Chapter 2: The Advantage of an Orphan Start

【Reward obtained—Perception Ninjutsu.】

【First teaching session completed, reward obtained—Appraisal Technique.】

【First teaching session rated A completed, reward obtained—Fire Affinity Chakra Nature Transformation Mastery.】

Receiving three rewards at once gave Muyue a pleasant surprise; he felt a sudden influx of many memories in his mind, the most abundant being those of training in Fire Affinity Chakra Nature Transformation.

Those memories were so vivid that Muyue had the illusion he was an old ninja who had devoted his entire life to fire release techniques.

"Sensei Hasuki, may I ask you a question?" Shisui inquired respectfully.

Hearing Shisui's words, Muyue, who was about to take another look at his panel evaluation, stopped and led Shisui to the empty area behind the school building. He then used a perception ninjutsu to sense his surroundings—no particularly powerful chakra signatures.

Relieved, Muyue smiled and said, "Is it something from the class that you didn't understand? Go ahead and ask."

Shisui shook his head. "It's not about the lecture content. I have a doubt."

"You know, Sensei, the Senju and Uchiha clans founded Konoha together. So why does everyone now only remember the Senju and rarely mention the Uchiha's contributions?"

Though just a child, Shisui was exceptionally mature and sensitive. When going out with his elders, he could detect the strange looks passersby gave them upon seeing the crest on their backs.

Both clans were founders of the village, so why were the Uchiha's achievements not only unmentioned but seemingly resented by the villagers? Shisui couldn't understand.

Looking at the puzzled Shisui, Muyue inwardly complained, "What reputation does Hashirama Senju have in Konoha, and what reputation does Madara Uchiha have? Can those even be compared?"

"You've probably only read some clan-internal history, right?" Muyue asked.

Shisui nodded. For now, the only history he had access to was what the Uchiha provided.

"A lot of things happened that led to the current situation. It's hard to explain in a short time." Muyue's face took on a troubled expression.

Seeing Muyue's hesitation, Shisui felt a surge of guilt, realizing that the question was more complicated than he had imagined. He was about to say it was fine, but Muyue spoke again.

"Ah, whatever. If you have time after school, come find me, and I'll tell you about the history behind it." Muyue sighed.

"After all, I suppose I owe your Uchiha clan a debt of gratitude. Consider this repayment."

Shisui was puzzled. How could Muyue owe the Uchiha a favor? He asked directly.

"My parents were once surrounded by enemies in a battle and were rescued by a ninja named Kagami Uchiha. Though they ultimately died in a later war, I have always remembered this life-saving debt." Muyue fabricated with a grateful expression.

At this moment, he was glad that his original self had long been an orphan; otherwise, the room for improvisation would be much smaller.

He had to admit, sometimes the dead were more useful than the living.

Shisui's eyes widened with an expression of disbelief. Kagami Uchiha was his grandfather. He hadn't expected such a connection between himself and Muyue, and it gave him a very strange feeling.

However, Shisui was not the type to use a favor to demand repayment, so he didn't bring it up and simply thanked Muyue.

Before Shisui left, Muyue cast an Appraisal on him.

【Name: Shisui Uchiha】

【Chakra: 500】

【Potential: SS-】

【Evaluation: Six Paths bloodline, suited for training in Fire Release and Genjutsu, immense potential, recommended as apprentice.】

As Muyue walked back to the office, he marveled that this was indeed a monster capable of activating Susanoo with a single eye. Those two dazzling S-ranks were too brilliant—even the system recommended taking him on as an apprentice.

Muyue then opened his own panel to check if his evaluation had changed.

【Name: Hasuki Muyue】

【Age: 18】

【Chakra: 4300】

【Evaluation: Proficient in Fire Affinity Chakra Nature Transformation. The limit on your strength is your sparse chakra. If you could overcome this weakness, you would be considered an elite among jōnin.】

"It seems that Fire Affinity Nature Transformation Mastery is stronger than I imagined," Muyue said. He felt he might have underestimated the weight of the word 'mastery.'

He originally thought it was merely equivalent to a jōnin's level of nature transformation knowledge, but now, solely in terms of Fire Affinity Chakra Nature Transformation, he might already be on par with the Third Hokage.

