Chapter 335: Five Self Created Ninjutsu
"Today we begin the final stage of Constant State training, maintaining your Breathing Technique all day," Mugetsu announced.
The core of Constant State was simple to describe and brutal to execute: keep the Breathing Technique active for twenty four hours.
Obito and Kakashi had already raised their limits with their respective Breathing Techniques, but they still had not truly completed Constant State.
"Do we have to stay in Full Concentration the whole time, or is normal breathing fine?" Obito scratched his head.
If it was Full Concentration Breathing, he could not even last a single hour while doing nothing, let alone an entire day.
"Normal breathing is fine, and you do not need to do too much other training on top of it," Mugetsu replied with a smile.
Constant State used a focused breathing pattern, but it was completely different from the extreme concentration used in battle.
Obito and the others had never done full day breathing practice before, so this had to be done step by step.
Kakashi nodded. Under those conditions, even though his body was not fully recovered yet, he could still participate.
"That sounds pretty easy," Obito said with a grin, feeling like this was finally a relaxed training session after the Chunin Exams.
"Of course, to keep you motivated, every time you fail to maintain the breathing state you will do one problem. If you do not re enter the state within ten minutes, you get an additional problem," Mugetsu added, calmly stating the rules.
His disciples were all hardworking, but punishment rules were still necessary to give them a sense of urgency.
At least for Obito and Might Guy, this method worked very well.
The moment Mugetsu finished speaking, the smile vanished from Obito's face and his expression slowly stiffened.
His bad premonition had been right. It was that problem solving training again.
Even if those problems had helped him achieve good results in the Chunin Exams, it did not mean Obito had developed any fondness for them.
Just thinking about those black and white test papers made his head spin.
"This training sounds really tough," Might Guy said, bracing himself like he was facing a powerful enemy.
Even someone as diligent as him had never managed to maintain the Breathing Technique state for an entire day.
If given a choice, Might Guy would rather fight a Kumogakure jonin for another hour than sit and do problems.
Under Mugetsu's arrangements, all of his disciples except Rin began final Constant State training.
Rin had only started learning the Breathing Technique recently. Her Water Breathing had not even reached the introductory level, so Constant State was far too early for her.
Her main focus right now was Medical Ninjutsu.
Her role on the team was healer. With Rin's current level, it was better to save her chakra for healing than to force combat training.
Mugetsu still felt it was a pity.
On the day the Chunin Exams ended, he had taken Rin to Tsunade's house, hoping to entrust Rin to her as a disciple, but it had not worked out.
With Rin's talent in Medical Ninjutsu, she could have gained a lot if she had been able to learn directly under Tsunade.
It was not that Tsunade looked down on her.
Tsunade simply had business in the capital of the Land of Fire in the near future and could not take on a student for the time being.
Even so, Might Guy did not change his training plan.
He hated problems, but the strength he gained through training was his own.
It was hard to complete Constant State perfectly on the first attempt.
After about two hours, the first person to fail to maintain the Breathing Technique appeared.
"Kakashi, one lapse," the Shadow Clone assigned to watch him called out as it made a tally.
"Kakashi, are you serious? You already broke it after such a short time?" Obito immediately jeered.
"It is only one problem. Do you think I am like you? Even ten would not scare me," Kakashi replied calmly, slowly adjusting his breath.
He had been trying to enter the Transparent World again and again, and each attempt required pushing his breathing to an extreme.
Even without heavy physical training, the strain was very high. Short breaks did not restore him much.
Kakashi could feel that he was close to fully grasping Transparent World, so he had thrown himself into that training, even putting Armament Haki aside for now.
If Mugetsu had known what Kakashi was thinking, he would have told him that his feeling was exactly right.
In Mugetsu's evaluation, Kakashi's proficiency in Transparent World had already reached ninety points.
Only ten more points remained before he would truly master it.
"Keep bragging. When you are drowning in problems, you can suffer alone," Obito muttered, pouting. In his eyes Kakashi was just putting on an act.
Kakashi did not bother arguing.
After resting a few minutes, he re entered his Breathing Technique state.
