Chapter 541: Big Coin Drop, S+ Draw Scroll
As the Martial Arts Tournament came to an end, all kinds of news spread across the Ninja World, and both Might Guy and Obito's Life Missions changed.
[Name: Might Guy]
[Life Mission: Embark on the Path to the Strongest Taijutsu]
[Main Goal: Become a top tier Ninja World expert in taijutsu, both in strength and reputation, and let all ninja understand that one can become powerful without excelling in ninjutsu]
[Mission Progress: 43.1%]
Compared to the time on the Hidden Mist battlefield, Might Guy had made remarkable progress in both strength and fame.
In terms of strength, Might Guy could now steadily endure the simultaneous activation of the Fifth Gate of the Eight Gates and Rock Breathing Chakra Mode. His mastery of Golden Skyline had improved, and all of his taijutsu had advanced.
In terms of reputation, the Youth Martial Arts Tournament had made Might Guy somewhat famous throughout the Ninja World, and ninja and ninja forces of all sizes had come to recognize his strength.
Although Might Guy had only reached the semifinals instead of taking second place, his power was broadly acknowledged as the second strongest in the entire tournament, the highest ranked below Nagato.
With both his strength and reputation improving so much, Might Guy's Life Mission once again reached settlement conditions. He was now only 6.9% away from the next reward threshold, surpassing Obito's Life Mission progress.
[Name: Uchiha Obito]
[Life Mission: It's not that those who become Hokage are recognized by everyone, but that those who are recognized by everyone can become Hokage]
[Main Goal: Become the Hokage of Konoha Ninja Village]
[Mission Progress: 40%]
Obito had also improved greatly in every aspect and gained significant fame by placing second, but because his mission requirements were different, his progress did not rise as much as Might Guy's this time, allowing Might Guy to overtake him.
Fortunately, Obito still barely crossed the threshold for a settlement reward, allowing him to claim one progress reward.
Looking at the system settlement screen, Mugetsu found himself recalling memories from his previous life.
[Disciple Might Guy's strength and reputation have increased, and he has made progress on the Path to the Strongest Taijutsu, receiving a progress reward: Moderate Physical Constitution Enhancement, Self Selectable Draw Scroll Fragment · S+ (Mastery Level), Taijutsu Mastery Scroll]
[Disciple Uchiha Obito's strength, fame, and experience have increased, and the probability of him becoming Hokage has slightly risen, receiving a progress reward: Chakra +1600, Self Selectable Draw Scroll Fragment · S+ (Mastery Level), Fire Release Ninjutsu Mastery Scroll]
[Draw Scroll Fragment: Gather three fragments to synthesize a complete Draw Scroll]
[Self Selectable Draw Scroll · S+ (Mastery Level): Allows selection of any type of skill for the draw]
Mugetsu's expression became rather subtle. Seeing the word fragment made him feel faintly helpless. He had transmigrated, and he still had to collect fragments.
Fortunately, this time it was not only Might Guy and Obito whose missions had changed. Kakashi's Life Mission had also changed, and it had happened even earlier than theirs, right after the battle with Sasori.
Perhaps that battle had not been quite as tragic as their encounter with the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, or perhaps there were other data points Mugetsu had not noticed, but this time Kakashi had not jumped directly to 100% like before.
[Name: Kakashi Hatake]
[Life Mission: True Power Lies in Protection]
[Main Goal: Protect your comrades, protect everything you care about]
[Mission Progress: 53% (Remaining trigger times: 3)]
Of course, fifty plus percent was still very good. It was enough for one reward settlement.
[Disciple Kakashi Hatake successfully protected his comrades by erupting in a desperate situation, receiving a progress reward: Moderate Swordsmanship Experience, Self Selectable Draw Scroll Fragment · S+ (Mastery Level), Swordsmanship Experience Scroll]
With the fragment produced by Kakashi's mission included, there were now exactly three fragments, which could be synthesized into one complete scroll.
[Synthesis successful. Item obtained: Self Selectable Draw Scroll · S+ (Mastery Level)]
Mugetsu did not rush to use the Draw Scroll. Instead, he first looked at the rewards produced by the Martial Arts Tournament.
