Chapter 280: Intelligence on Muyue

Ninja School Teacher: I Can Become Stronger by Teaching, Main Story Volume 198, Chapter: Intelligence. When Obito shouted "Start," Teacher Chen and Muyue did not act immediately, but stood watching each other.

Muyue appraised Teacher Chen, and the appraisal panel of Teacher Chen appeared in his mind.

【Name: Chen Long】

【Chakra:】

【Skills: Konoha-style Taijutsu, Konoha Ryujin, Fire Nature Chakra Transformation...】

Teacher Chen had various taijutsu at high proficiency, which Muyue had already expected, but when he saw two nature transformations nearing mastery level on Teacher Chen's skill list, he was a bit surprised. This meant Teacher Chen's ninjutsu was not inferior to that of an average jonin, and he even saw genjutsu listed among the skills.

"Although his skill set is quite comprehensive, when facing a truly strong opponent, he will still rely on taijutsu," Muyue thought to himself.

Since Teacher Chen already had the title of Konoha's Strongest in Taijutsu, he certainly could not be compared to an average jonin.

"As expected from a jonin-level duel, the aura from both sides feels so intense," Shiranui Genma said upon seeing this.

If this were a practical exam at the Ninja Academy, they would normally attack immediately to seize the initiative.

"After all, they don't know each other's intel, so they should be thinking about how to probe and gather more information," Ebisu speculated, pushing up his sunglasses with his middle finger.

Obito scratched his head and complained, "They just stood there for half a minute. How can you see so much into it?"

He thought it might be because both wanted the other to make the first move, hence that situation.

Obito guessed correctly: Teacher Chen indeed wanted Muyue to act first, after all, he was the senior.

Seeing that Muyue also remained still, he felt Muyue might have a special tactic, so Teacher Chen acted directly.

"Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique!"

Teacher Chen quickly formed hand seals, gathered chakra in his throat, performed Fire Nature Chakra Transformation, and spat out a straight line of flame.

The Dragon Fire Technique is a rather special ninjutsu among Fire Release. Most Fire Release techniques create a large area of flame to attack enemies, while the Dragon Fire Technique is a straight line of flame as thick as an arm.

This technique can also be guided with a wire to hit enemies more precisely, but since the battle had just started, such conditions were obviously not available, and Teacher Chen's main goal was to test Muyue's capabilities.

"Ah, it's actually a Fire Release ninjutsu? Isn't he the strongest in taijutsu?" Obito was dumbfounded seeing Teacher Chen's first attack being a ninjutsu.

He thought Teacher Chen should have used the Body Flicker Technique to close in and deliver a terrifying kick whose aftershock could topple trees.

"Although Teacher Chen's taijutsu is very strong, that doesn't mean his ninjutsu is weak. Our Konoha jonin generally have no weaknesses in ninjutsu, taijutsu, or genjutsu; it's just that one of them might be stronger. In a situation where you don't know the enemy's intel, ranged ninjutsu attacks are clearly more reliable," Ebisu analyzed.

Ebisu's well-reasoned and thorough analysis convinced Obito, who couldn't help but exclaim:

"So Ebisu, you have such insight into combat. Why is it that I rarely encounter you in grade-level practicals?"

Ebisu:...

Because he usually gets eliminated in the first round. It's not easy to encounter him among sixteen people, and there are only two exams per semester.

"Haha, that's how Ebisu is. He talks a good game, but when it comes to actual combat, he's totally useless," Shiranui Genma laughed heartily and patted Ebisu on the shoulder.

"Isn't it possible that it's not that I'm bad at practical combat, but that you guys are too strong?" Ebisu countered, locking Shiranui Genma's neck with his arm in a chokehold, speaking in a sinister tone.

The fact that he could enter the grade-level practical already showed his strength was above average in the grade; after all, each class could only send two students, and making it to the grade-level practical meant at least being top two in the class.

"Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique!"

Seeing Teacher Chen use a ninjutsu, Muyue immediately formed hand seals and used the exact same technique, spitting out a straight line of flame.

Muyue's proficiency in Dragon Fire Technique was not high; he had only practiced it once in class. However, under the enhancement of his perfect-level Fire Nature Chakra Transformation, the fire line he spat out was twice as thick as Teacher Chen's.

When the two fire lines collided, there was no doubt that Muyue's thicker fire line was superior, pushing back Teacher Chen's fire line and steadily pressing toward Teacher Chen.

Teacher Chen unhesitatingly cut off the chakra supply to the Dragon Fire Technique, then burst chakra from his feet and flickered away.

Boom!!

The thick fire line blasted a black crater into the spot where Teacher Chen had just been standing.

