Chapter 414: Nagato's Coin Explosion

【Disciple Nagato's trust level increased, current trust level three.】

As Muyue expected, the trust level had risen.

He had already increased their trust somewhat by revealing his identity to Nagato earlier, and now that he had risked his life to protect him, raising the trust level was only natural.

If Muyue had spent two years with Nagato instead of two months, he felt he might have been able to push straight to trust level four.

In the end, the time was too short, but Muyue was still fairly satisfied with the results he had achieved.

Besides completing his disciple-taking plan, Muyue had also done what he could for the ninja world, just as he had thought before.

He founded the Ninja Sect in the Rain Country to spread the ideals of peace. If the Ninja Sect continued to develop as it was now, leaving aside maintaining world peace, at the very least it could change the chaotic situation in the Rain Country without issue.

"Let me heal you all first."

Muyue split off a Shadow Clone to treat the Ninja Sect members and healed himself with a Mystical Palm Technique.

Seeing that Muyue seemed fine, Nagato, who had been highly strung, finally relaxed, gasping heavily with a pale face.

Although he had been fierce during his rampage, it had cost him a great deal of chakra and energy.

The other Ninja Sect members also slumped to the ground in relief. It had not been long, but this tense life-or-death battle was especially exhausting.

"We actually won..." Chichang, too tired to stand, sat on the ground in disbelief.

Originally, he had thought the best outcome would be Muyue leading them in a successful escape, after all, their opponent was Hanzo of the Salamander, the strongest in the Rain Country and called the peak of ninja in the ninja world, and Hanzo had brought so many elite Rain Ninja.

This was a complete victory for them—no one had died, only some were injured.

Of course, Chichang was well aware that although he was one of the participants, he had little to do with this victory—it was all thanks to Muyue, Kakuzu, and Nagato.

There was no doubt that Muyue was the MVP, having held off the strongest, Hanzo, and stepped in to save them when they were in the hardest spot.

Kakuzu also contributed greatly; if he hadn't held off the many Rain Ninja alone, the weaker Ninja Sect members would not have been able to withstand that much pressure.

Before his eruption, Nagato acted as a ninjutsu artillery platform, and after erupting, he quickly took down many enemies, becoming the straw that broke the camel's back.

Although they had won a rare victory, the atmosphere on-site was quiet. Hardly anyone spoke, even Yahiko, who usually talked the most, remained silent.

But the reasons were different: Nagato and Chichang were too tired to talk, while Yahiko was too shocked to speak.

As much as Yahiko now hated Hanzo, before today, his feelings for Hanzo had been genuine—he had truly admired and longed to be like Hanzo.

He had met Muyue, become a member of the Ninja Sect, and made some progress on the path to peace.

He had been invited by his idol, Hanzo, to work together to maintain peace in the Rain Country.

Both of these things had been extremely joyful for Yahiko. Combined, they should have brought him a dreamlike happiness, but reality was that the collaboration was just bait, and Hanzo had wanted to eliminate the Ninja Sect.

"Why did it turn out like this? Were those rumors all false? Did Hanzo deliberately spread them?" Yahiko could not understand.

The one who finally broke the silence was Kakuzu.

"Sosuke, you really are a strange man." Kakuzu, having finished stitching his body together, looked at Muyue and said.

Kakuzu almost didn't know how to evaluate Muyue.

If he called Muyue naive, he felt that the entire development of this incident was under Muyue's control—that Muyue had deliberately walked into Hanzo's trap to let the Ninja Sect members witness the cruelty of reality.

Could someone who acted like this and had thought of all this be called naive? Kakuzu felt that a naive person would not do such things—a slight misstep could have killed some of the weaker Ninja Sect members.

If he said Muyue was not naive, then Muyue's goals and ideals seemed to Kakuzu like naive fantasies impossible to realize.

The more Kakuzu interacted with Muyue, the more confused he became about what kind of person he was. But Kakuzu was not without gains—he now knew Muyue was very strong, with a kind of unfathomable strength.

"Just strange? That's not so bad." Muyue smiled lightly. He had thought Kakuzu would say something more offensive.

Kakuzu's face darkened slightly, but he still respected the strong.

"We won, and you're still wearing a long face. Anyone would think we lost the battle and lost comrades." Kakuzu was not so gentle with Yahiko and fired off a barb.

"I..." Yahiko wanted to say something, but then closed his mouth.

He felt that the Ninja Sect falling into Hanzo's trap had a lot to do with him, and that being blamed was something he deserved.

"What? Think everything is your fault? Don't think you're that important." Kakuzu seemed to see through Yahiko's thoughts.

"Because..." Yahiko tried to explain, but found that Kakuzu's words had cut him off.

