Chapter 503

The Land of Rain.

The third day of unrestricted lectures.

Due to the buzz from the previous two days, more ninjas came to the Land of Rain drawn by reputation, wanting to see if Ninja Teacher Sōsuke's teaching ability was as amazing as the legends said, so the number of attendees increased further.

Of course, the arrival of more people also increased the difficulty of managing the Ninja Sect.

After all, the Ninja Sect currently only had a hundred or so ninjas, so managing over a thousand ninjas was quite challenging.

However, the ninjas who had already attended two days of lectures were afraid that if they offended the Ninja Sect, they wouldn't be able to continue attending, so they behaved well, and there was no chaos; basically, any incidents were stopped as soon as they started.

"Ninjutsu is a combination of chakra nature transformation, chakra shape transformation, and chakra control!" Muyue concluded.

"Whether it's Fire Release, Water Release, Yin Release, or Yang Release, the essence is the same."

This is also why different people using the same ninjutsu can have such vast differences.

Some people need to perform a full sequence of hand seals to use a ninjutsu, some can simplify the seals, and some only need one seal or even no seals.

"Different chakra nature transformations have different characteristics: fire's high-temperature burning, wind's cutting, water's fluidity. In terms of chakra nature transformation, we can develop based on the traits of different chakra nature transformations."

When a ninja masters all seven chakra nature transformations and has deep research into all ninjutsu, it is almost impossible for him to be countered in battle, and he can always use abilities that counter his opponent.

Over these six days, the quality of every single one of Muyue's lessons was extraordinarily high. The condensed key points he explained during class were recorded and spread, causing more and more ninjas to come drawn by reputation; one had to go early to secure a good spot near the front.

On the morning of the seventh day, Hanzo stood in front of the mirror in his inn room, looking at himself in disbelief: for an entire seven days, he hadn't returned to Amegakure even once.

Looking back now, Sōsuke was simply confident at the time, believing that fire-natured chakra was enough to defeat him and he didn't need to use other abilities.

When the class ended and Hanzo prepared to return to Amegakure, he had already been away from Amegakure for three days; it was time to go back.

And it wasn't even for some important mission—just to listen to Sōsuke's lectures.

Hanzo suppressed the extra emotions in his heart and continued listening to the lecture; he could think about things later, but if he got distracted in class, Sōsuke wouldn't repeat it for him.

Therefore, no matter what ninjutsu it was, Muyue could talk about it eloquently; the content was solid, and at the same time, Muyue had summarized new insights.

Previously, Hanzo had thought that Sōsuke was only good at fire-nature ninjutsu, and that was why he used a fire-nature ninjutsu that was countered to fight him.

"Since I've already stayed three days, I might as well stay another half day." Hanzo planned to leave tomorrow afternoon, at least finishing the ninjutsu portion.

For these three categories, no matter which one, the educators were at most ordinary jonin, and in most cases, chunin.

Every time he gained a new master-level ninjutsu, Muyue felt as if he had trained that particular ninjutsu for years or even over a decade.

"Teacher Sōsuke, will there be opportunities like this to attend lectures in the future?" A ninja, seeing that Muyue kept silent, summoned the courage to ask.

Although it was just an illusion—in reality only a second had passed—the training experience in Muyue's mind was genuine.

The fifth day, listened to lectures all day.

"For example, with water-nature chakra transformation, we can use chakra shape transformation to make it sharper and increase its penetrating power, or turn it into water mist to obstruct vision."

"Of course, this doesn't mean we can just combine arbitrarily and develop ninjutsu," Muyue continued.

And what was the level of a chunin? A chunin studying fire-nature chakra transformation who could use Great Fireball and Phoenix Fire was already quite good; what kind of broad insights could they have?

That day, Muyue also stood on the lecture platform in the open area much earlier, but he did not start teaching early.

"Since things have come to this, let's attend the lecture first." After finishing his breakfast, Hanzo used the Body Flicker Technique to hurry to the lecture ground.

