Chapter 542: A Method for World Peace?
"Ninja Master Sōsuke."
Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan immediately greeted Mugetsu.
Mugetsu smiled and nodded in response.
"Lord Sōsuke," Kakashi and Shisui said politely after realizing who he was.
Obito was a little slower to react, but he did not pull any tricks.
Although he felt Ninja Master Sōsuke was still a step below Teacher Mugetsu, the fact that he was even comparing the two already meant Obito considered Sōsuke someone he absolutely could not afford to provoke.
Mugetsu looked at Obito and asked, "Do you have any specific requests for the custom ninjutsu?"
In truth, he had already decided what kind of ninjutsu he would give Obito. If the conditions matched, he planned to give him Flame Vortex.
Flame Vortex was an excellent Fire Release technique, and it was more than worthy of being presented as a ninjutsu personally customized and developed by Ninja Master Sōsuke.
If Flame Vortex did not fit Obito's request, then Mugetsu would either develop one himself or imitate a similar technique from his own skill library.
As for Azure Flame, Mugetsu had no intention of giving that to Obito while using his Sōsuke identity.
There were several reasons for that.
Azure Flame was a skill drawn from an S+ rank extraction scroll. In every aspect, it surpassed the Fire Dragon Dance Mugetsu had developed before. If a second place reward ended up better than the first place reward, the whole system would become absurd.
If Mugetsu ever held another Youth Martial Arts Tournament, then unless he removed personalized custom ninjutsu from the prize list, contestants would stop fighting for first place and start fighting for whichever rank granted the custom ninjutsu.
Also, Sōsuke and Obito were not personally close. Giving him such a powerful ninjutsu for no particular reason would look suspicious.
"What kinds of requests can I make exactly?" Obito scratched his head and asked.
He really had come here to ask about ninjutsu. After all, he truly lacked powerful finishing moves and badly wanted super ultimate techniques like Golden Skyline and No Thought Strike.
Although Kakashi would practically collapse after unleashing one slash, Obito did not even have the luxury of collapsing from overuse yet.
"Do you want high temperature burning, or cutting power? A specific Nature Transformation? More flexibility, greater range, or overwhelming destruction in one particular aspect?" Mugetsu replied.
At their core, ninjutsu were combinations of shape transformation and nature transformation. A custom ninjutsu naturally meant refining those two aspects according to the user's needs.
"I want a powerful Fire Release ninjutsu. The stronger, the better. Is that okay?" Obito asked.
What he had originally wanted to say was, "Can I request the strongest Fire Release in the Ninja World?"
But Kakashi had felt that sounded like he was trying to pick a fight, so under Kakashi's firm pressure, Obito changed it to the slightly more restrained "as strong as possible."
"Only power? Do you have any other requirements?" Mugetsu continued.
If raw power was the only request, then Flame Vortex definitely met the standard.
"Other requirements..." Obito thought for a moment before replying, "Then make the range big too."
If the range was large enough, then he would not need to worry too much about missing. After all, Fire Release did not have the speed of Lightning Release.
"I understand your request. In half a month, I'll have someone deliver the developed ninjutsu to the address you provided," Mugetsu said with a faint smile.
Although Flame Vortex already fulfilled Obito's requests for power and wide range, developing a ninjutsu in only a few days would still feel a little too outrageous, so Mugetsu deliberately set the timeframe at half a month.
"Because Obito's requirements were too simple, half a month is enough?" Kakashi looked at Mugetsu in surprise.
Although he had heard that this Ninja Master possessed profound knowledge, could a ninjutsu developed in just half a month really be that strong?
If it had been anyone else, Kakashi would have suspected they were trying to fool Obito.
But Sōsuke's reputation in the Ninja World was excellent.
More importantly, Sōsuke had even placed his signature Fire Dragon Dance into the Martial Arts Tournament as the first place prize, which clearly showed how seriously he took the competition.
Logically, Sōsuke would not treat the second place reward carelessly either, so Kakashi chose to believe first and doubt later.
Once Obito's request had been confirmed, Mugetsu left the reception room.
"Since you're already here, why don't I show you around?" Yahiko offered on his own initiative.
"Then we'll trouble you," Kakashi replied. Since this gave him a chance to learn more about the Shinobi Sect, there was no reason to refuse.
Yahiko then led Kakashi and the others around the surrounding area.
Strictly speaking, though, "showing them around" was really just Yahiko enthusiastically explaining the Shinobi Sect's many achievements.
After all, the Shinobi Sect headquarters had only recently been built. Most of the buildings had been designed for practical use, not sightseeing, so there were not actually that many scenic places to visit.
"When Ninja Master Sōsuke first brought us here, this place was still desolate. You had to walk a long way just to find a village. Now it's finally become lively," Yahiko said emotionally as he looked out over Six Paths City.