Xiao Nan saw that Yahiko was being scolded too harshly, so she wanted to say a few words to help Yahiko.

But Kakuzu didn't care about gender or age, and attacked both Konan and Yahiko at the same time.

However, under normal circumstances Kakuzu wouldn't target people, so he also attacked everyone else once.

"Encountering setbacks is not scary; it's being unable to get back up after setbacks that is scary. We must learn from our lessons, treat them as nutrients for growth, and make ourselves stronger." Mu Yue ended the argument with one sentence.

Kakuzu had to admit that Mu Yue was very good at saying nice things. He understood the logic, but if he had to say it so pleasantly, Kakuzu really couldn't.

"You didn't kill me, and I saved your subordinate. Our grudges are considered even." Kakuzu suddenly said.

"You really helped a lot this time. Thank you." Mu Yue smiled and nodded in thanks.

If not for Kakuzu's help, this battle would not have gone so smoothly.

"Spare the thanks. If you're truly grateful, give me money." Kakuzu said bluntly.

"That won't do. The money I have is set aside to treat everyone to a meal after the meeting. But I can invite you to eat together." Mu Yue refused to give money.

"Do you want to eat?"

"Eat!" Kakuzu agreed without hesitation. He had to take Mu Yue for a big meal.

Kakuzu believed that Mu Yue had no money, because although Mu Yue was very strong, he didn't take on commissions, nor did he steal or rob, so he surely had no money.

Before leaving, Mu Yue found the kunai that Hanzo had first thrown out to force Mu Yue to commit suicide. Because it was caught in the explosion, the kunai had become worn out.

Mu Yue gave the worn-out kunai to Yahiko. "If you really can't let go, then you must all the more learn from this experience."

Yahiko nodded solemnly and put away the worn-out kunai. The events of today, he probably would never forget for a lifetime.

Although Mu Yue said he would treat everyone to a meal, after such a major incident they definitely had to first return to the Ninja Sect's base to announce Hanzo's actions.

Additionally, some worried that Hanzo would send ninjas to assassinate the Ninja Sect ninjas who hadn't come to the meeting.

After returning to the Ninja Sect's base, seeing the peaceful village, Yahiko and Chikaya also felt relieved.

Kakuzu, on the other hand, wasn't too worried, because he felt that Mu Yue must have taken precautions and left some backup plan.

Mu Yue gathered the Ninja Sect ninjas and told them about Hanzo's conspiracy.

The Ninja Sect ninjas all looked incredulous. If it weren't Mu Yue speaking, they absolutely would not believe that Hanzo would do such a thing.

Among them, some were not fond of Hanzo, but no one thought Hanzo was a sinister and cunning villain. In the impression of Rain Country ninjas, Hanzo had always been a magnanimous strongman.

"I didn't expect Hanzo to be that kind of person. Boss, are you guys okay?" Kyusuke immediately believed Mu Yue's words, looking at Yahiko with concern.

Although Kyusuke usually liked to joke with Yahiko, he also knew that Yahiko's mood definitely wouldn't be good at a time like this.

"It's fine. Uncle Sōsuke is very strong. This time, Hanzo brought trouble upon himself." Yahiko shook his head and said.

Having been mediated by Kakuzu and Mu Yue along the way, Yahiko had already come to terms with much of it.

What kind of person Hanzo really was no longer mattered. What mattered was what he would do next.

After hearing the full account of Mu Yue and the others' participation in the meeting, many Ninja Sect ninjas once again showed shocked expressions.

It wasn't that they were easily alarmed, but the content was truly too impactful for Rain Country ninjas.

The Ninja Sect ninjas all deeply respected Mu Yue, but in their hearts, the strongest in Rain Country was still Hanzo, because this was an impression that had persisted for decades and was hard to change overnight.

Mu Yue repelling Hanzo was essentially equivalent to shattering the worldview of Rain Country ninjas; it was hard not to be shocked.

Mu Yue also knew what kind of impact this would have on Rain Country ninjas, so he gave them ample buffer time and did not arrange any tasks.

After a short rest, Nagato couldn't help but ask Mu Yue for guidance on Fire Release.

After this battle, Nagato realized that although he used various ninjutsu skillfully, there was still much room for improvement, whether it was simple jutsu or high-power jutsu.

While clarifying Nagato's doubts, Mu Yue also taught Nagato a Fire Release ninjutsu.

【You taught your disciple Fire Dragon Flame Bullet. Because the disciple was very grateful, a large crit reward was triggered. You obtained the reward: Lightning Nature Chakra Nature Transformation (Mastery Level).】

Mu Yue nodded inwardly. This reward was not bad.

