Chapter 386: An Lushan's End

At the Ninja Academy, I Get Stronger Just by Teaching — Chapter 304: An Lushan's End. To verify his own theory, Mu Yue used an excuse to change the proportion of time spent on investigation and training.

Starting from the third day, he trained all day long and conducted investigations at night.

No one raised any objections; both Mu Yue's disciples and Naruto Uzumaki and Yamato followed Mu Yue's arrangements.

With the intelligence they had already gathered, it was enough for them to complete their respective tasks. Further investigation was only to ensure a more stable conclusion to the mission and to reduce the impact of the An Lushan incident on Loulan.

Therefore, reducing investigation time was perfectly reasonable.

"Everyone must be exhausted from training for so long. How about we get some late-night snacks?" Mu Yue looked at the tired group and made a suggestion.

"Late-night snacks? Are we going to eat ramen?" Naruto Uzumaki's tired expression vanished, replaced by an excited look as he asked.

If he could have a steaming bowl of Ichiraku Ramen after tiring training, that would be simply blissful.

Actually, Naruto Uzumaki could also accept instant noodles, but when having instant noodles alone, he had to wait a boring three minutes, whereas if they all went for ramen, even though the food wouldn't be served instantly, they could chat while waiting.

Yamato looked up at the sky; it was already deep into the night, with countless bright and fresh stars twinkling above.

"At this hour, I think only izakaya would still be open," Yamato said honestly as he withdrew his gaze and looked at Naruto.

Although it might be a bit inappropriate, it was indeed the truth—how could an ordinary ramen shop still be open at midnight?

Yamato would have been happy to go to an izakaya with Mu Yue, but after thinking it over, he felt it wasn't quite suitable. Even Naruto Uzumaki wasn't yet an adult, and Kakashi and the others were even younger; they weren't old enough to go to an izakaya.

"Then it looks like you guys are in for a treat today, Naruto," Obito immediately guessed that Mu Yue would cook late-night snacks himself.

After all, this was Mu Yue the Sage; if even Yamato had considered that issue, how could Mu Yue have overlooked it?

"We won't eat out. I'll cook for you," Mu Yue explained.

Before starting the training, Mu Yue had already completed all the preparations.

Obito showed an expression that said "I knew it," while Kakashi and Rin Nohara began to look forward to tonight's meal.

Mu Yue was their teacher, not their chef, and it had been a while since they had eaten Mu Yue's cooking.

While waiting, seeing how much Kakashi and the others were looking forward to it, Yamato curiously asked, "Is Mu Yue-senpai very good at cooking?"

He had originally planned to go to the kitchen to help Mu Yue, since he was learning Mu Yue's techniques and couldn't just freeload.

But Mu Yue had refused, saying that if he wanted to help, he could wash the dishes after the meal; the cooking was fine with just him.

"Good? Mu Yue-sensei's cooking is like it's been enhanced with some super high-level jutsu. No other food in the ninja world can compare," Obito replied dramatically.

Even though he also loved his grandmother's cooking, objectively speaking, the deliciousness of Mu Yue's cooking was truly unmatched by any other cuisine.

Yamato looked somewhat hesitant. If Obito had just said it was delicious, Yamato would have believed him directly, but Obito's exaggeration made it less credible.

It wasn't that he thought Obito was lying, but there might be some idol-worship bias, given his close relationship with the cook.

"Mu Yue-sensei's cooking skills are no less than his ninja abilities," Kakashi said seriously.

Kakashi even thought that if Mu Yue became a chef, he might earn more money faster than being a ninja.

After all, Mu Yue's cooking was so good it could make you hallucinate. Those daimyo and nobles would surely spend a fortune to taste such unique cuisine in the ninja world.

Yamato looked somewhat surprised. If Kakashi said it, the credibility was much higher, since Kakashi wasn't the type to exaggerate and was relatively rational.

"I can't wait," Naruto Uzumaki said, listening to Kakashi and the others praising Mu Yue's cooking. He curiously peeked toward the kitchen, looking forward to the upcoming late-night snack time.

"By the way, who became the Fifth Hokage?" Obito asked curiously.

Obito wanted to become Hokage, but given his age, becoming the Fourth would be very difficult, so he was aiming directly for the Fifth Hokage. Naturally, the Fifth Hokage in normal history would be his competitor.

"It's Granny Tsunade," Naruto Uzumaki replied.

"What? Tsunade-sama became the Fifth Hokage?" Rin Nohara's mouth dropped open slightly, unable to believe it.

