Chapter 452: An Extremely Dangerous Slash

After a simple test of the repair medicine's effects, Mu Yue returned to the camp as quickly as possible and then found Might Guy and the others.

Because they had just completed a difficult S-rank mission, Kakashi and the others were currently in a rest period and not undertaking any missions.

Obito's eyes lit up when he saw Mu Yue approaching carrying a large egg.

"Teacher Mu Yue, is this also the egg of a very powerful summoning beast?" Obito asked curiously.

Previously, Mu Yue had given Kakashi a summoning beast egg and specifically emphasized its great potential, which made Obito a bit envious.

He still didn't have a summoning beast either and especially wanted to sign a contract with a cool, powerful one.

The thing that worried Obito the most was his future internal rivalry with Kakashi.

If he himself was not inferior to Kakashi in strength but ultimately lost the battle because Kakashi had a powerful summoning beast, Obito would be absolutely furious.

"Hard to say how strong it is, but it definitely won't be weak." Mu Yue thought for a moment and replied.

The uncertainty factor of an unknown Pokémon egg is too high; it could be a Dratini or it could be a Caterpie.

While answering Obito's question, Mu Yue responded to greetings from other disciples, then walked over to Might Guy and handed him his brand-new ninja registration.

"This is..." Might Guy didn't react at first, but when he saw the "Jonin" under the ninja rank on the ID, he couldn't help showing an excited expression.

This was an utterly unexpected pleasant surprise for Might Guy.

Just a short while ago, he had failed the Jonin exam due to theory, yet now he had somehow been promoted to Jonin.

"What is it? So happy?" Obito, seeing Might Guy laughing out loud, couldn't help but walk over curiously.

"A ninja ID... did you lose your ID while completing the mission, Guy?" Obito thought it was a replacement ID that Mu Yue had helped Might Guy get.

When Obito saw the ninja rank column, his expression changed. His eyes widened and his mouth unconsciously fell open, looking thoroughly shocked.

"That's not right! How is it Jonin? Guy, didn't you fail the Jonin exam?" Obito couldn't help asking.

They were supposed to be brothers who both failed, so how did Might Guy suddenly sneak ahead and become a Jonin?

Obito would rather believe that the staff member processing the ID made a mistake than that Might Guy became a Jonin.

"Failing the Jonin exam doesn't mean you can't become a Jonin." Kakashi glanced at the ID, thought a bit, and then said.

Unlike Obito, Kakashi didn't think this was a mistake.

"What the hell? Failing is failing. How can he get promoted?" Obito was confused by Kakashi's words.

"You can use a sword to cut down a tree, or you can use chakra-enhanced fists to break a tree. What I mean is, the path to becoming a Jonin isn't limited to passing the Jonin exam." Kakashi explained with an analogy.

Obito looked at Mu Yue; he still felt that whatever Mu Yue said had the highest credibility and was easiest to understand.

Mu Yue nodded, confirming Kakashi's words. "Guy's achievements were recognized by the Third Hokage, so he was specially promoted to Jonin."

Hearing Mu Yue's words, Might Guy puffed out his chest. Now he was an outstanding ninja recognized by the Hokage. Next, by maintaining his title as Mu Yue's strongest disciple, he would take a solid step toward becoming the strongest taijutsu user.

Hearing Mu Yue say this, Obito basically knew who the summoning beast egg Mu Yue brought was for.

"Teacher Mu Yue, is there any news about me?" Obito still held a shred of hope.

Might Guy and he graduated at the same time, and they had always been teammates on the battlefield carrying out missions. Logically, his achievements should be about the same as Might Guy's.

Mu Yue shook his head and looked at Shisui. "Besides Guy, Shisui is now qualified to take the Jonin exam. After reporting, he can return to the village to take the exam."

Obito stood frozen like a stone statue, the whole person looking extremely stiff.

Obito could use Kakashi's longer ninja career as an excuse for Kakashi becoming a Jonin first, but he truly had no excuse for Might Guy becoming a Jonin first, because he and Might Guy had come up together from the bottom.

Before Mu Yue entered the Ninja Academy, they were both famous underachievers. Back then, Obito's grades were even slightly better than Might Guy's.

Later, after becoming Mu Yue's disciples, they gradually transformed from underachievers into prodigies. During their Ninja Academy days, they were evenly matched, with little difference in any aspect.

Now, as teammates fighting together on the battlefield, both failing the Jonin exam, Might Guy got promoted to Jonin through achievements while Obito got nothing—essentially being completely outshone by Might Guy.

Then thinking that Shisui could take the Jonin exam, and since Shisui excelled in both literary and martial arts, he would likely pass, Obito suddenly felt the world darken and his life hopeless.

If Shisui became a Jonin, then he would truly be the only one among Mu Yue's disciples who wasn't a Jonin.

