Chapter 273: Teacher Chen and Mugetsu
"For the next four days, you can all rest. No training and no missions." After returning to Konoha, Minato informed the three about their schedule.
Minato felt the mission had been far too dangerous for them. They had just become official ninja, yet already encountered enemies of that caliber and endured battles of that intensity.
If they had been on his team longer, Minato would have given them an entire week to recover.
"Resting for so long all at once…" Obito scratched his head, feeling the break was too long.
Four consecutive days of rest felt odd to him. After missions with Mugetsu, they usually rested only on the return day and resumed training the next. If exhausted, Mugetsu occasionally gave an extra day or two, but four full days was unheard of.
"It's normal, I guess, considering the enemies we met." Kakashi didn't mind the long break.
In other teams, whenever they completed out-of-village missions at C-rank or higher, they often rested several days.
Still, Kakashi felt that rest didn't matter much. If every teacher were like Mugetsu, he thought even fewer breaks would be fine.
Although Mugetsu's pace was strict, he never forced students to train. In fact, students were the ones who pushed themselves, even during holidays.
"In any case, just rest well for the next few days. Don't worry about the mission; I'll report everything immediately." Minato reassured them with a gentle smile.
He had to report the appearance of the new AB Combination in the Land of Hot Water to the Third Hokage. It was a worrying sign that Kumogakure might shift forces through the Land of Hot Water to threaten the Land of Fire's border.
"Then, Minato sensei, goodbye." Obito waved enthusiastically.
"Minato sensei, goodbye." Kakashi followed.
"Minato sensei, make sure you rest too, alright?" Rin said warmly.
Originally, Obito and Kakashi called Minato "Senior" or "Captain," but after this mission, after seeing Minato's care for them, they recognized his role more clearly. Their form of address naturally changed to "sensei."
"I will." Minato smiled, waved goodbye, and headed toward the Hokage Building.
"Four days off… I'm not even sure what to do." Obito turned to Rin. "Rin, what about you?"
"Today and tomorrow I'll rest and read some Medical Ninjutsu materials. The last two days, I might visit Teacher Mugetsu to ask some questions. Once the Ninja Academy starts, he'll probably be much busier."
Obito's eyes lit up. Rin made sense.
But he himself wasn't planning to visit Mugetsu in the last two days. Instead, he would train in the South Border Forest tomorrow.
This wasn't his first encounter with the Raikage candidate, and thanks to Minato's protection, Obito didn't feel mentally or physically drained.
"If I train with Teacher Mugetsu for all four days, Kakashi will never catch up," Obito thought confidently.
He knew he would never beat Kakashi in theory. He refused to lose in strength too.
"What about you, Obito? You're not planning to sleep for four days straight, right?" Rin teased.
"Sleeping four days is too much, but of course I'll train." Obito replied vaguely, hiding his plans.
"And you, Kakashi?" Obito asked.
"Train." Kakashi answered simply.
His desire to grow stronger was overwhelming now. Whether it was Obito, Might Guy, or Shisui, he wanted to surpass them all in actual combat.
Rin's words also reminded him. With a break ahead and Mugetsu still free, the next four days were perfect for intensive training.
Seeing Kakashi's training-addicted expression, Obito suddenly changed his plan.
He wouldn't rest today after all. He would go home first, then immediately head to the South Border Forest.
If Kakashi trained while he rested, wouldn't the gap close?
At the intersection, the three split up and went their separate ways.
…
After becoming Might Guy's instructor, Teacher Chen finally understood why Guy possessed such a monstrous physique at his age.
For his other students, Teacher Chen would criticize them for not training enough and tell them to work harder.
But after witnessing Guy's training firsthand, he instead had to train Guy carefully, constantly warning him not to overdo things.
By Teacher Chen's strict standards, Guy's training volume already far exceeded what a youth should be able to endure.
"Haha, Teacher Chen, you don't have to worry. I've always trained like this. Teacher Mugetsu adjusted my routine, so there won't be any problems." Might Guy explained with a loud laugh.
"Teacher Mugetsu? Who is he? With this intensity, you might feel fine while young, but problems will appear once you reach middle age." Teacher Chen said seriously.
