Chapter 574: Trust Level Up

"Gather the troops and move south." After clearing out the nearby Leaf ninja, Yagura Karatachi began leading his ninja force to relocate.

Ever since entering the Land of Fire, they had not bothered to conceal their movements much; Yagura predicted that Konoha would assemble a ninja force at top speed to deal with them.

After all, their position was next to the Konoha ninja force stationed in the Land of Hot Water, and if they struck upward, they could catch the Konoha ninja currently engaging Kumogakure in a pincer attack.

Of course, Yagura certainly wouldn't do that, because it would be too easy on Kumogakure, and having three great ninja villages all active in one small country could easily lead to unexpected trouble.

During the march, Yagura called over his two vice commanders.

"Shingetsu, once you reach this area, take your squad and leave, dispersing your forces to operate in this region." Yagura first pointed at a spot on the map near a forest bordering a river flowing into the sea, addressing Hozuki Shingetsu.

Since the goal was to harass the Konoha ninja force and drain their energy, Yagura decided to split into three main groups, each then subdividing into guerrilla units in different areas to play hide-and-seek with Konoha.

Then Yagura turned to the other vice commander: "Kawazawa, you and your squad will be at this location."

Hozuki Shingetsu and Momochi Kawazawa both nodded in understanding.

"Without that deadweight Mizunashi Kan holding us back this time, we'll definitely wipe out our past disgrace!" Yagura's lips curled slightly, quite satisfied with his current teammates.

He had been truly speechless last time—out of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, seven had been reduced to five for no reason, and then Mizunashi Kan had gone and gotten himself killed too, effectively costing them two high-end combatants at once.

Then, at each destination, a third of the ninjas departed, and when Yagura himself reached his destination, the Mist's rapid march came to an end.

After reorganizing his troops, Yagura quickly disbanded them according to plan, and then personally led an elite squad to hunt down Konoha squads.

On Konoha's side, things went exactly as Yagura had predicted; not long after they left, a force of a thousand ninjas arrived in the northeastern part of the Land of Fire.

But then something unexpected happened to Yagura: before he could make his move, the Mist's ANBU took the initiative, repeatedly obtaining intelligence on the Konoha ninja force, as if they had installed cameras on them.

This stunned Yagura—they were in the Land of Fire, where Konoha had the advantage of fighting on home turf, yet they still won the intelligence war. Since when had the Mist ANBU become this strong?

This made Yagura consider changing his tactics.

With such a huge lead in intelligence, guerrilla warfare was no longer necessary; they could completely use their information advantage to catch the Konoha ninja off guard.

However, Yagura was already a mature commander; he did not act rashly. Instead, he consulted the higher-ups of the Mist Village back in the Land of Water.

The Mist Village higher-ups' reply was simple: go for it! Seize the chance and hit Konoha hard.

With orders in hand, Yagura began positioning his forces based on the intelligence.

He left his own unit untouched, but ordered the other two teams to leave behind some ninjas for camouflage, then regroup the rest around Yagura's area to set up an ambush.

Meanwhile, Yagura himself made frequent moves to draw aggro.

"To act so brazenly in the Land of Fire, he must have something backing him up." Upon learning that Yagura was using his strength to hunt down and kill Konoha ninja everywhere, Homura Mitokado didn't get angry; instead, he calmly considered countermeasures.

He had intelligence ninjas gather precise information while simultaneously forming a plan to eliminate the Mist force.

"If he wants to fight a guerrilla war, then I'll capture the chief first." After discerning the Mist force's intentions, Homura quickly devised an operation plan.

The Mist force was currently active mainly in three areas.

So he split his own force into two main groups: he personally led one group to besiege Yagura's area, while the other group moved to encircle the area closest to Yagura's position.

That way, even if something unexpected happened, the ninjas' mobility would allow them to support each other in time, and this arrangement would also make it harder for Yagura to escape.

Even though the plan was ready, Homura didn't act rashly. The key to the plan was killing Yagura, so Yagura's location was critical—if that was wrong, the Konoha ninja force would be led around by the nose.

Only after the intelligence ninjas obtained confirmed information did Homura begin the actual operation.

Though the order was to complete the mission as quickly as possible, stability mattered more than speed.

Watching Homura's movements in the intelligence reports, Yagura showed a hint of regret. "Why couldn't it be Hanyu Muyue or Orochimaru?"

If it were Muyue and Orochimaru, that would have been true redemption.