Rin Nohara didn't think Tsunade was incapable of being Hokage; in fact, during this era, all three Sannin were hot candidates for the Fourth Hokage. No Konoha ninja would have considered any of them unsuitable.

Rin Nohara was now considered a half-disciple of Tsunade, having spent a considerable amount of time with her up close and gaining some understanding of her. She knew very well that Tsunade had no desire to become Hokage.

Tsunade couldn't even be bothered to research medical ninjutsu, let alone becoming Hokage and handling the affairs of Konoha.

Rin Nohara couldn't imagine what it would be like for Tsunade to be Hokage—would she show up to work on time? Would the Hokage office be empty before noon?

Uncontrollably, a worried expression appeared on Rin Nohara's face. She hoped Konoha would be alright in the future, and also hoped Tsunade could endure the heavy workload.

"Granny Tsunade? Isn't she Rin's medical ninjutsu teacher? I didn't expect the Fifth Hokage to be her." Obito scratched his head. He remembered that Tsunade seemed to be in the same class as Toad Sage. Wasn't she a bit old to be the Fifth Hokage at that age?

"Rin, do you know how strong Granny Tsunade is?" Obito probed for information from Rin.

Because Obito addressed Naruto as "big brother," he subconsciously used Naruto's way of addressing Tsunade directly, ignoring the issue of Naruto traveling through time.

"Probably strong enough to knock you out with one punch, Obito. Also, you'd better not call Tsunade-sama 'granny'." Rin warned him out of concern for his safety.

Since he had to prepare a midnight snack for six people, and they were six ninjas who had just finished training, Muyue spent quite a bit of time. During this period, Naruto, Yamato, and Kakashi chatted continuously to get to know each other better.

It was only then that Obito learned Naruto had also been a complete dead last at the Ninja Academy, both in theory and ninjutsu.

"No wonder you feel so familiar. You remind me of Gai." Obito felt he had discovered the truth.

Kakashi's mouth twitched. Some people really had no self-awareness.

After listening to Kakashi and the others' mission experiences, Yamato secretly thought it was a wonder Kakashi-senpai had survived. A C-rank mission, which shouldn't involve encountering any ninja, had them running into ninja of all levels, and even the Chunin Exams had unexpected incidents.

"Wow, so lavish! There are so many dishes I've never seen before." Naruto's eyes widened as he looked at the plates of food emanating an enticing aroma being brought from the kitchen. This was much more sumptuous than he had imagined.

Considering that Naruto and Yamato had never eaten his cooking, half of the dishes were local cuisine from the ninja world, so that Naruto and the others wouldn't see a table full of unfamiliar food.

Among them, quite a few ingredients were stored in scrolls by Muyue; they might not even be available for purchase in Loulan.

Faced with such a lavish midnight snack, everyone ritualistically said, "I'll start eating," before beginning their meal.

Naruto picked up a piece of tempura and stuffed it into his mouth. When his teeth bit through the crispy fried coating, the tender, juicy shrimp meat inside made Naruto's eyes widen. He had never imagined an ordinary piece of tempura could taste so delicious.

Then, something even more unexpected happened to Naruto. He suddenly felt dazed, and when he opened his eyes again, he was surrounded by a mysterious and magnificent blue world, with countless fish and shrimp swimming around him.

Naruto wanted to reach out and touch them, but he realized he was extending a claw—he had turned into a shrimp. Then, forgetting all his worries, he happily swam in the ocean.

When he came to, Naruto found himself sitting at the dining table again, with the ocean and fish all gone.

"Muyue-nii, amazing!" Naruto gave Muyue a thumbs-up, unable to think of any other words to describe it.

Naruto remembered that before eating, Obito had said that eating Muyue's cooking would make you see forests, oceans, and volcanoes. So that description was actually literal.

Yamato also took a bite of the food and looked at Muyue in shock. For a moment, he thought he had fallen under a genjutsu.

All of Obito's exaggerated descriptions turned out to be true. This truly shocked Yamato.

"Hurry up and eat." Muyue reminded them.

Only then did Yamato and Naruto realize how wildly Obito and the others were eating; their chopsticks were moving so fast they left afterimages.

Seeing the food in the dishes rapidly decreasing, Naruto and Yamato quickly adopted a battle-ready stance and started wolfing down their food.

"This midnight snack is the best I've ever had." After finishing, Naruto was still not satisfied.

He felt he hadn't performed well. If he could do it over, he would definitely eat even more dishes.

"Thank you so much, Muyue-senpai." Yamato felt it was wonderful to have met Muyue.

He helped them complete their mission, taught them powerful secret techniques, and now personally cooked such delicious food for them.

Muyue smiled and said nothing. These were just small favors for him at this point.

