Chapter 404: Renowned Across the Ninja World

【Name: Hanzō】

【Chakra:】

【Skills: Water Release Chakra Nature Transformation (Mastery: 6100/), Fire Release Chakra Nature Transformation (Mastery: 2000/), Water Body Flicker Technique (Mastery), Fire Release: Exploding Flame Formation (Mastery)...】

Among the kage-level strong that Muyue had appraised, Hanzō was the type with fewer skills, only two mastered nature transformations, and most of the jutsu he knew were water release.

Although his skills were relatively few, that didn't mean Hanzō was weak; his Water Release Chakra Nature Transformation proficiency was not low, and he also had some master-level water release jutsu.

Familiar with the story, Muyue also knew some of Hanzō's strength that wasn't displayed on the panel—namely, poison.

Hanzō had a summon called the Salamander, which could spew a highly toxic, wide-range poison mist; in addition, Hanzō himself had implanted a poison sac from the salamander, which is why he always wore a mask.

If he didn't wear the mask, the poison gas from Hanzō's breath could paralyze those around him.

Muyue had to admit that Hanzō's type of poison user somewhat countered the Breathing Method; if the Breathing Method was used in a toxic environment, it would allow the poison to invade faster.

Muyue had been well aware of this weakness of the Breathing Method from the start, so he had been planning to improve it, but modifying it to such an extent was even harder than developing a new Breathing Method, so progress was slow.

Muyue had two ideas: one was mitigation, the other was a radical solution.

Mitigation was to add an antidote or poison resistance effect to the Breathing Method, while the radical solution was to change the way the Breathing Method operated, no longer relying on ordinary breathing patterns.

The former was much simpler than the latter, so Muyue planned to implement improvements step by step.

Apart from that, he could also rely on equipment, such as wearing gas masks or oxygen masks.

The advantage of equipment was simplicity; the disadvantage was that it could be damaged in battle.

Given the intensity of ninja combat, it would basically break if even grazed by a jutsu.

Seeing Muyue return safely, the ninjas' anxious hearts settled down.

No matter what they thought of Hanzō, in the Land of Rain, the first name that came to mind when speaking of the strong was the Demigod Hanzō.

"According to the information Hanzō gave me, I've been put on the wanted list. The bounty in the black market has already reached three hundred and fifty-two thousand ryō. Next, there might be some bounty hunters coming to attack me."

After returning to the team, Muyue immediately shared the information he had obtained from Hanzō.

"Among them, there may be some ninjas with considerable strength, so the journey ahead will no longer be safe and carries certain risks," Muyue warned.

If it were just a few people, Muyue was confident he could protect them, but he wasn't one hundred percent sure he could protect all seventy-two people. Among the bounty ninjas, there could be ruthless men like Kakuzu.

If it were Kakuzu, and if he didn't focus solely on Muyue but instead attacked the team members to distract him, Muyue couldn't possibly protect everyone; at most, he could kill Kakuzu and avenge them later.

"Three hundred and fifty-five thousand ryō..." Chishōya's pupils contracted sharply.

As a rogue ninja, he had never seen so much money, so he understood the appeal of that amount.

"If any of you want to leave the group, you can leave now. No one will blame you for it," Muyue proactively offered.

The ninjas exchanged glances, all showing contemplative expressions.

It had to be said, this was indeed a very agonizing dilemma.

Many of them were quite average in strength; otherwise, they wouldn't have thought of seeking Muyue to learn ninjutsu and become stronger.

"Uncle Sōsuke, don't underestimate the strength of us Akatsuki members. We can not only protect ourselves but also protect you," Yahiko said with a big laugh.

Not counting Nagato as an exception, both he and Konan were also not weak. Yahiko wouldn't leave for such a reason.

On the contrary, he wanted to stay with Muyue even more, worried about the danger Muyue might face.

"My strength is mediocre. I'll try not to be a burden," a ninja resolved to stay.

Leaving would certainly be safer, but that was it; it meant nothing else.

Staying, however, was different. Not to mention the jutsu he could learn from Muyue, just watching Muyue travel through the Land of Rain made him feel like he was witnessing new history. Compared to his past life, he felt he had been living aimlessly.

After a period of inner struggle, Chishōya finally made a decision he wouldn't have made before: he would also stay.

After making this decision, Chishōya himself found it unbelievable that his cautious self would actually face danger.

