https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-598-Wind-Dragon-Pierces-Dark-Clouds/12558881/
Chapter 597: Finally Meeting the Ninja Master
Chapter 597: Finally Meeting the Ninja Master
Rain Country, Rikudou City.
Although Lao Zi had been in Rain Country before the promotion of his lecture, he had been traveling, so he didn't arrive particularly early.
Lao Zi entered Rikudou City the day before the unlimited lecture was to begin.
"Aside from here, such a scene probably wouldn't be seen anywhere else," Lao Zi remarked as he scanned the city's scenery.
As the lecture was about to commence, most of the ninjas who wanted to attend had already arrived in Rikudou City.
Ninjas wearing various forehead protectors could be seen all over the city streets.
With just a casual glance, Lao Zi spotted several ninjas from different ninja villages.
However, what made Lao Zi marvel wasn't the number of ninjas currently in Rikudou City, but the atmosphere.
Despite the presence of ninjas from various villages, they all maintained a sense of restraint, and there was rarely any trouble. The usual tense atmosphere was absent.
This was quite a rare sight, especially given the current tumultuous state of the Ninja World.
Lao Zi hadn't booked a hotel in advance and instead decided to wander around the city.
On his journey from the northern part of Rain Country to the Ninja Sect, Lao Zi had slept outdoors on multiple occasions, and he didn't mind doing so again. If he couldn't find a place to stay, he could simply find a tree to rest under.
Rikudou City was more prosperous than Lao Zi had imagined.
Since it was a newly established town, he had expected it to be a large village, but it turned out to be more prosperous than some of the towns he had passed through in Rain Country.
"Some of the buildings here look similar to the ones in the village," Lao Zi noted, spotting several structures that resembled the style of Iwagakure.
This observation left him with a strange feeling, as if Iwagakure was catching up to him.
Lao Zi shook his head to clear his mind of these odd thoughts and continued his stroll through the city.
Along the way, he encountered numerous Iwagakure ninjas, some of whom he recognized, like Oonoki's son, Kitsuchi.
Despite coming face-to-face with ninjas from his former village, Lao Zi maintained a calm demeanor, giving nothing away.
"It seems the village and the Ninja Sect are working closely together, even Kitsuchi is here," Lao Zi thought to himself.
As he wandered, he noticed that the number of ninjas from the five great ninja villages was actually quite small; most of the attendees were from smaller ninja villages or non-ninja villages.
He barely saw any Konohagakure ninjas, and there wasn't a single Kirigakure or Kumogakure ninja in sight.
On the other hand, there were many Iwagakure ninjas; in fact, Lao Zi felt that the number of Iwagakure ninjas in the city might even surpass that of the Ninja Sect's ninjas.
Additionally, there were quite a few Sunagakure ninjas. Just from his casual observations, Lao Zi had spotted several Sunagakure ninja squads, making them the second most represented of the five great ninja villages.
"In that case, Sou Yuusuke has unintentionally done me a favor," Lao Zi realized. While in Rikudou City, he didn't have to worry about being pursued by Iwagakure.
With so many different factions present in the city, any incident would quickly spread throughout the Ninja World. Iwagakure wouldn't dare make a move unless they were absolutely certain they could take him.
After a simple lunch at a random restaurant, Lao Zi continued his exploration of the city.
"Isn't that the leader of Amegakure, Hanzou? I didn't expect him to come and listen to Sou Yuusuke's lecture as well," a ninja whispered.
Curious, Lao Zi turned and scanned the surrounding area, soon spotting Hanzou, surrounded by many Amegakure ninjas.
Hanzou, known as a demi-god in the Ninja World, was a legendary ninja whose stories Lao Zi had heard before.
For example, there was the tale of how his suiton was defeated by Sou Yuusuke's katon.
"Our leader, Hanzou, was invited by the Ninja Sect," one of the Amegakure ninjas on the street corrected the whispering ninja.
"As expected of Hanzou, the demi-god. This honor doesn't seem to have been given to any other ninja," the whispering ninja quickly changed his tune.
"Yes, I've never heard of Sou Yuusuke inviting anyone personally," another nearby ninja chimed in.
Hanzou, at the center of the Amegakure group, gave a slight nod. This was the effect he wanted.
As the mighty demi-god, he expected nothing less than a personal invitation from Sou Yuusuke himself.
After Hanzou and the Amegakure ninjas left the street, the other ninjas resumed their discussion.
"As expected, it's easier to negotiate when a country is involved. Despite the previous conflicts, it seems like they've completely reconciled now," remarked a ninja wearing the forehead protector of Kusagakure.
