Chapter 333: War

"Why is it that both of us lost in the first round, but Shio became a Chunin and Ryoku didn't." During special training, Inuzuka Ryoku noticed the Chunin vest on Nara Shio.

"There are a few reasons from various aspects." Nara Shio thought for a moment and said tactfully.

He couldn't exactly say that Inuzuka Ryoku wasn't particularly outstanding in strength and hadn't shown combat intelligence either.

Actually, Nara Shio felt that he himself had become a Chunin with a bit of luck.

The difficulty of this Chunin Exam was far greater than before—candidates like Obito and Kisame, who fell in the top four, would have crushed everyone in an ordinary Chunin Exam.

If Nara Shio had faced any of the top four contestants, Nara Shio felt he might not have been able to become a Chunin.

Because in front of them, Nara Shio's strength was too weak; when the gap in power is too large, no amount of combat intelligence helps—they could just kick or stab him instantly, and after all, during the Chunin Exam he couldn't set up traps in advance.

"In a few months, Ryoku will definitely become a Chunin too; special training has made Ryoku stronger." Inuzuka Ryoku looked at her other teammate, Aburame Naoya, hoping Aburame Naoya would work hard with her to prepare for the next Chunin Exam.

The Chunin Exam is held twice a year—of course, the next Chunin Exam won't be jointly hosted by two villages, and officials and wealthy merchants won't be invited either.

Aburame Naoya's expression didn't change, he just nodded calmly.

Inuzuka Ryoku showed a sly grin; Aburame Naoya wasn't good at expressing emotions, so a nod meant agreement.

Not just Nara Shio—Asuma, wearing his Chunin vest, was also especially conspicuous among the crowd of Genin and Academy students.

Since the special training was only open to Genin and Academy students, Nara Shio and Asuma became the only two Chunin.

Being the only two Chunin, and since Asuma's performance in the Chunin Exam was decent, some of the more socially outgoing students would go to Asuma to ask for advice.

"Big Brother Asuma, you're really amazing—you managed to learn jutsu of two natures. Besides the top-ranked Hatake Kakashi, you're the only one among the examinees, right?" Gōzu Tetsu said with longing.

Before, he only had Ebisu as his one good big brother, but now he decided to increase the number of good big brothers.

"Two natures are useless—I still lost to Obito's Fire Release." Asuma's expression was a bit gloomy.

Losing to Obito's Fire Release with that combination jutsu really stung—two jutsu couldn't beat Obito's single-nature jutsu.

"Big Brother Asuma, don't worry. From now on, if you keep improving and use combination jutsu of three or four natures, can he still block it with just one nature?" Shingetsu Izumo immediately analyzed.

Asuma had to admit Izumo made a point, but how to train so many natures well was a problem—practicing multiple nature transformations at once is no easy feat.

"Actually, you don't need to go that far. We have a jutsu here that once defeated Konoha's strongest taijutsu user. If you learn it, Big Brother Asuma, we can't say it's a sure win against Obito, but your winning chances will increase a fair bit." Shingetsu Izumo came up with a good idea.

"Oh? Defeated Konoha's strongest taijutsu user? What kind of jutsu?" Asuma suddenly grew interested.

Not to mention anything else, the title "defeated Konoha's strongest taijutsu user" was pretty intimidating.

"It's..." Shingetsu Izumo was about to say something but realized the break was over and training had to begin.

"Everyone, continue training." Mu Yue's voice reached all the students.

"Wait until tomorrow, and we'll explain in detail to you, Big Brother Asuma." Shingetsu Izumo stood up and said.

This was already the last training session of the afternoon—soon it would be time to go home and eat.

"Big Brother Asuma, this jutsu will definitely surprise you!" Gōzu Tetsu said with a confident smile, then walked back with Shingetsu Izumo to Group C's training area.

"Then I'll start looking forward to it." Asuma replied with a smile.

Actually, he didn't really expect Gōzu Tetsu and the others to know any particularly powerful jutsu—it wasn't that he looked down on them, but truly powerful jutsu are very hard to learn and have certain requirements for the learner; Gōzu Tetsu and Shingetsu Izumo were still too young.

For example, when Asuma was in his second year, even if Sarutobi Hiruzen wanted to teach him Fire Dragon Flame Bullet and Air Cyclone, Asuma couldn't learn them—his chakra was insufficient, and his nature transformation skill wasn't good enough.

Still, they were little fanboys, and they spoke nicely, so Asuma was happy to play along.

