"Even if it's a bit scrawny, it's fine. Luckily, I prepared early."
Guy set Riolu down, then sohow produced a whole pile of green jumpsuits from who knew where. He picked the smallest one, held it up to Riolu, and found that it fit perfectly.
Obito watched Riolu stand upright and could not help complaining. "Why are your Nin Beasts getting stranger each ti? This one stands on two legs like a person."
Then he imdiately found another target. "And Guy, your green jumpsuit obsession is getting out of hand. Your Nin Beast has to wear it too?"
"It's not an obsession," Guy said, giving Obito a thumbs up. "It's just that this outfit really is perfect for training and combat."
He pulled out another jumpsuit from the pile, roughly Obito's size, and offered it with complete sincerity.
"Obito, you should try it too. Trust . Once you wear it, you'll fall in love with it."
Obito shook his head so fast it looked like it might snap off. His refusal could not have been clearer.
"Just try it," Guy insisted, still perfectly calm. "It's really comfortable."
He truly believed it. If he had the chance, Guy wanted to spread this jumpsuit across Konoha, then the Land of Fire, then the entire shinobi world, so everyone could experience that comfort.
"Go find Kakashi instead," Obito said decisively, selling out his friend without hesitation. "He wears a green vest every day. Maybe he likes green too."
Kakashi: ???
He wore the standard vest Konoha issued to Chunin and Jonin. Everyone wore them. Since when did that an he liked green?
"Kakashi, you…"
Before Guy could finish, Kakashi cut in imdiately, voice calm as ever. "I once went to a temple to have my fortune read. The master said my fate is countered by green. If I wear green clothes, I'll run into life threatening danger."
"If that's the case," Guy said, stroking his chin seriously, "then there's nothing we can do."
He did not bother Kakashi anymore and turned back to Obito.
Obito was speechless. Kakashi was clearly making it up, and Guy actually believed him.
If Kakashi's fate was countered by green, then Obito was Uchiha Madara. He had been injured by Wood Release, so he hated green and refused to wear it.
"Obito, if you don't try it once, you'll never know how comfortable it is," Guy continued, recomnding it with unwavering passion.
"Guy, stop wasting your breath." Obito waved him off. "I'm perfectly satisfied with what I'm wearing. You might as well wait for Shisui to co back and ask him."
Obito brought up Shisui for a reason.
Shisui had been strangely busy these past few days and ca to train far less than usual.
Obito rembered it started after Shisui attended so kind of combat exhibition. Obito had wanted to go too, because there were rewards.
He loved anything with rewards. Getting sothing for free was pure joy.
But Shisui said he had sothing important to handle and told Obito not to participate, so Obito did not go.
Free stuff was great, but a brother's request mattered more.
Guy thought about it and felt that made sense. He returned to training, deciding he would recomnd it to Shisui later.
Since Riolu had just been born, Guy did not force it to train right away. Instead, he placed Riolu on his back and continued doing one finger push ups.
Riolu could feel Guy's pure dedication to training and could not help wanting to train with him too.
But it was newly born and still clumsy. It could not train effectively yet and often lost its balance. Fortunately, Guy reacted quickly every ti, catching Riolu steadily so it never got hurt.
Rin watched the scene and could not help exclaiming, "That's so nice. It feels really heartwarming."
Even though Riolu had just been born, the way it interacted with Guy gave Rin a feeling that was almost like family.
"Rin, you don't need to envy them," Obito said, determined. "We'll have that too one day."
He decided that in the future, if he had to carry a Nin Beast Egg, he would never let it leave his hands. He would keep it with him at all tis and make it hatch as quickly as possible.
"Mm." Rin smiled softly and nodded.
After a full day of training, Mugetsu followed his usual routine. He bought groceries, went to Tsunade's place, and cooked dinner. After they ate, he talked with Tsunade for half an hour about ideas for improving the Yang Seal.
Then he declined Tsunade's invitation to play Ninja Killer and returned ho to study Sealing Techniques and practice developing Yang Release Breathing.
Mugetsu had developed multiple Breathing Techniques before. He also possessed two perfect level Breathing Techniques and two mastery level Breathing Techniques. So when he officially trained Yang Release Breathing, his progress was absurdly fast.
He mastered it in one second.
He went from beginner to proficient in one day.