Sou Yuusuke's rise to fame in the Ninja World was largely due to his defeat of Hanzou, so many ninjas were aware of the love-hate relationship between the Ninja Sect and Amegakure.
Amegakure had lured Sou Yuusuke into a trap under the guise of cooperation, leading to the famous battle between him and Hanzou, and ultimately, to Sou Yuusuke's renown throughout the Ninja World.
"It would be great if Hanzo challenged Sou Yuusuke like Fuu did. I really want to witness the mighty Fire Dragon Bullet Technique in its prime."
The topic quickly shifted from the relationship between the Ninja Sect and Amegakure to Hanzo and Sou Yuusuke's strengths.
"That's unlikely. Fuu challenged Sou Yuusuke because he hadn't fought him before. Why would Hanzo challenge someone he knows he can't beat?"
"That's not necessarily true. Now that they're cooperating, if Hanzo really wanted to challenge him, Sou Yuusuke wouldn't make Hanzo lose face, he'd probably throw the fight to end in a draw."
A shadow clone of Hanzo, disguised as an ordinary ninja nearby, grew increasingly annoyed.
So now, even if he defeated Sou Yuusuke, others would think it was because Sou Yuusuke let him win?
Also, why did they always bring up the Fire Dragon Bullet Technique? Were there no other fire-style jutsu in the Ninja World?
If he could live his life again, Hanzo would go back and slash Danzo Shimura to death.
This so-called cooperation only damaged Amegakure and embarrassed him, Hanzo, while Danzo Shimura only lost a few Konoha ninjas.
Although he was displeased, Hanzo had no interest in causing trouble for these ordinary ninjas, so he dismissed the shadow clone after a quick inspection.
As the memory from the shadow clone flowed back, Hanzo's face darkened for a moment before he quickly resumed his usual indifferent expression.
Mu Yue was slightly taken aback, unsure why Hanzo had suddenly decided to display his mood-changing skills.
"Sou Yuusuke, don't blame me for not reminding you. Although I accepted your invitation, if you suddenly ask me to cooperate with you during your lecture, I may not agree." Hanzo said expressionlessly.
Hanzo truly had no intention of challenging Sou Yuusuke, not because he couldn't win, but because it held no meaning.
Although he himself had no such plans, Hanzo felt that Sou Yuusuke might want to use him as a teaching example.
During the previous unlimited lecture, Sou Yuusuke had specifically asked him to use Water Style to put out a fire, and Hanzo suspected that this time, Sou Yuusuke might ask him to fight on stage.
To avoid becoming a teaching aid, Hanzo chose to express his stance beforehand.
"Of course, that's fine." Mu Yue smiled faintly and nodded.
He couldn't be a hundred percent sure of Hanzo's thoughts, but he could guess some of them.
Mu Yue had considered using Hanzo as a teaching example, but not by defeating him in combat, as that would be a bit too harsh on Hanzo.
Hanzo nodded indifferently, feeling much more relieved.
If he were truly defeated by Sou Yuusuke a second time in front of thousands of ninjas, he would become forever known as Sou Yuusuke's teaching aid.
Then, Hanzo quickly left the Ninja Sect's reception hall and returned to the residence arranged for him by the Ninja Sect.
Just thinking about how others believed that even if he won, it would be because Sou Yuusuke let him win, made Hanzo feel uncomfortable sitting next to Sou Yuusuke.
He had only lost to Sou Yuusuke once, why would they think he definitely couldn't win?
On the other hand, after seeing Hanzo out, Mu Yue began reviewing his lesson plan.
With an even larger number of ninjas in attendance than the previous lecture, he had to ensure the quality of his teaching to achieve an S-rank rating.
After finishing his review, Mu Yue cast his Byakugan over the entire Rikudou City.
With so many ninjas present, it would be difficult for the Ninja Sect's ninjas to ensure that nothing went wrong.
"Hmm?" Mu Yue sensed a few familiar chakra signatures that shouldn't be in Rikudou City.
As those chakra signatures were within the range of his Byakugan, Mu Yue activated it and identified them one by one.
Name: Hiruzen Sarutobi
Chakra: 8300
Skills: Water Chakra Nature Transformation (Proficient)...
Name: Asuma Sarutobi
Chakra: 7600
Skills: Fire Chakra Nature Transformation (Proficient)...
"It really is those Root ninjas." Mu Yue confirmed his suspicions after checking the information from his Identification Technique.
The Identification Technique provided the most accurate information, and even the best disguising ability of the White Zetsu couldn't fool it.
"Is Danzo Shimura planning to make a move against the Ninja Sect?" Mu Yue frowned in thought.
He knew Danzo Shimura too well, and he was most likely after the so-called Ninja Sect inheritance and Nagato's Rinnegan.