It was like a book in three volumes; if you had only the last volume left unread, even if there was no major loss, it would feel unpleasant.

Muyue's words made many people fall into thought.

Starting early would accommodate those who came early, but it would cause those who liked to arrive on time to miss part of the content.

He had valued Sōsuke so much and regarded him as a great enemy; after being defeated, he had wrestled with himself countless times inside, only to discover that Sōsuke hadn't taken him seriously at all and hadn't even gone all out in the fight.

"This is a true ninjutsu professor," Hanzo sighed in his heart.

At this point, he no longer resented his defeat by Sōsuke; with only half the day's class completed, Hanzo could already feel Sōsuke's terror from just the tip of the iceberg that Sōsuke had shown.

The next afternoon, Hanzo was curious about Muyue's taijutsu level; he planned to listen for a few minutes and leave, but as soon as he listened, he was instantly amazed, and by the time he snapped back to reality, the afternoon class had already ended.

"Tomorrow morning's class will still be ninjutsu, but the content will focus more on chakra control; the afternoon will be taijutsu." Muyue made the usual announcement.

"What a pity I didn't come the first two days." The ninja who only arrived at the Land of Rain on the third day looked regretful.

【】

Hanzō's strength meant he could arrive late and still secure a good spot, but he didn't want to reveal his identity, so he also went early to wait for the lesson to start.

On the sixth day, after listening all day, the crowd kept growing, and he didn't manage to get a front-row spot.

"Hanzō, you are the leader of Amegakure—how can you neglect village affairs because of Sōsuke's lecture? Have you forgotten the great dream of the Land of Rain's rise?" Hanzō reminded himself inwardly, resolved to leave after finishing the morning session tomorrow.

Hanzō fell into thought; he had felt something was missing, and now he realized the lecture hadn't finished yet.

"There will be, but the timing hasn't been decided yet." Muyue thought for a moment and answered.

Because ninjas typically encounter ninjutsu in their early stages through three main situations: first, the ninja academy; second, the internal training systems within ninja clans; and third, guidance from elder family members in ninja households.

A lonely expression appeared on Hanzō's face; understanding this point was painful for him.

Because their nature transformation abilities, control over chakra, understanding of ninjutsu itself, and other aspects all differ.

Muyue's experience with various ninjutsu was extremely rich—even counting his original life, he had only trained in ninjutsu for a dozen years, but including the training memories instilled by the system, it was truly staggering.

Just from Muyue's first sentence, he knew he hadn't come in vain.

Most ninjas lacked such awareness.

The evaluation rewards for advanced lessons were excellent; if conditions allowed, Muyue would choose to run them multiple times.

Currently, even if the attendance was sufficient, it would be hard for Muyue to run consecutive sessions for three straight months like he did with intermediate lessons.

First, the content of the lessons had to be very outstanding, and the attendees had to gain something, in order to earn an S-rank evaluation.

If he taught advanced skills like the Breathing Technique Armament Haki Secret Art, the evaluation would easily surpass S-rank, but such skills obviously couldn't be passed around recklessly.

Therefore, the content available for lectures was actually very limited. Muyue's choice was to summarize his knowledge and then present it from a macro perspective.

Achieving this result with an unrestricted lecture was due to Muyue's early lesson preparation, not something he improvised on the spot.

Upon hearing Muyue's answer, many ninjas showed delighted expressions—both rogue ninjas and village ninjas alike.

After all, regardless of their status, being taught by a ninja of Muyue's level was a rare opportunity.

Of course, except for ninjas of the Ninja Sect.

Within the current Ninja Sect, the possibility of receiving guidance from Muyue was quite high, though it might not always be the original body.

"There should be even more ninjas wanting to join the Ninja Sect. At this rate, the Land of Rain will soon be restored to peace." Yahiko felt another step closer to his dream.

Ever since joining the Ninja Sect, he had been moving forward on the path of progress, and although he encountered setbacks, they didn't hinder his pace.

"It's so good that Teacher Sōsuke founded the Ninja Sect in the Land of Rain." Yahiko sighed, fully aware of who had brought all this about.

