Chapter 480: Shisui Pokémon Hatching
"So Mugetsu discovered that Flying Thunder God kunai early on. What terrifying insight." The sudden reversal on the battlefield caught Hiruzen off guard.
He had thought Minato's plan would succeed, but he never expected Mugetsu had been playing along, waiting to bait him in.
"I need to properly comfort Minato at Mugetsu's celebration feast." Seeing the battle completely settled, Kushina was already thinking about what dishes would be on the table.
"As expected, Teacher Mugetsu is stronger." Obito let out a long breath, then quickly muttered several times, "Teacher Mugetsu is omnipotent," as if trying to atone for a sin.
He had almost thought his invincible Teacher Mugetsu was about to stumble. What a sin.
"Teacher Mugetsu is simply too versatile. Teacher Minato is still a bit lacking," Kakashi sighed.
Sometimes, not knowing was a kind of happiness. If Mugetsu's enemies knew everything about him, they would probably struggle to even think about fighting him.
Feeling the hard point against his chest, Minato froze in surprise, Rasengan still in hand.
After mastering Flying Thunder God, this was the first time he had ended up in a situation like this.
From start to finish, the tempo had been controlled by Mugetsu. Even what Minato believed was his winning move had been turned into Mugetsu's trap.
"Mugetsu, you're really strong," Minato said sincerely as he dispersed his chakra.
Ever since he became proficient with Flying Thunder God, he rarely felt pressure from other shinobi. Today, that pressure came from Mugetsu.
No matter what Minato tried, he could not truly hurt Mugetsu. Meanwhile, Mugetsu seemed able to see through every thought and action he made.
Before the battle, Minato never cared much when Konoha shinobi called them the strongest of the new generation. After this fight, he only wanted to tell them not to include him. Mugetsu was stronger.
Minato had honestly been misled by rumors. Before the fight, he never expected to be suppressed like this. It felt like, from beginning to end, he had been pushed down.
"Minato, your Flying Thunder God really is divine speed," Mugetsu said with a smile as he withdrew his kunai. "In a real battle, I wouldn't be able to defeat you so easily."
After truly fighting Minato once, Mugetsu realized just how troublesome he was.
Unless Mugetsu opened with Lightning Release Chakra Mode, activated Transparent World and Byakugan, and then coordinated that with Flying Thunder God, he might not be able to take Minato down at all.
Minato was not stupid. If he fought for a while and saw the situation turning bad, he would definitely use Flying Thunder God to disengage.
Minato's style was simple: extremely high Flying Thunder God proficiency plus god tier reactions. But simple did not mean weak. It was brutally practical.
Anyone weaker than Minato could be killed by him easily, especially if they lacked information.
And even those stronger than Minato would struggle to kill him, unless their power exceeded a certain threshold.
Minato's only real drawback was the lack of a reliable high damage finishing method.
Even after Rasengan was developed, Minato would still be unable to hurt someone as tough as the Third Raikage, unless Rasengan was further evolved and combined with chakra nature transformation.
"The battle's over already?" Guy scratched his head, feeling like he had barely watched anything.
Aside from the opening ninjutsu clash, the rest had been the two of them flashing around at terrifying speed, and then suddenly a winner was decided.
"The path to becoming stronger is still long," Shisui said quietly as he turned to leave, "and it takes constant effort."
After watching that battle, Shisui planned to return to the South Border Forest to continue training.
Even Minato, who had lost to Mugetsu, still had the ability to kill Shisui instantly. If Shisui wanted to change the Uchiha's future, and change Mugetsu's future, he had to become stronger, and he had to do it quickly. No one knew when the great war that led to Mugetsu's death would arrive.
The other disciples did not waste time either, quickly returning to their own training.
Mugetsu had a shadow clone guide the disciples, while his main body used Mystical Palm Technique to heal Minato.
Only then did Minato fully realize that Mugetsu's medical ninjutsu was also excellent. If Minato remembered correctly, Mugetsu had learned medical ninjutsu only two years ago, and it had been Jiraiya who introduced him to Tsunade back then.