"I wonder what he's planning this time?" Mu Yue couldn't immediately think of how Danzo Shimura would try to achieve his goals.
The power of Root was only useful for intelligence work; trying to forcibly take something from the Ninja Sect was almost impossible, even if Danzo Shimura led the mission himself.
"They wouldn't be asking me to take action, would they?" Mu Yue thought to himself, considering his identity as a Root ninja.
It would be quite a spectacle to have a representative of the young Konoha ninjas attack a relatively strong neutral ninja organization, but if the one giving the orders was Danzo Shimura, Mu Yue felt it made sense.
After all, Danzo's schemes were beyond the comprehension of ordinary individuals.
"Or perhaps he'll continue to use the Rain Ninja Village," Mu Yue racked his brains, trying to put himself in Danzo's shoes and understand his thought process.
Essentially, Danzo had two choices: to directly use Konoha's power or to collaborate with other ninja forces that also intended to move against the Ninja Sect.
From Danzo's perspective, the Rain Ninja Village would be an ideal choice. Firstly, they had a history of joining forces to deal with the Ninja Sect, and secondly, there was an irreconcilable conflict between the Rain Ninja Village and the Ninja Sect.
Furthermore, a weakened Rain Ninja Village after the battle would better serve Konoha's interests.
"There's also a good chance he'll collaborate with Sunagakure."
As the Rain Country bordered the Wind Country, Sunagakure would surely not want their former subordinate, now a potential threat, to gain power.
Additionally, Sunagakure was the only major ninja village that had not declared war on Konoha, and Mu Yue believed there was a high probability of Danzo forming an alliance with them.
After reminding the ninjas responsible for the ninja residence's surveillance, Mu Yue turned his attention elsewhere.
Capturing those Root ninjas would be pointless, as Danzo Shimura had employed all sorts of means to ensure their loyalty and protect his secrets. Even using the secret techniques of the Yamanaka clan would not yield any information from their brains.
Rather than stirring up a hornet's nest, it was better to pretend ignorance and, at a critical moment, exploit this information gap to feed them false intelligence.
...
The next day, the second unlimited lecture commenced on time.
Although the Ninja Sect now had its own town, Mu Yue did not plan to hold these lectures frequently, and with the town's ongoing expansion, he did not build a dedicated lecture hall.
Like the first lecture, Mu Yue chose a random training ground, set up a lectern, and nothing else.
However, the sparse lecture environment did not dampen the enthusiasm of the ninjas who had come to listen.
For example, Lao Zi, who had thought that arriving thirty minutes early would be sufficient, was surprised to find that when he reached the venue, the area around the lectern was already packed with people.
Lao Zi looked at the sea of people and felt like a large army had assembled.
"They must have arrived really early," Lao Zi muttered to himself, feeling a bit helpless.
"It shows that this Sou Yuusuke is truly skilled. Otherwise, he wouldn't have gained such support," Four-Tails commented.
Not only Lao Zi but also Four-Tails was now curious about Sou Yuusuke.
After all, Sou Yuusuke had not only established a ninja organization called the Ninja Sect but also had a disciple with the Rinnegan.
Four-Tails couldn't shake the feeling that Sou Yuusuke might have some connection to the Sage of Six Paths.
"We'll find out soon enough," Lao Zi scanned the area, unable to spot Sou Yuusuke, and then retracted his gaze.
Having traveled from the northern part of the Rain Country to this place, Lao Zi had already gained quite a few unexpected insights, making his journey worthwhile.
However, his driving curiosity remained with the man named Sou Yuusuke, and he would feel a bit disappointed if Sou Yuusuke turned out to be all talk and no substance.
Just ten minutes before the lecture was about to start, Mu Yue arrived.
"Teacher Sou," the ninjas who had attended Mu Yue's previous lecture bowed and greeted him.
"Morning," Mu Yue responded with a slight smile and a wave.
Immediately, the crowd parted, creating a path for Mu Yue to reach the lectern.
Lao Zi's position would have allowed him to see Sou Yuusuke's appearance, but his height was a bit of a hindrance, and even when he stood on his toes, he couldn't get a clear view.
Lao Zi had no choice but to gather chakra and raise the earth beneath his feet, finally catching a glimpse of Sou Yuusuke.
PS: Here's the first chapter, about 4k words.
I'll write and send the next one tomorrow during my lunch break or in the afternoon.
I can't afford to sleep too late tonight.
Also, I'm seeking monthly votes. We're just 2,350 votes away from reaching a monthly average of 20,000.
This may be Little Orange's only chance in this lifetime to achieve a 20,000 monthly average for Naruto. Your support is greatly appreciated!
(End of Chapter)
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