Although the current Six Paths City was still closer to a large town than a real city, Yahiko firmly believed that under Mugetsu's leadership and the combined efforts of the Shinobi Sect, a peaceful Ninja City would eventually rise here.
Kakashi nodded.
The Youth Martial Arts Tournament had reached an enormous scale. The Five Great Ninja Villages had all sent representatives, and even the Lord Daimyo of the Land of Fire had come personally to watch the matches. It would have been strange if the place had not become lively.
As they walked, they suddenly noticed a group of Iwagakure ninja training nearby.
Yahiko smiled and greeted them, then casually quickened his pace and led Kakashi and the others onward.
After all, Iwagakure and Konoha were enemies. Even if Yahiko could chat pleasantly with Kakashi and the others, he obviously could not lead them over to watch Iwagakure's training.
"So there are rentable training grounds inside the city too. I thought all the training areas were outside," Kakashi said, as if casually thinking aloud.
Shisui glanced at Kakashi.
This place was so close to the core area of the Shinobi Sect headquarters that there was no way it was a public rental training ground. It had to be an internal training field used by the Shinobi Sect itself.
Shisui pretended to be looking elsewhere, but the corner of his eye stayed on Yahiko.
He did not believe Kakashi would fail to realize something so simple.
That left only one explanation. Kakashi was probing the relationship between the Shinobi Sect and Iwagakure.
"Haha, this is different from the training grounds outside the city. This one is for internal Shinobi Sect use and normally isn't open to the public," Yahiko replied with a smile.
"The reason there are Iwagakure ninja training here is because we accepted a training commission from Iwagakure and are helping them train some of their ninja," he added.
That kind of thing was not considered secret within the Shinobi Sect. It was public information.
Kakashi was slightly surprised.
Training ninja was an extremely private matter, yet Iwagakure had actually trusted the Shinobi Sect with it, even if only for a portion of their personnel.
"Either Iwagakure and the Shinobi Sect have an unusual relationship, or Iwagakure understands the Shinobi Sect very well," Kakashi judged inwardly.
"If you want, you can mention it to your Hokage too. As long as the commission fee is high enough, the Shinobi Sect would also accept training missions from Konoha," Yahiko said in a joking tone.
At present, the Shinobi Sect positioned itself as neutral. As long as the payment was sufficient, it would accept training commissions from any ninja village.
Of course, Yahiko did not actually expect Konoha to take him up on it. He was just speaking casually. If the comment brought in a mission, great. If not, it was only a few extra words.
Kakashi did not think Konoha, with Mugetsu in it, would ever need outside help training their ninja.
Nor did he believe Konoha would trust the Shinobi Sect enough to hand over such work.
Still, there was no need to offend someone smiling and speaking pleasantly, so Kakashi responded politely.
The more he learned about the Shinobi Sect, the more confused he became.
The Shinobi Sect had a top tier powerhouse like Sōsuke, and a super genius like Nagato. Even Iwagakure trusted them enough to send ninja over for training.
A force like this should have been flourishing.
Yet in all the major future events Yamato had told him about, there had not been a single trace of the Shinobi Sect.
"Obito, do you remember when you said you wanted to become Hokage and bring an end to the Shinobi World War?" Yahiko suddenly asked.
"Of course. That's my dream," Obito replied, puffing out his chest.
Yahiko and Nagato both smiled.
Yahiko smiled because Obito had answered without the slightest hesitation. His original aspiration had not changed.
Nagato smiled because, as fellow disciples of Mugetsu, they shared similar ideals.
"Although the Shinobi Sect's efforts have already improved public order in the southern Land of Rain to some extent, the Shinobi Sect isn't a ninja organization that pursues peace in only one place or one country. The Shinobi Sect's goal is peace for the entire world," Yahiko said solemnly, speaking of the organization's ideal.
Yahiko did not have Mugetsu's Appraisal ability and therefore could not see people's full potential.
But based on what Obito and the others had already shown, Yahiko believed that even if they did not become Hokage in the future, they would still become highly influential figures within Konoha.
That was why Yahiko kept telling Kakashi and the others about the Shinobi Sect's deeds. He wanted them to understand the organization better.
World peace was an immense goal.
But with the Shinobi Sect's current strength, even achieving stable peace throughout the Land of Rain was already close to its limit.
To go beyond that, they would need to unite every force that could possibly be united.
"Keep working hard. If I really do become Hokage one day, I'll definitely stand with the Shinobi Sect to protect world peace," Obito said seriously.
Although Kakashi kept saying the Shinobi Sect had complicated ties to the future Evil Akatsuki Organization, the current Shinobi Sect was, no matter how one looked at it, a force for justice.
Obito himself was still struggling to grow stronger in pursuit of his ideals.
The Shinobi Sect, meanwhile, had already begun walking the road toward making those ideals reality.
After hearing about Sōsuke and the Shinobi Sect's achievements, Obito's admiration for both grew tremendously.
