Ninja School Teacher, I Can Become Stronger by Teaching - Chapter 130

su”Show me a chakra nature transformation in the state of Flame Breathing, and use a bit more chakra,” Mokutsuki suggested after thinking for a moment.

Obito nodded, adjusted his breathing technique to enter the state of Flame Breathing, inhaled a large amount of oxygen, and gathered a substantial amount of chakra in his throat. He then rapidly exhaled a large burst of flames.

The fire spewed out wildly, uncontrollably spreading in all directions. To prevent the flames from igniting the forest, Mokutsuki used a water-release jutsu to block them.

Shisui watched silently. Knowing Obito well, he could clearly sense the progress in Obito’s chakra nature transformation. Such rapid advancement would naturally lead to uncontrolled fire, and if Mokutsuki hadn’t intervened in time, Obito might have burned himself.

“Teacher Mokutsuki, eating spicy food really does increase the speed of training,” Obito said excitedly, despite being soaked in the water. He attributed his sudden progress to Mokutsuki’s cooking, believing it was the only unusual factor in his otherwise routine day.

“What did you do after training yesterday?” Mokutsuki asked, not convinced that the food alone was responsible. If the food had such a dramatic effect, the progress would have been noticeable immediately, not delayed until Obito returned home.

“Nothing special. I just went home and trained for a bit, and then I saw progress,” Obito replied after thinking.

“Be more specific,” Mokutsuki urged.

“Well, on my way home, Rin encouraged me, and we made plans…”

“Skip that part.”

“After we parted ways, I helped an old lady who had fallen and took her to the hospital…” Obito recounted various small events on his way home, mostly involving helping older adults.

“Then I trained for a bit and suddenly felt my body heat up, and now I’m at this point,” Obito concluded.

“I see. It seems your actions and mindset have aligned with the characteristics of Flame Breathing,” Mokutsuki realized. Obito’s passionate and cheerful nature, always eager to help those in need, made his inner flame burn brighter, resonating with the essence of Flame Breathing.

“Shisui, you should eat some spicy food, too. Your breathing technique might improve as quickly as mine,” Obito said, sharing his experience with Shisui.

“Is it really because of the spicy food?” Shisui felt skeptical, not doubting Obito’s sincerity but questioning the correlation.

“Enough chatting, let’s eat,” Mokutsuki said, handing them their lunch boxes.

While the food alone might not cause a sudden leap in progress, it certainly wouldn’t hurt to continue eating it.

Shisui opened his lunch box, finding several neatly arranged large chili peppers stuffed with meat. The meat was also mixed with finely chopped chili peppers, making it even spicier. Despite the intense heat, the flavor was exceptional.

After delivering the meals, Mokutsuki went to bring lunch to Guy. His meal consisted of potato stew with beef. Mokutsuki used his appraisal jutsu on Guy and saw his proficiency had increased by one point to twenty.

“It seems he’s not stuck; it’s just that the progress is slow due to the difficulty,” Mokutsuki thought. Judging by the current pace, Mokutsuki felt confident about Obito’s training mission. Unless Guy had another epiphany leading to a significant jump in proficiency, Obito’s Flame Breathing proficiency would be considerably higher in a month, giving him an edge in practical skills.

After the afternoon training session, Mokutsuki had Shisui and Obito go home together. Shisui’s Flame Breathing proficiency had increased from fifteen to sixteen, indicating steady progress. However, Mokutsuki hoped that Shisui could learn something from Obito to speed up his progress. If not, Shisui was diligent enough to make steady progress on his own.

“Although you’re doing well overall, there are things you can learn from Obito,” Mokutsuki told Shisui, hoping Shisui would become more cheerful and optimistic. In the original storyline, Shisui had limited screen time, mostly appearing in flashbacks. But Mokutsuki believed that Shisui must have had some mental health issues to take his own life and give his eye to a friend.

The ninja world was entire of troubled individuals, but Mokutsuki didn’t want his disciple to become one of them.

