The next morning, Mugetsu sensed movent and imdiately activated his Perception Ninjutsu. His detection revealed a chakra signature of considerable strength entering his courtyard.
He rose calmly and stepped outside, spotting a Root ninja in standard uniform and mask.
"The organization's latest directive," the Root operative said coldly, handing him two scrolls.
Without lingering for a second after the delivery, the ninja vanished in a flicker.
[Na: Yamanaka Jin]
[Chakra: 6,400]
[Skills: Mind Transfer Jutsu (Proficiency: 1,200/3,000)…]
[Evaluation: A Jonin with good support abilities]
The Root Jonin who had once made Mugetsu wary now looked utterly outclassed when compared on his status panel. Mugetsu's chakra was more than double Jin, and his skill set was overwhelming—multiple proficient-level Nature Transformations and secret techniques—while Jin didn't even have a single one.
"There's no point comparing myself to an ordinary Root Jonin like this… I wonder what Danzo's panel would look like," Mugetsu mused.
If this were a cultivation world where Genin, Chunin, and Jonin represented cultivation stages rather than ranks, Danzo would likely be considered Kage-level—though on the lower end, far from powerhouses like Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Raikage, or Ōnoki.
---
Mugetsu opened the first scroll—Danzo's latest orders.
Danzo expressed satisfaction at his promotion to Special Jonin, instructing him never to reveal his Root affiliation and to continue carrying out missions discreetly.
Stripping away the layers of rhetoric, Mugetsu noted that was the only useful content. The rest was the usual brainwashing, which he ignored entirely.
He could tell Danzo was both surprised and pleased with his progress. Sending him to the Ninja Academy had probably been a casual assignnt—after all, the original Mugetsu had been unremarkable in every respect.
The second scroll contained Danzo's "reward"—not money or jutsu, but a secret cultivation dicine.
Mugetsu burned the mission scroll but stored the dicine. He dared not consu sothing given by Danzo, but valuable dicine wasn't sothing to discard outright.
---
Today was Sunday, the day after the sumr special training had ended, so Mugetsu decided to give his students half a day off. They would train in the morning, but the afternoon was free—a perfect window for him to teach Asuma later.
---
"If we're off this afternoon, where should we go play?" Obito was already making plans before training had even begun.
"Sorry, Obito, I need to go over so materials at ho," Rin said apologetically.
She had been studying dical Ninjutsu recently and had no ti for outings.
"You could go play with Kakashi," Rin suggested.
"Hmm… actually, I've been feeling the 'Breath' in my body more clearly lately. My Fla Breathing might be about to break through, so I should train this afternoon," Obito decided.
There was no way he'd seek out Kakashi without sothing worth showing off. If he did achieve a breakthrough, though, he'd be the first to let him know.
"Training's good too. We'll be graduating soon, after all," Rin said with a gentle smile.
Two sesters wasn't long—about seven months including holidays.
"Ninja, huh? That's exciting! Then I can take missions, earn money, stop relying on Grandma's allowance, and even buy her gifts," Obito said, already lost in the fantasy of his ninja career.
"To earn money, you need strength first. The higher the mission rank, the greater the reward—and the harder it is," Mugetsu reminded him, tapping him lightly and cutting short his daydream.
Being a ninja was indeed a fast way to make money.
Excluding S-rank missions, which ordinary shinobi couldn't take, the commissions for D, C, and B-rank missions were already substantial.
D-rank: 5,000–50,000 ryō.
C-rank: 30,000–100,000 ryō.
B-rank: up to 200,000 ryō.
This was why capable ninja rarely beca Chunin teachers. Ten thousand ryō a month wasn't much—two C-rank missions could earn more than that.
Not every C-rank mission involved facing a Jonin opponent; in fact, most didn't even involve fighting enemy ninja. If such opponents appeared, the mission would be classified as B-rank or higher.
Ninja earned a lot, but they also spent quickly. High-quality shuriken and kunai weren't cheap, and advanced tools like explosive tags were even more expensive. Training secret dicines cost even more.
With a fixed salary of a hundred thousand ryō a month, you could forget about spending money on personal training—you simply couldn't afford the cost of getting stronger.
However, for those looking to slack off, being a Ninja Academy teacher wasn't a bad choice.
If your ability wasn't high enough, C-rank missions couldn't be completed quickly, which ant you wouldn't make much in a month—and you'd still have to run around constantly. In that case, it was far easier to stay comfortably at the Academy, earn a steady hundred thousand ryō, and get bonuses for good class results.
Once you stopped training seriously, that hundred thousand ryō could be spent entirely on leisure, making life quite comfortable.
---
Obito chuckled twice before starting his Fla Breathing practice for the day.
That afternoon, Mugetsu went to Hiruzen's residence as usual to pick up Asuma for instruction.
He noticed Asuma's mood was sour and gently asked what was wrong.
Because it was Mugetsu asking, Asuma recounted what had happened yesterday—growing more agitated as he spoke.
"He's always like this… as if I'm worthless in his eyes. Whenever I ask about my performance, it's always 'not good enough,' always 'too many mistakes.' He won't even say 'it's okay.' Was my performance in that battle really so bad it couldn't be worse?"
Asuma's voice caught as he spoke, his eyes growing misty.
Mugetsu could only think that Asuma still cared deeply about Hiruzen. Otherwise, he wouldn't be so hurt.
"Don't dwell on it. You did your best in that battle—it's just that Obito was stronger," Mugetsu said, patting his head in comfort.
He could understand Asuma's feelings all too well. In his previous life, his own parents had been unusually strict about his grades.
His grades in elentary and middle school had been good; in math especially, he often scored near the top—math was often a perfect score. But when he did get full marks, his parents would say the test was too easy or the grading too lenient—never crediting his own ability.
But if he missed a point or two, then clearly he hadn't studied hard enough and was slipping.
Over ti, he lost confidence in himself. After an accident left him to his own devices for two years, he completely fell behind—only realizing his mistake halfway through high school.
Did his parents not want him to succeed? No. He knew they loved him very much. They were simply too heavy-handed, afraid he would grow complacent and regress. They wanted him to always stay humble and hungry to improve.
---
"Teacher, even you can see it. So why can't he—Hokage or not—see it?" Asuma's resentnt still burned.
Fortunately, Mugetsu had built enough trust with him. With so comfort and a reminder that Hiruzen had been waiting for him on the path ho as a father, Asuma's emotions gradually settled.
By the end of the afternoon's training, his mood had noticeably improved.
"Hiruzen, you'd better not disappoint ," Mugetsu thought to himself. As a tutor, he was now even maintaining family relationships—going above and beyond his duties.
---
On Monday, Mugetsu returned to the Ninja Academy to attend the faculty eting.
(This chapter carries a touch of personal sentint—the protagonist's past mirrors the author's own experiences. It's… a little lancholic.)
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