The next day.

Since Muyue had changed the training schedule, Naruto and the others started training right after getting up in the morning.

And Muyue officially began his test.

"We won't practice taijutsu today. I'll teach you the Sun Breathing." Muyue said before starting the lesson.

"It will be difficult, so Naruto, try to pay close attention."

The reward for teaching wasn't just based on Muyue giving the lecture; it also depended on whether the student learned.

Since Sun Breathing was a secret technique still under development, Muyue especially emphasized its difficulty.

"I'll study seriously." Naruto nodded earnestly.

Whether it was defeating the Akatsuki or bringing back Sasuke, he needed strength. He was serious about training.

And since Muyue was so good to him, Naruto had to train even harder to not disappoint him.

"Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Naruto quickly formed hand seals, burst out chakra, and split into dozens of Shadow Clones.

He knew he wasn't a genius when it came to learning; since one brain wasn't enough, he would have dozens of him thinking together.

"Before learning Yang Breathing, you first need to understand two pieces of knowledge: Yang Release's chakra nature transformation and breathing." Mu Yue began the lesson.

He knew Naruto Uzumaki's fundamentals were quite average, so he started explaining from the basics, first introducing Yang Release chakra.

Dozens of Naruto Uzumaki were listening intently. He really didn't understand Yang Release; the only time he had heard about it was when Yamato mentioned it while he was learning Wind Release chakra nature transformation.

After explaining for about forty minutes, Mu Yue stopped to give Naruto Uzumaki some time to digest.

Realizing this, Naruto Uzumaki dispelled the Multi Shadow Clones to organize his memories. When Mu Yue started lecturing again, he split into dozens of Shadow Clones once more.

In the course of one morning, Mu Yue successfully made Naruto Uzumaki understand Yang Release chakra nature transformation and basic breathing.

Mu Yue had to admit the Multi Shadow Clone technique was really effective; Naruto Uzumaki's learning speed was fast.

However, this cheat-like learning method was only possible for Naruto; it placed too high a demand on both body and mind.

For an ordinary person, let alone dozens of Shadow Clones, even splitting into a few Shadow Clones to train together might be unbearable; this could really cause problems.

In the afternoon, Mu Yue officially began teaching him the Yang Breathing that was still under development.

Since it wasn't fully developed yet, Mu Yue spent most of the time explaining theory.

"When using Yang Breathing, your physical energy will be enhanced, and techniques related to Yang Release chakra nature transformation will become stronger. To maximize the power of your techniques, the final training must be integrating Yang Breathing into other techniques."

Although he had never obtained a localized Sun Breathing, that didn't prevent Mu Yue from guessing the effect of the system's localized Sun Breathing based on existing breathing methods.

Sun Breathing and Flame Breathing both produce flames; in the original Demon Slayer work, Sun Breathing is much stronger than Flame Breathing. According to the system's principle of localizing skills, the flames of Sun Breathing must be much stronger than those of Flame Breathing.

To achieve this effect in the Naruto world, it would most likely involve introducing Yang Release chakra nature transformation or natural energy, turning the flames of Sun Breathing into Yang plus Fire or natural energy fire, and possibly both, since the two are not conflicting.

Mu Yue had not yet encountered Sage Art knowledge related to natural energy, so he started experimenting with Yang Release first.

Due to Mu Yue's development goals, the biggest difference between Yang Breathing and other breathing methods is its great potential.

The current Yang Breathing is very weak; if we really talk about its early-stage effect, it's only slightly stronger than Basic Breathing, but its difficulty is worlds apart from Basic Breathing.

But Yang Breathing has many paths to follow; if you keep moving forward, when Yang Breathing is cultivated to a high level, it can make physical energy immensely powerful, and handseal-less healing is not a dream.

At the same time, Yang Breathing can also be used in fusion with suitable breathing methods as Mu Yue envisioned, for example, helping Yang Breathing advance to Sun Breathing.

While teaching Naruto Uzumaki, Mu Yue also taught Yamato a bit of Water Style.

He thought that with Yamato's chakra, learning some powerful Water Style would not make his actual combat performance much worse than Wood Style.

Of course, Wood Style has its unique functions, such as suppressing Tailed Beast chakra; no matter how much you train Water Style, you can't achieve that effect.

【Lecture Complete】

【Evaluation: S】

【Reward: Yang Release Nature Transformation +9, Basic Breathing +12, Yang Breathing +2, Water Release Nature Transformation +1】

With the reward settlement, a bit of related training memories appeared in Mu Yue's mind.