"Hmm." Nagato nodded in agreement, looking at Muyue.

As the only one who knew Muyue's true identity, Nagato understood Muyue's greatness even more.

Muyue wasn't even from the Land of Rain; he was from the Land of Fire, a ninja of Konoha, yet he came to the Land of Rain for peace, concealing his name and starting over.

As a top-tier powerhouse, and moreover a top-tier powerhouse from the Five Great Shinobi Villages, Muyue could clearly live a much easier and more comfortable life.

Muyue noticed Nagato's gaze and returned a smile.

When the time reached nine o'clock, Muyue began the lesson punctually.

Though it was the last day, Muyue didn't arrange any special ceremony; he lectured as usual.

The ninjas attending also quickly immersed themselves in Muyue's class, forgetting it was the final lesson.

When the lesson ended, someone smiled and made plans with friends to get up early tomorrow and grab a good spot.

"All lessons have now concluded. I hope everyone has gained something."

Only when Muyue smiled and announced the successful conclusion of the unrestricted lecture did the ninjas remember that it was already the seventh day of the advertised time—the last day.

"Ahh, I only attended two days." A late-arriving ninja expressed extreme regret.

"I wonder when the next lecture will be, and what exciting content there will be—truly looking forward to it." Another ninja anticipated Muyue's future classes.

A large number of ninjas bowed to Muyue with serious expressions and earnestly thanked him: "Teacher Sōsuke, thank you for your guidance."

Although Muyue had only taught them for seven days, and some had attended less than that, they all considered themselves students of the shinobi teacher.

Because Muyue's lessons truly made them feel the weight of the title of "shinobi teacher."

Before taking the lecture, many people thought the content of this unrestricted lecture would be very ordinary.

A single secret technique is enough to establish a ninja clan; would any faction selflessly spread advanced ninja knowledge unconditionally and without restrictions?

But the facts proved that they had underestimated the Ninja Instructor. Although Sōsuke did not teach any specific ninjutsu or secret techniques, what he taught made many people feel that it surpassed so-called powerful ninjutsu and secret techniques.

The ninjas not only considered themselves students of the Ninja Instructor, but they also took pride in it.

This even included some ninjas from Amegakure.

Once upon a time, Hanzō had chosen to spare a young opponent's life because of his excellence. Such magnanimity earned Hanzō respect and admiration from many ninjas.

Compared to Hanzō, the Ninja Instructor's actions had undoubtedly risen another level. How could this fail to inspire respect?

The ninjas influenced each other, and more and more of them bowed to Sōsuke. Even Yokura and Kōdo gave slight bows of respect.

Hanzō looked at Sōsuke, his expression complicated. He bowed slightly, but no sound came from his mouth.

Sōsuke's lecture had been beneficial—Hanzō had to admit that—but if it meant calling him teacher, that he could not do.

"I remember you're called Hattori, right? Teacher Sōsuke even interacted with you. Why aren't you speaking?" A Rain ninja nearby was somewhat surprised to see Hanzō only bowing slightly and not calling him teacher.

Hanzō: …

He really wanted to know what expression that Rain ninja would make if he dropped his disguise.

But Hanzō had no interest in sparring with his own subordinate, nor was it worth exposing himself.

"Soon the Ninja Sect will establish an official headquarters in the eastern part of the Land of Rain. At that time, a Youth Ninja Tournament will be held. Ninjas aged eighteen and under may register. Top rankings will receive rewards. First place will receive the Fire Dragon Dance. Other rewards will be announced together closer to the event," Sōsuke announced.

The ninjas below looked at each other, all wearing expressions of disbelief.

Among them, over a thousand had once seen Sōsuke perform the Fire Dragon Dance and knew how powerful that Fire Style ninjutsu was.

"The first-place reward is the Fire Style ninjutsu that defeated Master Hanzō!" The Rain ninja gasped.

"Damn, I just turned nineteen this year." A ninja was delighted at first, then realized he had exceeded the age limit, and felt frustrated.