And in two weeks, his proficiency in Yang Release Breathing reached 2,400. Only 600 remained before mastery, which would grant him control of Yang Release Breathing Chakra Mode.
"Still…" Mugetsu shook his head, a little regretful. "This isn't the Yang Release Breathing I imagined. Even if it reaches mastery, it won't rge with Fla Breathing and beco Sun Breathing."
Originally, the Yang Release Breathing he envisioned should have been able to combine with a chakra nature and its matching Breathing Technique.
For example, Fire Release Fla Breathing stacked with Yang Release Yang Release Breathing would beco an even stronger Fire Release.
But the current Yang Release Breathing did not work like that.
Its effect was to strengthen Yang Release. The Yang Release Breathing Chakra Mode also allowed the body to heal without hand signs, and to so extent, it could make the body grow larger, similar to the Akimichi Clan's Partial Expansion Technique.
Calling this Yang Release Breathing weak would not be accurate. It enhanced Yang Release while also carrying traits similar to the Akimichi Clan's secret techniques and Creation Rebirth.
But it was still very far from the Yang Release Breathing Mugetsu had originally imagined, which made him wonder whether he had drifted slightly off course.
At around 9:30 PM, there was a sudden knock on his door.
Mugetsu set the manuscript in his hand down, activated the Byakugan, and glanced toward the entrance.
It was Orochimaru.
"What does he want at this hour?" Mugetsu considered as he walked downstairs.
After returning to Konoha, Mugetsu had not t Orochimaru often. Orochimaru always seed busy, and Mugetsu rarely saw him.
Mugetsu opened the door and showed mild surprise. "Orochimaru. Please co in."
"Lord Mugetsu, forgive the late visit," Orochimaru said with a slight smile as he stepped inside.
Mugetsu led him into the living room, poured two cups of tea, and set one in front of Orochimaru.
"Since returning to Konoha, there have been too many trivial matters," Orochimaru sighed, lifting the teacup for a sip. "It's made it impossible to speak with you as often as we did on the battlefield."
The tone was familiar, as if they were old friends who regularly sat down to chat whenever ti allowed.
Mugetsu chuckled. "You hold great authority. Konoha needs you in too many places."
He was not completely certain at first, but with Orochimaru imdiately trying to build rapport, Mugetsu guessed Orochimaru likely ca for sothing important.
Orochimaru set the cup down gently. "The shinobi world is in chaos now. It isn't only who is needed."
Mugetsu made a quiet gesture, signaling him to continue.
"Although Kirigakure was repelled, they have no intention of signing a peace treaty with the village," Orochimaru said, briefly outlining the current situation. "War is very likely to erupt again."
Kirigakure and Konoha had reached an unspoken understanding. Neither side intended to move imdiately.
But that understanding was temporary. Konoha was pressured on other fronts, while Kirigakure had suffered losses in manpower.
Once either side resolved its own problems, war would likely flare again.
"Kumogakure and Sunagakure are fighting fiercely," Orochimaru continued. "I want to take this opportunity to strike Kumogakure hard and reduce Konoha's pressure."
Rather than waiting for Kirigakure to recover and attack again, Orochimaru clearly wanted to resolve the strain from other battlefields first, then free enough power to deal with Kirigakure.
Even if that freed strength was not enough to counterattack Kirigakure's holand, it needed to be enough to ensure Kirigakure would not dare invade lightly.
Mugetsu understood Orochimaru's implication very clearly.
He was inviting Mugetsu to join him on the battlefield and achieve major rit.
But Mugetsu had no interest.
The Kumogakure battlefield was far more dangerous than the Kirigakure front. Kumogakure was stronger, and the Third Raikage was far too reckless.
When things beca serious, the Third Raikage truly went all out. In a major engagent, there was a significant chance he would appear personally.
Mugetsu was not afraid of the Third Raikage alone. The Raikage's defense was terrifying, strong enough that even a Rasenshuriken could barely injure him, but Mugetsu had many offensive thods. With perfect level Armant Haki layered with perfect level Breathing Technique, Mugetsu was confident he could break that defense if he went all out.
But on a battlefield, there were no real one on one fights. Anything could happen.
Even now, Mugetsu still felt the final battle on the Kirigakure front had been too strange. Konoha won, but only because Mugetsu was an unexpected variable.