In truth, Mugetsu had many ways to make money. The reason he chose to host the Martial Arts Tournament was partly to help his disciples improve their Life Mission progress, and partly to test whether a large scale competition he organized himself could generate system rewards.
Back when his own Chakra reserves were still low, Mugetsu had repeatedly tried to use tests and exams to farm rewards, because exams could provide Chakra rewards.
However, the system's rewards were not so easy to exploit. None of the little quizzes he arranged had produced any result. Only the final exam at the end of special training had generated an exam reward.
Although that experiment proved that the system was nearly impossible to loophole farm, it also proved one important thing. Regardless of whether Mugetsu subjectively initiated an event, as long as the event met the system's reward standards, rewards would still appear.
[Disciple Nagato diligently trained under your guidance and grew in strength, thereby achieving a perfect result in the Youth Martial Arts Tournament, receiving a reward: Chakra +2000, Ninjutsu Draw Scroll · S (Mastery Level), Combination Ninjutsu (Mastery Level)]
[Disciple Uchiha Obito diligently trained under your guidance and grew in strength, thereby achieving an excellent result in the Youth Martial Arts Tournament, receiving a reward: Chakra +1800, Ninjutsu Draw Scroll · A (Mastery Level), Fire Release: Hozuki Lantern (Mastery Level)]
[Disciple Might Guy diligently trained under your guidance and grew in strength, thereby achieving an excellent result in the Youth Martial Arts Tournament, receiving a reward: Chakra +1500, Taijutsu Draw Scroll · A (Proficient Level), Heavenly Foot of Pain (Proficient Level)]
[Disciple Uchiha Shisui diligently trained under your guidance and grew in strength, thereby achieving an excellent result in the Youth Martial Arts Tournament, receiving a reward: Chakra +1500, Ninjutsu Draw Scroll · A (Proficient Level)]
[Disciple Kakashi Hatake diligently trained under your guidance and grew in strength, thereby achieving a good result in the Youth Martial Arts Tournament, receiving a reward: Chakra +1200, Ninjutsu Draw Scroll · B (Proficient Level)]
Since all of Mugetsu's disciples had participated in the Martial Arts Tournament, the rewards this time were exceptionally generous. The flat Chakra rewards alone totaled a massive eight thousand.
Nagato, who won first place, not only gave an S rank draw reward, but also dropped a Mastery Level Combination Ninjutsu for Mugetsu.
The skill Combination Ninjutsu looked simple on the surface, but in reality its upper limit was extremely high, and its value far exceeded that of an ordinary Mastery Level skill.
However, Mugetsu's own Combination Ninjutsu had already reached Mastery Level, so the Mastery Level Combination Ninjutsu dropped by Nagato transformed into three thousand proficiency points for Mugetsu.
As those three thousand proficiency points were instantly absorbed, a huge amount of training memory flooded Mugetsu's mind, and his Combination Ninjutsu mastery rose sharply.
Mugetsu suppressed the urge to immediately test the technique and continued carefully examining each reward.
The abilities dropped by Might Guy and Obito were not bad, but their usefulness to the current Mugetsu was limited, since he already possessed quite a few similar skills.
"Could it be that the principle behind competition rewards is that they advance the strengthening rewards ahead of time?" Mugetsu wondered, forming a hypothesis as he looked at the system description.
This was not a baseless guess. As his disciples grew stronger, the standard for enhancement rewards had risen higher and higher. Mugetsu had not received any simple enhancement rewards from them in quite a long time.
He felt this possibility was fairly likely.
Perhaps the same principle applied to exams, which would explain why repeated exams over a short period had produced no rewards. There simply had not been enough time for the disciples to improve between them.
"No matter what, rewards are rewards."
Since he lacked enough evidence to verify the idea, Mugetsu did not continue dwelling on it.
In any case, the result was already excellent. The Martial Arts Tournament had been a complete success.
Not only had it solved the Shinobi Sect's financial issues, it had also greatly raised the Shinobi Sect's prestige and status.
His disciples had advanced their Life Missions, and the competition itself had generated additional rewards.
Since there were more Draw Scrolls than usual this time, Mugetsu did not simply wash his hands like before. Instead, he bathed, lit incense, and silently recited the names of various deities from his previous life in his heart before beginning the draws.