"Sōsuke is actually going to give away the Fire Dragon Dance as a reward. I must report this to Father." Kōdo was also secretly astonished.

He had personally witnessed Sōsuke using the Fire Dragon Dance to thrash Hanzō, and he hadn't expected Sōsuke to give away such a powerful ninjutsu so easily.

"I'll spread the word when I return to the village. Although there aren't many Fire Style users in the village, it's still a good thing to obtain," Yokura thought.

If not for his age, even Yokura would have wanted to enter.

Hanzō, surprised, darkened. He had a feeling that his defeat by Sōsuke would spread across the entire shinobi world with the unfolding of the Youth Ninja Tournament.

Hanzō now truly regretted opposing the Ninja Sect. He had gained nothing, only weakened Amegakure's strength and tarnished his own reputation.

Perhaps in another ten years, he would no longer be known throughout the ninja world as the Demi-God, but as Sōsuke's background character.

"Sōsuke certainly knows how to make money. He'll make a huge profit this time." Kakuzu observed the expressions of the ninjas present and couldn't control the corner of his mouth lifting.

These ninjas were no longer simply people to bleed for coins; it was as if they were begging the Ninja Sect to drain their coins and make money from them.

At that moment, the ninjas in Kakuzu's eyes were stacks and stacks of moving paper money, making his somewhat fierce gaze unconsciously soften a little.

After the advertisement, the seven-day unrestricted lecture ended completely. The ninjas who had come to listen dispersed, and the Ninja Sect ninjas began to pack up and head east to the Land of Rain.

Sōsuke knew it was difficult to squeeze money from the daimyo. On one hand, the Land of Rain was not very wealthy; on the other, the daimyo also had to provide funds for Amegakure.

So Sōsuke made another request: to allocate him a piece of land for the Ninja Sect to station—land with a nature similar to a ninja village, where the Ninja Sect would be responsible for everything locally.

The daimyo of the Land of Rain waved his hand and allocated 350 square kilometers of land to the Ninja Sect.

It looked quite good, but in fact it wasn't large—just a bit bigger than Konoha's Forest of Death.

Moreover, the most fatal issue was that most of it was wasteland, and the only two or three villages were the kind so poor they couldn't even pay taxes.

Although there were many drawbacks, from Sōsuke's perspective, none were insurmountable problems.

Too much wasteland? Then develop it. Ninja construction capabilities were not weak. No money? Use the reputation of his alias to figure out how to boost the economy. Short on population? Coincidentally, the ninja world war was happening. As long as they showed strength, people would voluntarily move to the Ninja Sect's territory. Accepting refugees was also an option.

Before moving east, the Ninja Sect ninjas had already built some simple livable houses in the territory. After arriving at the territory, the Ninja Sect ninjas began to consider a name for the settlement.

This was an official settlement, different from the previous temporary base.

"How about calling it Ninja Sect Village?" Yahiko thought they could simply call it Ninja Sect Village, following the naming of ninja villages.

"It doesn't feel very good," Konan said honestly.

She found the name "Ninja Sect Village" strange; even "Akatsuki Village" sounded more natural than "Ninja Sect Village."

"Haha, it does seem that way," Yahiko said, repeating it in his mind a few times and realizing it really didn't sound good.

"How about 'Peace City'?" Nagato said after thinking for a moment.

Whether it was the former Akatsuki organization or the current Ninja Sect, their goal was peace. Moreover, with the Ninja Sect establishing itself in the eastern part of the Land of Rain, it was inevitable that they would reorganize the east and then radiate influence across the entire Land of Rain.

So Nagato thought naming it after peace was a good idea, embodying the dreams of all the ninja of the Ninja Sect.

"That's great," Yahiko said, instantly understanding Nagato's thoughts and praising him.

"Why not call it 'Ninja Teacher City'? That way, just hearing it, everyone would know it's Sōsuke's territory," Kakuzu said, thinking that more ninja would come seeking reputation, making it easier to make money.