A faint smile appeared on Mu Yue's face. This was indeed a very pleasant surprise; at this rate, he should be able to complete the initial development of Yang Breathing within a month.

After training, in a good mood, Mu Yue cooked another hearty dinner to reward his students.

Before the dishes were brought to the table, everyone was laughing and chatting; after all the dishes were served, no one spoke a word.

After suffering from the first time, Yamato and Naruto Uzumaki learned their lesson: they could chat freely before and after meals, but during the meal, they had to give it their all.

After eating and resting for a while, it was time for the investigation mission. Mu Yue split off a Shadow Clone to follow Kakashi and the others, while his main body went to continue studying the Dragon Vein.

After a week of such days, Obito and the others, having gathered enough evidence, proposed to Mu Yue at night the idea of capturing Hundred Legs.

"This guy not only locks innocent people in an underground factory to make puppets for him day and night, but also conducts human experiments. When he usually smiles at the people, doesn't he feel disgusted with himself?" Obito said indignantly.

During the investigation, they discovered that An Lushan was connected to multiple cases of missing people in Loulan. With the help of Mu Yue's Byakugan, they quickly found An Lushan's underground factory and uncovered his atrocities.

"This time, I won't let that despicable guy get away." Naruto Uzumaki said, clenching his fist.

He couldn't wait to treat An Lushan to a Rasengan.

"If we release this evidence, not only will they stop protecting An Lushan, the people will probably want to execute him immediately." Kakashi felt that the preparation phase was already sufficient.

"Then let's do it tomorrow. I'll contact the queen later and have her arrange a meeting with An Lushan." Muyue said after thinking.

An Lushan is a puppeteer whose combat strength relies entirely on puppets. If they fought at An Lushan's base, he would certainly have many spare puppets.

By having the Queen of Loulan arrange to meet An Lushan outside, An Lushan would at most use the puppets stored in his scroll, which would weaken him to some extent.

Although the enemy's strength wasn't particularly strong, Muyue adhered to the principle of using full force even against a rabbit, striving to avoid any accidents.

"Put away the kunai properly. If there's danger, I can instantly appear by your side." Muyue took out two Flying Thunder God kunai from his ninja tool pouch and handed them to Naruto Uzumaki and Yamato.

This was not only to protect Naruto Uzumaki and Yamato, but also to protect An Lushan.

If An Lushan died, then Naruto Uzumaki and Yamato would immediately travel back, so Muyue would not let An Lushan die; he would first seal An Lushan.

Naruto Uzumaki had not yet learned Sun Breathing, and they had not met Jiraiya, so it was not yet time to return.

Muyue's plan seemed very reliable and reasonable, and no one objected. When it was almost bedtime, they dispersed and returned to their respective rooms.

"Could it be that she has finally figured it out and decided to continue cooperating with me?"

This was An Lushan's first thought when he heard that the Queen of Loulan had invited him to discuss development in western Loulan.

After all, in this remote and poor place of Loulan, there was nothing to develop except the Dragon Vein.

An Lushan was in a very good mood about this; he had even been prepared to assassinate the Queen of Loulan and support Princess Sara of Loulan to take the throne.

According to the information he had obtained, Sara also possessed the same ability as the Queen of Loulan.

Compared to the cunning Queen of Loulan, the naive and sweet Sara was undoubtedly easier to control; perhaps she would even help him count the money after being sold.

However, An Lushan's ultimate goal was merely to absorb the power of the Dragon Vein, not to control Loulan. So for him, as long as he achieved this goal, nothing else mattered.

The western part of Loulan was the least developed area, with large tracts of empty land and abandoned houses.

Under the guidance of Loulan soldiers, An Lushan found the queen who was conducting an inspection.

A smile spread across An Lushan's face as he said, "Your Majesty, I have a good development idea. I believe someone as wise as you can guess it."

Because of the cooperation, An Lushan did not directly mention the Dragon Vein but hinted at it to the queen.

"Although this is all Loulan, the environment in the west is so much worse than elsewhere. We should develop it, even if it requires a little sacrifice." An Lushan continued when he saw no reaction from the queen.

Just then, the handkerchief on the queen suddenly fell.

Shua!

The four Loulan soldiers standing beside An Lushan immediately drew their blades and slashed at An Lushan.

But something surprising happened; it was as if they were not cutting a person but striking steel—the blades cut through An Lushan's clothes but could not penetrate any further.

An Lushan's face quickly darkened. Some ordinary people dared to lay hands on him.

In order to withstand the power of the Dragon Vein, he had long transformed himself into a puppet; ordinary weapons were at most a tickle to him.

