[Reward Obtained — Sensory Ninjutsu]
[First Teaching Completed — Reward: Appraisal Technique]
[First A-Rank Teaching Evaluation — Reward: Mastery of Fire-Release Chakra Nature Transformation]
Receiving three rewards at once surprised Makoto.
He suddenly felt a flood of new memories appear in his mind—most of them related to the training and application of Fire Release chakra nature transformation.
The memories were incredibly vivid.
For a moment, Makoto even had the illusion that he was an old ninja who had spent his entire life specializing in Fire Release techniques.
"Teacher Hosokawa , may I ask you something?"
Shisui asked respectfully.
Hearing Shisui speak, Makoto stopped what he was doing. He had been about to check his panel again.
He led Shisui to the back of an empty school building, then used his newly acquired sensory ninjutsu to scan the surroundings.
There were no unusually strong chakra signatures nearby.
Only then did Makoto relax.
"Is there something from class you didn't understand?" Makoto asked with a gentle smile. "Go ahead."
Shisui shook his head.
"It's not about the lesson. I have a question."
"You said in class that the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan founded Konoha together."
"But why is it that nowadays everyone only remembers the Senju Clan, while the contributions of the Uchiha are rarely mentioned?"
Although he was still a child, Shisui was unusually mature and perceptive.
Whenever he went out with clan elders, he could sense the strange looks from villagers when they saw the Uchiha crest on their backs.
Both clans had been founders of the village.
So why did the Uchiha not only receive little recognition, but even seemed to be disliked by the villagers?
Shisui couldn't understand.
Looking at the puzzled boy, Makoto silently complained in his mind:
Hashirama Senju's reputation in Konoha versus Madara Uchiha's reputation… how could those possibly be compared?
"You've probably only read the history recorded within the Uchiha clan, right?" Makoto asked.
Shisui nodded.
At his age, the only historical knowledge available to him came from the clan.
"The reason things are like this today… involves many complicated events," Makoto said with a slightly troubled expression.
"It's difficult to explain in a short time."
Seeing Makoto's hesitation, Shisui felt a little guilty.
Perhaps the matter was far more complex than he had imagined.
Just as he was about to say it was fine and drop the topic, Makoto spoke again.
"Well… if you have time after school in the future, you can come find me," Makoto sighed.
"I'll tell you more about the history behind it."
"After all… I suppose I owe the Uchiha clan a favor."
"You can consider this my way of repaying that debt."
Shisui looked surprised.
"Owe the Uchiha clan a favor?"
Naturally, he asked about it.
"My parents were once surrounded by enemy forces during a war," Makoto said with a grateful expression.
"They were rescued by a ninja named Uchiha Kagami."
"Although my parents later died in the war, I've never forgotten that life-saving kindness."
Makoto spoke with convincing sincerity.
Inside, however, he was making the whole story up.
At that moment he felt extremely fortunate that the original owner of this body had been an orphan.
Otherwise, there would have been far less room for creative storytelling.
Sometimes… the dead were more useful than the living.
Shisui's eyes widened in shock.
Uchiha Kagami was his grandfather.
He never expected to share such an unexpected connection with Makoto.
The coincidence left him with a strange and complicated feeling.
However, Shisui wasn't the type to take advantage of a favor.
He didn't make a big deal out of it.
Instead, he simply thanked Makoto sincerely.
Before Shisui left, Makoto quietly used Appraisal on him.
Name: Shisui Uchiha
Chakra: 500
Potential: SS−
Evaluation:
Possesses Six Paths lineage. Highly suited for Fire Release and genjutsu.
Extremely high potential. Recommended for disciple recruitment.
As Makoto walked back toward the office, he couldn't help but sigh in amazement.
No wonder this guy could awaken Susanoo with just one eye…
Those two shining S ranks were simply dazzling.
Even the system was recommending him as a disciple.
Makoto then opened his own panel again to check whether his evaluation had changed.
Name: Hosokawa Makoto
Age: 18
Chakra: 4300
Evaluation:
Highly proficient in Fire Release chakra nature transformation.
Your main limitation is your relatively low chakra reserves.
If this weakness were compensated for, you would qualify as an elite among Jōnin.
"Looks like that 'Mastery of Fire Nature Transformation' reward is stronger than I expected," Makoto muttered.
He had initially assumed it simply meant knowledge equivalent to a normal jōnin.
But now it seemed far more impressive.
When it came to Fire Release chakra manipulation, he might already be comparable to the Third Hokage.