Chishōya thought more than the others. A bounty of three hundred and fifty-two thousand ryō might not immediately attract a strong man like Muyue, but as Muyue killed the bounty hunters he attracted, his bounty would increase, becoming more and more dangerous.

But in the end, he still decided to stay, for a reason he himself didn't understand.

In the end, no one chose to leave. Everyone opted to continue following Muyue.

This surprised Mu Yue slightly; he had thought at least some of them would leave, after all, these ninja hadn't followed him for very long.

The bounty from the black market did not affect Mu Yue's actions; he continued touring the Land of Rain at his own pace.

When they encountered bandits, they eliminated them; when they lacked food, they completed commissions from the local villagers; difficult commissions meant staying longer, simple ones meant leaving sooner—more and more places were visited by their group.

"So even I don't really understand the Land of Rain as well as I thought," Yahiko remarked with a sigh.

He had once believed he knew the Land of Rain well enough, but only after following Mu Yue to every village on foot did Yahiko realize that what he knew was just the tip of the iceberg.

Each village and town faced different difficulties and conflicts; he had always wanted to bring peace to the Land of Rain, but now he discovered that some conflicts in certain villages and towns were beyond his ability to resolve.

"But aren't you learning about it right now?" Mu Yue smiled and patted Yahiko on the head.

Mu Yue's main goal was to make Nagato a disciple on his system's roster, but along the way he didn't mind nurturing a revolutionary fighter.

In the afternoon, Mu Yue and his group arrived at another new village, where two children were arguing at the village entrance.

"The sun is closer to us when it first rises than at noon."

"No, no, no—the sun is farther away when it rises than at noon."

"When the sun first rises, it's as big as a chariot wheel, but at noon it's as small as a plate—isn't that the principle of seeing things as small when far away and large when close?"

"When the sun first comes out, it's still cool, but at noon it's scorching hot—isn't that the principle of feeling heat when close and cool when far?"

The two children argued fiercely, neither willing to concede.

"Hey, uncle in white, you look smart—who do you think is right?" one of the children asked, looking at Mu Yue.

Mu Yue showed a thoughtful expression as he stepped forward, as if about to say something.

Whoosh!!

The two children suddenly sprang up, pulling out kunai and stabbing at Mu Yue, who appeared defenseless.

"Master Sōsuke, watch out!" the ninja who noticed shouted hurriedly.

They wanted to help Mu Yue but found they couldn't make it in time.

Thump! Thump!

Two dull impact sounds rang out.

Mu Yue swung his fists with lightning speed, striking the two attacking ninja and knocking them to the ground.

Because of the heavy blow, their Transformation Technique instantly wore off, revealing their original appearances.

"Impossible—how could he be that fast!" the bounty ninja stared at Mu Yue in disbelief.

At that close distance, Mu Yue shouldn't have been able to react in time.

Seeing Mu Yue successfully dispatch the ambushers, the accompanying ninja breathed a sigh of relief and immediately surrounded the two bounty ninja.

Mu Yue smiled faintly and said nothing. He had mastered the Transparent World, possessed sensory ninjutsu, and had the Byakugan; no matter how well an ordinary Transformation Technique was practiced, it couldn't fool him.

After interrogating the two for information, Mu Yue killed them outright.

This surprised Mu Yue's followers—it was the first time they had seen him kill someone; they had thought Mu Yue was the type to reform enemies with love.

"Against enemies who want to kill us, we can retaliate equally," Mu Yue said calmly.

Mu Yue rarely killed, but when faced with someone who wanted to kill him, he never showed mercy.

The ninja all nodded, feeling they had gained a deeper understanding of Mu Yue.

As Mu Yue continued his journey, the number of attacks gradually increased, and the strength of the attacking ninja grew as well.

However, thanks to the efforts of Mu Yue, Yahiko, and the others, the group suffered no casualties.

But Mu Yue received unwelcome news from the bounty ninja he had defeated: his bounty was increasing, and it had skyrocketed to ten million ryo.

This was within Mu Yue's expectations—the more ninja he defeated, the more credible the Ninja Sect's inheritance became, and naturally the bounty kept rising.

To improve his followers' combat abilities, Mu Yue had them handle some of the weaker bounty ninja, allowing them to practice what they had learned through real combat.

As attacks became more frequent and battles increased, the reputation of Ninja Master Sōsuke grew throughout the Land of Rain and even the ninja world, and the Ninja Sect once again entered the sight of many ninja.

Even Obito, far away in Konoha, happened to hear that name.