He was worried Might Guy had been misled by someone pretending to understand taijutsu.
"Teacher Mugetsu's full name is Hayate Mugetsu. In my eyes, his taijutsu is no worse than yours." Might Guy said proudly.
Ebisu always said Teacher Chen was the strongest in taijutsu in Konoha, but Guy felt that if Mugetsu opened both the Eight Gates and his Breathing Markings at the same time, Teacher Chen definitely couldn't defeat him.
Still, because Mugetsu told him not to exaggerate, Guy only said that Mugetsu was "no worse."
"Hayate Mugetsu… is that the same Hayate Mugetsu from the Leaf Newspaper a while ago?" Teacher Chen asked. He had a faint impression of the name.
"Yes. That time Teacher Mugetsu led us on a food transport mission, and there was an accident. We arrived at the battlefield just as Iwagakure launched a large-scale surprise attack, and Teacher Mugetsu led us to reinforce the front line." Might Guy nodded.
Hearing this, Teacher Chen could almost rule out Mugetsu being a fraud. Anyone who had contributed in battles against Jinchuriki definitely wasn't a pretender.
"How about this. Find some time to tell Hayate Mugetsu that I want to talk with him." Teacher Chen said after thinking.
He could see from Guy's tone and expression that Guy truly respected Mugetsu. If he wanted to solve this problem quickly, he had to meet Mugetsu himself.
He was also curious about Mugetsu's taijutsu level if he could earn such praise from Guy.
"I'll go ask Teacher Mugetsu after training." Might Guy agreed immediately.
After speaking with Guy, Teacher Chen reminded him to rest more before starting training again.
Guy then walked toward the large tree where Shiranui Genma and Ebisu were resting in the shade.
"What did Teacher Chen talk to you about? His expression looked so serious." Genma asked curiously in a low voice.
Ebisu also looked toward Guy, equally curious.
"It's nothing. He just worried that I'd get too tired and told me to reduce my training and rest more." Might Guy replied honestly.
Genma's mouth twitched. The unfairness of the world hit him hard.
Not long ago, Teacher Chen had scolded him for not training enough. To motivate him, Teacher Chen even demonstrated thirty years of skill on the spot, kicking a large rock into pieces.
"But what Teacher Chen said makes sense. Guy, the amount you train really is a bit much. Just hearing it makes me tired." Genma admitted.
He no longer needed to ask why Guy's taijutsu was so strong. He had personally seen the insane training Guy put himself through.
As Teacher Chen's disciple, taijutsu training was already intense, but Guy's training felt more like self-inflicted torture.
Genma felt that if he were the one doing Guy's training, he'd collapse long before finishing half of it.
"It's fine, I don't feel anything. I've always trained like this. If I can't compare to geniuses, then I just have to work harder and become a hardworking genius!" Guy raised a thumbs-up with a bright smile.
"A hardworking genius…" Ebisu murmured. The title fit Guy perfectly.
If hard work counted as talent, then Guy was definitely the top genius among them.
Before, Ebisu had always wondered how Guy, who wasn't from a clan and didn't have a powerful ninja father, became so strong. After training with him for only a few days, he finally understood.
"If I had worked this hard during the Academy… would I have been able to defeat Uchiha Obito?" Ebisu couldn't help thinking.
He would never know the answer now—they had already graduated.
Still, Ebisu discovered something new from Guy: with enough persistence, anyone could become strong.
"Guy, I admire you the most. Among all students of our generation, you'll definitely be the strongest in the future." Genma said with a laugh, patting Guy's shoulder.
Guy had used powerful taijutsu techniques during training that he hadn't shown at the graduation exam. In Genma's eyes, Guy was already far ahead of Obito.
"Guy will definitely be very strong in the future. You should worry about yourself instead. You've rested long enough—shouldn't you start training?" Teacher Chen suddenly appeared behind Genma without a sound.
"How does he walk without making any noise?" Genma mumbled to himself before quickly getting up to train.
Before Teacher Chen could speak again, Ebisu also stood up and began training. The past couldn't be changed, but he could start working hard now.
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