Then Asuma began training in Wind Release chakra nature transformation; for now, he was mainly focusing on Wind Release, only putting it down to practice Fire Release when he hit difficulties with Wind.

After training for a while, seeing Yūhi Kurenai, drenched in hot sweat, still practicing nonstop, Asuma walked over to Yūhi Kurenai and said:

"Kurenai, maybe you should rest a little—being too exhausted might affect your training efficiency."

During the break just now, Asuma had seen Yūhi Kurenai training, and she hadn't stopped until now.

Hearing Asuma's words, Yūhi Kurenai stopped, stood still, and rested while breathing heavily—if it affected training efficiency, that would indeed be a headache.

"Have you been running into some problem lately? It feels like you're pushing yourself too hard in training now, Kurenai." Asuma asked with concern.

Being diligent in training is a good thing, but Asuma felt Yūhi Kurenai was being overly diligent, so he was a bit worried.

"Because I don't want to be left too far behind by you all." Yūhi Kurenai looked into Asuma's eyes and said seriously.

Last year's special training was dominated by Shisui, a first-year student, but Shisui is truly an exception among exceptions, and Yūhi Kurenai could accept that in her heart.

The performance of Obito and the others in the Chunin Exams gave Yūhi Kurenai too much shock.

Neither Obito nor Might Guy was unfamiliar to Yūhi Kurenai; they were all friends with decent relationships.

During the last special training, although Obito's strength had already surpassed theirs, the gap wasn't large. This time was different—during this Chunin Exam, Obito and the others displayed overwhelming strength.

Yūhi Kurenai felt that she couldn't last a single move against them. They were so strong that she wondered how they could become so powerful in just one year.

Not only Obito and the others, but even Asuma's progress made Yūhi Kurenai feel somewhat unfamiliar.

Unconsciously, Asuma's Wind Release had surpassed his Fire Release, and he could even use combined Wind and Fire techniques.

As soon as Kurenai said this, Asuma instantly empathized. In Kurenai's eyes, Obito and the others were puzzlingly strong, and it was similar for Asuma.

"Kurenai, I understand you. Let's train hard together," Asuma nodded and said.

"Of course, we also need to be careful not to overdo it," Asuma reminded after speaking.

Asuma had already become a chunin and was working so hard. The surrounding students saw this and were inspired, and the entire training ground exuded an atmosphere of striving.

Apart from adding some teaching items, Muyue basically followed the model of the previous special training. They held an exam every two weeks to test the students' learning results, then scored and ranked them.

Unquestionably, Asuma was now the strongest ninja in the special training. Nara Shio, who was also a chunin, was no match for him in a one-on-one fight, so Asuma firmly secured first place in Group A of the first exam.

In Group B, Hayate Gekko became more and more prominent as the training progressed. However, Hayate Gekko's first place was not very stable; it depended on his condition. In Muyue's view, the gap between Hayate Gekko and the second place in Group B was very small.

In Group C, Anko finally made a success this time. Although she didn't get first, she got second. As a second-year student, she was already considered very strong, having defeated a bunch of fourth-year students.

The performance of Kamizuki Izumo and Kotetsu Hagane was fairly good for second-year students, but compared to the overall student body, they were just average, much weaker than Anko. The overall performance of students in Muyue's class surpassed those in the third year.

In the evening, Muyue returned to his home in the main city of Konoha. Not long after, Minato Namikaze knocked and entered Muyue's house.

"Sorry, I need to trouble you again to take care of Kushina," Minato Namikaze said a little embarrassedly to Muyue.

For Minato Namikaze, no matter how good the relationship was, he would feel embarrassed to trouble others.

"Mm, as long as I'm in Konoha, Kushina won't miss a meal," Muyue agreed directly without asking for the reason.

Hearing Muyue's words, Minato Namikaze showed a warm smile and voluntarily explained:

"Kumogakure has sent more ninjas to launch an assault on the border in the Land of Hot Water, so I need to lead some ninjas to go and provide support."

This wasn't highly confidential information, so telling Muyue was fine. He was openly going to support the front line, not carrying out some secret mission.

"I see. Will Obito and the others also go to the battlefield with you?" Muyue thought for a moment and asked.

This was no small matter. If they went to battle in the Land of Hot Water, Muyue, who was far away in Konoha, wouldn't be able to know what would happen to Obito and the others.

The accident during the Chunin Exams gave Muyue a premonition that Madara Uchiha might make a move earlier because Obito's growth speed was much faster than in the original story.

Minato Namikaze shook his head and replied, "This time I received an S-rank war mission, which is too dangerous for Obito and the others. Coincidentally, they can now take on missions on their own, so I don't plan to take them along."

