Chapter 145: Combat Training

【Disciple Uchiha Obito's Training Mission Setup】

【Training Mission: Defeat Kakashi】

【Reward: Depends on mission completion and strength increase during the mission】

Mu Yue nodded to himself. It really had to be Kakashi, single-handedly supporting Might Guy and Obito's training missions.

"First, master the Flame Breathing. In a few days, you'll fight with Shisui to get used to using breathing techniques in combat." Mu Yue laid out the next plan.

Obito nodded. Actually, he wanted to fight Might Guy more, because fighting Guy meant wins and losses were mutual—more dignified.

Against Shisui, Obito couldn't guarantee victory, especially now that Shisui had awakened his Sharingan.

In the evening, after Mu Yue had finished cooking, Minato walked into Mu Yue's house alone.

"Kushina didn't come today?" Mu Yue asked as he set the stir-fried dishes on the table.

Kushina and Minato weren't living together at the time; she just often spent the daytime at Minato's place.

"Kushina has a secret mission recently. She probably won't be able to come for a while." Minato explained with a smile.

"From now on, if you have any problems with sealing techniques, just ask me directly."

"I see. What a shame—I made braised pork with preserved mustard greens today." Mu Yue said regretfully.

"Mu Yue, can I pack some to take away? I have something urgent too and need to leave soon." Minato's face flushed slightly as he spoke, feeling a bit embarrassed to be taking leftovers after eating at someone else's place.

But he had no choice—he wanted to eat, but not to this extent. If he had time, he'd eat; if not, he'd skip it.

The real reason for packing food to take was Kushina. She said if Minato didn't bring her food, she'd knock out an Anbu, go to Mu Yue's for a meal, and then come back.

Minato had no choice. He believed Kushina was really capable of doing something like that.

Right now, Kushina was in a very dangerous period, and Minato didn't want anything to happen to her.

Because of changes in the ninja world situation, the Konoha higher-ups hoped that Kushina, as the new Nine-Tails jinchuriki, could become Konoha's trump card in the war, so they made her train to control the tailed beast.

But the strongest tailed beast, the Nine-Tails, wasn't so easy to control, especially since Kushina had only recently become a jinchuriki.

Using the Nine-Tails' power came with the risk of being influenced by it. Given the Nine-Tails' immense strength, if the jinchuriki went berserk, it would cause massive losses to Konoha. So Kushina was restricted in her movements, having to spend most of her time in a building with enhanced sealing effects.

Considering Kushina's own needs, the higher-ups sent people to create a huge sealing barrier centered on that building. The barrier's effect wasn't as strong as inside the building, but it still suppressed the Nine-Tails. As long as she didn't stay outside for too long, it would be fine.

"Take some away? No problem. I can't finish all this by myself anyway." Mu Yue smiled and nodded, then took two lunchboxes, filled them with food, and handed them to Minato.

"Maybe it's a bit much. Can you finish it, Minato?" Mu Yue asked.

"Thank you, Mu Yue. This delicious food—I can eat as much as I want, no problem." Minato replied with a smile.

Originally, he planned to bring the food to Kushina and just eat something simple himself, but since Mu Yue packed so much, he didn't have to go hungry. He just worried that in Mu Yue's eyes, his impression might turn into that of a big eater.

Watching Minato's disappearing figure, Mu Yue activated his Byakugan and observed the surroundings for a while. He didn't find the Anbu who were usually stationed there.

"One less camera pointed at Hiruzen Sarutobi." Mu Yue thought.

Back when Kushina used to come often, there were basically two Anbu watching this place every day.

Being watched by the Anbu wasn't a bad thing. Mu Yue had used those two cameras to do quite a bit.

For example, he displayed decent talent in sealing techniques, and on the day he was promoted to Tokubetsu Jonin, Mu Yue put on a delighted expression, acting as if he were extremely grateful for being valued when talking about the Third Hokage.

"Secret mission… Could it be that she's training to control the Nine-Tails?" Mu Yue speculated inwardly.

Knowing Kushina's identity as the Nine-Tails jinchuriki, Mu Yue certainly wouldn't think she'd gone on some dangerous S-rank secret mission.

During wartime, unless the war escalated to the point where a tailed beast was absolutely necessary, Kushina would be kept confined to the village. They wouldn't let her leave even if she wanted to.

Although Mu Yue hadn't been on the battlefield and didn't know the current situation, he was sure that Konoha, Iwagakure, and Kumogakure either hadn't officially started fighting or were just making probing attacks.

Because Minato was still in Konoha. If a real fight had broken out, how could Minato have the leisure to come ask him for takeout? He'd definitely have been sent to the battlefield.

Minato was a crucial point in the Third Great Ninja War. As long as Minato was still in Konoha and didn't seem busy, Mu Yue could gauge the general state of the war.

After making a simple guess, Mu Yue didn't continue to speculate randomly. Even without him, Kushina and Minato would survive the war and end up as winners. He didn't need to worry.

On the other hand, his disciples might end up worse one after another—Might Guy seeing his father open the Eighth Gate to save him, Obito first getting half his body crushed, then witnessing his best friend kill the person he loved.

