Ninja Mentor: Pathways to Power

Chapter 6

Chapter 6: The Pathological Danzo

For a second they just stood there observing each other. They stood still, silence enveloping them like a shroud. The deep voice of the Root ninja, distorted by his mask—a signature of their order—pierced the quiet. "Night," he began, the name almost echoed, "this comes directly from Lord Danzo." The ninja seemed to bend the very light around him, drawing it closer and then casting it aside as he extended a scroll.

Accepting the scroll, Mukai's fingers brushed against the paper, feeling the urgency pressed into its seal. By the time he looked back up the heavy presence had disappeared and the only thing indicating someone was the leaves were rustling in his absence. The exchange was brief, a testament to the life they led. He had almost forgotten where he had transmigrated to.

'Who was that?...' He thought to himself. According to his memories, he hadn't personally met the stronger ninjas of this world but he was almost certain they wouldn't be too much stronger than that ninja he just met. His presence was suffocating.

Before the Root ninja had left, Mukai had managed to scan him, it must've been a reflex

【Name: ???】

【Potential: ?】

【Chakra: ???】

【Evaluation: Run.】

For a moment, Mukai stood frozen, the scroll in his hand forgotten. The word 'Run' echoed ominously in his mind. Granted he hadn't had the ability to scan people very long, but never had the scanner offered such a stark warning. It wasn't just the inability to gauge the ninja's chakra level or potential; it was the realization that he was in the presence of a power so formidable, it could only advise flight.

The foliage around him seemed to grow quieter, as if in recognition of the danger that had just passed. Mukai took a deep breath, trying to shake off the feeling of suffocation that lingered from the encounter. It was a humbling reminder of the vast world he found himself in. And it presented the idea that this world might vary from the story.

Mukai's thoughts shifted rapidly from shock to determination. If the Root ninja's presence could instill such fear, what then, of the targets and challenges that lay ahead? He understood that to survive in this world, to achieve anything of note, he would need to grow stronger, and fast.

Once he could no longer sense the Root organization ninja with his sensory jutsu, Mukai went inside to open the scroll and see what new orders Danzo had issued.

"Your classmate Uchiha Shisui is a genius of the Uchiha clan. Monitor his actions, confirm his personality, and assess him."

After reading, Mukai felt a bit emotional about Danzo's near-pathological wariness of the Uchiha.

Shisui was only six years old, just starting at the ninja academy.

Such a child, merely because he had a bit of a reputation for talent within his clan, was under Danzo's orders for monitoring and assessment.

Of course, it's not out of the question that Danzo had plans for Shisui, wanting to recruit him into Root. However, Mukai didn't think Danzo's plans would come to fruition; He highly doubted the Third Hokage would just let Danzo get away with that.

Mukai was confident he understood the situation before. He used to think the Third could tolerate the existence of Root, but not a Root organization with overly powerful members. But if that was the case, who did he meet earlier? He shook his head to rid it of thoughts.

After reading, Mukai destroyed the scroll with a fire release technique.

This new order was within Mukai's scope of acceptance. Even if Danzo hadn't sent someone to give it to him, Mukai would have had to report Shisui's talent during his regular updates.

Because Mukai felt that with Danzo's obsession with the Uchiha, hiding it would be meaningless and would only draw fire onto himself.

Mukai created a shadow clone to practice jutsu, while his real body started to work on increasing his chakra.

Currently, chakra was his biggest weakness; no matter how many jutsu he learned or how proficient he became, without sufficient chakra, it was difficult to fully utilize them.

A ninja with less chakra, no matter how strong, has limited strength; a ninja with more chakra, no matter how weak, won't be too bad off. It could be said that chakra determines a ninja's limits.

...

The next day.

Since he didn't have class this morning, Mukai took the opportunity to go to the ninja academy's library.

He planned to organize the exam papers for the fourth-grade exams from recent years. Since the process went smoothly, he also found the papers for the first grade. His main goal was to take on disciples, but improving their theoretical grades was also part of his plan.

Mukai realized that the exam questions each year were not too different; each question was of a type, just phrased differently or with different data, and some papers even had identical questions.

Mukai nodded to himself, confident in their ability to pass.

He felt that even grinding practice questions might not be necessary.

Just letting them do the papers from the past two years should make passing no problem.

After grabbing a few papers, Mukai left the library.

During the afternoon class, Mukai made a small experiment by intentionally lowering the quality of his teaching.

He deduced from previous feedback that teaching evaluations were likely split into two major parts: content quality and student satisfaction.

He aimed to receive a B rating for the first time, suspecting that, like the first A rating, there would be an extra reward for the first B.

【Class concluded, calculating】

【Evaluation: B】

【Reward Received: Chakra +20】

【First time achieving a B-rating in teaching, reward received — proficiency in chakra shape transformation】

Memories of training in chakra shape transformation flooded Mukai's mind.

He was pleasantly surprised; in the chakra system, shape transformation was as critical as nature transformation, both significantly enhancing ninjutsu.

Though only proficient and not yet expert, shape transformation wasn't limited by chakra nature.

Speaking of shape transformation, one can't forget Naruto's Rasengan, the epitome of shape transformation in ninjutsu, powerful even without nature transformation.

"Time to develop the Rasengan." Mukai planned to develop this useful A-rank jutsu on his own. With detailed instructions from the original and his knowledge of shape transformation, it shouldn't be too difficult.

The chakra bonus from the B rating gave Mukai another aspect to consider for future classes.

He thought it might be worth aiming for more B ratings occasionally; though each reward was small, they added up.

Adding Rasengan development to his schedule, Mukai found his life incredibly fulfilling.

Teaching during the day, guiding Shisui in the evening, practicing and developing ninjutsu at night, and training Might Guy and Obito on weekends, his schedule was packed.

Mukai wished to maintain this peaceful life, steadily progressing for a few years.

Unfortunately, he hadn't arrived at a peaceful time, making quiet days hard to come by.

Because on only the fourth day after Mukai arrives in the ninja world, unsettling news arrives from the front lines to Konoha.