On Monday, Yamato and Muyue went to the Ninja Academy together.

It was the first day of school, and even Hiruzen Sarutobi took time to visit the Ninja Academy to give a speech at the entrance ceremony.

As they entered the venue for the entrance ceremony, Muyue took out a small gift box and handed it to Yamato.

"This is a gift for you on starting school. It's a kunai I forged myself. You can open it and see if you like it." Muyue said with a gentle smile.

"You didn't have to do this. You're always so busy, yet you still took the time to forge a kunai for me." Yamato was flattered.

In fact, even if it were just a standard kunai from a store, Yamato would have loved it, because Muyue had already been so good to him.

Of course, the more thoughtful handmade kunai made Yamato even happier, but he felt in his heart that he owed Muyue too much.

You have gifted the kunai forged by your disciple. Because the disciple was extremely grateful, a reward critical hit was triggered, granting ninjutsu—Transcription Seal (Mastered).

"This ninjutsu is not bad, it has great operability." Looking at the reward that dropped, Muyue nodded internally.

Transcription Seal is a good ninjutsu, but Muyue didn't know if his transformed Sharingan could use it.

If it could be used, it might play an unexpected role at some critical moment.

After giving the gifts, Muyue and Yamato followed the crowd into the entrance ceremony venue.

The first to give a speech was still the Third Hokage of Konoha, the principal of the Ninja Academy, Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"Wherever leaves of the tree of Konoha dance, fire also burns endlessly. You are the future of Konoha, the new sprouts of Konoha..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen's emotional speech on the Will of Fire stirred the new students below, making them feel they were the pillars of Konoha and eager to fight for Konoha immediately.

After a burst of enthusiastic applause, the host continued: "Next, we invite Vice Principal Muyue to speak."

As soon as Muyue stepped onto the stage, loud applause broke out.

In the Ninja Academy, where chunin were everywhere, Muyue had already become a living legend. Teachers who had interacted with Muyue before often used this experience as a topic of conversation.

For example, the several teachers from the small office where Muyue used to work—Iketani Isamu often told other teachers about how Muyue once substituted for him, and then he treated Muyue to a meal, and so on.

Because Muyue had built good relationships during his time at the Ninja Academy, most people, when talking about him, could only say how capable he was and how good his personality was. This actually had some positive effects.

"Hello, teachers and students..." This was not Muyue's first time attending an entrance ceremony, so he skillfully read the prepared script.

After Muyue finished speaking, thunderous applause erupted again.

"Why does it feel like Teacher Muyue is more popular than the Hokage?" Yamato thought as he observed the expressions of the people in the venue.

There were too many students for him to judge, but when it came to the teachers, Yamato felt that those teachers seemed more excited when Muyue spoke.

Soon, the entrance ceremony ended quietly, and Yamato walked toward the class he had been assigned to.

"Finally over." Yamato sighed in relief as he walked back to class.

It wasn't that he found the entrance ceremony too boring, but rather that Yamato was not yet accustomed to such crowded occasions.

Ever since he was picked up by Shimura Danzo, he had never been in the same venue with so many people at once.

"Class 1, Year 1." After confirming there was no mistake, Yamato walked into the classroom and sat in the front row on the right side, nearest to the door.

Before long, the classroom of Class 1, Year 1 was filled with students.

Then, as the class bell rang, the chunin teacher also walked in.

"Next, we will have self-introductions—just say your name, dreams, and so on," the chunin teacher said from the podium.

"Is there anyone who volunteers to go first?"

Silence fell over the classroom. The students looked at each other, no one voluntarily stood up.

The chunin teacher's expression remained unchanged. Given the age of these students, it took considerable courage to voluntarily stand up and introduce oneself in an unfamiliar environment.

"I am Yamato. My dream is to become a ninja like the First Hokage, able to protect everything I want to protect," Yamato said, standing up.

Clap! Clap!

"Well said."

The chunin teacher led the applause, though he felt it was an impossible dream. But it was an ideal dream, very suitable for the ideal of a child in the Ninja Academy.

The other students also followed with applause.

Some looked at Yamato with pure, shining eyes, thinking he was very brave.

Others showed disdainful expressions, thinking Yamato was dreaming.

Because even they, as six-year-old children, knew that Senju Hashirama was the greatest ninja of Konoha, perhaps even the greatest in the ninja world—someone who could not be equaled.

With someone taking the lead, things went much more smoothly. The students began to introduce themselves one after another.

