Chapter 130: The Exam Approaches

As Iwagakure and Kumogakure declared war on Konoha, the war gradually approached, affecting the atmosphere among Konoha's shinobi to some extent.

Two weeks after the meeting, Muyue could hear teachers in the office discussing the topic of war as well.

Although it was content from the jōnin meeting, it was the kind of thing that couldn't be hidden even if they tried.

To wage a war, they would have to mobilize shinobi; how could that possibly be kept secret?

However, it hadn't affected Konoha's overall atmosphere yet.

Even though it was a shinobi village, Konoha had the most civilians—far more than shinobi—and even some ninja clans had members who never became shinobi.

"In my opinion, we should crush Iwagakure with overwhelming force, shock the shinobi world, and then join with Sunagakure to defeat Kumogakure."

"Why not join Sunagakure first to defeat Kumogakure, then go after Iwagakure together?"

"Are you stupid? Let Kumogakure wear down Sunagakure's strength first; then after we beat both Kumogakure and Iwagakure, we can take out Sunagakure on the side—maximize the gains."

Maybe chatting about politics was really enjoyable. Although the chūnin teachers in the office generally didn't have to go to the battlefield, they still discussed it with great enthusiasm, throwing out all kinds of wild ideas and presenting what they thought were brilliant strategies.

"You two, war is a cruel thing; it's not as simple as you imagine." Ueda Aya looked at Iketani Isamu and Kimura Sando, who were getting more and more outrageous, and spoke up.

"The Great Shinobi War may be brutal, but Konoha has always been the victor. I don't think this time will be any different." Kimura Sando replied, full of confidence in Konoha.

"That's right, under the Third Hokage's leadership, Kumogakure and Iwagakure are no match for us." Iketani Isamu nodded.

"Muyue, don't you think so?" Iketani Isamu looked at Muyue.

"Of course I believe the village will win in the end. But we teachers also need to do our part for the village—take a more serious attitude toward training its shinobi." Muyue said.

Konoha would indeed achieve final victory, even if it was besieged by all four great shinobi villages, even if it was a pyrrhic victory.

"See, we should have confidence in the village like Teacher Muyue." Iketani Isamu said.

"It's not that I lack confidence in the village; I just think you two underestimate war." Ueda Aya explained.

After organizing his things, Muyue quickly left the office, went home to cook, and then headed to the southern border forest.

The flames of war couldn't yet reach the ninja academy, nor could they reach someone like him who specialized in education.

Only when Konoha was truly on the verge of collapse would Muyue be sent to the battlefield.

When it came to that point, not even teachers—freshly graduated genin who had been picking up trash and weeding—would be spared; they'd have to go to war.

After arriving at the training spot, Muyue gave each of them an assessment.

Obito still maintained the lead; his Flame Breathing proficiency had reached thirty-five points. Shisui followed closely with thirty points, while Might Guy, who had been ahead for a while, now ranked last with Rock Breathing proficiency at twenty-five points.

Muyue was fairly satisfied with everyone's progress. Although Might Guy was a full ten points behind Obito, who was highest, that was due to multiple factors and couldn't be helped.

"You two can move on to the next stage of training." Muyue said to Shisui and Obito.

"The training from now on will be harder than before. Be mentally prepared."

"Just teach us quickly, Teacher Muyue. No matter how hard, we're not afraid." Obito chuckled, showing no fear.

There were still two weeks until the first practical exam of the semester. Obito wanted to deepen his study of Flame Breathing; he really wanted to achieve first place in his grade.

"Do you still remember the second step of training?" Muyue asked.

"It's assuming specific postures to assist in breathing technique training." Obito thought and replied.

"This time, the requirement is that you can freely control the air you inhale without needing specific postures, and that you can use ninjutsu while in the state of Flame Breathing." Muyue said.

On the surface, there are two goals, but without achieving the first, it's very hard to accomplish the second.

Why do some shinobi need hand seals, while others can do without them or use fewer?

If you think of ninjutsu as a math problem, forming hand seals is the process of solving it. Shinobi who don't use hand seals arrive directly at the answer, while those who use fewer are very familiar with the problem and need fewer steps.

Flame Breathing, on the other hand, is like adding an extra bonus question to the original problem; answer it correctly and you get extra points to boost power.

But using different ninjutsu while in Flame Breathing is like doing different bonus questions for different problems, so you must have absolute control over the air you inhale through Flame Breathing, so that no matter what the problem is, you can answer correctly.

In this stage, Muyue set the preliminary training for the two as performing various extreme sports using only breathing techniques without chakra.

Sometimes, pressure really can force something out of a person.

Even someone like Obito, with relatively thick nerves, would feel a bit panicked crawling on a cliff face without using chakra to cling, because the footholds were often less than half a foot long—just enough for the tips of their toes.

To complete various difficult extreme challenges without using chakra and various tools, Obito and Shisui could only rely on the power brought by the Breathing Method.

In this step, Shisui and Obito's progress was about the same; after Obito's proficiency reached forty-two, Shisui had just reached thirty-seven, and both completed the training in just one week.

Actually, in theory, not only the training of the second and fourth parts, the training of controlling Qi had been underway from the very beginning. From the moment Obito and the others gained the Qi sensation from the Breathing Method, every time they trained in the Breathing Method, they were familiarizing themselves with how to control Qi. The fourth part of the training served as the final summary.

After being able to freely control the inhaled Qi, it was time for formal jutsu training.

Obito primarily trained in jutsu, and jutsu training was very familiar to him. He originally thought the training would be very easy to complete, but the results turned out to be a bit harder than he expected.

The addition of nature transformation enhancements from the Fire Breathing increased the power of the jutsu, but also made it more difficult to control.

However, compared to previous training, Obito felt that this step was still somewhat easier, as it was only about strengthening control and getting used to the enhanced state.

Obito took five days to get used to using jutsu while in the Breathing Method state.

At this point, Obito's Breathing Method proficiency had reached forty-six.

Shisui was a bit faster than Obito in the jutsu step, getting used to it in three days. After five days, his proficiency reached forty-two, and Shisui was catching up vigorously.

Although Might Guy's training volume was considerable, due to the difficulty, at the same time, he only reached a proficiency of thirty-two.

On Saturday night, Obito, Shisui, and Might Guy exchanged some training progress. When Obito heard that Might Guy hadn't started extreme training yet, he instantly felt secure.

The exam was on Monday; this time, he would definitely take first place in his grade!