Whether it worked or not was secondary. The ritual at least made him feel more at ease.
He decided to start from the lowest rank and work upward, beginning with the worst B rank Draw Scroll.
[Ninjutsu Draw Scroll · B (Proficient Level) has been used. Obtained Ninjutsu: Flying Leaf Quick Blade (Proficient Level)]
After organizing the memories in his mind, Mugetsu discovered that Grass type skills from Pokémon had been localized by the system into Wood Release Ninjutsu.
"Could it be that because I possess Wood Release, I can draw related skills?" he thought.
He had received Draw Scrolls before without having any Bloodline Limit, but he had never drawn any ability that had been localized as a Bloodline Limit technique. That led him to this conclusion.
According to the system's rules, any rewarded skill must be usable by him. If he lacked the necessary prerequisites, the system would forcibly enhance him or grant him the missing traits.
For example, when he had not yet mastered Water Release Chakra Nature Transformation but received a Water Release technique, the system gave him enough corresponding Nature Transformation to let him use it.
Likewise, when he obtained the Mastery Level One Thought Strike, he was also rewarded with a large amount of swordsmanship experience and Lightning Release Chakra Nature Transformation.
Because of that, Mugetsu guessed that Bloodline Limit related skills could only be drawn if he already possessed the corresponding Bloodline Limit.
Otherwise, if a mere B rank Draw Scroll could give him a Grass type or Ice type skill and thereby grant him Wood Release or Ice Release, that would be absurdly generous.
The system was actually very strict when it came to Bloodline Limits. Both of Mugetsu's Bloodline Limit rewards had only been obtained when his disciples won first place in the Chunin Exams.
Next, Mugetsu used the two Proficient Level A rank Draw Scrolls together.
[Ninjutsu Draw Scroll · A (Proficient Level) has been used. Obtained Ninjutsu: Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears (Proficient Level)]
[Ninjutsu Draw Scroll · A (Proficient Level) has been used. Obtained Ninjutsu: Water Release: Hard Whirlpool Water Blade (Proficient Level)]
This time, no otherworldly skills appeared. They were both Naruto world techniques, and both were solid ninjutsu. After all, A rank Draw Scrolls were already far from low tier.
Mugetsu continued drawing.
[Ninjutsu Draw Scroll · A (Mastery Level) has been used. Obtained Ninjutsu: Flame Vortex (Mastery Level)]
The moment the draw concluded, a large amount of training memory related to Flame Vortex surged into his mind.
The gap between Proficient and Mastery was huge.
It only took five hundred proficiency points to rise from Beginner to Proficient.
But it took three thousand to go from Proficient to Mastery.
Mugetsu nodded inwardly.
Since this was reality rather than a turn based battle game, the practical value of Flame Vortex was completely different from its original game interpretation. In Mugetsu's eyes, it was a genuinely good Fire Release technique.
With all the scrolls below S rank finished, Mugetsu's gaze landed on the S rank Draw Scroll.
There was only a single rank between A and S, but the gap between them was enormous. A skill drawn from an S rank Draw Scroll could still be a major help even to the current Mugetsu.
As for the lower ranked ones, whether they were useful to him or not depended entirely on luck.
Something like Flame Vortex could still be somewhat useful to Mugetsu.
But techniques like Earth Flow Spears could only really be used for teaching at this point.
Ninjutsu Draw Scroll · S (Mastery Level) has been used. Obtained Ninjutsu: Rain Prayer (Mastery Level).
As the draw concluded, a large amount of Rain Prayer related training memories entered Mugetsu's mind piece by piece.
"Not extraordinary, but not bad either."
Mugetsu was fairly satisfied with the result.
Rain Prayer was similar to Great Sunny Day.
Great Sunny Day created extremely sunny weather to enhance Fire Release.
Rain Prayer, on the other hand, created rainy weather to enhance Water Release.
Among all of Mugetsu's elemental transformations, Water Release was currently his second most advanced, already standing at over ten thousand proficiency in Mastery Level and only four thousand away from Perfect Level.
Moreover, Mugetsu could also teach Rain Prayer to Milotic, thereby enhancing both Milotic and Rin Nohara's combat power.
As for why he did not intend to directly teach it to Rin Nohara, it was not because Rain Prayer could only be learned by Nin Beasts.