Shisui nodded thoughtfully, preparing to observe Obito on the way home. Given Obito’s faster progress in the breathing technique, there must be something he was doing better.

And so, Shisui began his journey of observing Obito.

“Rin, did my shadow clone do anything strange at school?” Obito asked.

“No, it behaved just like you usually do,” Rin replied with a smile.

“That’s good. I was worried the clone might ruin my reputation at the ninja school.”

Shisui watched this exchange, noting that Obito seemed to enjoy talking to Rin. Obito should have known better than anyone whether his clone had misbehaved, yet he still asked, indicating he simply wanted to talk to Rin.

Today, they didn’t encounter any elderly needing help, so the two returned home smoothly.

The next day, Shisui and Obito met up to train in the Southern Forest. On the way, Obito helped an old lady, and Shisui noticed that Obito smiled after assisting her.

Once they reached the forest, Shisui focused on his training, resuming his observations in the afternoon on their way home. This time, their journey was more challenging. They met an older man carrying a large sack, visiting Konoha to see his daughter. The older man was from a nearby village, and with a bountiful harvest, he wanted to share it with his daughter’s family.

While the sack wasn’t heavy for Ninja, finding the daughter’s new address after learning she had moved took time, and by the time they located her, it was already dark.

Shisui realized why Obito’s arrival time at the Southern Forest was inconsistent. Frequent occurrences like this made it difficult to be punctual.

“Thank you so much. These aren’t valuable, but please take some,” the elderly man gratefully offered them a share of his harvest.

“No need, Grandpa. Even without us, you would have found them eventually,” Obito replied with a goofy smile, waving off the offer.

Declining the reward, Obito and Shisui returned to the Uchiha clan’s territory and went their separate ways. Lying in bed, Shisui reflected on the past two days of observing Obito. After careful observation, Shisui truly felt that Obito was a unique Uchiha, different from any other he had encountered.

Most of the time, Obito seemed careless despite being excellent among his peers. He often stumbled or bumped into things. Additionally, Obito rarely controlled his emotions, wearing them openly. However, when it came to noticing those in need, Obito’s observational skills were sharp, spotting things Shisui missed.

After three days of observation, Shisui approached Mokutsuki.

“Teacher, if Obito’s progress in the breathing technique is due to his warm-hearted nature, I can’t learn that. I can’t genuinely seek out strangers to help as he does,” Shisui admitted.

While Shisui didn’t mind helping others, he couldn’t do it to the extent Obito did.

Hearing Shisui’s words, Mokutsuki smiled, ruffling Shisui’s hair. “You can learn from Obito without mimicking him. You might be kinder than you think.”

Mokutsuki didn’t know precisely what Obito and Shisui had been doing, but he could see that Shisui’s progress in Flame Breathing, though slower than Obito’s, wasn’t bad.

…

On Monday afternoon, Mokutsuki received another notice for a Jonin meeting. Since he was already at the ninja school, he went alone this time.

Minato and Kushina had arrived a bit earlier, already in the meeting room when Mokutsuki entered. He greeted them warmly.

“It’s only been a few days, and we’re having another meeting,” Kushina remarked with exasperation.

Mokutsuki smiled but didn’t join in the complaints. There were too many people around, and some things shouldn’t be said lightly. Kushina’s special status allowed her more leeway, but he had to be cautious.

Having introduced himself to some Jonin at the last meeting, Mokutsuki continued to familiarize himself with others, engaging in brief conversations.

Once everyone arrived, the Third Hokage began explaining the reason for this urgent meeting.

“The Hidden Cloud Village of the Land of Lightning has declared war on us,” Hiruzen Sarutobi announced solemnly.

“The Hidden Cloud? Aren’t they currently at war with the Hidden Sand Village in the Land of Wind?” a Jonin exclaimed in surprise.