Many ninja voiced their opinions. Some thought the Ninja Sect was a ray of light in the chaotic world, so it could be called "Radiance City," while others liked Kakuzu's straightforward "Ninja Teacher City."

In response, Muyue used the old method of voting. Since the Ninja Sect ninja all wanted Muyue to come up with a name too, Muyue proposed "Six Paths City" and added it to the naming vote.

The final vote result was that "Six Paths City" won by a large margin. Nagato's "Peace City" and Kakuzu's "Ninja Teacher City" had nearly the same number of votes, and the other names basically received no votes.

After the name was decided, the ninja of the Ninja Sect began a fervent construction effort. Meanwhile, the impact of Muyue's unrestricted lectures was spreading rapidly.

The various condensed golden phrases Muyue had spoken during his lectures, the feat of killing Yagura instantly with Wild Dance of the Fire Dragon, and the scene of over a thousand ninja bowing and calling him teacher—all these stories began circulating throughout the ninja world.

A large number of ninja vouched for Sōsuke, proving the true worth of the title "Ninja Teacher."

Perhaps it was to set him up for a fall, or perhaps it was genuine extreme fandom—some even said that Sōsuke was the modern-day Sage of Six Paths, a second Sage of Six Paths.

Iwagakure.

Tsuchikage Building, Tsuchikage's Office.

After hearing Kitsuchi's report, Ōnoki showed a surprised expression.

"Does that Sōsuke really have such strong teaching ability? In just seven days, even you gained something."

Ōnoki felt that at Kitsuchi's level, it was basically impossible to teach further; one could only rely on oneself.

He had tried with Kitsuchi, but Kitsuchi simply couldn't learn Dust Release and the Light-Weight Rock Technique—these abilities weren't something you could learn just by effort.

"There is no exaggeration. On the last day of the course, all the ninja bowed to Sōsuke in heartfelt gratitude. He truly has that strong teaching ability," Kitsuchi said seriously.

"I think we could try entrusting him to train ninja for the village. With his teaching ability, I believe we can look forward to the final results."

Ōnoki fell into deep thought.

Ninja villages are essentially military organizations. Outsourcing the training of members would be rather abstract, and if they were turned, it would have very serious consequences.

"Let's try contacting them first and see what the Ninja Sect's intentions are." After carefully weighing the pros and cons, Ōnoki decided it was worth attempting.

First, according to existing intelligence, the Ninja Sect mostly consisted of idealists, and Sōsuke, as the leader of ninja, was even more so. Thus, it was highly unlikely that they would help other villages turn the Iwa ninja.

Moreover, Ōnoki did not plan to send the village's elite ninja right away; he would first send ninja with the Will of Stone to test the waters.

Mainly, Kitsuchi had made Muyue sound so impressive that Ōnoki thought if it really worked, even a bit of trouble would be worth it.

After Kitsuchi left, Ōnoki began reviewing Iwa's ninja records, looking for strong youths under eighteen.

Although very few in Iwa trained in Fire Release, if a powerful jutsu could be kept from other opponents, that was a gain. Iwa could not afford not to compete in the Youth Martial Arts Tournament.

One of Iwa's current combat opponents, Konoha, had many fire-using ninja, and the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was especially skilled with fire. Ōnoki did not want Konoha to obtain Wild Dance of the Fire Dragon.

Sunagakure.

Kazekage Building, Kazekage's Office.

"Yagura, with all that time you wasted embarrassing yourself, couldn't you have gone to the battlefield to find enemy squads? You've brought shame to Suna!" Rasa scolded without mercy.

He had originally been in competition with Yagura, and after Rasa became Kazekage, Yagura was still not very submissive, so their relationship was quite strained. Rasa greatly disliked Yagura.

With such an opportunity to attack, Rasa naturally would not let it go, directly cursing Yagura, who had come to report intelligence, up and down.

"As a hero of Suna, you were instantly killed by a ninja from a small country. How do you think the other four great ninja villages will view Sunagakure?" Rasa pressed on relentlessly.