Any system granted skill was fully localized, and such restrictions did not exist.
The real issue was that Rin Nohara's current overall stats simply did not meet the usage threshold for Rain Prayer.
Even if she learned it, she would not yet be able to use it.
Mugetsu also planned to teach Great Sunny Day to Charizard.
Although Obito himself could technically learn and use Great Sunny Day, the technique was rather complex and consumed a large amount of Chakra.
Compared to having Obito cast it himself, Mugetsu felt it would be far more efficient to let Charizard use it.
Finally, his eyes settled on the highest ranked reward of them all, the S+ Draw Scroll.
In the more than three years since Mugetsu had obtained the system, he had only acquired an S+ Draw Scroll twice.
The first time had been Kakashi's 100% Life Mission completion reward.
The second time was now.
Although both were S+ rank scrolls, this one was clearly of a higher grade.
The reason was simple.
The one from Kakashi's Life Mission had been a Lightning Release skill draw scroll, meaning its attribute was fixed.
But the one obtained by combining fragments this time was fully self selectable, allowing Mugetsu to choose the category himself.
Mugetsu thought about it for a while and ultimately selected Fire Release.
At present, Might Guy had Golden Skyline, and Kakashi had One Thought Strike.
Shisui and Obito, by contrast, still lacked truly powerful techniques that fit them perfectly.
Mugetsu's choice was not solely for Obito and Shisui, though. He had also considered himself.
He possessed many abilities, but even among his strongest categories there were still differences in proficiency.
Against weak opponents, any technique could do the job.
But the Ninja World was not without true powerhouses, so enhancing himself further was equally important.
Fire Release was currently Mugetsu's only elemental transformation that had reached Perfect Level.
If he could obtain a truly top tier Fire Release ability, it would definitely strengthen him as well.
[Do you want to convert Self Selectable Draw Scroll · S+ (Mastery Level) into Fire Release Skill Draw Scroll · S+ (Mastery Level)?]
Mugetsu confirmed the selection and immediately began the draw.
[Fire Release Skill Draw Scroll · S+ (Mastery Level) has been used. Obtained Ninjutsu: Azure Flame]
Looking at where the pointer finally stopped, Mugetsu searched through the corresponding memories.
This was a Fire type move unique to the legendary Pokémon Reshiram.
In the game world, it was not actually all that special, merely a high power Fire type move without additional special effects.
That was because games cared about balance. Even a legendary Pokémon could not be allowed to have too absurd a numerical difference from ordinary Pokémon.
Reality, however, had no such thing as balance.
Strong was strong. Weak was weak.
By now, Mugetsu had already undergone countless system memory infusions and had long become accustomed to them. He quickly finished sorting through the memories tied to Azure Flame.
He could only say that it truly deserved to be the signature move of a legendary Pokémon.
Its power was extraordinary.
In actual value, it was no worse than One Thought Strike and could be called the ultimate Fire Release among all Fire Release.
One Thought Strike required not only Lightning Release Chakra Nature Transformation but also extremely high level swordsmanship.
Azure Flame was purer. It only demanded extremely high Fire Release Chakra Nature Transformation and mastery of a specific Fire Release operating method.
That did not mean Azure Flame was easier than One Thought Strike.
In fact, its requirements for Chakra Nature Transformation were even higher.
Based on Mugetsu's judgment, even Shisui and Obito would only barely meet the minimum condition to use Azure Flame while in Flame Breathing Chakra Mode.
And that was after both of them had improved greatly.
If Mugetsu had obtained Azure Flame back during the Hidden Mist battlefield period, then even if he had wanted to teach it, Obito and the others could only have watched from the sidelines.
After receiving so many new abilities at once, especially advanced skills like Azure Flame and Rain Prayer, even Mugetsu felt a faint trace of mental fatigue.
In truth, he knew this was already the result of the system protecting him.
Judging by how real the training memories felt, if an ordinary person had suddenly been forced to absorb this much information, their brain would probably have crashed on the spot.
Originally, Mugetsu had intended to find a secluded place to personally test all of these new skills.
However, Obito had come to the Shinobi Sect to discuss a custom made ninjutsu.
So Mugetsu postponed the testing and instead headed to meet Obito using his alias identity.
