[Disciples Guy, Kakashi, and Obito worked hard to complete the commissioned mission and received growth rewards. Chakra +1540 was awarded to the sensei himself, with an additional Chakra +770.]
The amount of Chakra settled from the mission was nearly as much as Mutsuki had imagined, even a bit more.
Last time, the situation was so critical that the three disciples all had almost exactly two thousand. This time, the three disciples together unexpectedly had two thousand three hundred and ten points of Chakra, which was already quite good.
The Chakra gains from these two missions almost matched the total amount of Chakra Mutsuki had when he first crossed over. Mutsuki could only say that it's really not easy for ordinary people to be Ninjas.
Chakra increased slightly again, and Mutsuki glanced at his current panel.
[Name: Mutsuki Yumi]
[Chakra: 50200]
[Skills: Fire Attribute Chakra Nature Transformation (Perfect: 9/80000), Armament Haki (Perfect: 5/80000), Thunder Breathing (Perfect)...]
Mutsuki's Chakra finally reached his set small goal of fifty thousand. This included a large amount of Chakra provided by missions, as well as scattered rewards from exams and teaching apprentices. However, the largest proportion of Chakra increase actually came from the Chakra returned by apprenticeship.
The Chakra from missions seemed like a lot, totaling two thousand three hundred and ten at once. However, when spread out over time, it wasn't that much each day.
On the other hand, the Chakra from apprenticeship seemed like a gradual increase from each disciple, but with four disciples contributing together. Moreover, because Obito recently activated his Sharingan, the Chakra growth rate entered a phase of rapid increase, bringing Mutsuki significant Chakra gains.
In addition to reaching his small Chakra goal, Mutsuki's high-level skills are also quite good now, with three Perfect-level skills and twelve Mastery-level skills.
"Starting from the second year, I need to brush up on my skills more," Mutsuki thought to himself as he carefully reviewed all his skills.
Although Mutsuki has over a dozen Mastery-level skills, he feels their overall quality is average. Among the twelve Mastery-level skills, three are Fire Release, and there isn't a single other Nature Transformation Ninjutsu from the other four major elemental types. Instead, there are Taijutsu and Sealing Jutsu. Mutsuki personally practiced two Mastery-level Sealing Jutsu: the Contract Seal and the Five Elements Seal.
Undoubtedly, the highest-quality Mastery-level skills are Water Attribute Chakra Nature Transformation, Stone Breathing, and Flame Breathing.
In terms of Proficiency level, his skill configuration is quite good, covering all seven Nature Transformation Ninjutsu types and including Taijutsu and Sealing Jutsu. However, the skills with high Proficiency levels are mostly Fire Release or Taijutsu.
Mutsuki understands the reason for this. System rewards are not entirely random; apprentice returns are highly likely to yield rewards related to the disciples, with a small chance of randomness. Moreover, training missions almost always yield rewards related to the disciples.
Before receiving Kakashi, Shisui and Obito focused on Fire techniques, while Guy focused on Taijutsu. This imbalance resulted in more rewards in these two areas compared to others. The Proficient-level skills in Lightning Attribute and Earth Attribute Chakra Nature Transformation were only obtained after Kakashi joined.
Attending classes to get Ninjutsu is a highly efficient way. Even in small classes, Mutsuki can get two Beginner-level Ninjutsu in a day, and each additional large class adds another Beginner-level Ninjutsu.
After getting the same Beginner-level Ninjutsu about three times, it nearly reaches the Proficient level. Upon this foundation, practicing it eighteen more times can advance it to Mastery level.
However, the probability of a Ninjutsu appearing twenty-one times is too low, so Mutsuki prefers to focus on practicing more Proficient-level skills.
Through his battle with the Jinchuriki, he fully realized the importance of skills. Whenever Roshi, besides Lava Release, had stronger means, Mutsuki had to think harder about how to effectively block Roshi.
After leaving the Hokage Building, Mutsuki went directly to the Southern Forest to teach his disciples.
He promised Minato to help pass a message to Kushina and show her some photos, but it would take time to develop the photos at the photo studio, and he couldn't immediately contact Kushina.
Kushina wasn't always near the Hokage Building, so the only reliable way for Mutsuki to contact her was through the delivery Ninja who brought meals and messages.