"Even if he's still not quite on Teacher Mugetsu's level, Sōsuke, you're still incredible," Obito thought inwardly, full of admiration.
Listening to Yahiko describe how Sōsuke had built the Shinobi Sect from nothing, Obito almost felt like he was listening to the plot of a novel.
There was no helping it. The whole story really was that legendary.
First he found like minded companions through teaching and gathered them around him.
Then he turned powerful bounty ninja into allies.
Then he was betrayed by a famous senior figure of the Ninja World, only to turn danger into safety through his own strength and even win that senior over in the end.
Then he cast aside old grudges and worked together with that same person to rebuild the Land of Rain.
From Obito's many years of reading experience, he felt that if someone just added in a subplot about rescuing the Princess of the Land of Rain, the whole thing would instantly become a best seller.
"Then I hope you succeed soon in becoming Hokage, Obito," Yahiko said sincerely with a smile.
"I'll do my best," Obito replied with a chuckle, scratching his head.
Kakashi maintained a calm face, but inwardly, his thoughts were entirely different.
Obito's ideal, while difficult, was not impossible.
After all, Obito was strong and had two excellent teachers.
As long as he kept studying and improving seriously, Kakashi believed Obito had a very high chance of eventually meeting the requirements to become Hokage.
Ending the Shinobi World War was another matter, but even that was not completely unimaginable. After all, every great war in the Ninja World was eventually followed by a period of peace.
Yahiko's ideal, or rather the Shinobi Sect's ideal, was something Kakashi considered completely impossible.
Because even the so called peaceful eras that followed great wars were not truly peaceful. There were always smaller conflicts somewhere, even if no large scale war was raging.
And according to Yahiko, the Shinobi Sect was not pursuing temporary peace, but permanent peace.
That made the goal even more impossible in Kakashi's eyes.
"Unless the Shinobi Sect somehow had the Six Paths Sage himself, and an immortal Six Paths Sage at that," Kakashi thought.
All of Mugetsu's disciples had studied history.
And the most peaceful era since the founding of the hidden village system was, without a doubt, the era of great peace established by the First Hokage.
The Five Great Ninja Villages, the highest powers in the Ninja World, had all signed peace agreements, and the world had entered an unprecedented era of stability.
But that peace did not exist because the early ninja were somehow more civilized than later generations.
It existed because Senju Hashirama and the Konoha he represented possessed absolute power.
Don't want peace?
Then do you want to see Wood Release, or a Perfect Susanoo?
The Shinobi Sect did not possess the same overwhelming strength Konoha had in its earliest days.
So Kakashi believed that even if Sōsuke himself reached Hashirama's level, he still could not truly achieve lasting peace.
For that, one would need the Six Paths Sage himself to return.
And for eternal peace, one would need an immortal Six Paths Sage.
That was why Kakashi considered the Shinobi Sect's ideal impossible.
The Six Paths Sage would not return.
And no one could be immortal.
If the Six Paths Sage could have stayed forever, then the Ninja World would never have reached its current state.
"Maybe it was precisely because of that naive ideal that changes eventually occurred inside the Shinobi Sect, ultimately giving rise to the Evil Akatsuki Organization," Kakashi concluded inwardly as he combined the information he currently had.
...
After leaving the reception hall, Mugetsu quietly departed Six Paths City and found a secluded area where he could test the new skills he had just acquired.
Before starting, he first used sensory ninjutsu to probe the surroundings.
Then he opened his Byakugan and scanned the area visually.
Finally, he activated Transparent World as a last layer of confirmation.
Only after completing all three checks did Mugetsu begin.
"Flying Leaf Quick Blade."
He formed hand seals, gathered Chakra, and converted it into Wood Release Chakra. Dozens of green leaves rapidly sprouted from his palm.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The moment they finished growing, all of the green leaves shot toward the trees ahead like razor sharp flying blades.
Crack!
The leaves pierced into the trunks and cleanly severed the trees.
"It would suit Yamato," Mugetsu said with a small nod after sensing the technique's Chakra cost.
Flying Leaf Quick Blade not only consumed little Chakra, but also had solid killing power against ninja. It was much stronger than the Wood Release Yamato had learned under Root.
Mugetsu then changed the target from trees to stone and discovered that by feeding a little more Chakra into the jutsu, the cutting power of the leaves increased further, allowing them to stab directly into solid rock.
After finishing his test of Flying Leaf Quick Blade, Mugetsu skipped over Hard Whirlpool Water Blade and Earth Flow Spears and instead condensed Fire Release Chakra, preparing to test the actual performance of Flame Vortex.
There was no need to test Hard Whirlpool Water Blade.
Although Mugetsu had not previously drawn it from the system, he had already obtained the training method from Hiruzen Sarutobi and later mastered it through his own training.
As for Earth Flow Spears, he had already drawn it before from class rewards and tested it then.
.....
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