...
Inside the Shinobi Sect reception hall.
Obito, Kakashi, and Shisui were all waiting for the arrival of the legendary Ninja Master.
Meanwhile, Nagato and Yahiko were serving as the reception staff for the occasion.
"No wonder you were so confident you could make the top two, Obito. So in addition to your own strength, you were also hiding a powerful flying Nin Beast," Yahiko said with a grin.
Since everyone here had participated in the Martial Arts Tournament, Yahiko naturally chose that as the topic.
"Of course. I'd already predicted I'd make the top two a long time ago," Obito replied, his face immediately filling with smugness.
He really had only been boasting at the time.
But since he had now actually taken second place, that boasting had now been retroactively upgraded into foresight and confidence in his own strength.
"Yahiko, you were just unlucky to run into that Hashori in the first round. With your strength, you definitely had a chance to make the top eight otherwise," Obito added, generously returning the compliment.
After all, Yahiko had just praised him so thoroughly that not returning the favor at all would have made even Obito feel a little embarrassed.
"Haha, that's true. My luck that day really was bad. Maybe meeting Sosuke sensei earlier used up all the luck I'd saved over the past few years," Yahiko said, scratching his head as he laughed.
Yahiko was not arrogant enough to think he was guaranteed to reach the top eight, but he did know that among the knockout round participants, his strength had definitely not been at the very bottom. He was at least solidly mid tier.
"It seems Sōsuke and the others truly hold an extraordinary place in Yahiko's heart," Kakashi thought to himself as he listened, while quietly observing Nagato's expression from the corner of his eye.
After thinking for a moment, Kakashi asked, "How is your Akatsuki Organization doing now? I haven't heard much about it recently."
In truth, Kakashi found Obito a little foolish for coming all the way here to ask how he should customize a ninjutsu reward because he himself did not know what to request.
The real reason Kakashi had come along was that he wanted to use the chance to gather more information about the relationship between the Akatsuki Organization and the Shinobi Sect.
According to the intelligence Yamato's group had in the future, the later Evil Akatsuki Organization would become terrifyingly strong.
If there was any way to stop that future organization from ever appearing, to kill the danger in its cradle, that would obviously be best.
"Huh? The Akatsuki Organization? There isn't an Akatsuki Organization anymore. It's only the codename of a squad inside the Shinobi Sect now," Yahiko replied with a smile, not showing even a trace of regret or sorrow.
Yahiko would occasionally remember his old days in the Akatsuki Organization.
But he had never regretted its disappearance.
Because the current Shinobi Sect was, in his eyes, the very Akatsuki of his dreams.
How could he regret it when he was already walking the road toward his ideal?
"Oh, and I'm the captain of that squad," Yahiko added, laughing loudly.
Obito's face instantly showed envy.
Although he had taken second place in the Martial Arts Tournament and become a fairly well known young genius, he had still never been captain, or even vice captain, of anything.
What made it worse was that he could not even argue about it.
Because Kakashi really did have more experience and ability than him.
"Damn white haired bastard," Obito cursed inwardly, remembering all the times Kakashi had acted like captain and ordered him around.
Kakashi remained outwardly calm, merely showing an understanding expression and nodding.
But in his heart, a wave of emotion surged.
"As expected, the future Evil Akatsuki Organization really is deeply connected to the Shinobi Sect," he thought.
At present, the original Akatsuki Organization had disbanded, while the Shinobi Sect had appeared.
Yet in all the information Yamato had brought from the future, Kakashi had never once heard mention of the Shinobi Sect.
That meant the current situation might eventually reverse itself.
The Shinobi Sect might disappear in the future, while the Evil Akatsuki Organization would rise in its place.
It was not that Kakashi simply liked overthinking.
It was that all current clues genuinely pointed in that direction.
The future contained a terrifying Evil Akatsuki Organization.
Nagato, one of the three original founders, was already monstrously powerful.
Now the original Akatsuki Organization had dissolved into the Shinobi Sect.
The Shinobi Sect also contained Kakuzu, one of the future Evil Akatsuki members.
Kakashi would not believe anyone who told him there was no connection.
Just then, Mugetsu, using the face of his alias, stepped out and instantly drew everyone's attention.
.....
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