Therefore, Mutsuki decided to wait until the photos were ready before arranging a meeting time with Kushina. He would convey Minato's message to her and also give her Minato's photos.
When Mutsuki arrived at the Southern Forest, everything was as usual. All his disciples were earnestly practicing.
"Yumi-sensei, what rank is the mission this time? It shouldn't still be C-rank, right?" Obito stopped his Fire Release practice and asked curiously.
"Of course not. Just engaging with Ninjas in battle shouldn't be C-rank anymore. Take a guess at a higher level," Mutsuki said with a mysterious smile.
"It can't be S-rank, right?" Obito's face couldn't hide his excitement as he asked.
If it were an ordinary person, they might cautiously guess if it was A-rank, but Obito never lacked the courage to boldly assume, directly guessing S-rank.
"You guessed it right. Here's a candy for you," Mutsuki nodded with a smile and tossed a candy to Obito.
This is also one of the reasons why he is so popular among students. Mutsuki is always willing to reward students and carries snacks with him.
"Hehe." Obito chuckled and immediately tore open the packaging, then stuffed the candy into his mouth.
"Now that we've got an S-Rank Mission, the Ninja uncles at the mission hall won't dare to underestimate us. An S-Rank Mission should be pretty tough, right?" Obito chuckled.
Kakashi was somewhat surprised to hear this. It's usually difficult for missions that unexpectedly upgrade to S-rank, as S-Rank Missions are the highest-ranking missions in Konoha. Despite being a Chunin for several years, Kakashi had never done an S-Rank Mission while on a normal team. Instead, he had been mixed into a team with interns and had done two A-Rank Missions and one S-Rank Mission. Kakashi felt the world was truly strange.
"It's not really related to us that the mission upgraded to S-rank. It's probably because Yumi-sensei's contributions were significant," Kakashi analyzed rationally.
He felt his performance on the battlefield was alright, but Kakashi believed Mutsuki's contributions were the decisive factor.
"But Yumi-sensei is also part of our team, part of our team's overall strength," Obito felt Kakashi was unnecessarily splitting hairs.
He felt that in this mission, their Mutsuki class was slaughtering on the battlefield.
Kakashi really couldn't refute what Obito said. When talking about the strength of the entire team, Mutsuki must be taken into account. However, the problem is that without Mutsuki, the strength of their team will drop to the point of disbanding.
"I have made contributions, and your performance is not bad. Master Jiraiya attaches great importance to you and is optimistic about your future." Mutsuki said with a gentle smile.
"Keep working hard, and one day you will be able to complete the S-level mission with your own strength."
In fact, it was indeed because of his great contribution that it was upgraded to an S-level mission, but there is no harm in encouraging the disciples more.
"Wanting to become Hokage requires more than just strength. With your current knowledge, you're not even qualified to become a Jonin," Kakashi reminded calmly.
"Do you mean becoming Hokage requires an exam too?" Obito looked surprised.
"Becoming Hokage doesn't require an exam, but generally, people don't want someone with muscles for brains to become Hokage."
"Damn you, Kakashi. You're the one with muscles for brains," Obito realized Kakashi was mocking his lack of theoretical knowledge.
"But I aced all my exams at the Academy. How about you?" Kakashi asked with a slight smirk.
Obito: ...
He shouldn't have let Kakashi see his scores in the first place.
"Oh, by the way, I aced the written exam for the Chunin exams too. I'm genuinely worried for your future teammates. It would be too funny if they got eliminated in the first round because of a theoretical question," Kakashi continued to tease.
After defeating Obito several times, Kakashi now had the chance to land a few more hits.
"I'm more worried about your future teammates, losing to intern Ninjas even at the Chunin level," Obito retorted.
They both knew their team wouldn't last forever. Once Obito and the others graduated, this team formed around internships would disband.
"Alright, that's spirited. Let's start practicing Total Concentration Breathing now," Mutsuki interrupted their verbal sparring, redirecting their passion into training.
Although Kakashi had just started the Beginner Breathing Technique, he didn't have any urgent training needs. Thunder Breathing was currently his highest priority skill, so starting Constant training early was fine.
After all, Constant aimed to increase the upper limit of total concentration and maintain a highly focused breathing state for an extended period.
Guy, on the other hand, had different priorities. Mastering the Third Gate as soon as possible was crucial, followed by Constant training, as the first three gates of the Eight Inner Gates were easier to train.