After all, before receiving the reward, he only knew:
Two Fire Release techniques
The Body Flicker Technique
The Academy Three Techniques
Some basic taijutsu
And yet with that reward alone, if his chakra reserves increased, he could already reach the level of an elite jōnin.
Elite jōnin…
At the very least, that meant someone around the level of Kakashi or Asuma at the beginning of the series.
His strength had increased dramatically.
Makoto should have been thrilled.
But once he remembered his Root affiliation, his mood immediately sank.
There were two reasons.
First, the cursed seal placed by Root made him feel extremely unsafe.
Second, Danzo loved sending his subordinates on suicidal missions.
That made him feel even less safe.
"I need to recruit some disciples as soon as possible and grow stronger quickly," Makoto muttered.
"Even if I can't reach the level where I can kill Danzo and walk away freely… I at least need the strength to protect myself."
That became his short-term goal.
When Makoto returned to the teachers' office, he saw three other teachers already there—two men and one woman—complaining about their students.
He recognized all of them.
Teachers had reported earlier than students, so the original owner of his body had already met his colleagues.
Makoto casually used Appraisal on them.
Name: Isamu Ikegaya
Chakra: 2000
Potential: C
Evaluation: A typical chūnin-level cannon fodder.
The other two teachers had nearly identical evaluations.
All three were labeled by the system as cannon fodder.
"Sigh… I'm really unlucky," Ikegaya complained helplessly.
"How did Class 4-2 end up assigned to me?"
"I'm already responsible for Class 3-1!"
"How am I supposed to teach them? Both Might Guy and Obito Uchiha—two of the academy's biggest underachievers—are in Class 4-2!"
He spread his hands dramatically.
"And my family arranged a blind date for me tomorrow afternoon."
"But I happen to have Class 4-2 scheduled at that exact time."
"Ask a teacher without classes to substitute for you," suggested Aya Ueda, the female teacher.
"Or just take leave. Your blind date is more important."
At that moment, Aya noticed Makoto entering the office.
"Teacher Hosokawa ! How did your first class go?" she asked with a smile.
"Did the little teaching trick I told you about help?"
Makoto recalled what she meant.
Earlier, she had worried that he might be nervous as a new teacher.
So she told him to mentally imagine all the students as radishes and cabbages while teaching.
Makoto politely replied:
"Thank you. The trick worked well."
"But after class, the students told me I shouldn't be picky about food."
"Hahaha! Teacher Hosokawa , you're hilarious," Aya laughed.
Seeing him joking around, she assumed his first class had gone smoothly.
At that moment, Makoto turned to Ikegaya.
"Teacher Ikegaya, I don't have classes tomorrow afternoon."
"If you need help, I can substitute for you."
Makoto placed his lesson plan on the desk and spoke with the demeanor of a helpful colleague.
Unlike other teachers, Makoto actually wished he had a full teaching schedule every day.
And Class 4-2 happened to contain Obito and Might Guy .
He definitely wanted to take a look.
Ikegaya's face lit up immediately.
He quickly thanked Makoto and promised to treat him to a meal sometime.
Meanwhile, inside the Hokage's Office.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, looked into the crystal ball displaying Makoto lecturing seriously about the Will of Fire.
He stroked his beard thoughtfully.
"This young man from Root… not bad," he murmured.
"He understands the Will of Fire."
Danzo believed he had hidden things well.
But in reality, Hiruzen already knew about some ninjas trained by Root who had not yet been formally registered within the organization.
Still, Hiruzen felt that Danzo was at least helping cultivate strength for Konoha, so as long as he didn't go too far, Hiruzen tolerated it.
However, the Ninja Academy was something Hiruzen valued greatly.
That was why he had personally checked on the new teacher.
Unexpectedly, Makoto's first lesson had been about the Will of Fire, instilling responsibility in the students.
Hiruzen found that very pleasing.
"Let's observe him a little longer."
"If he proves to be talented, I'll arrange for him to leave Root."
For now, Makoto's performance alone wasn't enough for Hiruzen to demand him from Danzo.
Technically speaking, Danzo's people were still under his authority, but he still had to consider the feelings of his old comrade.
With that thought, Hiruzen stopped using the Telescope Technique and returned to handling official documents.
He planned to observe Konoha again later that evening.
After finishing dinner, Shisui headed out according to the address Makoto had given him.
Makoto's house was located in the southeastern outskirts of Konoha, an area with sparse buildings.
It was relatively remote compared to the main district.
Fortunately, because the area wasn't crowded, Shisui quickly found it.
It was a simple single-story wooden house inside a modest courtyard.
But the moment Shisui stepped into the courtyard—
He saw a scene that left him utterly stunned.