Teacher Chen was not too surprised in his heart; after all, this was a ninja who could play a role in a jinchuriki battle, so it was normal for him to have skill.

"Wind Release: Vacuum Bullet!"

Teacher Chen jumped onto a large tree, and from a high vantage point, used Vacuum Bullet like a machine gun, spitting out one transparent air bullet after another at Muyue.

This was quite a coincidence, because Muyue not only knew Vacuum Bullet, but it was also a high-level Wind Release that he could freely use in public.

"Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere!"

Mu Yue and Teacher Chen formed identical hand seals, gathered a large amount of chakra in their mouths, then spat out streaks of transparent air currents.

Mu Yue's Vacuum Sphere proficiency was also average, but he had just recently obtained a mastery-level Wind Release nature transformation, which gave him a huge boost to Wind Release.

Their transparent air currents didn't all collide because there were too many, but whenever they did collide, Mu Yue's side won.

Boom! Boom!

The ground next to Mu Yue was pitted with several small holes from the transparent air currents, while Teacher Chen's side was more brutal: many large trees were blown apart by the air currents, and cracks appeared on the ground. Due to the large amount of wood chips and dust caused by the attack, Teacher Chen inevitably became disheveled.

"Teacher Mu Yue's strength is truly unexpected. Using exactly the same ninjutsu twice, and both times Teacher Mu Yue's ninjutsu was stronger," Shiranui Genma said, his eyes fixed on the battlefield in admiration.

Using the same ninjutsu to clash is definitely the best way to judge the level of both sides — whoever is stronger wins.

Obito shut his mouth and said nothing. He wanted to tell Shiranui Genma that this wasn't a big deal — the ninjutsu Mu Yue used on missions were far stronger than these — but Mu Yue had told him not to talk about it, so Obito simply forced himself to keep quiet.

"In terms of ninjutsu, Teacher Mu Yue is indeed superior, but we still need to see Teacher Chen use taijutsu to judge who has a greater probability of winning," Ebisu said after thinking.

He didn't know what Mu Yue was best at, but there was no doubt that Teacher Chen's specialty was taijutsu.

"Such strong Wind Release, and it happens to be Fire Release and Wind Release as well. I'm completely outclassed in ninjutsu." After two consecutive probing attacks were thwarted, Teacher Chen decided to start using his best taijutsu for combat.

After all, it was in front of his disciples; it wouldn't do to keep getting humiliated.

"Your ninjutsu is pretty good, but be careful next — I'm going to use all my strength," Teacher Chen shouted to Mu Yue.

Having seen two of Mu Yue's ninjutsu, plus what was written on his Konoha registration, Teacher Chen judged that Mu Yue's overall strength far exceeded that of an ordinary jonin.

"Senior, don't worry. Though my taijutsu is not as skilled as yours, I do know a thing or two," Mu Yue said with a chuckle.

This time he wasn't being modest. If he didn't use the Mark or the Eight Gates, his taijutsu could only be considered a little knowledge in front of Teacher Chen.

As for using them? Mu Yue could only say that great force creates miracles, and absolute power can crush technique.

Teacher Chen exhaled, and his gaze became extremely sharp.

Mu Yue silently changed his breathing rhythm, switching from normal steady breathing to extremely concentrated breathing to enhance his physical abilities.

Teacher Chen gathered chakra in his lower body, burst into extreme speed, and charged toward Mu Yue. His speed was so fast that Ebisu felt Teacher Chen appeared in front of Mu Yue in the blink of an eye.

Mu Yue, not to be outdone, used multiple bursts of Shave to charge forward.

Seeing that the two were finally about to engage in a taijutsu battle, Might Guy put on a very serious expression and began to observe their fight.

"Leaf Great Whirlwind!"

Mu Yue poured power into his legs and then rapidly kicked out a whirlwind kick toward Teacher Chen.

Facing Mu Yue's rapid kicks, Teacher Chen looked at ease, easily parrying with his fists, and then rapidly delivered a three-combo spinning kick to counter.

"Leaf Gust!"

The spinning kick, carrying powerful leg strength, rapidly shot toward Mu Yue.

Mu Yue barely dodged the first two kicks, but had no way to avoid the last one, so he had to block it with his arms in front of him. Under the strong force, he was pushed back a full seven meters.

"His taijutsu is not bad either. Have I been away from village affairs too long? A young ninja this strong has appeared and I didn't even know." After repelling Mu Yue, Teacher Chen thought to himself.

Although not as good as his ninjutsu, Mu Yue's taijutsu was still decent in his eyes — good speed and power, and decisive in action.