As they began their Total Concentration Breathing training, initially they were competitive, but as it wore on, they became exhausted, focusing solely on the exercise.
After training, both of them were too exhausted to continue arguing and lay on the ground without strength.
However, Obito, determined to say something he hadn't yet mentioned, managed to muster the willpower to stand up and slowly walked over to sit beside Rin.
"Rin-chan, you absolutely can't guess how many enemies we encountered on this mission," Obito took a deep breath to compose himself.
No matter how tough or tired he was, he had to tell Rin about his heroic deeds.
Kakashi noticed Obito's movements and, seeing Obito chatting with Rin, quietly leaned against a nearby tree to listen, wary that Obito might secretly disparage him.
"Did you encounter twenty enemies?" Rin rested her chin on her fingers and asked with a smile.
"Twenty? That's too few," Obito exaggerated, saying, "There were at least six hundred or more! Everywhere were Ninjas wearing the forehead protectors of the Hidden Rock Village, seemingly endless. Defeat one and three more would come to attack you."
"With so many enemies, you weren't injured, were you?" Rin was extremely surprised. In an Academy year, there were barely over three hundred students. She found it hard to believe that fighting alongside so many formal Ninjas wouldn't be extremely dangerous, so she asked with a concerned expression.
"All were minor injuries. Yumi-sensei healed them as soon as the battle ended, so there's nothing to worry about," Obito felt warm inside seeing Rin's concern.
"Although there were many enemies, we also had many comrades on our side. I saved several of them, including a Chunin. They all praised me and were surprised by my strength, calling me a genius," Obito said proudly, unable to hide his smile.
"That's wonderful," Rin smiled with relief.
"I still remember a few years ago, Obito, you couldn't even take care of yourself. You forgot to bring your enrollment documents. Now, you're a reliable young man who can rescue comrades in critical moments," she continued.
Hearing Obito talk about saving his village comrades and gaining recognition from the enemy, Rin felt a joy akin to seeing seeds she had painstakingly planted finally bloom.
For four years at the Academy, she had supported Obito like a younger brother. Watching him grow to this point, Rin was both amazed and delighted.
"You feel as reliable as Kakashi now," Rin squinted her eyes and said with a smile, her eyes slightly upturned like two curved boats, brimming with the joy of a bountiful harvest.
Obito felt that her smile was like the warm spring sun, gentle and bright, dispersing his training fatigue.
"It would be better without those three words," Obito silently complained in his heart.
What did she mean by 'as reliable as Kakashi'? It sounded like she was implying he was a step below Kakashi. Being as reliable as Yumi-sensei, he felt that would be perfectly fine.
"Hehe, that time I really owe it to you, Rin-chan for your help. I thought I would miss the opportunity to enroll," Obito scratched his head and thanked her with a smile.
"Helping each other among classmates is only natural," Rin said softly.
"Oh right, I took quite a few photos during the mission. Some of the flowers I saw were quite beautiful, ones I've never seen in Konoha. I wonder if they're unique to the Land of Grass," Obito remembered about the photos.
"After the photos are developed, I'll give you some."
"Okay, then I'll thank you in advance," replied Rin with a smile on her face.
Not hearing any mention of personal items about himself, Kakashi nodded inwardly, feeling that the break was almost over, so he got up and prepared to leave.
"It seems Kakashi really understands you. He must have carefully selected them before buying. You two must be getting along well," Rin said with her palms together, smiling.
Kakashi, who happened to be passing by, turned his head slightly and explained, "Don't think too much. It was just that the cameras in the store happened to be on sale."
"Maybe I bought the wrong thing. I should have bought dozens of exam papers to give to Yumi-sensei. He probably needs them more," Obito heard Kakashi's words and was dumbfounded, never having heard such a malicious thought. Dozens of exam papers as a gift? Wouldn't that make him die?
"That annoying Kakashi," Obito pondered how to handle it if Kakashi really gave them.
After finishing speaking, Kakashi didn't linger and went home for dinner.
...
After learning from Obito that it would take two more days to get the photos, Mutsuki finished dinner and communicated through the meal-delivering ninja with Kushina.
Once the plans were confirmed, on the fourth morning back in the village, Mutsuki brought Minato's photos and some pastries he made to the agreed meeting place, waiting for Kushina to arrive.
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