Chapter 588: Teaching the Observation Eye
Chapter 588: Teaching the Observation Eye
"Unless something unexpected happens, I should be able to stay in Konoha for a while. During this time, I'll be taking you all for training." Minato coughed lightly as he spoke.
Despite the awkwardness, he still wanted to shoulder the responsibility of being their mentor during his free time.
Obito, Rin, and Kakashi were Minato's only three disciples. Due to the demands of war, he hadn't been able to devote much time to their mentorship, but now that things were calmer, he felt it was his duty to guide them.
Minato then led the trio to a secluded area.
As Obito, Rin, and Kakashi had learned most of their skills from Mu Yue, Minato didn't need to offer much guidance in ninjutsu.
Moreover, unlike Mu Yue, who had a meticulous training regimen, Minato hadn't conducted any training sessions with them in a long while.
In this situation, Minato believed that the most effective training would be real combat.
Combat training was a staple for all ninja ranks, from genin to jounin, as it was a versatile and adaptable form of preparation.
"Fighting against Teacher Minato, huh?" Obito couldn't help but scratch his head as he thought about Minato's Flying Thunder God Technique.
He really wanted to learn that jutsu, but he dreaded the idea of his opponent knowing it too—it was just too tricky to deal with.
No matter how powerful his blue flames or Kakashi's One-Cut Edge were, they were useless if they couldn't land a hit.
Kakashi remained expressionless, knowing that challenging training was the most meaningful. If they could easily defeat their opponent, it wouldn't be considered training at all.
Rin, on the other hand, furrowed her brows in thought, quickly analyzing all of Minato's abilities in her mind.
"Are you ready? Let me know when you are," Minato said with a smile.
Kakashi nodded, followed by Rin, and Obito indicated that he was ready as well.
"Then let's begin!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
As soon as Minato finished speaking, he swiftly drew out several Flying Thunder God kunai from his ninja tool pouch and hurled them at the trio.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"
Obito swiftly formed the necessary hand seals and exhaled, spewing forth intense flames that coalesced into a massive fireball.
Boom!
The explosion from the fireball deflected the incoming Flying Thunder God kunai, sending them askew.
When it came to countering the Flying Thunder God Technique, Obito didn't have many effective strategies. His best bet was to try and keep the kunai from getting too close to him.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Kakashi and Rin simultaneously performed the summoning technique, calling forth their Pokemon.
Summoned creatures were an extension of one's strength, and it made no sense not to utilize them.
"Roar!"
Upon being summoned, Zoroark immediately let out a howl, locking its eyes on Minato, who stood in opposition to Kakashi's group. It swiftly began to gather chakra.
Menas, on the other hand, positioned herself behind Rin, activating her chakra to use Aqua Ring, creating a layer of water around them that possessed healing powers.
'Rock Slide!'
Zoroark manipulated the large amount of gathered chakra, converting it into earth-attribute chakra nature, and created a massive boulder that it hurled toward Minato.
"Lightning Style: False Dark!"
Kakashi focused his breathing, enhancing his lightning-attribute chakra nature, and gathered a substantial amount of chakra. He then unleashed a lightning jutsu, spewing forth a wide array of sharp lightning bolts.
Whoosh!
Minato had no intention of taking the attacks head-on and immediately used the Flying Thunder God Technique to teleport away.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Taking advantage of the momentary lull in Minato's offense, Obito summoned Charizard.
"Char!"
Charizard let out an excited cry upon spotting Menas not far away. So captivated was it by the prospect of fighting alongside the goddess that its usual desire to provide Obito with the day's first flame had diminished considerably.
Sensing the atmosphere in the arena, Charizard grew even more excited at the prospect of fighting alongside the goddess.
Without hesitation, Charizard took to the skies and gathered chakra, slashing at Minato with wave after wave of Air Slash.
After using his summoned creature, Obito activated his three-tomoe Sharingan to enhance his observational abilities.
In a battle against Minato, the power of one's jutsu was secondary; the key was being able to land a hit on him.
Obito, Kakashi, and Rin, along with their summoned creatures, unleashed their ninjutsu with full force, filling the training ground with a cacophony of explosions and leaving it in disarray.
"These are some pretty impressive summoned creatures," Minato thought to himself.
Obito's team had summoned their creatures during the battle on the battlefield, but at the time, Minato had been preoccupied with the demanding mission, and with over three thousand individuals present, the chaos had made it difficult to pay attention to their performances.
