"Stone Breathing, Total Concentration Breathing!"
Guy concentrated his breath even further, absorbing a large amount of oxygen while rapidly condensing chakra, strengthening his body to its utmost limit.
"Konoha Strong Whirlwind!"
Guy continued his attack on Mutsuki.
Boom!
Mutsuki dodged Guy's attack, causing the large tree behind him to be knocked down by Guy's kick, pressing toward Mutsuki.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
Kakashi swiftly formed hand seals and executed a ninjutsu. A thick earthen wall with a dog's head in the middle rose from the side, blocking off one of Mutsuki's retreat routes.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
At the same time, Obito wasn't idle. He immediately used the powerful and less chakra-consuming Great Fireball, sealing off another direction for Mutsuki to retreat.
Mutsuki now found himself under a tree pressing down from above, blocked by an earthen wall on one side, with a raging fireball charging toward him, and beside him, Guy glaring fiercely.
With one hand holding up the tree, Mutsuki switched his Breathing Technique to Flame Breathing Constant, then formed hand seals with one hand to release ninjutsu.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Mutsuki expelled a colossal fireball towering up to five meters high towards the incoming fireball.
As the two fireballs collided, Mutsuki's stronger fireball directly engulfed Obito's Great Fireball, with the residual flames continuing to surge towards Obito.
"Releasing ninjutsu with one hand!" Watching Mutsuki's actions, Kakashi was shocked. He hadn't expected Mutsuki to be able to release such a high-level Fire Release while holding up a tree with one hand.
Meanwhile, seizing the opportunity while Mutsuki was preoccupied, Guy immediately attacked him. Kakashi, who had realized the situation, also used Body Flicker Jutsu to rush towards Mutsuki.
Now he couldn't determine whether this Mutsuki was a Shadow Clone or the real self.
Could this level of performance be that of a Shadow Clone?
Obito also activated Flame Breathing at full power and swiftly dodged the incoming Great Fireball, heading straight for Mutsuki.
Mutsuki pushed the tree in his hand towards Guy, instantly repelling him, then engaged in intense combat with Kakashi, who wielded kunai and a short blade.
In the Total Concentration Breathing state, Obito transformed directly into a flame generator, continuously using the properties of Flame Breathing to create flames to disrupt Mutsuki.
Meanwhile, Guy kept charging at Mutsuki, launching various high-speed Whirlwind Kicks to attack him.
In the end, taking advantage of the openings created by the two, Kakashi secretly sneaked into the ground and successfully took the bells from Mutsuki's waist.
"It really is the real self," Kakashi said, looking at the three bells in his hand with some confusion.
"We finally succeeded." Seeing Kakashi's successful ambush, Obito collapsed on the ground.
While the three of them were fine together, Obito felt it was becoming difficult to hold on, leaving him exhausted.
Guy also lay on the ground panting heavily, taking a rest.
He had been in close combat with Mutsuki the whole time. If it weren't for the progress he had made when he rushed out to protect Kakashi just now, Guy might not have been able to hold on until the end.
Kakashi was also quite tired. He was the one who bore the pressure from the beginning. Seeing his teammates resting, Kakashi also sat down on the ground to catch his breath.
As dusk fell, the three disciples beside Mutsuki showed different ways of resting, while only Mutsuki remained standing.
"Not bad at all. You completed the training through cooperation," Mutsuki said with a smile as he also sat down.
Although it was the result of him drastically holding back, the teamwork of the three was indeed commendable, especially in the first wave. A less capable Jonin might not have endured it.
With Mutsuki's strength, without holding back, Obito and the others wouldn't have stood a chance. With Byakugan, Transparent World, and Perfect Thunder Breathing, it would have been strange if Mutsuki could be caught off guard.
"Captain Yumi, did you go change clothes midway through?" Kakashi voiced his inner doubt.
"Ah, I went home halfway through and took the opportunity to change my dirty clothes," Mutsuki nodded in response.
He had gone back to cook, so he took a bath and changed clothes as well.
Kakashi's mouth twitched. So, it was just his overthinking. Sometimes, paying too much attention to detail isn't a good thing.
"Now it's time to replenish our energy," Mutsuki got up quickly, bringing over the prepared meals and distributing them to the three.
"We have grilled fish and tempura today," Obito eagerly opened the lunchbox, couldn't resist salivating at the sight of the sumptuous meal inside, exclaimed 'Let's eat!' then quickly started eating.
"Replenishing energy in time will make our youth burn even more fiercely. Let's eat!" Guy opened his lunchbox and, upon smelling the aroma, quickly started eating too.
Watching Obito and Guy eating at such a rapid pace as if they were afraid someone would take it away, Kakashi felt somewhat strange. He was indeed a bit tired, but not to this extent.
Kakashi opened his lunchbox and felt that Mutsuki might indeed have some skill. The appearance and arrangement of the dishes themselves were quite aesthetic.
Picking up a tempura shrimp and placing it in his mouth, Kakashi bit through the crispy outer layer. He instantly felt the burst of locked-in juices exploding in his mouth, the crispy, tender, and fresh flavors blending together, giving Kakashi an unprecedented enjoyment.
In a daze, Kakashi seemed to be transported to an underwater world, where there was no need for training or missions, just freely swimming every day.
"Delicious!" Kakashi unconsciously exclaimed.
When Kakashi came to his senses and quickly looked around, he realized that no one was using ninjutsu; everyone was just eating.
Kakashi admitted that he had underestimated Mutsuki's cooking skills a bit. It would indeed be regrettable if he couldn't taste such skillful cooking due to the training failure.
As Kakashi continued eating, the food became even more delicious, and he ate faster and faster. Suddenly, his chopsticks didn't touch anything. Kakashi then realized that his lunchbox was already empty, yet he still wanted more.
"Satisfied. There are no regrets today," Obito chuckled as he lay on the ground.
Receiving praise from Mutsuki and enjoying delicious food, apart from Rin not being there, today was perfect.
"Kakashi, you should be thanking Guy and me. If it weren't for us, you'd be sneaking off to buy food on the streets today." Obito, now full, began to tally up.
"It was clearly the real deal, not a Shadow Clone like you said, and you even told us not to come out."
"I admit I made a mistake in judgment this time, but if that had been a Shadow Clone, your actions would have only led to the training's failure," Kakashi remarked.
He acknowledged the error regarding the Shadow Clone, but he didn't think his decision was wrong. If this were a real mission, Obito and Guy's actions would have resulted in complete failure, missing the chance for success.
"You can talk tough all you want. What kind of ninja doesn't lend a hand when a comrade's in danger?" Obito seized the opportunity to vent his frustration.
"No matter how many times I face such situations, I'll always make the same choice," Kakashi recalled Guy's intervention but surprisingly didn't immediately argue back with Obito.
"You're disobeying orders," Kakashi quickly found a point to attack Obito.
Mutsuki didn't intervene, smiling as he watched everything unfold. Only when they were dispersing did he speak up:
"Tomorrow, we officially begin our mission."
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