"It seems I have no choice but to have the Queen of Loulan unfortunately assassinated, and then Princess Sara succeed to the throne in the midst of crisis." An Lushan prepared to kill everyone here and then support Sara's succession.

But before he could act, several wooden strips suddenly grew from the ground beneath him, rapidly binding him.

The four Loulan soldiers took the opportunity to retreat quickly, while Naruto Uzumaki and the others, who had been hiding nearby, rushed out.

Naruto Uzumaki gathered a large amount of chakra in his hand, continuously compressing and spinning it, eventually forming a high-speed rotating ball of chakra.

Without hesitation, Naruto Uzumaki raised the Rasengan and slammed it into An Lushan's chest.

"Flash!"

Kakashi also seized the opportunity to highly concentrate Lightning Breathing, enhancing its explosive power, and then swiftly swung his Lightning Blade at An Lushan's legs.

An Lushan furrowed his brow and tried to break free from the wooden strips, but found them harder than he had imagined.

Shua!

Kakashi's White Fang short blade directly severed An Lushan's legs.

Boom!!

Naruto's Rasengan tore through part of An Lushan's clothes and body, revealing the puppet components inside.

"It seems the enemy this time is unexpectedly easy to deal with." Obito, seeing An Lushan take such heavy damage, felt that the battle was already over.

"Don't let your guard down until the enemy is completely finished." Mu Yue, who had walked to the Queen of Loulan's side, shook her head and said.

Although the Queen of Loulan had chosen to end her cooperation with An Lushan, An Lushan had still absorbed quite a bit of Dragon Vein power, so he wouldn't be dealt with so easily.

Naruto's Rasengan had dealt heavy damage to An Lushan, but it had also shattered the wooden strips binding him. An Lushan rolled over, quickly pulled out a scroll, and activated the Dragon Vein chakra power within his body.

Inside An Lushan's scroll was a puppet, which rapidly transformed into components under his control to repair his body, making him look even stronger than before.

"You really are persistent. I didn't expect you to follow me here." An Lushan cursed while dodging.

At first, An Lushan had thought Uzumaki Naruto had come along too, so he was very cautious in Loulan, using aliases and Transformation Techniques. Only after a long time with no sign of Uzumaki Naruto did he become certain that only he had traveled through time.

He really hadn't expected Naruto to show up at this critical moment, and to bring several unfamiliar helpers as well.

An Lushan quickly took out two more scrolls and released six large, imposing puppets.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

Obito, highly concentrating his Flame Breathing, immediately spat out a massive amount of flame to form a huge fireball.

Boom!

A loud explosion rang out, and one of An Lushan's puppets was instantly destroyed.

"Rasengan!"

Uzumaki Naruto used the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique to produce numerous shadow clones, and together with the original, they attacked with Rasengan, quickly destroying two more puppets.

"Wood Release: Wood Gun!"

Yamato calmly manipulated the wooden strips extending from his body to pierce and destroy a puppet.

"Lightning Release: False Darkness!"

Kakashi gathered a large amount of Lightning Release chakra and then expelled a great lightning spear. The lightning spear was extremely fast and highly penetrating, destroying yet another puppet.

Rin Nohara wielded the chakra short blade given to her by Naruto and severed the chakra threads on a puppet, causing An Lushan to lose control over it.

At the start of the battle, all six puppets An Lushan had just released were already defeated.

An Lushan's face turned extremely dark; those had been most of the puppet stock he carried. He only had ten puppets in total, and now only three remained.

Without hesitation, An Lushan immediately released the remaining three puppets and then frantically ran toward the location of his underground base.

Although the puppets he carried were of higher quality, there were plenty of puppets in the base, and he could wear those ninjas down through sheer numbers.

"If I can just reach that place, there's no problem!" An Lushan seemed to see hope for a counterattack.

But the battlefield was chosen by Mu Yue and the others. If they hadn't set up traps, it would be a disservice to their identities as ninjas.

Just as An Lushan charged out, Kakashi silently detonated several dozen explosive tags that had been laid in advance.

Boom!!!

A thunderous explosion suddenly erupted, a dazzling flash of explosive light appeared, and An Lushan, along with the three puppets covering his retreat, were all swallowed by the massive blast.

Seeing An Lushan consumed by such a ferocious explosion, the Queen of Loulan felt completely relieved.

Originally, she had planned to bring Sara along to broaden her horizons, to let her understand the treachery of the human heart, but for safety reasons, the Queen of Loulan ultimately gave up on that decision.

The thick smoke of the explosion obscured An Lushan's figure. Uzumaki Naruto and the others all stared intently at the smoke, unsure of An Lushan's condition inside.