Now, fighting against Kakashi's group, Minato discovered that their summoned creatures were far from ordinary, especially Rin's, which was even stronger than she was.
"In that case, I'll have to get a little more serious," Minato thought as he formed a few hand seals, creating two shadow clones.
While this was a training exercise, Minato couldn't afford to hold back completely, or Kakashi's team wouldn't stand a chance. They'd be overwhelmed and unable to gain any meaningful practice.
The purpose of combat training was to enhance their battle prowess and hone their abilities to counter different types of ninja, thereby gaining valuable combat experience.
If the gap in strength was too wide, and the fight became one-sided, it would defeat the purpose of the exercise.
As Minato unleashed more of his strength, Kakashi's team immediately felt the pressure.
Minato's shadow clones could also use the Flying Thunder God Technique, albeit at a slower speed than the original.
The awkward part was that even with the slower speed of the shadow clones, Kakashi, the fastest among Obito's group, still struggled to keep up.
After several exchanges, Menas was accidentally struck by the Flying Thunder God Technique.
In the next instant, Minato, wielding a Rasengan, flew in and struck Menas, sending her flying. He then threw a Flying Thunder God kunai.
As Rin reacted to attack Minato, he used the momentum from the thrown kunai to switch positions again, delivering a powerful elbow strike that knocked her down.
Due to it being a training exercise, Obito didn't panic. Instead, he immediately entered the Fire-Nature Chakra Mode.
In truth, with his current chakra levels, he wouldn't be able to maintain this mode for long.
Obito had activated his Sharingan at the start of the battle and had already expended a significant amount of chakra from using various jutsu.
But he felt he had no other choice, so he decided to take a gamble.
Half a minute later, Obito sustained an injury to his back and fell to the ground.
A few minutes after that, their three Pokemon lay on the ground, panting heavily.
"As expected, it's impossible. There's just no defending against the Flying Thunder God Technique," Obito grumbled.
From the outset, he hadn't believed they could succeed, especially against their mentor—a renowned young powerhouse in the entire ninja world.
However, the swift and decisive defeat left a bitter taste in his mouth.
"Once I learn the Flying Thunder God Technique, I'll be able to beat Kakashi like this!" Obito quickly consoled himself with his usual optimism.
Mu Yue had promised to teach him the technique, but not yet; he needed to grow stronger first.
If only he had more chakra, he wouldn't have ended up in such a sorry state earlier.
The limitations of his chakra forced him to make difficult choices, only allowing him to use a portion of his ninjutsu in battle; otherwise, he wouldn't even be able to enter the Lightning Chakra Mode.
"You all did very well. When I was your age, I wasn't as skilled as you are now," Minato said, wiping away the fine sweat from his forehead and offering a sincere compliment.
Minato wasn't exaggerating. At the age of eleven, Obito and Kakashi had already surpassed most of the jonin-level ninjas in Konoha.
Even Rin, who had slightly weaker combat prowess, was considered one of the stronger jonin in the village in terms of overall abilities.
At this moment, Minato's emotions were quite complex.
He felt proud and happy for his disciples' exceptional talents, as he had grown fond of them.
However, he also knew that their achievements were not due to his guidance as their mentor but because of Mu Yue's teachings.
Minato wondered if Obito, Kakashi, and Rin would have been this outstanding if he hadn't been separated from them for so long due to the war.
His teaching abilities simply couldn't compare to Mu Yue's.
This realization left Minato feeling a bit lost. How could he have done so little and yet it turned out to be a good thing?
"Hehe, I think it's because Uncle Toad doesn't have Teacher Mu Yue's teaching abilities and couldn't bring out your full potential, Teacher Minato," Obito replied with a cheeky smile.
Minato remained silent.
Although it might be a bit unfair to Jiraiya, Obito's words weren't entirely wrong.
However, Minato felt that comparing anyone's teaching abilities to Mu Yue's would only yield the same result—Mu Yue's teaching skills were simply off the charts.
...
After the final roster for the Byakugan Training Class was confirmed, the necessary procedures were swiftly completed, and the class officially commenced.
Including Minato, there were twenty-seven people in total on the final training list, seven more than the initial twenty.
Among them were ninjas from Root, certain ninja clans, or relatives of the advisory elders.
By now, Mu Yue had assessed almost all of the living and active ninjas in Konoha, if not all.
Thanks to her excellent memory, she was familiar with all the ninjas who had come for the special training, even though they might not know her.
The Byakugan Training Class was different from the previous training sessions. It only had three hours of classes per day, and they were all held in the morning.