"My name is Narita Kouhei. My dream is to become Hokage and protect the village."

"My father is a teacher at the school, so my dream is to become a respectable teacher like Lord Muyue."

"My name is Hinata Oriko, and my dream is..."

With the students' cooperation, the self-introduction segment quickly ended, leading into the formal lesson.

"In this class, we'll be talking about one of the most important things for a ninja: chakra." the chunin teacher began.

After listening for half a minute, Yamato wore an expression that said, "That's it?"

He had long since finished learning this kind of knowledge—not just from Muyue, but earlier from Shimura Danzo.

Ten minutes later, Yamato had already started thinking about what to eat for dinner.

It wasn't that he didn't want to listen, but the chunin teacher's material was too basic. It was like making a student who had already learned function derivatives go back to one plus one, five plus four—who could stand listening to that?

"Yamato-kun, didn't you say you wanted to become a ninja like the First Hokage? Slacking off in class won't do." a voice of advice came from behind Yamato.

Yamato turned his head slightly and saw a girl with pure white eyes.

"I've already learned this stuff." Yamato explained, not knowing her, but not wanting to be seen as a bad student.

After all, he was Mugetsu's disciple and couldn't tarnish Mugetsu's reputation.

"Yamato, stand up and tell me what I just said." the chunin teacher called on him.

Although Yamato had performed well during self-introduction, sitting in the first row and whispering so blatantly required a firm response.

Yamato scratched his head, stood up, and said: "There are seven types of chakra: Fire, Wind, Lightning, Earth, Water, Yin, and Yang. Water chakra counters Fire chakra..."

Since he hadn't been listening, Yamato just explained what he knew: the nature transformation characteristics of various chakra types, their mutual generation and suppression, and how merging two types of chakra could form a unique kekkei genkai special chakra.

"Stop, stop, that's enough." the chunin teacher, finding himself starting to not understand, quickly stopped Yamato.

"Yamato-kun has been working very hard. Everyone, feel free to ask him if you don't understand something."

Because Yamato had performed so impressively, the chunin teacher silently let the matter slide.

There was no need to manage a student like that; he just had to wait to be carried along.

The students around Yamato stared at him dumbfounded. Others might not have noticed, but they had seen Yamato zoning out and talking to the person behind him—nothing like being studious.

Although he had successfully defused the crisis, Yamato didn't continue chatting with his deskmate. Instead, he put on a facade of earnest listening while actually spacing out.

After all, he had undergone professional training in Root and could control his expression a little.

After class, several students took the initiative to come over and talk with Yamato.

"Yamato, you're amazing! How do you know so much? The teacher didn't explain as much as you did."

"Yamato, you're so brave, being the first to do the self-introduction."

Suddenly surrounded by seven or eight people, Yamato was stunned. He had never been surrounded by so many people before.

"I know this stuff because I have a good teacher. Also, I'm not as brave as you say." Yamato answered each one seriously.

"Eh, is this what they call humility?" a kid joked.

Instantly, someone laughed, and the laughter spread one by one. The children surrounding Yamato all laughed, and even Yamato couldn't help but smile.

Although everyone was laughing, Yamato could feel it wasn't mockery.

Just like that, within one morning, Yamato had gained eight classmates he could talk to.

The first afternoon class was physical education, and the chunin teacher taught kunai throwing.

When Yamato hit the bullseye consecutively, the classmates around him gasped in surprise.

During free time, many classmates who had talked with Yamato came to ask him questions, and he answered them seriously.

After a day passed, although Yamato hadn't learned anything new, he surprisingly felt that the day had been quite enjoyable.

This was a feeling he had never experienced before. In Root, he was constantly confined to some remote place learning various ninja knowledge.

After having Muyue as his teacher, he gained some freedom, but due to various restrictions, the only people he could interact with were Muyue and Muyue's disciples.

Thinking carefully, Yamato realized he had become the "Senpai Kakashi" among his classmates—a feeling he couldn't get from Kakashi and the others, because his training progress was far too behind.

"Muyue-sensei, so this is the reason for staying at least a year." Yamato instantly understood Muyue's intention.

Muyue hadn't sent him to the ninja academy to learn things; he had sent him there to "play."

At the same time, a message popped up on Mu Yue's panel.

Disciple Daiwa's trust level increased, current trust level four.

I barely finished writing by 4:30. Luckily, I don't have to work tomorrow. Or perhaps I should say today, since it's already 4:30.

I will also try to update twice tomorrow.