Once his body was fully recovered, he still wanted to challenge Shisui.
They had not had an internal spar for a while now, so he did not know how far Shisui had progressed.
To beat Shisui, Kakashi had to squeeze out every bit of improvement during this period. Raising his strength was always the right choice.
About two and a half hours in, the second failure appeared.
It was, of course, Obito, who had mocked Kakashi earlier.
Kakashi said nothing. He only glanced at Obito and let out a soft chuckle.
"Flame Breathing Chakra Mode eats through chakra too fast," Obito quickly explained, his small face flushed red.
Normally it would have been fine, but he had just practiced several techniques like Flame Charge. After using too much chakra, his concentration slipped.
Everyone else was focused on their own breathing and did not respond.
Obito rested for a few minutes, then returned to his Breathing Technique.
After five hours of training, failures became more frequent.
Everyone had to focus completely on their breathing just to barely maintain the state.
Even during the lunch break, Mugetsu required them to continue maintaining their Breathing Techniques.
Thanks to the exhaustion from the morning, the afternoon was even more brutal.
By the time training for the day ended, there had been many lapses.
Mugetsu gathered them and announced the results.
"Kakashi, thirty four problems. Obito, thirty two problems. Guy, thirty one problems. Shisui, twenty eight problems."
"Everyone worked hard today. Go back and rest early. Tomorrow's training will be the same," Mugetsu said.
Right now, Kakashi and the others could still enjoy proper rest.
Once they entered the stage where they had to maintain the Breathing Technique even while sleeping, good rest would become a luxury.
"Again tomorrow?" Obito staggered and almost fell over when he heard that.
Ever since graduation, Mugetsu had rarely used problem solving training on consecutive days.
Usually it only came once a week.
In a daze, Obito seemed to see mountains of problems and seas of test papers rushing toward him. His future looked full of misery.
"Although this training is a little tough, I believe you will complete Constant State very soon," Mugetsu said encouragingly. "When that happens, I will cook a big feast to celebrate."
Obito swallowed the complaints rising to his throat.
Mugetsu trusted them so much. How could he give up easily?
He could not blame Mugetsu for the problems either. It was his own fault for not practicing his Breathing Technique enough.
If he could already maintain it constantly, he would not have to do any problems at all.
Because the summer special training was still ongoing, Mugetsu sent only a Shadow Clone to oversee Obito and the others the next day.
His main body went to guide the students at the summer training site.
At this point, the summer special training was about halfway finished.
On this particular day, Mugetsu gathered Group B and Group A together and announced a new class.
"From today on, Group B and Group A will temporarily have joint lessons. Next, we will be learning Ninjutsu," Mugetsu declared.
Group C would also learn in due time, but because their overall curriculum lagged behind, it would not be their turn until after that day.
"We get to learn Ninjutsu too?" one student blurted out, eyes shining.
They had already thought it was generous that Mugetsu was teaching them Nature Transformation.
They had never expected this free special training to include Ninjutsu instruction as well.
Almost everyone in Group B and Group A was a genin, with only a few outstanding Academy students among them.
For genin, learning Ninjutsu from Mugetsu was a rare chance.
This was a man who could fight a Tailed Beast, and on top of that, his teaching ability was outstanding.
"What kind of Ninjutsu is it?" Shiranui Genma could not hide his excitement.
He still remembered Mugetsu's demonstration on the very first day of special training.
If they were about to learn those five techniques, then this would be a huge windfall.
"This course is not mandatory," Mugetsu added. "If any of you feel that these Ninjutsu are not particularly helpful to your path, you do not have to learn them. The Ninjutsu I am about to teach are low level techniques I developed myself."
When he had decided to teach Nature Transformation, Mugetsu had also developed five Ninjutsu specifically for teaching.
After all, learning only Nature Transformation without a Ninjutsu to apply it to would not help much in real battle.
He did know plenty of existing low level techniques, but for most students, even C rank Fire Release techniques like Phoenix Sage Fire Technique or Great Fireball Technique were difficult to master and use properly.
So he had used his broad Ninjutsu knowledge to further lower the power and difficulty, developing five D rank Ninjutsu.