People really can't relax, Minato thought. Even during downtime outside missions, you have to seize every moment to train.
Mugetsu and Minato were the same age, yet Mugetsu could grow in multiple directions while still mastering each skill. Minato believed Mugetsu must have been studying relentlessly ever since becoming a shinobi. That was the only way to explain how he had reached this level.
Minato decided he would dedicate more time to training from now on. Someone more outstanding than him was even more diligent. What excuse did he have to slack off?
"I originally thought I could give you a surprise, Mugetsu," Minato said, steering the topic to the chakra sphere technique, "but I didn't expect you had already basically completed the ninjutsu's development."
During the fight, they both used the chakra sphere, a no hand seal technique, but Mugetsu's was clearly more complete and far more powerful.
"You could say it's mostly complete," Mugetsu replied after thinking for a moment. "But this jutsu still has a lot of potential. Right now, it can only be considered a half finished product. Nature transformation can still be added."
If Minato managed to develop a nature transformation version of Rasengan, it would raise his combat ceiling by a huge margin, given his fighting style.
"I had that idea too," Minato nodded, "but since it wasn't finished, I didn't think as far as you did."
Having pushed it to this stage, Minato had already planned the next path.
Minato currently possessed four chakra nature transformations. Yin Release was a special case, and he was not considering using it for Rasengan for now.
He was mainly thinking about Wind, Fire, and Lightning.
"For a chakra sphere to be stable and powerful, the two most important points are compression and the direction of chakra flow," Mugetsu explained. "Compression increases penetration, and using chakra in different directions and rotations increases stability."
As he spoke, Mugetsu extended his right hand and began condensing chakra into his palm.
Streams of chakra rotated in different directions at the same time, forming a head sized sphere in his hand. Under his control, it compressed further, shrinking down into a sphere slightly larger than his palm.
After listening, Minato extended his hand as well. Soon, a head sized chakra sphere appeared in his palm, then rapidly shrank.
Finally, Minato slammed it into the ground.
Bang!
A large crater opened beneath him.
"Thank you, Mugetsu," Minato said earnestly.
A quick, no hand seal technique like Rasengan was extremely important for him. Without Mugetsu, Minato did not know how much longer it would have taken to fully complete it.
"Mugetsu, what name did you give this ninjutsu?" Minato asked.
He had conceived the idea first, but Mugetsu completed it earlier. Minato believed Mugetsu also had the right to name it.
"Minato, what do you think it should be called?" Mugetsu shook his head, indicating he had not named it, and then asked in return.
He was curious what kind of bizarre name Minato would come up with.
Minato rested his fist under his chin, thinking hard. Then his eyes lit up, as if struck by inspiration, and he spoke confidently.
"Mugetsu's Inspired Ground Smash Test Explosion Ball!"
Mugetsu's mouth twitched. It was abstract, as always.
"How about you go back and ask Kushina if she has any good ideas?" Mugetsu suggested tactfully.
He felt it was better not to let Minato name it. Otherwise, a perfectly good jutsu would be looked down on just because of its name, which would be a tragedy.
"Mugetsu, do you think this name isn't good?" Minato asked, unwilling to let go.
He thought it sounded cool, and the origin made sense.
"It's not very good," Mugetsu said, unable to be too harsh when Minato looked so confident. "You should consider more people's opinions."
Minato ultimately left, disappointed, to seek Kushina's advice.
But he was still stubborn.
"Kushina, I just developed a ninjutsu," Minato asked carefully. "Can you evaluate the name I chose?"
"You're naming it, Minato?" Kushina said bluntly. "Then it's guaranteed to be bad and long."
Minato's naming sense was inversely proportional to his looks and personality. Kushina was speechless. How could someone name a jutsu "Spiral Flash Super Round Dance Howl Type Three," a name with no clear meaning?
And yet Minato felt proud of himself and could not be stopped.
"This time is different," Minato insisted quickly. "I think it's really good, both in coolness and deeper meaning."
"Fine," Kushina said. "Tell me."
Minato condensed chakra, and a chakra sphere quickly formed in his palm.