"Indeed, once taijutsu was used, the situation changed instantly," Ebisu thought after seeing Teacher Chen repel Mu Yue.

After all, Teacher Chen was a ninja with the reputation of Konoha's strongest taijutsu.

"Even though he looks like a slacker uncle, Teacher Chen's taijutsu is truly impressive," Shiranui Genma realized the lesson of not judging by appearances.

Both he and Ebisu believed that the scales of victory had already tipped in Teacher Chen's favor.

Might Guy and Obito's trust in Mu Yue remained unchanged. Especially Might Guy — only he, who had also trained in both the Eight Gates and Rock Breathing, knew how terrifying Mu Yue's taijutsu could be.

That his taijutsu clash fell into a disadvantage was within Mu Yue's expectations. His taijutsu proficiency simply wasn't as good as Teacher Chen's, and his combat experience was far less. He just wanted to see how strong such high-level taijutsu was.

Having learned how skilled Teacher Chen's taijutsu was, Mu Yue silently changed his breathing again, entering the state of Rock Breathing Mark.

In his view, Teacher Chen's strength was still above that of Might Dai with Six Gates open. If he only used the Breathing Technique, then he would have to enter the Mark state.

After using the Mark, the chakra inside Mu Yue began to consume rapidly, and together with the extremely concentrated breathing, it enhanced Mu Yue's body in all aspects. Mu Yue could feel power surging continuously.

Such a drastic strengthening of the body could not happen without change; the aura around Mu Yue gradually rose and grew increasingly powerful—just her aura alone made the surrounding grass sway without any wind.

"Senior, your taijutsu is truly exquisite, but I also have some taijutsu techniques of decent power. Please be careful from now on." Mu Yue spoke up to warn him.

"Is this the Eight Gates? No, the aura isn't violent; it's actually very heavy and solid."

Having seen Might Guy use the Eight Gates, Teacher Chen now had a slight understanding of it. Seeing Mu Yue's aura suddenly grow stronger, he first thought of the Eight Gates, but quickly dismissed that idea.

Teacher Chen steadied his mind. No matter what ability Mu Yue used, it was her own skill—he only needed to bring out his own strength.

After opening the Mark, Mu Yue also activated the Transparent World, achieving extreme control over her own body. Under the enhancement of the Transparent World, Teacher Chen's body was completely seen through by Mu Yue.

Although Mu Yue's aura at this moment was very extraordinary, it only stirred Teacher Chen's desire to fight. It had been a long time since he had fought a strong opponent like Mu Yue.

Whoosh!

Teacher Chen flashed forward and kicked at Mu Yue with extreme speed.

Utterly serious, Teacher Chen was incredibly fast and appeared in front of Mu Yue almost instantly.

But Mu Yue had already activated the Transparent World; the moment Teacher Chen's muscles moved, Mu Yue saw through him, knowing what attack he would launch next.

The instant Teacher Chen acted, Mu Yue stepped back one pace, perfectly evading his attack.

"Hmm? Coincidence, or did she predict my movements?" Teacher Chen sensed something off and used Leaf Whirlwind again.

Mu Yue's figure flickered, and each time she perfectly dodged Teacher Chen's spinning kicks, all three consecutive kicks missing completely.

Once could be a coincidence, but dodging so many attacks could only be skill.

Teacher Chen was deeply surprised. He had never encountered a situation like this before, as if his mind had been read by Mu Yue, and all his attacks were predicted in advance.

After dodging the last spinning kick, Mu Yue moved again, raising her palm and swinging it lightly toward Teacher Chen, as if she was using almost no strength.

Teacher Chen burst out chakra and threw a punch to meet it. When his fist collided with her hand-sword, Teacher Chen's face changed drastically—the seemingly light hand-sword contained power that shocked him.

Bang!!

Under the terrifying force, Teacher Chen flew backward at high speed, crashing into three large trees before stopping.

"What kind of technique is this? I couldn't feel any power, yet it has such terrifying force." Teacher Chen's expression became more serious than ever. In his view, this was some advanced taijutsu skill he didn't understand.

The sudden change in the situation on the field surprised Shiranui Genma and Ebisu.

"Teacher Chen was actually sent flying! Just a moment ago, he was..." Shiranui Genma found this high-level ninja battle too hard to understand.

Both were close-quarters taijutsu clashes, but the two exchanges had completely different results—one gave Teacher Chen the advantage, the other gave Mu Yue the advantage.

"Mu Yue-sensei's taijutsu is actually this powerful." Seeing Teacher Chen at a disadvantage, Ebisu showed a shocked expression—this was Teacher Chen, who held the title of the strongest taijutsu user in the Leaf Village.

One more chapter; I should be able to finish it soon.