In the past, Obito had pitied Rin, who hadn't had the chance to take the Jonin exam and directly became a Special Jonin. Now, Obito just wanted to say that being a Special Jonin wasn't so bad either.

"The Jonin exam, huh." Shisui fell into thought.

Shisui was actually quite happy right now, feeling the joy of a bountiful harvest after hard work in the fields.

Before Obito and the others left, Shisui went on missions with them; when Obito and the others returned to Konoha to rest and recuperate, Shisui stayed behind on the battlefield to carry out missions. Apart from the time he was injured, Shisui had barely rested.

Promotion to Jōnin was one of Shisui's main motivations for his efforts on the battlefield. Becoming a Jōnin would make him more valued within the Uchiha clan meetings, and his words would carry more weight.

But Shisui found it hard to make up his mind to return to Konoha alone for the assessment. On one hand, he worried that without his strength, Kakashi and the others would be more likely to face danger when undertaking high-difficulty missions.

On the other hand, he feared that during his absence, Obito and the others would quietly make progress again. Shisui had only recently mastered the Flame Breathing Chakra Mode, and he didn't want to meet again only to find that Might Guy, Obito, and the others had all attained Armament Haki and the Transparent World.

Lastly, he was worried about Mu Yue. Because there was very little information about Mu Yue's future, and no way to determine his exact time of death, every major battle could potentially be the one.

"I recommend that you register now, Shisui, and then return to Konoha to take the assessment." Sensing Shisui's hesitation, Mu Yue spoke up.

"A person's energy isn't limitless. You need to relax and tighten up in turns. You've already done well enough—you can afford to loosen your tense nerves a bit."

If Shisui returned to the village to take the Jōnin assessment, not only would Shisui get some rest, but Mu Yue would also receive a promotion reward—it could be said to be a win-win choice.

"Mm." Feeling Mu Yue's concern, Shisui felt a warmth in his heart and nodded, deciding to follow Mu Yue's advice.

Seeing that Shisui had agreed, Obito showed a complicated expression. Things had ultimately developed in the direction he least wanted to see.

"Can't a few members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen just pop out of the ground for me to cut down?" Obito was so obsessed with gaining achievements that he was almost delirious.

Kakashi's lips curled up. He already had a hundred mockeries about Obito's ninja rank in mind. If Obito dared to provoke him, Kakashi would definitely make Obito break down crying.

After giving his advice to Shisui, Mu Yue handed the Poké Ball Egg in his hand to Might Guy, congratulating him with a smile: "Congratulations, Guy, on becoming a Jōnin."

Might Guy laughed loudly, thanked Mu Yue, and took the Poké Ball Egg.

Standing beside Obito, Kakashi suddenly sensed an intense sourness, as if someone was frantically eating lemons.

When Kakashi looked at Obito, he could vaguely hear something like "nothing special" and "it's not like I really want a summoning beast anyway."

"Be more careful this time, Guy. Eggs are very fragile." Rin Nohara reminded him.

Might Guy got excited too easily, and Rin was a bit worried that Guy might accidentally crush the egg out of excitement.

"Is that so? It feels pretty hard to me." Might Guy said, holding the egg in his left hand and scratching his head with his right.

Even though he felt the egg in his hands wasn't fragile, Might Guy still switched to holding the egg with both hands for stability. After all, it was a gift from Mu Yue, so he had to cherish it.

"Either way, being a little more careful can't hurt." Rin nodded, seeing that Might Guy had become more cautious.

Regarding summoning beasts, Rin didn't share Obito's feelings. Although she didn't have a summoning beast now, she would soon have one—and not just any, but from the Shikkotsu Forest, one of the three sacred places.

Tsunade had said that if Rin passed her assessment, she would take Rin as an official disciple, and then have Rin sign a summoning blood contract with the Shikkotsu Forest.

What Tsunade called an assessment wasn't about making Rin defeat someone or hold out for a certain amount of time in a fight against Tsunade. Rather, she designated medical knowledge for Rin to learn, and passing meant she had learned it well.

Rin was somewhat confident in this area. She really couldn't match Kakashi and Obito in combat, but when it came to medical knowledge, she had talent beyond the ordinary.

There was also another point: Kakashi and Might Guy had both become Jōnin, while she was a Tokubetsu Jōnin. Mu Yue was probably waiting until she was promoted to full Jōnin to give her a gift.

【You gave your disciple a Poké Ball Egg. Due to the disciple's deep gratitude, a critical reward was triggered. Reward obtained — Gentle Fist (Proficient Level)】

As Might Guy accepted the gift, a reward notification popped up on Mu Yue's panel, and a large amount of Gentle Fist training experience appeared in his mind.

When Mu Yue saw the reward only listed "Gentle Fist," he thought it was just the most basic version. Only after organizing the memories did he realize that the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms and the Rotation were also included.