It wasn't that Mu Yue didn't want to teach for longer, but the nature of this training was different.
In the past, even when teaching the breathing techniques to Root and ANBU members, it wasn't solely about the breathing techniques. There were many other things to cover, and the core purpose was to enhance their strength.
However, this time, the goal was different. This training aimed to help these sensory ninjas master the Byakugan.
The three-hour learning period was the optimal training duration calculated by Mu Yue. Any longer, and the effectiveness would diminish significantly.
Since Minato was also attending the class, he accompanied Mu Yue to the training field on the first day.
"Teacher Mu Yue, Teacher Minato," some of the sensory ninjas who had arrived early greeted them.
The younger sensory ninjas addressed them as "Teacher," while some of the older jonin called them "jonin."
Mu Yue and Minato smiled and responded to their greetings.
Minato then joined the line of sensory ninjas. After all, he was also there to learn and shouldn't stand next to the teacher the whole time.
"The sensory ninjutsu I will be teaching you is called the Byakugan. When learning this technique, you can forget about the experiences you had with previous sensory ninjutsu, as they are quite different," Mu Yue began her lecture after everyone had assembled.
Even though the Byakugan had been localized as a sensory ninjutsu, its training method differed greatly from the sensory ninjutsu of the ninja world.
Everyone nodded, taking note of Mu Yue's words.
Before coming to the class, they had all received reminders from different people, emphasizing the importance of this training. Learning the Byakugan could even be considered their mission.
"When you first learn the Byakugan, you will be able to sense chakra within a certain range, perceive attacks beyond your line of sight, and..." Mu Yue continued to explain the abilities of the Byakugan.
This point was crucial to prevent anyone from assuming that learning the Byakugan would enable them to sense malicious intent.
"Once you reach a certain level of proficiency in the Byakugan, you can choose a direction to specialize in. You can pursue a larger range of perception, or you can focus on enhancing the depth and precision of your perception, which includes sensing malicious intent."
Minato, who had already been learning the Byakugan from Mu Yue for some time, maintained a neutral expression.
The rest of the sensory ninjas, however, were astonished.
Those who weren't well-versed in sensory ninjutsu might not understand the significance, but those who were experts in this field instantly grasped how powerful this technique, the Byakugan, truly was.
They immediately understood why the training method for the Byakugan differed from ordinary sensory ninjutsu. It would be strange if such a formidable sensory ninjutsu were taught using the same methods as regular techniques.
Compared to regular sensory ninjutsu, the Byakugan not only offered a wide range of effects but also had a high upper limit.
"In the early stages of training the Byakugan, try to avoid using your eyes for observation. Instead, rely on your spiritual perception to gather information," Mu Yue instructed.
After a brief explanation of the Byakugan's effects, Mu Yue led the sensory ninjas in a formal training session.
Since the training duration wasn't exceptionally long, Mu Yue didn't allocate specific rest periods. Instead, she allowed the ninjas to rest whenever they felt tired.
"Today's class is over. We'll meet again at the same time tomorrow," Mu Yue announced promptly after the three-hour session.
The sensory ninjas were taken aback, their expressions showing that they wanted more.
At that moment, they wished Mu Yue were the type of teacher who enjoyed lecturing beyond the allotted time. They wanted her to continue for just half an hour more.
The Byakugan was just too difficult—more challenging than any other sensory ninjutsu they had ever learned.
Of course, no one dared to ask Mu Yue to continue lecturing.
After all, she was the illustrious Solar Mu Yue, a legend on the battlefield. Having her as their teacher was already their good fortune.
[Lecture Complete]
[Evaluation: S]
[Rewards: Enhanced Perception Understanding, Byakugan Aura +10, Sensory Ninjutsu +3]
Mu Yue glanced at the lecture rewards. Perhaps due to the shorter duration and smaller class size, the rewards seemed a bit modest.
However, Mu Yue wasn't too concerned. After all, she didn't rely on the Byakugan to detect the White Zetsu; she used her Appraisal Technique instead.
The significance of this ANBU captain to Mu Yue lay not in improving her proficiency with the Byakugan.
Instead, it meant that Mu Yue could now proactively conduct various training sessions to increase her skill levels in the abilities she wanted to enhance.
Currently, Mu Yue planned to organize a large-scale training session focused on sealing techniques to improve her skills in that area.
To further refine the Yang Seal in a short period, she needed a higher level of proficiency in sealing techniques.
(End of Chapter)
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