"Developed by Mugetsu sensei himself," Asuma thought, his spirits rising.
Even if they were lower rank, Ninjutsu personally created by Mugetsu felt far more promising than standard techniques.
Mugetsu was, after all, a Ninjutsu genius.
Asuma still remembered that when he first met Mugetsu, the man only knew Fire Release and Water Release.
Now, he could use Ninjutsu of all five basic natures with ease.
"Fire Release, Minor Fireball Technique."
Mugetsu had the students spread out around the clearing, then quickly formed hand seals and exhaled a fireball half as tall as a person, scorching the ground where it struck.
Fire Release was Mugetsu's strongest field at the moment.
His Fire Nature Transformation had reached perfection, and he had mastered a large variety of Fire Release techniques.
Because of that, this D rank Fire Release was the first of his five new techniques to be completed.
He had even developed higher rank versions alongside it, such as the C rank Fire Release, Great Fireball Technique, and the B rank Fireball Sea Technique.
"Wind Release, Wind Slash."
Mugetsu formed another set of seals. A sharp, concentrated blast of wind erupted from his palm, leaving deep scratches on the trunk of a nearby large tree.
This was the hardest of the five to develop.
To make Wind Release truly offensive, the level of Nature Transformation could not be low.
"Water Release, Water Impact.
"Lightning Release, Electric Beam.
"Earth Release, Rock Spike."
Mugetsu quickly demonstrated the other three techniques.
Water Impact spat out a pillar of water.
Electric Beam released a focused current.
Rock Spike manipulated the ground to thrust stone pillars upward as attacks.
He already had ideas about how to further develop each of these.
For example, Water Impact could be refined with more shape transformation, turning the water pillar thinner and far more penetrating.
Electric Beam could be pushed in the direction of a pseudo Darkness technique.
Mugetsu was very satisfied with the S rank evaluation reward he had received from this special training.
Because of that, he planned to keep running similar training sessions in the future.
If the ninja who had joined this time chose to participate again, they would be able to learn even more advanced Ninjutsu.
"If last year's special training had been like this, that would have been amazing," one student could not help sighing.
He had graduated only a few months ago, and his team leader still had not begun teaching them Ninjutsu.
They only did basic training.
If they had been able to master techniques like these while still in the Academy, they would have been miles ahead.
For a fresh genin, being able to use a Great Fireball Technique or Phoenix Sage Fire Technique already counted as excellent.
Most newly graduated genin relied purely on taijutsu and ninja tools.
Many civilian born genin felt the same way.
The path for ninja without a clan was truly difficult.
If you were lucky enough to have an instructor who understood your natural chakra affinity, it was one thing.
But if your affinity was Water and you ended up under a teacher who only used Fire Release, then your entire training would feel wrong.
After finishing his demonstration, Mugetsu separated five Shadow Clones, each responsible for teaching one elemental Ninjutsu.
Most of the students who met the requirements chose to learn at least one.
With Mugetsu's teaching, picking up an extra skill was never a bad idea.
Of course, there were exceptions.
Nara Shiosui's team, for example, did not send anyone.
They relied mainly on their clan's secret arts, so these general Ninjutsu would not help their core combat style very much.
"They are already learning Ninjutsu," Kotetsu Hagane said enviously as he watched the activity in Groups A and B.
He could not help but turn to the Mugetsu Shadow Clone assigned to Group C.
"Mugetsu sensei, when will our Group C start learning Ninjutsu?"
Kotetsu looked at him nervously, afraid he was about to hear that they would not be learning at all.
"At your current pace, about four more days," the Shadow Clone answered after thinking for a moment.
He was not playing favorites. Group C really was progressing slower, so their turn naturally came later.
"Alright!" Kotetsu almost jumped.
He could finally learn something beyond the Three Body Technique.
Maybe because the Academy only taught those three basic techniques, the students had endless enthusiasm when it came to learning real Ninjutsu.
After they understood that the delay was due to their progress, the students in Group C attacked their Nature Transformation drills with new intensity.