If he had obtained Proficient-level Gentle Fist right when he first got the Byakugan, Mu Yue would have been quite happy. But for the current him, the Gentle Fist's position was somewhat awkward.

Although it was the Hyūga clan's secret taijutsu, Gentle Fist held a pivotal position within the entire taijutsu system of Konoha.

Gentle Fist could directly injure the enemy's chakra pathway system and internal organs. Since internal organs can hardly be trained, even the strongest ninja was highly vulnerable to Gentle Fist strikes.

However, most ninjas had high attack but low defense. Moreover, Mu Yue had Armament Haki and could also enter multiple Breathing Chakra Modes. His attack power was through the roof.

Anyone Mu Yue could kill with Gentle Fist, he could kill even more easily with other methods—it would just cost a bit more chakra.

After triggering the critical reward from Might Guy, Mu Yue handed out the secret medicine, instructing Might Guy and Rin Nohara to keep it safe and take it directly if they were severely injured.

Next, Mu Yue used his Byakugan to look at the Poké Ball Egg he had given to Kakashi.

Perhaps because it had started being incubated by a designated person, when Mu Yue looked with his Byakugan, it was no longer a void; he could vaguely make out a silhouette.

He still couldn't tell exactly what it was, but it seemed to be a four-legged Pokémon similar to a dog.

Finally, Mu Yue took Kakashi away on the pretext of testing him, preparing to check Kakashi's progress over the past two months in Lightning Nature Transformation and sword technique, to see if he had met the training requirements for "One Thoughtless Slash."

Muyue first gave Kakashi an appraisal.

【Name: Hatake Kakashi】

【Chakra: 7800】

【Skills: Transparent World, Lightning Release Chakra Nature Transformation (Mastery Level: 100/), Earth Release Chakra Nature Transformation (Proficient Level: 2700/3000), Hatake Sword Technique (Mastery Level: 150/), Lightning Breathing (Proficient Level: 2600/3000)...】

Over 7,000 Chakra, one mastery-level nature transformation plus one close to mastery-level nature transformation—this is almost the standard for Konoha jonin. The stats of average Konoha jonin basically fluctuate within this range.

But with other skills factored in, Kakashi's stat sheet is not ordinary: Transparent World, master-level Hatake Sword Technique, several master-level lightning and earth releases.

Considering his age, Kakashi's stats indeed qualify him as a worthy genius; in just a few years of training, he has achieved data that others couldn't reach even after ten or twenty years.

"Use your lightning sword technique and attack me with all your might." Muyue closed the stat sheet and said.

The information shown by the appraisal technique wasn't comprehensive enough; combining it with practical combat performance would allow him to make the most accurate judgment.

Kakashi didn't waste words. He immediately adjusted his breathing, concentrated it to the extreme to enter the Transparent World state, and drew his White Fang Short Blade.

Zzzt! Zzzt!

A dazzling yellow lightning flowed along Kakashi's palm into the White Fang Short Blade, extending into a lightning blade. Kakashi stepped forward with his right foot and slid his left foot back, assuming a charging stance.

Under the effect of Transparent World, Kakashi gathered all his strength and poured it into the blade. The next slash would be the strongest blow he could deliver.

After all, his opponent was Muyue. Muyue's strength allowed Kakashi to exert his full power without any hesitation.

The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, who had put them through a bitter battle, were casually slaughtered by Muyue. Such a Muyue clearly could not be injured by his attack.

Kakashi really wished he had the ability to injure Muyue, because that would mean he had the strength to change the future, but reality and his goal still had to be distinguished.

"Fire Lightning God!"

Boom!

A thunderous roar exploded. Kakashi swung the lightning blade and charged at Muyue at extreme speed, as fast as a thunder dragon dancing—like real lightning, both fast and dazzling.

If Muyue hadn't specifically brought Kakashi to a farther location, the camp's patrol ninja would probably have come by now.

Facing the aggressive Kakashi, Muyue entered Lightning Breathing Chakra Mode, then grasped the air and created a lightning tachi, swinging a slash at the approaching Kakashi.

It wasn't that he could only use Mushin Issen in this way; in fact, using Enma directly would be more powerful, but Muyue didn't need that much power—after all, he only wanted to test Kakashi's strength, not cut Kakashi into "Kashi."

Because he was in the Transparent World state, despite being surrounded by yellow electric light, Kakashi could still clearly see Muyue's movements.

At the moment Muyue swung his blade, a sudden chill ran down Kakashi's spine. Muyue's seemingly ordinary slash employed some profound and terrifying technique, giving Kakashi an extremely dangerous feeling.

Danger! Danger!

Kakashi's senses, like a repeater, transmitted this message to him. If the person standing before him wasn't Muyue, Kakashi would abandon the attack and consider the possibility of dodging.