…

A few days later, Shisui had also adapted to the training of Total Concentration Breathing. The next step was to deepen the content Muyue had taught earlier, and then he could begin to master Flame Breathing.

Muyue had Obito and Shisui spar against each other to get familiar with the Breathing Technique.

"Combat training is divided into three stages. In the first stage, use only the Breathing Technique, no chakra. In the second stage, use both the Breathing Technique and chakra, but no jutsu. In the third stage, all previous restrictions are lifted. Additionally, the Sharingan is forbidden in all stages," Muyue announced the upcoming combat training plan.

The dynamic vision of the Sharingan greatly enhances taijutsu; if it weren't banned, Obito wouldn't stand a chance at all.

"No chakra, huh? Then maybe I can win," Obito suddenly saw a glimmer of hope for victory.

When it came purely to training in the Breathing Technique, his progress was even slightly ahead of Shisui's.

"By 'no chakra' I mean the Breathing Technique doesn't use chakra. Shunpo, a taijutsu technique that requires chakra, is allowed," Muyue added.

The Breathing Technique adapted for a ninja body had two options: one could match chakra with the breath, or not use chakra at all.

Without chakra, many effects would be lost. For example, Rock Breathing's physical enhancement would be much weaker, Flame Breathing would lose its nature transformation acceleration, and, most importantly, the Mark state of all Breathing Techniques absolutely requires chakra; without chakra, it can't be activated.

After hearing this, Obito instantly felt his chances of victory go from very high to very low, because Shisui was better than him at training the Body Flicker.

Still, compared to Stage Three, he still had a big advantage in Stage One, because his jutsu wasn't as good as Shisui's.

"Does everyone understand the rules?" Muyue asked.

"Understood." Shisui and Obito both nodded and replied.

"Then prepare to fight. We'll start with Stage One for a week," Muyue said.

The two assumed fighting stances as instructed by Muyue, ready to battle.

"Begin!" Muyue shouted.

Both Shisui and Obito instantly entered the Breathing Technique state, inhaling large amounts of oxygen to strengthen their bodies.

But just as Obito was about to dash toward Shisui, he found that Shisui had already appeared right in front of him.

"So fast!" Obito was very surprised. They had both trained in Shunpo, but Shisui was much faster than him.

Fortunately, neither of them could use chakra to enhance the Breathing Technique or use jutsu. Even though Obito was a step slower, he was only at a slight disadvantage.

"Flame Breathing: Total Concentration Breathing," Obito tried to turn the tables, directly entering the Total Concentration Breathing state and greatly increasing his power.

Shisui didn't choose to confront him head-on; instead, he avoided the edge and used Shunpo to create distance from Obito.

The disadvantage was indeed gone, but because he couldn't catch up to Shisui, Obito couldn't gain an advantage. Instead, he consumed a lot of stamina due to Total Concentration Breathing.

In the end, Shisui seized an opportunity and defeated Obito in one go.

Slap!

"You've made the mistake I mentioned a few days ago again." Muyue tapped Obito's head with two fingers together and said.

"Don't use Total Concentration Breathing lightly," Muyue emphasized again.

Given Obito and Shisui's current stamina and chakra, Total Concentration Breathing was essentially their ultimate move. If they popped it right from the start, how could they continue to play mind games afterward?

"I thought that if I didn't use Total Concentration Breathing, I'd fall further and further behind, so I just used it." Obito scratched his head and explained his thought process during the fight.

"The greater the enemy's advantage, the easier it is for them to leave openings. You should use it when you're at a major disadvantage; that's when it's easier to turn the situation around," Muyue said.

"And you have to understand: Shisui is faster than you. If you casually enter Total Concentration Breathing, he'll definitely disengage and refuse to fight you directly."

He didn't mean to completely dismiss Obito's thinking. Sometimes in battle, you really can't afford to fall behind from the start, or else you'll immediately be caught in the opponent's offensive rhythm. What he wanted was for Obito to be flexible in judging which strategy to use in each fight.

"You know Shisui's information—don't waste that," Muyue stressed.

He didn't want Obito to end up learning a bunch of jutsu and secret techniques, only to have poor practical combat ability. Actual combat skill was extremely important.

"I understand!" Obito replied with an enlightened expression.

He carefully recalled the few times he had won against Might Guy; it seemed he had always used Might Guy's information, even if it was unconsciously.

After resting for a while, Shisui and Obito fought again.

This time, Obito followed Muyue's advice and didn't use Total Concentration Breathing too early. Although he still didn't win, he lasted longer than in the first fight.

He still lost the third time, but he lasted half a minute longer, and Obito felt himself improving.

By the end of the first day of combat training, Obito still hadn't won a single match. In the last round, Obito used Total Concentration Breathing quite well, and even though Shisui won, he felt a bit tired.

"Obito, sorry, I won't lose under Teacher Muyue's watch." Shisui thought silently, he wanted to respond to Muyue's expectations.

Kushina's restricted movement is the plot of Minato's Story. If you're interested, you can go check out Minato's Story. Although it portrays Kushina as somewhat fragile, overall it's okay.

Also, there's more later.