Chapter 378: Ninja Kill
Mugetsu's words put a rare look of surprise on Shisui's face.
Shisui was not arrogant, but he was confident in his strength. In all his life, he had only recently lost once to Kakashi. Yet Mugetsu said someone in that organization could kill him instantly.
And those people did not even look much older than him.
It made Shisui understand something clearly. There would always be someone stronger.
"Don't dwell on it," Mugetsu said, looking toward the distance. "Focus on training. Everyone has their own path. Until the very end, you can't say what the final outcome will be."
Nagato's stats were indeed outrageous, but those Rinnegan were not his own. They belonged to Uchiha Madara.
Without a Rinnegan awakened by the user, you could not use a special ocular ability unique to that Rinnegan. You could only use the basic powers, like Shinra Tensei and Bansho Ten in.
If the Rinnegan was awakened by the user, it could grant a special ocular technique. Madara's was Limbo: Border Jail, while Sasuke's was Amenotejikara. Compared to those, the basic powers were in a completely different tier.
Of course, saying the basic powers were not strong only applied to monsters on the level of Madara and Senju Hashirama, or those standing at the Six Paths. Even the basic abilities of the Rinnegan could easily crush anyone below Kage level.
Shisui nodded, his expression quickly returning to normal. He had never thought of himself as the greatest genius in the shinobi world, so his resolve did not waver. He simply felt the vastness of the world.
A casual mission, and he had run into people like that.
Since the bandits had already been dealt with by Yahiko's group, Mugetsu and the others only needed to take care of the two remaining bandits and report back to the client.
The speed at which Mugetsu's team completed the mission shocked the middle aged client. He could not stop praising them, saying Konoha truly deserved its reputation for efficiency.
On the way back to the village, Anko could not help complaining.
"I got nervous for nothing," she grumbled. "In the end, it was just two bandits. They were barely even a fight."
It was still a real life and death situation. Even someone as carefree as Anko could not be completely numb to that.
"Isn't that good?" Shizune said with a smile. "It's like we earned a C Rank reward for taking a walk and cleaning up two leftovers."
Shizune was genuinely happy. It felt like easy money.
"I'll use the mission reward to buy Lady Tsunade something to help her liver," she thought. "And I should set aside some money to buy something for Mugetsu sensei too."
"Hehe, you're right," Anko laughed. "A C Rank reward can buy a lot of dango."
The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. It was like a friend coming over, seeing your room was messy, and helping you clean. Then your parents walked in, thought you did it yourself, praised you for being responsible, and handed you pocket money.
Even if it was not a fortune, it was still free, and that made it sweet.
Their return was smooth. They did not run into any shinobi on the road.
Once they arrived back in Konoha, Mugetsu dismissed them.
"We'll stop here for today. Training resumes as usual tomorrow."
Even without much fighting, long travel wore on the mind and body, so Mugetsu still gave them time to rest.
"Mhm, mhm," Anko nodded like a pecking chick. She clutched the money Mugetsu had advanced her and sprinted straight toward the dango shop.
Shizune said goodbye to her teammates and headed for Tsunade's home. A rare day off meant she absolutely had to rest.
Shisui did the opposite. Without hesitation, he went straight to the South Border Forest.
He still had not defeated Kakashi and reclaimed the title of Mugetsu's strongest disciple. He could not afford to waste a moment.
Afterward, Mugetsu went to the Hokage Building, submitted the mission report, and then headed to Tsunade's place.
There had been an unexpected incident on this mission, but it did not require a special report.
Normally, if a C Rank mission changed unexpectedly, shinobi had two options. They could ask the client to raise the payment to match the new danger, or they could withdraw.
In this case, although Mugetsu's team had run into an unexpected situation, the rogue ninja among the bandits had already been handled by Yahiko's group, so Mugetsu submitted it as a standard C Rank.
When Tsunade saw Mugetsu arrive, she felt both happy and irritated.
Happy, because she was about to eat well again.
Irritated, because she would have to strain her brain again.
She had been perfectly content living lazily, but because of her bet with Mugetsu, she could not keep drifting. She had to return to researching ninjutsu.
Tsunade regretted it deeply. She even tried to quit gambling because of it, but she quit too many times. After a few days, she would somehow end up right back at the start again.
"I should introduce Orochimaru to you," Tsunade muttered, rubbing her forehead. "That guy loves researching ninjutsu."
She immediately shook her head. "No, forget it. Better not. His head is completely warped now. He even dreams about eternal life."
When Orochimaru was young, he was just a little strange and too calm. But Tsunade felt the current Orochimaru was genuinely abnormal.