If it were an A-rank mission, Minato Namikaze might have considered taking Obito and the others, but S-rank is too dangerous, and moreover, this is a war mission.

"I'll have to trouble you with Obito and the others' training as well. I'm not a very qualified teacher," Minato Namikaze said with a wry smile.

He felt that he could do too little for Obito and the others, and now he had to leave them behind to carry out a mission.

"Don't say that. Even they acknowledge you. Why deny yourself? The village's missions can't be helped," Muyue said with a gentle smile, comforting him.

Minato adjusted his mood, thanked Muyue again, and then went to find Kushina with the food.

When leaving Konoha, what he worried about most was still Kushina.

Just as Muyue felt the war was getting more intense, a few days later he received information from Tsunade that Jiraiya had returned to the Land of Grass battlefield.

Perhaps upon learning of Kumogakure's large-scale offensive, Iwagakure also attempted to send reinforcements to continue putting pressure on Konoha.

The situation on the continent was now very chaotic. There was war between Iwagakure, Konoha, and Kumogakure; there was war between Kumogakure, Sunagakure, Konoha, and Iwagakure. The four great nations on the continent were caught in a melee, with only the Land of Water, an island nation, temporarily not participating.

Although the great ninja villages were waging war, they were not fighting on their own soil; they were mainly fighting in nearby small countries. Even the Land of Wind, after recovering, drove Kumogakure into the Land of Rivers. This forced the small countries to be drawn into the war as well.

"Will Kirigakure attack Konoha ahead of schedule, or will it remain unchanged?" Muyue thought of the only great nation not yet involved in the war.

Due to the butterfly effect, the plot had changed, and he was a bit unsure whether Kirigakure would still act according to the original story.

Although Konoha did not demand much compensation from Kirigakure for the accident during this Chunin Exam, acting as if they wanted to maintain harmony, Muyue did not think Kirigakure would therefore refrain from starting a war with Konoha.

War between Mist and Konoha was inevitable, because Konoha had won too many times before and always maintained its strongest stance—the strongest would be feared by all, and now that there was a chance to weaken them, they naturally wouldn't let it slip.

Although Mist was reluctant to be the first challenger, with two countries already at war, they certainly had the nerve to join the fray.

The Chunin Exam allowed the Mist shinobi to see the strength of Konoha's younger generation. Muyue believed that this might make Mist feel a sense of crisis and attack Konoha ahead of schedule.

Uchiha Madara was another key point Muyue considered. Since Madara could control a Mist Jounin, he might have controlled other Mist shinobi as well, fueling Mist's involvement in the war.

The more chaotic the shinobi world became, the more advantageous it was for the aging Uchiha Madara, facilitating his actions. If Madara wanted to make a move on Obito ahead of schedule, he would certainly push Mist and Konoha to war.

That was one of the reasons Muyue had kept such a low profile before—he didn't want the plot to change too much because of him, as that would increase the difficulty of protecting his disciples.

For example, he knew Obito would encounter disaster at the Battle of Kannabi Bridge. If the plot remained unchanged, he only needed to go along to easily rescue Obito. But if the plot changed, Madara wouldn't necessarily choose the Kannabi Bridge mission to make his move.

Even though Muyue had been very careful, changes still happened in the end.

The incident in the Forest of Death was definitely Uchiha Madara's doing. Although Mist had not yet made a move, Muyue would prepare for the worst.

However, even if Muyue had to choose again, he would still act roughly the same. He couldn't stop helping Obito improve just because the plot might change—that would be throwing out the baby with the bathwater.

With the enemy in the shadows and himself in the light, the only thing Muyue could do now was to increase his own strength and that of his disciples as much as possible.

Normally, after the grueling special training during the Chunin Exam, they should have rested for a while, but for the safety of his disciples, Muyue prepared a new round of hellish training for them.

"Good morning, Shisui! How did you know I became a chunin?" On the way to the Southern Forest for training, Obito met Shisui and greeted him cheerfully.

Shisui: "..."

"Hehe, good morning, Teacher Muyue." After arriving at the Southern Forest, Obito greeted Muyue with a grin.

Although he hadn't gotten first place, becoming a chunin put Obito in a very good mood.

"Mm, good morning." Muyue replied with a gentle smile.

Somehow, even though Muyue's smile was warm, Obito suddenly sensed something bad—he felt that something unpleasant was about to happen.

After a few busy days, I've finally finished the outline for the next part of the story. I'll update more frequently in the coming days.