Chapter 26: What If Your Teacher is Too Rebellious? (Please Follow)

"You tell me to leave, then tell me to stop—makes it hard for me to handle." Mu Yue looked at Asuma with a half-smile.

"Can't you discuss it with me? How about we each give a little—I won't make such high demands, and you'll listen to me during class." Asuma tried to negotiate with Mu Yue.

It wasn't that he was unwilling to be taught; he was just a bit rebellious and didn't want to accept his old man's arrangements.

"No, no, no—it's not that your demands are too high, it's that I lack the ability to meet them. So I'd better just leave." After hearing Asuma's proposal, Mu Yue turned and started to walk away.

"Alright, fine—you don't have to listen to me. Just don't go yet." Seeing that Mu Yue was about to leave the backyard, Asuma quickly called out again. He truly had to hand it to Mu Yue.

"Then can we start the lesson now?" Mu Yue asked with a cheerful smile.

To deal with a rebellious student like Asuma, you had to be even more rebellious—beat magic with magic.

"Fine, whatever. What are you going to teach?" Asuma was out of ideas for the moment.

In his imagination, he would be the one to suggest quitting, then Mu Yue would negotiate with him, and he would hold the initiative.

Although he felt indifferent to his identity and even somewhat disliked it, he couldn't deny that being the son of the Hokage had given him many conveniences.

Mu Yue looked around and then said, "Let's train outside. It's not convenient here."

Mu Yue mentioned it to Biwa Lake and then took Asuma out for training, bringing him to a small forest with a river.

"First, let's test your chakra control—try tree climbing." Mu Yue found a relatively tall tree and said to Asuma.

"Tree climbing? That's easy—I'll show you." Asuma's eyes darted, he snickered, and thought of a good idea.

He walked to the sturdy tall tree and, without using chakra, climbed to the top like an agile monkey, using both hands and feet.

Asuma showed a smug expression and shouted, "See how fast I climbed that tree?"

Of course he knew what Mu Yue meant by tree climbing, but he simply didn't want to cooperate—on purpose.

Sarutobi Hiruzen, who was observing Mu Yue's teaching methods through a crystal ball, fell silent and rubbed his forehead in exasperation.

Though his old nickname was "Monkey," he had never done anything like this—what kind of son did he raise?

"Very fast climbing—good limb strength." Instead of getting angry as Asuma had fantasized, Mu Yue smiled and praised him.

Then Mu Yue found a relatively slender tree, cut off all its branches, poured oil over it, and smiled at Asuma, saying:

"That was just a warm-up. Now start the real tree climbing."

Asuma looked at the bare, thin tree like a stick, slick with oil, and couldn't help twitching his mouth. No matter how good a climber he was, he couldn't climb that tree with his bare hands.

"If you can't climb it, that's fine—admitting your own shortcomings is also a form of courage," Mu Yue said leisurely.

"Who says I can't climb? Don't underestimate me!" Asuma, a freshly graduated nine-year-old brat, couldn't stand being provoked. He gathered chakra on his feet and steadily walked step by step to the top of the tree.

"Your control is decent." Mu Yue nodded, not too surprised.

Then Mu Yue led Asuma to the riverbank.

"Since tree climbing is no problem, let's see if you can walk on water." Mu Yue pointed at the river and continued testing Asuma's chakra control.

After all, aside from a few exceptionally gifted people, ordinary people had only so much chakra—improving efficiency was a good way to increase strength.

"If you can stand steady on the water for ten minutes without falling in, then from now on you can train whatever you want." Mu Yue offered an incentive to motivate Asuma.

"You said it—no backing out." Asuma said with a delighted face. He was still thinking how to deal with this annoying teacher, but Mu Yue had handed him a loophole.

Water walking wasn't that hard for other freshly graduated genin, but for Asuma it was ordinary.

With a confident expression, Asuma gathered chakra on his soles, stepped onto the river, and strolled leisurely across it. The river wasn't big—only about twenty meters wide.

"That damn old man has too much control—he's already made me a ninja after graduation and still finds me a tutor." Asuma muttered to himself.

He was looking forward to going home and telling the Third Hokage that his tutor had agreed to let him train freely—just to see his face.

Suddenly, Asuma felt something was wrong. He looked down and saw that the previously calm river had become turbulent.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"

Asuma looked again and saw that Mu Yue was performing a water release ninjutsu on the shore, creating a water dragon that dove and tumbled back and forth in the river, making the water surge.

"Hey, what are you doing?" A splash rose, and Asuma nearly lost control and fell into the water. He couldn't help complaining.

"Helping you simulate a combat scene. In battle, the river won't be as calm as usual." Mu Yue said with a smile.

"By the way, I'll practice Water Release myself too. With a river and trees here, it's the perfect environment for training Water Release."

"Of course, if you think you can't handle it, Asuma, I can stop. After all, recognizing one's own shortcomings is a sign of wisdom as well." Mu Yue used the same trick again.

Asuma swallowed the words he was about to say.

He simply wanted to prove that he was capable, that he didn't need a tutor or the Third Hokage's arrangements — there was no way he would admit he wasn't.

So Asuma focused all his attention on manipulating his chakra, to keep from falling into the water.

But chakra control isn't something that can be improved instantly, and the sudden waves also tested his footwork.

Asuma struggled to hold on for five minutes, but eventually he couldn't help falling into the water, and Mu Yue fished him out in an instant.

"It seems your chakra control still needs improvement. We can't start free training yet." Mu Yue said with a look of regret.

"If you hadn't been using Water Release to interfere, how could I have fallen in?" Asuma retorted somewhat defiantly.

"Do you expect your enemies not to use ninjutsu against you in a real fight?" Mu Yue said calmly.

"No, I'm doing it again!" Asuma grew more frustrated and decided to prove himself.

As it turned out, getting anxious doesn't always solve a math problem, but in combat it might actually make you rise to the occasion — this time Asuma lasted seven minutes, just three minutes short of completing the ten-minute goal.

After resting a bit, Asuma couldn't wait to call for Mu Yue to go again. On the third try, he lasted seven and a half minutes.

In the end, just as the sun was about to set, Asuma successfully lasted ten minutes.

"I made it!" Asuma shouted excitedly, and then he lost control of his chakra, fell into the water, and swallowed a big mouthful of river water.

When Mu Yue pulled Asuma out, Asuma still had an excited look on his face.

"From now on, I'll practice whatever I want, whenever I want." Asuma wiped the water off his face and said happily.

"Who told you that?" Mu Yue looked at Asuma with a strange expression.

The smile on Asuma's face froze, and he demanded, "Didn't you say yourself that if I lasted ten minutes, I could train freely?"

"That's right." Mu Yue nodded, then said, "But I said 'this time' — meaning the first time you tried. You didn't succeed on your first try, did you?"

Asuma thought back; it really seemed to be true!

Then what had he worked so hard to endure for?

With physical fatigue and a psychological blow, Asuma nearly rolled his eyes and passed out.

Knocked out by his rebellious teacher.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had been occasionally peeping, also stroked his beard, feeling that Mu Yue's teaching ability was indeed formidable.

In that afternoon's training, Asuma's footwork and chakra control had both been exercised.

"Tomorrow I definitely have to fight back!" Asuma vowed silently; today he felt he had been toyed with all afternoon.