Even though the Third Kazekage had disappeared, the Hidden Sand Village still had significant strength. The Hidden Cloud Village couldn’t possibly defeat them quickly. Declaring war on the Hidden Leaf at this moment implied they planned to fight on two fronts against both the Hidden Leaf and the Hidden Sand.

“Those damn Hidden Cloud brutes! They really are a menace!” Kushina cursed without restraint.

The news didn’t surprise Mokutsuki. After all, the Hidden Leaf would eventually face assaults from four of the five great ninja villages. This was merely the second declaration of war, and the real battles hadn’t even started yet.

Mokutsuki had a good idea of the Hidden Cloud’s intentions. Even before the Third Kazekage’s disappearance, there had been significant friction between the Hidden Cloud and the Hidden Leaf, indicating the Hidden Cloud’s ambitions.

The Hidden Cloud had probably attacked the leaderless Hidden Sand Village first.

Because the situation there was too advantageous to pass up. If the Hidden Stone Village hadn’t declared war on the Hidden Leaf, the Hidden Cloud might not have declared war yet, given their current engagement with the Hidden Sand.

But with the Hidden Stone’s declaration, things changed. The Hidden Leaf had to defend against both the Hidden Stone and the Hidden Cloud, stretching its resources. The Third Raikage likely believed that the Hidden Cloud could manage the dual-front war better than the Hidden Leaf.

Mokutsuki figured the Third Raikage planned to drain the Hidden Leaf’s strength while battling the Hidden Sand, then crush the Hidden Sand completely before turning their full attention to the Hidden Leaf and eventually taking down the Hidden Stone as well.

It was an ambitious plan, but it overestimated the Hidden Cloud’s capabilities and underestimated both the Hidden Leaf’s strength and the Hidden Stone’s ambitions. The later stages of the Third Great Ninja War would show that Onoki, the leader of the Hidden Stone, had significant ambitions and wouldn’t easily be outmaneuvered.

“We should send spies to disrupt their war efforts with the Hidden Sand,” Danzo suggested.

If the Hidden Sand could hold off enough Hidden Cloud ninjas, the Hidden Leaf wouldn’t have to worry as much about fighting on two fronts.

Nara Shikaku, deep in thought, knew that the Hidden Cloud had more accessible routes to invade the Hidden Leaf: through the northeastern Land of Hot Water or directly north through the Land of Fields. Both had weak defenses, with the Land of Fields lacking an entire ninja village.

This meant the Hidden Leaf had to defend a vast border, covering both the Land of Hot Water and the Land of Fields.

“We need to prevent the Hidden Cloud from defeating the Hidden Sand and strengthen our border defenses,” Shikaku said, agreeing with Danzo’s assessment. The Hidden Cloud couldn’t be allowed to focus all its forces on the Hidden Leaf.

Mokutsuki could sense that the atmosphere in this meeting was heavier than the last. Many Jonin looked serious and concerned.

“With the Hidden Sand and the Hidden Cloud already at war and the Hidden Stone soon to engage us, it seems the Third Great Ninja War is inevitable,” Minato said worriedly after the meeting. Despite his extensive mission experience, he had never experienced a ninja war. When the Second Great Ninja War ended, he was still in the academy.

Even from reading about it, Minato could feel the brutality of the ninja wars—massive casualties and even the possibility of Kage-level leaders dying in battle.

With her special status, Kushina would inevitably be on the front lines, and Minato was particularly worried about that.

“Those damn Hidden Cloud bastards just want to see the world burn!” Kushina fumed, her face darkening. Her anger stemmed not from fear of the battlefield but from memories of her war-ravaged homeland.

Kushina despised war, having witnessed her country and village’s destruction firsthand during times of conflict. The memory remained vivid.

“Obito’s training mission, the students’ exam rewards, the overall progress of Class 1-A…” Mokutsuki mentally listed the rewards close to him.

With the war drawing nearer, Mokutsuki knew his current strength wasn’t enough to ensure his survival in the chaos.

(End of Chapter)

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