Chapter 339: Principal Mugetsu
On Friday, all the students arrived at the training ground early.
Even the last one to show up was there twenty minutes before the official start time.
Everyone knew this was the final day of special training. After today, most of them would hardly ever have the chance to see Mugetsu again.
The Ninja Academy students had it a little better. While Mugetsu did not teach other classes, they could at least occasionally bump into him at school.
But the ones who were already shinobi would find it very difficult to meet him again.
Because of that, everyone treasured this last day, hoping to leave a good impression on Mugetsu.
Ten minutes before the start, Mugetsu arrived together with Hiruzen Sarutobi and several Ninja Academy teachers, stepping out in front of the assembled students.
"Teacher Mugetsu! Lord Third!"
Many students called out in greeting.
Mugetsu answered with his usual gentle smile. Hiruzen nodded to them with a cheerful expression.
"So many students… there must be six hundred of them," one teacher muttered, shocked by the sight.
This crowd was almost the total number of students in two full grades of the Ninja Academy.
They quickly noticed that about half the students wore forehead protectors. That meant roughly three hundred of them were already shinobi.
Some teachers even spotted Chunin flak vests mixed into the crowd.
Ikeya Yu was completely stunned.
There were even Chunin attending this special training.
You had to understand, Ninja Academy teachers were basically all Chunin themselves.
"The grouping will stay the same as before," Mugetsu said, giving a brief explanation of the exam arrangements. "We will still use Group A, Group B, and Group C. But to improve teaching quality, each group will also be divided further according to chakra nature."
"In that case, how can Teacher Mugetsu teach them all by himself?" Hiroaki Oshima could not help asking.
His own teaching ability was decent, which was why Hiruzen had picked him as a special training instructor for the second special training last year.
The results back then had not been ideal.
Looking at this many students now, Hiroaki truly could not imagine how Mugetsu had been teaching.
If they were all lumped together, that would be one thing.
But Mugetsu was even splitting them by chakra nature.
Hiroaki could not picture how those classes were run.
"For that, I have to thank the Second Hokage," Mugetsu replied with a smile. "Teaching this many students well alone would indeed be difficult, but as long as I create enough Shadow Clones, there is no problem."
"But the fatigue after the Shadow Clones disperse…" Hiroaki Oshima was even more confused.
Shadow Clones were convenient, but the exhaustion afterward did not decrease at all.
Was this amount of work really not going to kill him?
"As long as the students can learn properly, a little fatigue on my part is nothing," Mugetsu said calmly.
Hiroaki suddenly remembered something important.
Mugetsu was different from him.
Mugetsu was not a Chunin.
He was a powerful Jonin who could even play a role in battles against Tailed Beasts.
"Even for a Jonin, that kind of exhaustion would be hard to endure," Hiroaki sighed inwardly.
He truly did not envy Mugetsu's current position.
He was simply working far too hard.
"Why divide them by chakra nature?" Ikeya Yu asked in confusion.
"Because I need to teach them Nature Transformation," Mugetsu answered simply.
All the teachers froze for a moment, expressions turning shocked and bewildered.
The special training they remembered had only involved the Three Body Technique and chakra control.
They had never expected Nature Transformation to be included.
The single sentence Mugetsu spoke carried an astonishing amount of weight.
"This is getting more and more unbelievable," Shimono Hisanobu thought to himself.
Some of the younger teachers did not know, but the Ministry of Education had once held a special meeting to discuss how to improve the quality of Ninja Academy graduates.
Nature Transformation, being a field that a shinobi trained in for their entire life, had naturally been discussed at length.
At that time, Shimono had not yet been head of the instructors, only the vice head.
The ministry debated for a long time and finally concluded there were too many practical problems involved in teaching Nature Transformation at the Academy.
In the end, they chose to maintain the status quo.
Shimono, who had attended that meeting, clearly understood the difficulty.
Now Mugetsu had single handedly solved a problem that the entire Ministry of Education had failed to resolve.
How could he not admire that?
It was not only Mugetsu's teaching ability.
The very fact that he could personally teach all five basic Nature Transformations meant his Ninjutsu range was comparable to Hiruzen Sarutobi's five nature style.
Shimono estimated he would be able to retire in a few years and hand his position over to Mugetsu.
After that, Mugetsu created Shadow Clones to preside over the final exam, while his real body stood beside Hiruzen and quietly explained the exam flow.
Because there were many people in Groups C and B, Mugetsu created four Shadow Clones for each of those groups, running multiple matches at the same time.
If they had fought one by one, the exam would have taken far too long.
Group A had fewer people, so they proceeded in the usual fashion.
Just like last year, Hiruzen began his inspection with Group C.
In his opinion, their level best reflected the overall results of the special training.
Group C always had the slowest progress.
If even they displayed surprising strength, then Groups B and A would only be more impressive.
"Anko Mitarashi versus Yayoi Kinouchi!"
Mugetsu's Shadow Clone called out the names according to the list.
The two students whose names were read quickly stepped into the cleared battle area.
"Fire Release, Small Fireball Jutsu!"