Everyone wanted to reach the requirement for Ninjutsu as soon as possible.
Their renewed drive shaved a day off Mugetsu's estimate.
After three days, they also began following Shadow Clones to learn the five Ninjutsu.
Two weeks passed like that in a blur of practice and instruction.
Just then, another practical exam arrived on schedule.
Many students gained a much deeper understanding of Ninjutsu in the chaos of actual combat.
There was a big difference between simply being able to perform a technique and knowing how to use that technique effectively in battle.
After two practical exams, the special training reached its scheduled end.
Originally, Mugetsu had set the course to last five weeks.
In the final week, however, a chorus of student requests changed that plan.
"I feel like I still do not understand so many things about Ninjutsu. Since there is nothing else to do during the break anyway, Mugetsu sensei, can you teach us a little longer?"
"Mugetsu sensei, if it really is too hard to extend the schedule, we can give up our weekends. Once school starts again, we definitely will not get training like this."
Many students begged Mugetsu to extend the training period or hold extra classes during the rest of the holiday.
Even if it meant their summer break would shrink to just a few days, they did not care.
Holidays would always come again.
Opportunities to learn Ninjutsu like this were rare.
Compared to their own time, they were more concerned about Mugetsu.
Teaching so many students every day looked much more exhausting than being a student.
Faced with such eager eyes, Mugetsu had no reason to refuse.
You reap what you sow.
More classes would be tiring, but the rewards on his side would be just as plentiful.
Still, it was an unplanned change, so Mugetsu reported it to Hiruzen when he went to the Hokage's house to study Ninjutsu.
These days, Mugetsu usually did two things on each visit.
First, he would consult Hiruzen on Ninjutsu, showing off the progress of his own studies and reinforcing the image of a genius.
Second, he would report the progress of the special training.
With so many students participating, Hiruzen was paying close attention to how the training was going.
"If the students are willing themselves, adding one more week is fine," Hiruzen said, stroking his goatee. "But it will be hard on you, Mugetsu."
When Mugetsu had planned the training, he had already considered the students' holidays.
Even after five weeks of classes, they would still have more than a week off.
Adding one more week would not affect the Academy's opening, and genin schedules were even more flexible.
"As long as the students can learn something, it does not matter if I am a bit tired," Mugetsu answered earnestly.
He spoke from the heart.
The more the students learned, the more rewards he received from the system.
"If every teacher were as outstanding as Mugetsu, the strength of the Academy's students would rise across the board," Hiruzen could not help praising.
Listening to Mugetsu's sincere tone, Hiruzen felt genuinely moved.
By rights, a ninja of Mugetsu's level should not be stuck at the Academy.
With his abilities, he could earn plenty of money and resources through missions alone, and by taking on high difficulty assignments, he could quickly build his reputation and qualifications for higher positions.
"An excellent ninja like this should receive greater rewards," Hiruzen thought.
He resolved to give Mugetsu more compensation.
After they finished discussing the extended schedule, Mugetsu reported the students' latest exam results and also mentioned the five new Ninjutsu.
"Original Ninjutsu of your own?" Hiruzen's eyes lit up with interest.
Mugetsu demonstrated them briefly in the yard.
"Simple as they are, they clearly show the depth of your foundation. You put real thought into them," Hiruzen said with an approving nod.
"When school starts again, the teachers will probably be shocked when they see the students using unfamiliar techniques."
The special training Mugetsu ran always managed to surprise him.
He had essentially done, by himself, what the Academy's entire teaching staff could not achieve.
Hiruzen thought for a while and came to a decision.
The head teacher position could not be changed lightly.
Mugetsu had already climbed to the highest formal role within the Academy's usual structure.
If Hiruzen wanted to promote him further, he would either have to give him another post entirely or create a new one.
He decided to inspect the final exam personally.
If there were no problems, he would appoint Mugetsu as the Vice Principal of the Ninja Academy.
Since the Academy was founded, there had never been a Vice Principal.
The reason was simple.
The Principal was the Hokage.
What kind of person could be named Vice Principal under that?
Now, Hiruzen felt that Mugetsu had the ability to take on that title.
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