"Huh," Kushina said, instantly alert. "This looks a bit like a Tailed Beast Ball."
As the Nine Tails jinchuriki, Kushina could tell immediately that what Minato was using was not simple.
"My original inspiration was the jinchuriki's Tailed Beast Ball," Minato said, briefly explaining his battle on the Iwagakure battlefield.
Then, with an imposing, confident expression, he shouted the name.
"Mugetsu's Inspired Ground Smash Test Explosion Ball!"
Kushina could not hold back.
What kind of name was that? It even included Mugetsu's name.
"It's too long," Kushina complained, looking utterly done with him, "and it's so tacky."
Minato's shoulders slumped. He genuinely did not understand why such a good name was rejected by both Mugetsu and Kushina.
…
That afternoon, South Border Forest.
After two hours of sword training, Kakashi sat down to rest and called out to the Manewra running around nearby.
"Rock! Rock!"
Manewra perked up immediately. It wagged its big tail and circled Kakashi repeatedly, bursting with energy.
Kakashi could not help smiling as he stroked Manewra's head.
Then he noticed something.
Manewra's paws were covered in sand.
"That's strange," Kakashi murmured. "Where would sand even come from in the South Border Forest? Did it run off to the park to play?"
Kakashi frowned, then shook his head.
They were deep in the South Border Forest. The nearest park was far away, and Manewra was obedient. There was no way it ran that far alone.
"Manewra," Kakashi asked directly, "how did sand get on your paws?"
Manewra was highly intelligent and could understand him. It just could not speak.
"Rock!"
Hearing Kakashi's question, Manewra condensed chakra and performed nature transformation. It pressed its paw into the ground, and the mud and stones, under the influence of Earth Release transformation, turned into sand.
Manewra then splashed the sand forward.
Kakashi froze.
What the hell?
It had only been born for a few days, yet it had independently mastered Earth Release transformation.
Kakashi already knew Manewra could use chakra. Sometimes when Obito got mouthy and Manewra knocked him over, Manewra would protect itself with chakra.
But Kakashi never expected Manewra could comprehend nature transformation on its own.
It made Kakashi feel like humans were inferior to dogs. Some shinobi did not start training nature transformation until they were twelve. Manewra, not even a month old, had done it independently.
After splashing the sand, Manewra looked up at Kakashi, as if asking for praise.
"That's amazing," Kakashi said without holding back. "At this rate, you'll be able to help me in battle very soon."
"Rock."
Manewra looked delighted and rubbed its head against Kakashi's leg.
"Hmph. It's just splashing sand," Obito muttered while resting as well, hugging his Pokémon egg tightly. "My nin beast will definitely be stronger when it hatches."
As for why he did not say it out loud, it was simple.
That naturally evil Manewra would definitely splash sand at him if it heard, and then his clothes would get dirty.
Obito wiped the Pokémon egg with his clothes.
"You better be a tall, mighty, powerful nin beast," he whispered. "Then we'll beat up all those annoying white haired guys together."
Just as Obito was fantasizing about whether a dragon or a tiger was inside his egg, a dazzling white light suddenly appeared.
Obito stared blankly in the direction of the light.
If his Pokémon egg were hatching, he would not be seeing white light from a distance. He would be getting swallowed by it.
Obito did not need to think to know whose it was.
Only two eggs had not hatched yet: his and Shisui's. Rin had not become a jonin yet, so she had not received an egg.
The brilliant hatching light drew everyone's attention. The disciples who had been training stopped and looked toward Shisui.
"Another one hatched," Kakashi said, curiosity rising as he continued stroking Manewra's head. "What will it be this time? Another canine?"
As the light slowly faded, everyone finally saw the Pokémon in Shisui's hand.
"A fox…" Kakashi's expression turned strange for a moment. Foxes were mammals too.
But he quickly stopped overthinking it.
It was a nin beast. Being a little unusual was normal. At least it was not something like a sword hatching out of an egg.
That would have shattered Kakashi's worldview completely.
[TL: My new fanfic is out now—One Piece: Pokémon Master of the Seas! Check it out!]
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