At the end of the Second Shinobi World War, the Sannin had gathered and talked briefly about their future. Tsunade said she wanted to do nothing. Jiraiya said he would keep traveling to find a disciple who could change the world. Orochimaru said he would research ninjutsu until he achieved eternal life.
Mugetsu only smiled and stayed quiet.
Right now, he had no intention of getting involved with Orochimaru. At the same time, Orochimaru had not defected yet, and he was still one of the strong Hokage candidates. Tsunade could curse him all she wanted, but it was not appropriate for Mugetsu to pile on.
Mugetsu reached into his ninja pouch.
Tsunade was already expecting him to pull out a scroll stuffed with questions.
Instead, he pulled out a pack of cards.
"This is a board game I made in my spare time," Mugetsu said with a gentle smile. "Research can get suffocating. Use this to relax."
"A game?" Tsunade's curiosity rose. She picked up a few cards and flipped them over.
"Uchiha Tajima. Skill: Genjutsu, make the opponent guess the suit of a card in their hand. If they guess wrong, they lose one stamina point. Skill: Fire Release, a normal attack can be converted into a Fire attack," Tsunade read aloud.
"That's interesting," she said, then raised an eyebrow. "But you're turning the Uchiha clan's ancestors into game pieces. Aren't you worried about trouble?"
She pulled another card.
"Senju Butsuma. Skill: Senju Clan, stamina limit increases by one. Skill: Benevolence, after gifting two cards, restore one stamina point."
Tsunade's expression became serious. "Good heavens. There's even a Senju."
"You know, this is my…"
"What do you want for dinner?" Mugetsu cut in smoothly.
"I haven't had boiled chicken in a while," Tsunade said without hesitation. "Tonight we're having boiled chicken. Also stir fried pork with lots of chili, and…"
She listed dishes shamelessly, one after another.
Making Senju Butsuma into a card did not bother her in the slightest. Even if someone made her grandfather, Senju Hashirama, into a card, she would not care.
If anything, Tsunade even felt Hashirama might be pleased.
Of course, that only applied if it was a normal game. If there was any insulting or degrading content, Tsunade would still smash someone without holding back.
"Hyuga Ichizoku. Skill: Gentle Fist, you can treat an attack as a dodge, and a dodge as an attack. Skill: Byakugan, at the start of the round, choose any character and view all of their hand cards."
As Tsunade looked through the cards and listened to Mugetsu explain the rules, she became more and more interested.
The game's name was Ninja Kill.
However, Mugetsu did not start playing right away. He returned to discussing the research related to the Seal that complemented the Strength of a Hundred.
"These cards aren't finished yet," Mugetsu explained. "So we won't play today."
Making a few cards was easy for him, but sometimes taking things slow had its advantages.
Tsunade flipped through everything and found many were missing, including cards Mugetsu had mentioned.
"Then we'll play tomorrow," she said, nodding. "First, I'll tell you what progress I made over the past few days."
Mugetsu entered an Enlightenment state and listened carefully.
"Since your Rock Breathing can be maintained continuously for twenty four hours, we can adjust the sealing technique like this," Tsunade began.
After listening, Mugetsu felt even more certain he had come to the right person.
Tsunade truly deserved her reputation as the strongest medical ninja in the shinobi world. Her understanding and research ability regarding the body was frightening.
If he had tried to do this alone, the time required would have been at least double, maybe three or four times longer.
The next day after training, Mugetsu kept his word. He brought the missing cards and played a few rounds with Shizune and Tsunade.
After several days, Tsunade leaned back and complained.
"Can we add more character cards? Just five shinobi is too few. If you play enough rounds, it gets boring."
Because there were so few character cards, if their luck was bad, they would end up using the same shinobi for several rounds.
"Why don't you make cards for my grandfather and the others too?" Tsunade coaxed. "I already thought up skills for you. Skill: Wood Release, deal four points of damage to any chosen character."
"I'll check some history books over the next few days," Mugetsu declined with a gentle smile.
He had only made cards like Senju Butsuma because he intended to play privately with Tsunade. Senju Hashirama was too close to them, and it did not feel appropriate.
"Make a card for me too," Tsunade said with a chuckle. "I don't mind. Skill: Super Strength, add one damage to attacks and duels. Skill: Medical Ninjutsu, restore one stamina point for every stamina point lost."
Mugetsu said he would consider it.
If Tsunade wanted it, he could make a card for her, but the skills could not be like that. Otherwise, it would be completely broken.
That was also why Mugetsu did not want to make a Senju Hashirama card.
If Hashirama was too strong, it would be unfair. If he was not strong enough, it would feel wrong. The name Senju Hashirama just sounded like it should hit like a natural disaster.
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