"What's wrong with that? Senior Sōsuke is powerful; isn't it only natural that I lost to him?" Yagura retorted.

If it came to a real fight, Yecang certainly wouldn't be instantly killed, but since she said she wanted to experience Muyue's Fire Release, she naturally had to go all out.

"If you're so capable, go challenge Senior Sōsuke. If you can win, when you come back, I'll immediately take a kunai and kill myself!"

Yecang was saying, "If you're so good, you go." She didn't believe Rasa could defeat Muyue.

"As the Kazekage, I have a mountain of duties every day. I don't have the free time you do," Rasa sneered.

He wasn't stupid—he wasn't actually going to challenge Sōsuke.

Even Hanzo the Demi-God, a veteran of the ninja world, had fallen at Sōsuke's hands. If he went, he wouldn't fare much better.

He was only using that as an excuse to scold Yecang; it didn't mean he would underestimate Sōsuke, who had made a name for himself across the ninja world, just because he was a ninja from a small country.

Yecang clenched her fists, itching to punch Rasa's ugly face until it swelled.

The last shred of reason made her release her fists and turn toward the door.

"Say whatever you want about me, but the reward from Senior Sōsuke's Youth Martial Arts Tournament is excellent. You'd better pick some outstanding ninja from the village to participate, or you'll regret it." Stopping at the door, Yecang warned him.

Even though she couldn't stand Rasa, he was the Kazekage now, and Yecang had no authority to summon the village's geniuses to compete.

"You don't need to trouble yourself with that. I am the Kazekage," Rasa said flatly.

Bang!

The Kazekage's office door slammed shut.

Seeing Yecang leave, Rasa began to seriously study Ninshū and the intelligence on Sōsuke.

He realized Ninshū was actually a considerable threat, because Sōsuke was too exceptional.

He possessed immense personal strength while also having extraordinary teaching ability and charisma.

In just seven days, he had gotten over a thousand ninja to voluntarily call themselves his students. If this happened a few more times, it would be incredible—truly a teacher of the ninja world.

If Sōsuke were just a single person, it might be manageable, but the key was that he also had the organization Ninshū, which was thriving under his influence.

Now, to Rasa, Sōsuke and Ninshū felt like a supercharged version of Hanzo and Amegakure.

If Sōsuke ever developed ambitions like Hanzo's, then the Wind Country, which bordered the Rain Country, could very well become Ninshū's target of attack.

…

Konoha.

Due to the Rinnegan and the legacy of Ninshū, Shimura Danzo was very concerned about intelligence from the Rain Country.

He reviewed the reports sent back by Root members every day.

"This Sōsuke's ability to master all seven chakra nature transformations and jutsu is definitely linked to the Ninshū legacy." Shimura Danzo didn't believe Sōsuke had achieved his current strength through his own training.

No matter how much of a genius he was, he would still need time to train.

Shimura Danzo's old classmate, Sarutobi Hiruzen, was Konoha's ultimate ninjutsu genius, so talented in ninjutsu that even the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, was humble in comparison.

But even Sarutobi Hiruzen at the same age was far inferior to Sōsuke today. Shimura Danzo couldn't believe anyone in the ninja world could be such a genius. If Sōsuke were that remarkable, he wouldn't have remained obscure until now to make a name for himself.

"I can't let this Sōsuke and Ninshū continue to grow." The more Shimura Danzo thought about it, the more threatening Ninshū seemed. He immediately ordered the Root ninja in the Rain Country to take action and contact Hanzo again to discuss eliminating Ninshū.

Although Hanzo had already signed a peace treaty with Ninshū.

But Shimura Danzo felt Hanzo would cooperate, because the threat Ninshū posed to Amegakure was obvious. If he were Hanzo, he would already be planning how to assassinate Sōsuke.

Shimura Danzo thought this wasn't enough, so he went to see Sarutobi Hiruzen to explain the threat Sōsuke posed.

ps: This chapter is 7k, slightly less than the usual two-in-one. I can't hold out much longer.