In that last clash, Kirigakure's intelligence suddenly surpassed Konoha's by an absurd margin. They nearly wiped out Konoha's main force in one strike.
With Flying Thunder God, Mugetsu was not worried about surviving.
But protecting his disciples was a different issue.
And right now, his disciples had just improved their strength and entered a critical new stage of training. Even if Hiruzen wanted Mugetsu on the battlefield, Mugetsu would still find a way to avoid it, let alone Orochimaru.
At that, Orochimaru's fingers lightly rubbed the teacup. His expression did not change as he spoke more directly.
"Lord Mugetsu, we worked very well together on the Kirigakure battlefield. So I want to invite you to join on the Land of Hot Springs front and eliminate Kumogakure."
It was difficult to find a subordinate with both strength and ability like Mugetsu.
Even if Orochimaru suspected Mugetsu was pretending not to understand, he did not want to give up.
Orochimaru could sense that Hiruzen favored Jiraiya more.
But Orochimaru believed that if his contributions were large enough and his support grew strong enough, Hiruzen would have no choice but to choose him.
Mugetsu put on a look of sudden understanding, then replied with regret. "Orochimaru, I would like nothing more than to accomplish great deeds with you, but I truly cannot spare the ti lately."
Mugetsu's refusal was clear.
Yet Orochimaru's expression did not worsen at all.
Instead, Orochimaru smiled apologetically. "My apologies. I failed to consider your situation, Mugetsu."
Orochimaru did not leave imdiately after being rejected.
He chatted with Mugetsu about the shinobi world for a while longer, then finally took his leave.
As Orochimaru walked away from Mugetsu's house, his eyes glinted coldly.
"Did Danzo notice what I'm doing, and is he using this to warn ?"
Normally, if Orochimaru wanted to take Mugetsu to the battlefield, he would first need to notify Danzo.
After all, Mugetsu was Danzo's subordinate.
Mugetsu's earlier assistance to Orochimaru had also been the result of Danzo's efforts.
So why did Orochimaru bypass Danzo and co directly to Mugetsu?
Orochimaru's main purpose had been to test Mugetsu's stance.
If Mugetsu agreed imdiately, it would an Mugetsu was willing to detach from Danzo and lean toward Orochimaru.
If Mugetsu refused, it suggested Mugetsu still maintained Root's position.
Orochimaru did not want Danzo holding too much power in his hands.
It was not that Orochimaru was already thinking about Hokage politics before becoming Hokage.
It was simply that if Danzo's power grew too great, their cooperation would beco unbalanced, and that imbalance would disadvantage Orochimaru.
To confirm whether Mugetsu's attitude was truly his own, or the result of Danzo's influence, Orochimaru subtly asked Danzo a few things about Mugetsu.
Orochimaru was cautious. He only asked irrelevant matters, and his reason sounded perfectly legitimate.
Curiosity, about a genius shinobi he had gotten along with exceptionally well.
But Orochimaru still underestimated Danzo's paranoia.
Danzo imdiately sensed sothing off. He sent people to investigate Orochimaru's movents and discovered that Orochimaru had contacted Mugetsu multiple tis without Danzo's knowledge.
"Well, well," Danzo thought, anger rising. "Orochimaru, you even want to poach Root's most perfect creation."
He had fought with Hiruzen more than once to push Orochimaru toward the Hokage seat, and he had sent Mugetsu to the battlefield to support Orochimaru, paying a heavy price in exchange for that future.
And this was Orochimaru's repaynt?
He had not even beco Hokage yet, and he was already trying to steal Danzo's people.
If Danzo were not bound so deeply to Orochimaru, with both of them holding each other's filth, he would have already reprimanded Orochimaru harshly as Root's leader.
But he could not.
Orochimaru was nominally a Root shinobi, a subordinate.
In reality, they were equals, collaborators.
"Hmph. Mugetsu is loyal to ," Danzo sneered inwardly. "It's a futile effort."
Even Hiruzen had failed to pull Mugetsu away. Danzo did not believe Orochimaru could do it.
Of course, confidence was one thing. Danzo still investigated Mugetsu thoroughly.
He preferred proof over trust.
When Danzo found that Mugetsu never sought Orochimaru out on his own initiative, he finally felt at ease.
Mugetsu remained the subordinate who was, in Danzo's eyes, unwaveringly loyal.
.....
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