The moment the match began, Anko formed hand signs and went straight into Fire Release.
Her opponent, Yayoi Kinouchi, also possessed Fire nature chakra and had learned the same technique from Mugetsu. She too immediately began forming hand seals.
Yayoi's hand signs were slightly slower than Anko's, but the fireball's projectile speed was not that fast, so the delay did not matter much.
Soon, Yayoi also spat out a fireball.
The two flames collided in mid air.
Even though they were using the same Ninjutsu, it was obvious at a glance who was stronger.
Anko's fireball was clearly larger.
With no tricks involved, a clash of the same technique and same Nature Transformation came down to pure strength.
Strong was strong, weak was weak.
Yayoi's fireball was immediately swallowed, and she was forced to dodge in a panic.
Anko seized the opening and quickly took the win.
"Mugetsu, this student of yours could graduate right now without any problem," Hiruzen said with a smile, stroking his beard.
Mugetsu's class had produced extremely impressive results.
The top few were particularly outstanding, so Hiruzen had memorized several names.
Anko Mitarashi was one of them.
"Yes, some Genin who have graduated for half a year might not be able to use Fire Release like her," one of the teachers added with a nod.
"Her opponent is also very good. She can already use a Fire Release Ninjutsu," another teacher praised Yayoi.
Yayoi's homeroom teacher nodded in satisfaction.
After all, Yayoi was usually considered fairly ordinary in class.
Being able to learn a Nature Transformation Ninjutsu in such a short period was already very impressive.
"She is just more outstanding in practical combat. There is still a lot she needs to learn in other areas," Mugetsu replied after thinking for a moment.
As for early graduation, Mugetsu would not recommend it unless someone was on Shisui's level.
Once a student graduated, anything could truly happen on missions.
At first, the teachers praised the few students who could use Ninjutsu.
But after they watched several more matches, they discovered that everyone could use them.
The difference was only in how well they did so.
"Mugetsu, these five Ninjutsu you developed are indeed very interesting and very suitable for Chunin and Genin," Hiruzen said.
Seeing the students perform them gave a different impression than watching Mugetsu demonstrate them himself.
He noticed several clever design points in actual combat.
Hiruzen felt that these five techniques could be standardized and taught to more Chunin and Genin.
His offhand comment once again shocked the surrounding teachers.
The Ninjutsu being taught were actually self created.
Mugetsu gave a humble response and continued his explanations.
Even though they were standing so close to him, the teachers felt as if they and Mugetsu lived in two different worlds.
Next they moved on to Group B.
Just as Hiruzen had expected, the average Ninjutsu level in Group B was clearly higher than Group C's.
However, considering Group B was almost entirely composed of shinobi already, their performance did not feel as explosive as Group C's.
By the time they reached Group A, the exam was already about halfway through.
The ones left to fight were all relatively strong shinobi.
"Asuma Sarutobi versus Shiranui Genma!"
Hiruzen and the other teachers arrived just as Asuma's match was about to begin.
The instructors around them instinctively glanced at Hiruzen, then turned their full attention to the field.
Hiruzen's expression did not change.
He watched with the same calm gaze he had used at every other battleground.
"It looks like the exam ends here, but Asuma, do not get cocky. It will not be that easy to beat me," Genma said with a smile.
Asuma had taken first place in practical combat two terms in a row.
Genma admitted he could not win, but he still did not intend to let Asuma have it easy.
After all, his own teacher was Chen sensei, known as Konoha's strongest Taijutsu instructor.
He could not afford to embarrass that name.
"Then I will see just how hard you can make it," Asuma replied, laughing boldly.
Although their relationship was good in private, Asuma had no intention of going easy.
After a brief period of Taijutsu exchanges, he acknowledged that Genma's hand to hand skills were excellent.
He immediately switched gears, using Wind Release to enhance his speed and suppress Genma.
Genma's chakra nature was Lightning.
Against Wind, that was a natural disadvantage.
On top of that, his Lightning Release training was only average.
Once Asuma brought Ninjutsu into the fight, the situation flipped in an instant, and Genma was quickly defeated.
"I remember Asuma's Wind Release wasn't very proficient back during the Chunin Exams. I did not expect him to improve this much in such a short time," several teachers commented, impressed.
They were not only praising him because Hiruzen was present.
Asuma's performance had genuinely been very strong.
Hiruzen smiled faintly.
"He is just bullying a junior who is a year younger than he is. If his opponent were Kakashi or Obito, he still would not be a match."
None of the teachers dared to echo that.
It was one thing for Hiruzen to speak that way about his own son.
If they chimed in, that would be a serious lack of tact.
In a very good mood, Hiruzen called Genma over, pointed out a few mistakes from the match, and shared several small Ninjutsu tips along the way.
"Thank you, Lord Third!"
Although he had lost the fight, Genma's expression brightened immediately.
Hiruzen cheerfully put his pipe to his lips and exhaled a puff of white smoke.
Watching first hand was far more convincing than reading reports.
When he returned, he could begin preparations to make Mugetsu the Vice Principal of the Ninja Academy.
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