Although he had obtained Mastery-level Lightning Nature Chakra Nature Transformation through grinding lessons, his proficiency was not high, and receiving the reward repeatedly could increase his proficiency.

But for Mu Yue, Nagato's best reward was still the daily "disciple training returning to teacher," which increased Mu Yue's chakra every day.

【Disciple Nagato's diligent training increased chakra. Disciple's training returns to master: Chakra +240】

These 240 chakra points would require Mu Yue to teach twelve small lessons to earn through teaching, but it was merely the reward from one day of Nagato's training under Trust Level 2.

Mu Yue saw the hope of chakra freedom in Nagato. Perhaps in a few years, after he enters Breathing Chakra Mode, he won't need to turn it off hastily, and Armament Haki could be freely used alongside other ninjutsu without worrying about consumption.

Since the content of this lesson was not special, Mu Yue did not specifically take Nagato to that barrier hut. Other Ninja Sect ninjas heard and subconsciously came to listen. Later, Mu Yue simply taught a Fire Release lesson, and even Kakuzu listened with a serious expression.

Having defeated the current strongest Water Release user in the shinobi world with Fire Release, Mu Yue's Fire Release had extremely high credibility.

Mu Yue lectured until evening. Due to time constraints, he casually ate at the base.

At night, Kakuzu lay in his own room, repeatedly reflecting on Mu Yue's lecture content.

"If this guy charged for lessons, he might make more money than me." Kakuzu greatly admired Mu Yue's teaching ability.

Mastering something yourself and being able to teach it well are two different things; teaching is also a talent.

After closing his eyes, Kakuzu suddenly felt that he seemed to have forgotten something.

"Wasn't I planning to leave? Why am I sleeping here?" Kakuzu then remembered that he had told Mu Yue their grudges were settled because he was preparing to run away.

"But I haven't had Sosuke's meal yet..." Kakuzu stood up, then sat back on the bed, lost in thought.

He realized it didn't seem to matter whether he left or stayed, as he had no home to return to.

Kakuzu's home used to be Takigakure, but after being betrayed by the village's higher-ups, he had no home. He had been wandering freely around the shinobi world, going wherever there were ninjas with high bounties.

"Someone like Sosuke, an organization like the Ninja Sect—they'll likely clash with many strong people in the future, so they'll certainly encounter ninjas with bounties."

Kakuzu thought a lot. He recalled his first battle with Mu Yue. At that time, he already thought Mu Yue was strong, but based on Mu Yue's battle with Hanzō, Mu Yue had actually held back.

Kakuzu also recalled the time when Mu Yue had sealed him within the Ninja Sect. In order to deny Mu Yue and deny the Ninja Sect's ideology, Kakuzu had been observing the entire Sect during his travels, since he had nothing else to do.

Finally, thinking about today's battle, Kakuzu lay back down on the bed.

Following the Ninja Sect would let him encounter ninjas with bounties, and he could also audit Mu Yue's lessons—that didn't seem so bad. Besides, Mu Yue had said he would treat him to a meal, and he hadn't eaten it yet. He should at least eat it before leaving, or else he'd be losing out.

"Sōsuke recognized the Rinnegan, but seems to have no interest in it. Sōsuke's strength is formidable; he was able to suppress Hanzō's Water Release with Fire Release even in the rain." Black Zetsu reported everything that happened in the Rain Country to Uchiha Madara.

"It shouldn't affect my plan in the short term." Uchiha Madara nodded slightly, not paying much attention to the rest of Black Zetsu's words.

To the ninjas of the Rain Country, Hanzō was engraved in their minds as the strongest, but to Uchiha Madara, Hanzō was merely an unfamiliar junior; how strong could he be?

Uchiha Madara equally looked down on everyone except Hashirama.

"Keep an eye on him. Gather information about him." Uchiha Madara said after thinking.

Nagato held an important position in Uchiha Madara's revival plan. His successor would guide Nagato. If Mu Yue was still by Nagato's side at that time, then Mu Yue would be an obstacle that had to be eliminated.

Seeing Uchiha Madara not particularly concerned about Mu Yue, Black Zetsu felt somewhat disappointed. He had thought Madara would propose some plan to deal with Mu Yue.

Black Zetsu took Mu Yue very seriously. The Fire Release level Mu Yue displayed in the battle against Hanzō made the so-called Ninja Sect inheritance more credible. How could an ordinary person train Fire Release to such a level? Hadn't he, having lived for thousands of years, known the limits of ordinary ninjas?

"Madara is only this much. That's fine. As long as the Moon's Eye Plan is completed, the final step will be simple." Black Zetsu prepared to find a way to deal with this ninja named Sōsuke.