The next day, Obito continued to send Shadow Clones to attend the Academy while he himself went to train in the Southern Forest.
Although the feeling of attending classes would eventually return, training was still necessary.
"I can't afford to lose to Guy again in the grade-level combat exam in a month!" Obito thought to himself.
In the battles against Guy, he lost a lot and won very little. Obito was unwilling to accept this, because they were both students of Mutsuki, undergoing similar training. How could Obito possibly accept defeat?
Furthermore, Obito had never taken first place in the grade-level combat exam. He felt unsatisfied with this, and it made him unsure when arguing with Kakashi.
"Becoming an excellent ninja starts with taking first place in the grade-level combat exam!" Obito shouted with great determination.
Beside him, Shisui, unable to empathize, still offered words of encouragement.
"Comprehend the flames, understand the power of the flames," Shisui recalled the key points of Mutsuki's teachings, simultaneously using the Breathing Technique to begin the Chakra Nature Transformation of fire.
As his Breathing Technique was still not quite proficient, requiring intense concentration, Shisui made several mistakes before succeeding.
The leaves in Shisui's palm turned into black ash, and he lightly flicked his hand, not feeling anything particularly special.
Shisui had never expected to complete the training in one go, especially since Guy, who had started first, was still stuck at comprehending the power of the attribute. Shisui continued with his Nature Transformation practice.
Simultaneously performing Nature Transformation and the Breathing Technique drained Shisui's energy and stamina quickly. During breaks, Shisui didn't rest idle, using Fire Release to ignite wood and further feel the flames.
Though somewhat crude, this method was indeed direct.
By noon, when Mutsuki's main body arrived, Shisui had not yet comprehended anything.
When Mutsuki arrived, he first gave each of them an evaluation, and their proficiency had not changed, remaining at fifteen points.
"Let's continue training later, first let's eat," Mutsuki smiled.
What used to be the happiest moment of the day now made Obito somewhat fearful. The memory of the extreme spiciness from before was still fresh in his mind.
"Well, spicy is spicy, the first meal shouldn't be a problem," Obito quickly took the lunchbox.
From his experience, finishing the first meal was usually fine, but the real trouble came afterward.
As Obito expected, when he opened the lunchbox, it was all red, with bright red chili peppers catching his eye.
"So spicy, yet so delicious!" Obito exclaimed as he eagerly devoured the food.
Mutsuki's cooking was just too delicious, making it difficult for Obito to resist even though it was very spicy.
How to describe that feeling? It was like someone with the intention of eating less to lose weight, then they end up eating their favorite dish, unconsciously shifting from the goal of eating less to just not overeating.
As Obito continued to devour his meal, his eyes became somewhat unfocused, immersed in the illusion of flames.
Once he snapped out of it, Obito quickly finished the remaining food and immediately began practicing Flame Breathing, wasting not a moment.
The lunch break at the Academy was short, and Mutsuki did not stay long before returning to class.
After finishing his meal, Shisui also swiftly began his training. Although the dishes with lots of chili peppers had their own unique flavor, eating them every day was something he couldn't endure.
After school in the afternoon, Mutsuki went home first to cook. However, to his surprise, an emergency Jonin meeting had been called.
"Blame those brutes from the Hidden Cloud. It's only been a short while, and this is already the third emergency Jonin meeting," Kushina said, pointing the blame at the Hidden Cloud.
Mutsuki refrained from commenting. Felt that Kushina might be injecting a bit of personal sentiment into it.
"Mutsuki, you're a Special Jonin now too, so you need to attend the meeting. Let's go together," Minato said with a smile, extending the invitation.
"Alright, I'll trouble you two Senpais to show me around," Mutsuki nodded, jokingly.
Following that, Mutsuki's main body went to the Hokage Tower with Minato and Kushina for the meeting, while a Shadow Clone went to deliver food to Shisui and Obito.
On the way to the Hokage Tower, Minato took the opportunity to explain to Mutsuki about Konoha's Jonin meetings.
Under normal circumstances, Jonin meetings were held twice a year, in January and June.
Moreover, emergency Jonin meetings and regular Jonin meetings were held in different rooms.
Regular Jonin meetings took place in a conventional meeting room with plenty of tables and chairs.
On the other hand, emergency Jonin meetings were held in an empty room with only four chairs.
Mutsuki and Minato arrived neither too early nor too late. When they entered the meeting room, there were already some ninjas present, but not many.
Although Minato had not yet become the renowned "Yellow Flash", as Jiraiya's disciple, he was considered promising for the future, and many Jonin greeted him warmly.
As a newly minted Jonin, Mutsuki, whom very few people knew, didn't receive many greetings. However, he was quite content with the peace and quiet, as he was busy using the Identification Jutsu to gather information on the Konoha Jonin.
Although the potential assessment of the Identification Jutsu was somewhat rigid, it was still quite useful for learning about Chakra levels and Ninjutsu.
[Name: Hyuga Hizashi]
[Chakra: 23,000]
[Skills: Gentle Fist (Proficient: 2,900/3,000)...]
[Potential: S (Base Talent + Hamura Bloodline)]
Mutsuki then glanced at Hyuga Hiashi, Hizashi's brother, and found that their data was quite similar. Both had S-rank potential, but Hizashi had a bit more Chakra, while Hiashi was more proficient in Hyuga Taijutsu.
Hizashi and Hiashi, the two brothers, were the weakest adult S-rank potential holders that Mutsuki had ever encountered.
Even though Minato was five years younger than the Hyuga brothers, if they were to face Minato together, they wouldn't last more than three minutes against him.
"Their bloodlines provide too much of a boost," Mutsuki thought to himself. If he were to rate the two brothers, S-rank would be out of the question; at most, they would receive an A+.
The potential that the Six Paths brothers' bloodline could provide was very high, but ordinary people found it extremely difficult to tap into and realize that potential.
As time passed, Mutsuki examined more and more Jonin.
For those with the Hyuga or Uchiha bloodlines, their lowest potential was at least A-rank, with the highest reaching S-rank. Mutsuki even came across an S+ rank, something he had never seen before.
[Name: Uchiha Fugaku]
[Chakra: 31,000]
[Skills: Fire Release Chakra Nature Transformation (Mastery: 20/15,000)...]
[Potential: S+ (Base Talent + Six Paths Bloodline)]
There was no doubt that Fugaku's S+ rank also needed to be discounted. He had not fully realized the potential that the Six Paths bloodline could provide, because Fugaku was four years older than the Hyuga brothers and a full nine years older than Minato.
During this Jonin meeting, Mutsuki truly witnessed quite a few high-potential talents, mostly from the Hyuga and Uchiha clans. The other Jonin mostly had potentials around the A and B range.
"Ahem." Seeing that most people had arrived, Sarutobi Hiruzen cleared his throat lightly. "Let the meeting begin."
---
Don't forget to check out my patreon where you can read up to 50 advanced chapters https://www.patreon.com/CrazyNinja