In the morning, Mokgetsu went to the Ninja Academy as usual for work. As the grade head and leader of the pilot program for large classes, he had to organize the class schedule before students arrived at school.
Mokgetsu pondered for a while and decided to set large classes for four groups, with the four classes attending theory lessons together in the large lecture hall.
First, the concern was that if there were too few people, it might not trigger the rewards for large classes.
Second, there happened to be eight classes in the first year, which could be guided by two different teachers to compare results.
He would definitely be one of the teachers, and as for the other, Mokgetsu planned to ask which theory teacher was more reliable, allowing the more dependable one to teach, to avoid significant discrepancies in results later on.
This arrangement made many first-grade teachers' schedules significantly lighter.
By setting up the large classes this way, instead of needing four teachers, one teacher could manage it, giving three other teachers time to rest.
Some first-grade teachers, upon hearing about Mokgetsu's large class plan, came to the office to inquire and express their gratitude.
"With Teacher Mokgetsu, our small office has become much livelier," Ueda Aya said with a smile.
The office space was relatively small, with only six teachers.
"After all, Teacher Mokgetsu is now overseeing the entire grade's teaching schedule," Kimura Sugihito nodded.
"I think Teacher Mokgetsu's idea is fantastic, why not implement it throughout the school, instead of just trialing it in the first year?" Iketani Isamu greatly favored Mokgetsu's large class plan.
Because he had more classes than anyone, and with this large-class mechanism, he could certainly relax more and have more time to date his goddess.
Mokgetsu smiled without speaking.
By noon, a ninja came to find Mokgetsu, summoning him to the Hokage Office.
Mokgetsu entered the Hokage Building and encountered Danzo on his way to the Hokage Office.
"Lord Danzo," Mokgetsu greeted Danzo.
However, Danzo was not smiling like he had been yesterday in the Root; he wore a calm expression and moved ahead as if he hadn't heard Mokgetsu at all.
Both Danzo and Mokgetsu entered the Hokage Office in sequence.
"Danzo, remove the Root curse mark from Mokgetsu," the Third Hokage said.
"Lord Third Hokage, I…" Mokgetsu initially showed a look of surprise and then attempted to explain, but the Third Hokage interrupted.
"Mokgetsu, I know you have many questions; we'll discuss them later," the Third cut in.
"Stick out your tongue," Danzo said coldly.
Mokgetsu complied, sticking out his tongue.
"Curse Tongue Eradication: Release!" Danzo activated his Chakra, pointed at Mokgetsu's tongue in mid-air, and the curse mark on Mokgetsu's tongue quickly dissipated without leaving any trace, as if it had never existed.
"Hmph." Danzo snorted coldly, leaving the Hokage Office without a word.
"I'm sorry, Lord Third Hokage," Mokgetsu, showing a face of regret, looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen after Danzo left.
"Mokgetsu, you have nothing to apologize to me for; I must thank you for looking after Asuma," Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled kindly.
Things were a bit tense between him and Asuma recently, but after Mokgetsu taught him over the weekend, their relationship slightly eased, and Sarutobi knew who was responsible for this favor.
The reason to lend a hand to Mokgetsu also accounted for some of Asuma's influence.
"In fact, I was sent to the Ninja Academy by the Root Organization…" Mokgetsu confessed with a guilty look.
"So what if you were, even though Danzo's motives for sending you to the school weren't pure, I can see you are genuinely teaching; you are indeed doing your best as you claimed.
Otherwise, you wouldn't have been able to bring out such an excellent class as Year One Class One, and you couldn't have improved the strength of the special training students in just five weeks and gained their trust," Sarutobi Hiruzen said with a chuckle.
Actually, he felt quite amazed that Mokgetsu, who originally had no presence as an ordinary ninja in the Root, displayed extraordinary talent in teaching and happened to be dispatched by Danzo to the Ninja Academy.
"But…" Mokgetsu still looked guilty.
"There are no such buts, I've promoted you to Special Jonin, given you ninjutsu, promoted you to a grade director, and even extracted you from the Root.
Do you think I need your guilt for doing all of this? What I need is for you to work even harder to cultivate more outstanding ninjas for Konoha," Sarutobi Hiruzen clarified his favor to Mokgetsu.
Although he claimed not to need Mokgetsu's guilt, the Third Hokage deliberately listed all the benefits he had given Mokgetsu.
Because this was an excellent opportunity to build goodwill; the greater Mokgetsu's guilt towards him, the more loyal he would be to him in the future.
"Mokgetsu, you are a person with exceptional teaching abilities, so just focus on your teaching work at the Ninja Academy without worrying about other matters," Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled.
"Lord Third Hokage, I understand, I will certainly strive to bring out more excellent students and cultivate more outstanding ninjas for the village!" Mokgetsu expressed gratefully.
"To ease the teachers' burdens and try new teaching methods, I plan to implement large class lectures at the Ninja Academy."
Mokgetsu took the opportunity to tell Sarutobi Hiruzen about his plan to conduct large classes, showing his ongoing commitment to the Ninja Academy's education.
"It indeed sounds like a good plan," Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded.
Then, Sarutobi Hiruzen joked with some sentiment, "If every teacher at the school had your teaching skills, Mokgetsu, there wouldn't be a need to trial this plan; it could be implemented directly."
The atmosphere between the two became increasingly friendly, the Third Hokage felt he had secured a reliable talent, and Mokgetsu finally freed himself from the curse mark that had been troubling him.
However, what left Mokgetsu speechless was that Danzo still did not fully trust him and continued his PUA tactics on him.
After Mokgetsu returned home in the evening, he received another scroll from the Root.
This time, the scroll contained no orders or tasks, only contents aimed at brainwashing.
The main point was that Danzo's cold demeanor during the day was because he worried Sarutobi Hiruzen might discover that Mokgetsu was still loyal to the Root and Danzo himself.
Danzo portrayed the act as being for Mokgetsu's better future prospects with the Third Hokage, hence his indifferent appearance.
Mokgetsu was resigned; having experienced Sarutobi Hiruzen's goodwill in the afternoon, he still had to endure Danzo's PUA scrolls in the evening; his life had indeed become quite colorful.
By the end of the day, Mokgetsu felt his acting skills had improved considerably.
Mokgetsu practiced calligraphy for ten minutes, calming his mind, before beginning to study the Contract Seal.
After advancing the Five Elements Seal to a proficient level, Mokgetsu significantly increased his knowledge of fuinjutsu, facilitating his learning of the Contract Seal, which reached a proficiency of twenty points before bedtime.