"Obito, what did you do after you went back yesterday?" Mokgetsu asked, looking at Obito's panel where the Breath of Flame had already been initiated.
"Nothing much, just went out to play with Rin," Obito replied.
"Just you and Rin?" Mokgetsu sensed that Obito might be leaving something out.
"And an annoying guy," Obito answered honestly, thinking Mokgetsu wasn't familiar with Kakashi, so he didn't mention his name.
With Obito's words, Mokgetsu could guess who it was—definitely Kakashi.
Mokgetsu mentally gave Kakashi a thumbs-up, not only for helping to trigger the cultivation task but also for stimulating Obito's strength growth. Indeed, Kakashi is Obito's future teammate; even before becoming teammates, he's already pushing hard.
"Today, you don't need to do other exercises. Familiarize yourself more with the current Breath of Flame. You've already completed the entry-level stage of the Breathing Technique," Mokgetsu said with a smile.
"Really, have I learned it?" Obito scratched his head, having been so caught up in outsmarting Kakashi yesterday that he hadn't realized he'd fully mastered the Breathing Technique.
"Yes, you've learned it. You're the first to master the Breathing Technique," Mokgetsu praised.
"Haha, is that so? Shisui and the others should be learning it soon too," Obito's face lit up with a bright smile.
"First..." Shisui, who was still cultivating the Breathing Technique, felt a bit unwilling. Even though he had been training hard, he still was slower by a step compared to Obito.
Mokgetsu glanced at Shisui with appraisal; his proficiency had reached ninety points, just a small step away.
The disciples' progress in cultivating the Breathing Technique was much faster than he anticipated. Even though Shisui's pace was a bit slower than Obito, Mokgetsu believed Shisui could finish his training before the end of the semester.
In Might Guy's case, Mokgetsu couldn't say for sure since his proficiency was only at seventy points.
However, Obito and the others only started progressing rapidly during combat training, so if Might Guy could also make a huge leap in combat training, he might catch up with Shisui and Obito.
"Next, Shisui, you and Guy do some combat training," Mokgetsu suggested after some thought.
Might Guy had recently completed all basic training, and Mokgetsu set Obito as Might Guy's opponent, feeling the two were about equal in strength and could sharpen each other.
But now Mokgetsu felt that the Breathing Technique needed to be exercised against stronger opponents to endure greater pressure for faster progress.
"Huh, what about me?" Obito pointed to himself, wanting to show off his newly learned Breath of Flame against Might Guy and experience that undefeated feeling that Shisui had.
"Go familiarize yourself with Breath of Flame," Mokgetsu said, lightly knocking Obito on the head.
Although Might Guy had just begun training, considering the differences between the Breath of Flame and the Breath of Rock, Mokgetsu directly moved to the third stage, allowing Shisui to use all abilities except the Sharingan, while Might Guy could go all out.
After all, Might Guy's Breath of Rock purely provided physical strength, and Might Guy didn't know any ninjutsu. Keeping the previous rules would only restrict Shisui's power.
"Shisui, please guide me well!" Might Guy gave Shisui a thumbs-up with eagerness for battle.
Shisui was Mokgetsu's youngest disciple, yet his strength was the greatest. In Might Guy's eyes, such a Shisui was an undeniable genius, and Might Guy loved challenging geniuses the most.
"Please guide me well," Shisui nodded in response.
"Begin the fight!" Mokgetsu announced.
As soon as Mokgetsu finished speaking, Might Guy immediately adjusted his breathing rhythm and dashed forward, kicking with the Taijutsu move he was most skilled in.
"Leaf Whirlwind!"
The lightning-fast Tornado Kick flew towards Shisui.
Since the end of the summer special training, Shisui hadn't sparred with Might Guy and was unsure of Might Guy's exact strength. Thus, he opted to attack with a probing move, using the Leaf Whirlwind Kick as well.
The formidable strength pushed both of them back several steps, with Shisui retreating more.
"Such power," Shisui thought, surprised.
At that moment, the strength Might Guy unleashed was even greater than Obito's after entering Full Concentration Breathing mode.
"I can't compete with Guy in Taijutsu," Shisui thought to himself.
Without the Full Concentration Breathing Technique, Might Guy still possessed terrifying strength. Shisui could imagine how much the Breath of Rock enhanced the body's power. Engaging in a Taijutsu contest with Might Guy would be like highlighting his weaknesses and avoiding his strengths; it would be unwise.
Boom!
Sensing danger, Shisui used Soru to leave the spot. The next second, the tree at his previous position was kicked, breaking and falling by Might Guy.
The display of Taijutsu intensity by Might Guy didn't cause Shisui to panic; this level alone was not enough to make him fail in front of Mokgetsu.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!" Shisui rapidly formed hand signs and blasted a gigantic fireball towards Might Guy, while also predicting some of Might Guy's escape routes with shurikens. Finally, he used the Instant Body Jutsu to dash towards an unblocked area.
Might Guy didn't expect Shisui to think so much in the time it took to use one ninjutsu. When he dodged, Shisui immediately launched a flame-laden palm strike towards Might Guy.
"Breath of Rock, Full Concentration Breathing!" With nowhere to escape, Might Guy could only use Full Concentration Breathing to enhance his body.
The Breath of Rock, with its great enhancement to physical abilities, also improved his defenses.
If Mokgetsu were in his Pattern Mode, even this little flame from Shisui couldn't break through his defense. However, Might Guy was still a novice with the Breathing Technique, only able to reduce the damage he took. The high temperature of the flames still made Might Guy uncomfortable.