"Ninja Master Sosuke? What qualifies him for such a title? It should belong to Teacher Muyue instead." Obito complained.

Obito believed Muyue deserved the title of Ninja Master more. In terms of teaching quality, Muyue had trained them, a group of recognized young geniuses; in terms of teaching scale, Muyue had once led a special training session with nearly seven hundred people.

"Don't underestimate this guy. They say his strength can rival Hanzo." Kakashi shook his head. He knew a bit more than Obito.

Although it was just a rumor, Kakashi thought Sosuke's strength was certainly not weak; otherwise, without Hanzo making a move, Hanzo's followers alone could have given Sosuke a hard time.

"Regardless of his strength, his ambition is definitely not small—he actually dares to shout the slogan of restoring the Ninshu." Kakashi recalled many records about the Ninshu.

When he first met Muyue, Muyue had once told him some knowledge about Ninshu and shinobi. Recently, by looking up information on the Sage of Six Paths, Kakashi had learned even more history related to the Ninshu.

The Ninshu can be said to be the origin of shinobi. Establishing a power called Ninshu in the shinobi world is practically a provocation to all other shinobi powers.

Danzo Shimura was one who felt provoked. He immediately went to Hiruzen Sarutobi, wanting to dispatch an elite team of Konoha shinobi into the Land of Rain.

"This Sosuke is definitely not simple. To nip the danger in the bud, our Konoha should reinforce our presence in the Land of Rain." Danzo Shimura said in a deep voice.

"That way, whether it's some scheme of the Land of Rain or a plot by this Sosuke, we won't be too passive."

The Land of Rain borders Konoha. Danzo believed Konoha's current strength in the Land of Rain was insufficient to deal with the chaotic situation there.

"The situation in the Land of Rain is complex. Konoha already has many wars on its hands; it's not appropriate to get involved." Hiruzen Sarutobi directly rejected Danzo's proposal.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had no interest in the so-called Ninshu heritage. Ninjutsu wasn't stronger just because it was older. The shinobi of the new era had improved and developed better techniques based on the foundation of previous shinobi.

Besides that, Hiruzen Sarutobi had another concern: he feared that if Konoha became too strong in the Land of Rain, it would arouse suspicion from Sunagakure.

Right now, the Land of Rain was basically a game between Sunagakure and Kumogakure, with Iwagakure occasionally popping up to cause trouble.

If Konoha sent more shinobi to the Land of Rain, it might give Sunagakure the false impression that Konoha wanted to be its enemy.

"Hiruzen, you are too indecisive. This could be our chance to break the deadlock!" Danzo Shimura said with a dark face.

Although Danzo Shimura couldn't specify how to break the deadlock, that didn't stop him from spouting off.

Because Hiruzen had rejected him so directly and bluntly, Danzo was very upset, feeling that Hiruzen didn't take his advice seriously.

"I am the Hokage!" Hiruzen Sarutobi reminded him coolly.

As the Hokage, his authority was absolute. When in a good mood, he could chat with Danzo, but for truly critical decisions, Hiruzen would trust his own judgment.

Danzo Shimura's face instantly darkened. Without another word, he walked toward the door of the Hokage's office.

"Hiruzen, you will regret this!" With that, Danzo slammed the door to the Hokage's office shut and left the Hokage building.

All the way back to Root, Danzo grew angrier the more he thought about it.

He was angry that Tobirama Senju had passed the position of the Third Hokage to Hiruzen Sarutobi instead of to him, and he was angry that Hiruzen showed so little respect for him, an old classmate.

Most people would just get angry and then be done with it, but Danzo Shimura was not one to take things lying down. If Hiruzen wouldn't give him face, he would do it himself. His Root organization hadn't been built for nothing.

Danzo immediately issued orders, sending some Root shinobi to the Land of Rain, and then mobilized Root forces outside Konoha to head there as well.

If he weren't worried about being discovered by Hiruzen, Danzo would have wanted to go to the Land of Rain himself. He was very curious about that Ninshu heritage.

…

A shinobi with stitched lines on his body exchanged a corpse for a bag of money at the Bounty Station. He lowered his head and flipped through the bounty book.

"Sosuke, alias Ninja Master, can fight using all five chakra natures. Bounty: 13,000,000 ryo. 5,000,000 ryo extra if captured alive."

The stitched shinobi closed the book and nodded in satisfaction.

"Perfect capture gets 18,000,000 ryo. Not bad."