimura Sugito, who was watching the show with amusement.
"Didn't Isamu go on a blind date yesterday?" Makoto asked.
Kimura nodded.
"He's telling us about it and asking for advice on how to pursue her. But Ueda thinks the girl clearly isn't interested and is telling him to move on."
"Teacher Hosokawa , perfect timing!" Iketani said eagerly when he saw Makoto. "Do you have any special tricks for chasing girls?"
He felt Makoto looked like the kind of guy who must have had many girlfriends.
"Special tricks…" Makoto thought for a moment.
"I think as long as you let the other person feel your sincerity, that should be enough."
Whether such tricks existed was another matter—but even if they did, Makoto wouldn't share them. It wouldn't fit the persona he had established.
"Sincerity…" Iketani frowned in distress.
How exactly was he supposed to make someone feel that?
"Just give up, Iketani," Ueda said with a sigh. "Look at Teacher Hosokawa 's face. Whatever methods work for him won't necessarily work for you."
"That's impossible!" Iketani protested. "Okay, fine—Teacher Hosokawa might be a little more handsome than me. But the difference isn't that big!"
"You really won't turn back until you hit a wall," Ueda muttered, rubbing her temples.
She was a woman herself. After hearing Iketani's story, she already knew the blind date had gone nowhere.
But Iketani stubbornly refused to believe it.
"Good luck," Makoto said with a gentle smile.
What else could he say? Even his friend couldn't persuade him.
Besides, Makoto actually hoped Iketani would stay busy.
That way, Makoto could substitute teach Class 2 of the fourth grade again.
"With Teacher Makoto backing me up, just wait and see, Ueda!" Iketani declared confidently.
During the afternoon class, Makoto tried a small experiment.
He deliberately lowered the quality of his lecture.
Based on the system's previous evaluations, he suspected the teaching score had two major components:
one for lecture quality, and one for student satisfaction.
He wanted to obtain a B-rank evaluation, because the first time he had achieved an A rating, he received a bonus reward.
By that logic, the first B rating should also provide an extra reward.
[Lecture complete. Calculating evaluation…]
[Evaluation: B]
[Reward: Chakra +20]
[First time achieving B-rank teaching evaluation. Additional reward granted — Proficient Mastery of Chakra Shape Transformation.]
A flood of memories instantly appeared in Makoto's mind—memories of practicing chakra shape transformation.
Makoto was pleasantly surprised.
Within the chakra system, shape transformation was as fundamental as chakra nature transformation. Both could significantly enhance ninjutsu.
Although his mastery had only reached the proficient level rather than complete mastery, the advantage was that it didn't depend on chakra nature.
And speaking of shape transformation…
One technique immediately came to mind.
The Rasengan.
Naruto used it from beginning to end of the series. The Rasengan was practically the representative technique of shape transformation—a jutsu that possessed enormous destructive power without requiring any elemental nature at all.
"I can start developing the Rasengan," Makoto thought.
He planned to recreate this powerful A-rank, hand-seal-less technique himself. With the detailed training method from the original story and his newfound knowledge of shape transformation, the process shouldn't be too difficult.
The chakra reward from the B-rank evaluation also gave him another idea.
Maybe in the future he could intentionally farm a few B-rank teaching evaluations. Each reward wasn't large, but they would add up over time.
Adding Rasengan development to his schedule, Makoto suddenly realized something.
His life had become incredibly full.
During the day he taught classes.
In the evening he guided Shisui Uchiha.
At night he trained himself and developed new techniques.
On weekends he conducted special training for Might Guy and Obito Uchiha.
His timetable was completely packed.
Makoto wished he could maintain this peaceful life for several years and grow steadily.
Unfortunately, he hadn't transmigrated into the ninja world at a good time.
A quiet life was destined to be short-lived.
On the fourth day after Makoto arrived in the ninja world, troubling news arrived in Konohagakure from the front lines.
The war situation… had changed.
(End of Chapter)