"Night, this is Lord Danzo's latest directive," a Root ninja handed a scroll to Mu Yue.
Mu Yue nodded as he took the scroll. In the shadows of Root, he went by the codename "Night."
Without exchanging further words, the Root ninja swiftly disappeared into the darkness. Mu Yue, serving as a secret pawn in the organization, knew that prolonged contact could attract the attention of the Anbu, which would only spell trouble.
Before the ninja vanished completely, Mu Yue's eyes flickered as he activated a scan.
Name: Heisuiro
Potential: B
Chakra Level: 7000
Evaluation: An elite jonin with considerable power.
Seeing the ninja's chakra reserves far surpass his own made Mu Yue sigh in envy. He barely scraped 5000, significantly less than Heisuiro, even lagging behind a six-year-old prodigy like Shisui.
When the ninja's presence faded from his sensory range, Mu Yue finally stepped back inside his room, opened the scroll, and scanned Danzo's latest instructions.
"Your student, Uchiha Shisui, is regarded as a rising genius of the Uchiha clan. Monitor his behavior, assess his character, and conduct a thorough evaluation."
Mu Yue couldn't help but feel a twinge of disbelief. Danzo's paranoia toward the Uchiha was bordering on madness. Shisui was only six years old, barely a student at the ninja academy. And yet, just because he was labeled a "genius" by his clan, Danzo already had him flagged for observation.
It was clear Danzo harbored deeper plans—likely aiming to recruit Shisui into Root. But Mu Yue doubted those ambitions would come to fruition. The Third Hokage would never allow Danzo such unchecked power.
The Third Hokage tolerated Root's existence, but not to the extent of letting Danzo accumulate too much strength. A prodigious Uchiha, especially one like Shisui, represented a power too great to leave in Root's hands. Either Shisui would remain within the Uchiha clan, or he would be absorbed into the Anbu.
After reading, Mu Yue incinerated the scroll with a quick fire jutsu. The command was still within acceptable limits, but Mu Yue had already planned to report Shisui's abilities anyway. Trying to hide something so significant would only lead to suspicion, especially with Danzo's fanatical interest in the Uchiha.
He created a shadow clone, sending it off to practice ninjutsu while he focused on chakra refinement. Chakra remained his biggest limitation. No matter how many jutsu he learned or how skilled he became, without sufficient chakra, his strength would always be capped.
Among ninja, chakra reserves often determined the floor and ceiling of one's potential. A ninja with abundant chakra could achieve great things, even if their raw talent was lacking, while a highly skilled ninja with minimal chakra could only go so far.
The next morning, with some free time before classes began, Mu Yue headed to the academy's archives. His goal was simple—gather past exam papers to help his students. The process went smoothly, and while he was at it, he decided to grab some first-year papers too.
His primary aim was to prepare them for the upcoming exams, but improving their theoretical knowledge wasn't just an empty promise.
After some analysis, Mu Yue realized that the academy's exams were highly predictable. The questions varied little from year to year, often just switching up phrasing or numbers. In fact, some papers even repeated questions verbatim.
Nodding to himself, Mu Yue felt confident that his students would pass without much effort. He doubted they'd even need to grind through practice tests—just doing the previous years' exams would be enough to scrape by.
Satisfied with his findings, Mu Yue left the archives and made his way to the teachers' office.
"...and yesterday, she listened to everything I said! That's proof she's interested!" Pooltani was enthusiastically recounting his latest romantic misadventure.
"Or, and hear me out here, maybe she just didn't want to talk to you," Ueda interjected bluntly.
"But she even insisted on splitting the bill! Clearly, she was looking out for me!" Pooltani countered.
"Or maybe she just didn't want you using the 'I'll buy next time' excuse to ask her out again," Ueda replied with a smirk.
Mu Yue walked in, catching the scene as Ueda verbally decimated Pooltani's fragile hopes. He glanced at another teacher, Kimura Sugihito, who was watching the exchange like a spectator at a theater.
"What's this about?" Mu Yue asked, settling into his chair.
"Yesterday, Pooltani went on a blind date. Now he's trying to convince us it went well, but Ueda isn't buying it," Kimura summarized.
Spotting Mu Yue's arrival, Pooltani's eyes lit up. "Ah, Hanyu-sensei! You've got to have some tips for wooing women, right?"
Mu Yue blinked. Him? Tips for romance? His public persona certainly didn't lend itself to that image. "Honestly, I think just showing genuine sincerity should be enough."
Pooltani looked puzzled. "Sincerity, huh... But how do you even get that across?"
Ueda rolled her eyes. "You do realize Mu Yue-sensei looks the way he does, right? Whatever works for him probably won't work for you."
"Hey! I admit he might be a tiny bit better-looking, but not that much!" Pooltani protested.
"You're in denial, but sure, keep dreaming," Ueda muttered, shaking her head.
Mu Yue just smiled politely. What else could he do? Even Ueda's candid advice wasn't breaking through Pooltani's stubbornness.
"Good luck," Mu Yue said, offering a small nod of encouragement. Honestly, the busier Pooltani kept himself, the more chances Mu Yue would have to substitute for him.
"See? Hanyu-sensei believes in me!" Pooltani shot back, his confidence soaring.
Later that afternoon, Mu Yue decided to conduct a little experiment during class. He intentionally dialed back the quality of his teaching, aiming for a lower grade on his evaluation.
Based on the system's feedback, Mu Yue suspected his lecture scores were divided into two parts: the content's quality and the students' satisfaction. He was hoping to earn a B rating, because when he had received an A for the first time, there had been a special bonus.
Following that logic, the first B rating might also come with a unique reward.
[Class completed. Evaluation in progress.]
[Evaluation: B]
[You have earned a reward: +20 Chakra]
[For achieving a B rating for the first time, you have unlocked an additional bonus: Proficiency in Chakra Shape Manipulation]
A rush of knowledge surged into Mu Yue's mind, filling it with the techniques and intricacies of chakra shape manipulation.
He couldn't help but grin. Chakra shape manipulation was a crucial skill, on par with nature transformation, capable of amplifying any jutsu's power. Although his proficiency was only at the "skilled" level, it was still an invaluable asset—and unlike nature transformation, it wasn't tied to specific chakra types.
One technique that immediately came to mind was the Rasengan—a perfect example of chakra shape manipulation. Even without nature transformation, the Rasengan packed an immense punch.
"Looks like it's time to start developing the Rasengan," Mu Yue mused, already adding it to his growing list of projects.
With the combination of his regular duties—teaching during the day, mentoring Shisui in the evenings, and training at night—Mu Yue's schedule was completely packed. And with weekend training sessions for Might Guy and Obito on top of that, every moment of his life was accounted for.
He found himself wishing for a few years of quiet, uninterrupted growth.
But this was the Shinobi world. Peace was never a lasting condition.
Just four days after Mu Yue's arrival in the Hidden Leaf, troubling news arrived from the front lines.