After all, aside from two fire release techniques, he only knew the Body Flicker Technique, the Three Basic Techniques, and some ordinary taijutsu. With that level, after receiving the reward, simply increasing his chakra would bring him to the level of an elite jōnin.

An elite jōnin should be at least at the level of Kakashi or Asuma at the start of the story.

With his strength greatly increased, Muyue was initially very happy, but when he remembered that he still had the identity of a Root member, his mood soured.

First, the Root curse mark on his body made him feel unsafe; second, Danzo, that old bastard, loved to send his subordinates to their deaths, which made him feel even more insecure.

"I need to take on some disciples quickly and raise my strength as fast as possible—even if I can't reach the level to kill Danzo and leave gracefully, I still need the ability to protect myself." Muyue set himself a short-term mini-goal.

Muyue walked into the office and found three teachers already sitting there—two men and one woman—all complaining about their students to each other.

Muyue recognized all of them, because the teachers had arrived early and his original body had come to the school before, so he had met his colleagues.

Muyue casually used 【Appraisal】 on each of them.

【Name: Ikeya Isami】

【Chakra: 2000】

【Potential: C】

【Evaluation: Just another Chunin cannon fodder】

The data for all three teachers was similar, and the system appraised them all as cannon fodder.

"Ah, I'm really unlucky. How did Class 4-2 end up in my hands? I was already in charge of Class 3-1.

Let me teach them—how am I supposed to teach them? Both Might Guy and Uchiha Obito, the two biggest dead-lasts, are in Class 4-2." Ikeya Isami shrugged helplessly.

"My family also arranged a blind date for me, asking me to meet her tomorrow afternoon. But that afternoon happens to be when I have Class 4-2."

"Find a teacher who doesn't have class to cover for you, or just take a leave. The date is more important." Ueda Aya suggested.

At that moment, Ueda Aya noticed Muyue walking in and smiled in greeting: "Teacher Hanyu, how did your first class feel? Did the little trick I taught you earlier help?"

Muyue recalled that before, this warm-hearted female teacher had worried that he—being a new teacher—might be nervous for his first class, so she told him to silently chant 'carrots and cabbages' in his mind while teaching.

Muyue replied politely: "Thank you, that little trick worked quite well. But after class, the students all advised me not to be a picky eater."

"Haha, Teacher Hanyu, you're so funny." Ueda Aya laughed, feeling that since Muyue still had the mood to joke, he must have gotten through his first class comfortably.

"Teacher Ikeya, I have no class tomorrow afternoon. If you need, I can cover for you." Muyue placed his lesson plan on the desk and asked in an overly kind manner.

Unlike the other teachers, Muyue wished he could have full classes every day. Besides, Class 4-2 included Obito and Might Guy, so he definitely had to go take a look.

A delighted expression appeared on Ikeya Isami's face, and he quickly thanked Muyue, saying he would definitely treat him to a meal when he had the chance.

…

Inside the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, watched through his crystal ball as Muyue, with a serious expression, expounded the Will of Fire. Stroking his goatee, he felt this young Root member was pretty good—someone who understood the Will of Fire.

Danzo thought he was hiding it well, but in fact, the Third Hokage had already discovered that some of the ninjas trained by Root were not on Root's official roster.

However, the Third Hokage felt that Danzo was, after all, also training power for Konoha, so as long as he didn't go too far, it was acceptable.

But the Ninja Academy was something the Third Hokage took quite seriously, so he had specially come to observe in person. Surprisingly, this Root member's very first lesson was about the Will of Fire, instilling a sense of responsibility in the students—this made the Third Hokage very pleased.

"Let's see his future performance. If he turns out to be a talented person, I'll have him leave Root."

Muyue's current performance alone was not enough for the Third Hokage to request his transfer from Danzo.

Although in essence Danzo's people were also his, he still had to consider his old classmate's feelings.

Thinking this, the Third Hokage stopped the Telescope Technique and began processing documents, planning to inspect Konoha again in the evening.

…

After eating, Shisui began searching for Muyue's residence according to the location Muyue had given him.

Muyue's residence was in the southeastern part of Konoha, where buildings were relatively sparse—a remote area of Konoha, far from the main district.

Thanks to the sparse buildings, Shisui quickly found Muyue's home, a single-story wooden house set in a simple yard.

As soon as Shisui entered the yard, he saw a scene that made his jaw drop and his mind reel.