Naruto: Strength Through Teaching

The forest was extremely quiet at this moment. Everyone was shocked by Kakashi's single slash, and in this silent atmosphere, Kakashi's final words echoed in everyone's ears.

"How is it possible? Akutami Hideyuki was killed just like that!" Zabuza looked in disbelief at Akutami Hideyuki, who had been sliced in half by Kakashi's blade.

This wasn't some Genin or Chunin, but a Jonin who had gained a bit of fame in the Hidden Mist. And yet, he was killed in one stroke.

"Is this the power of protection?" Zabuza's worldview was greatly shaken.

He was certain that Kakashi didn't have this kind of strength before. Otherwise, their previous battle wouldn't have been so difficult for Kakashi. If he could kill Akutami Hideyuki in one hit, he could definitely kill Kisame in the same way. But Kakashi didn't kill him instantly; they even fought for a short while.

Zabuza truly couldn't understand why someone would want so desperately to protect others, to the point of unleashing such terrifying power.

"Is this guy really a Genin? No way," Kurosawa had a look of disbelief.

He now suspected that Kakashi might be some powerful Konoha ninja disguised with Transformation Jutsu, pretending to be at a disadvantage during the fight.

"As expected of my dear friend. I really look forward to our next battle," Guy, after his initial shock, gave Kakashi a thumbs-up.

Guy genuinely couldn't quite grasp the Kakashi he had just seen. Clearly, he looked severely injured and on the verge of collapse, with no aura of overwhelming power, yet he could deliver a strike that instantly killed a Jonin.

Looking at Kakashi and Obito, Rin smiled gently and said, "I knew you two would definitely succeed."

She understood that with her own strength, she couldn't realize the dream of ending the war, so she only did what she could—providing all the support possible from behind Kakashi and Obito.

"So, it was solved like this," Ensui had a complex expression, mixed with surprise, relief, and reflection.

He fully agreed with Kakashi's last words—Kakashi was indeed the most brilliant genius at this moment.

Obito quickly caught Kakashi, who was about to collapse, and shook him, "Kakashi, are you okay? I admit, that slash you just did was pure genius."

Kakashi, with his eyes closed, didn't have the energy to speak. That last slash had used up the very last bit of his strength. He was now completely exhausted, but hearing Obito's words, a faint smile appeared on his face.

"What should we do now? Rin-chan, can you still heal him?" Obito asked Rin anxiously.

Although they had won the battle, everyone was in terrible shape. They were all heavily injured and exhausted, with most of them unable to even walk.

Rin shook her head and pulled out some bandages, saying, "I used up all my remaining chakra healing you, Obito. I can only do some bandaging for now."

If she had any chakra left, Rin would have already started healing. But she herself was still injured.

"Let me heal you all," Mutsuki suddenly appeared among them and said.

"Yumi-sensei!" Obito's face lit up with excitement when he saw Mutsuki. Mutsuki's Medical Ninjutsu was far stronger than Rin's.

"Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Mutsuki formed hand seals, creating nine Shadow Clones, each using Mystical Palm Jutsu to heal the nine Konoha exam candidates.

As for Kisame and the others, Mutsuki didn't bother with them for the moment. Considering what had happened, it was already generous of him not to tie them up and imprison them.

"Yumi-sensei, you arrived just in time," Obito finally relaxed when Mutsuki appeared, smiling sheepishly.

Now, forget about any more Jonin from the Hidden Mist showing up—Obito wouldn't even be afraid if the Mizukage himself came, because he believed Mutsuki would protect them.

"I can only say I wasn't too late. 'On time' would have been resolving this the moment the unexpected happened," Mutsuki shook his head.

Mutsuki was a very rational person, but that didn't mean he was without emotion. Quietly watching his students get hurt while standing in the shadows was something that didn't sit well with him.

"Anyway, the result is the same in the end, and without your healing, Yumi-sensei, we would have been in danger," Obito said with a carefree smile.

After all, both outcomes involved defeating the enemy and them staying safe—one just required a bit more struggle.

"Exactly," Guy gave a thumbs-up in agreement.

Under Mutsuki's healing, Kakashi's condition gradually improved, and when he heard Obito call out "Yumi-sensei," he fully relaxed, knowing there was nothing left to worry about.

When Kakashi opened his eyes again, his vision had returned to normal, no longer feeling the way it had before. However, instead of dwelling on that, he asked Mutsuki:

"Yumi-sensei, did something happen between the Hidden Mist and the village?"

Without a doubt, in Kakashi's eyes, a Mist Jonin infiltrating the Chunin Exam to attack the candidates was practically an act of war.

"It's hard to say for now. Aside from this Mist Jonin infiltrating the exam, the rest of the Hidden Mist hasn't made any moves," Mutsuki thought for a moment and replied.

After hearing Mutsuki's words, Kakashi fell into deep thought, unable to guess the Hidden Mist's motive.

The idea of assassinating Konoha's talented Genin seemed flimsy because the Hidden Mist wouldn't know which Ninjas would participate in the Konoha Chunin Exam. Moreover, it would be quite foolish to send their own village's talented Ninja for such a purpose.

"Just take a good rest and don't overthink it. As exam candidates, you've already done your best," Mutsuki said with a smile.

Even Mutsuki couldn't accurately predict how this situation would develop. Although he suspected Uchiha Madara was behind it, that guess couldn't be voiced since in the eyes of Konoha Ninjas, Uchiha Madara had long been killed by Senju Hashirama.

Having the Shadow Clones treat his students, Mutsuki walked up to Hoshigaki Kisame and the others.

"Tell me everything you know," Mutsuki said, his gentle smile fading into a calm expression.

He didn't expect to get any useful information from the three, but it was a necessary procedure.

"Unfortunately, I'm just a discarded pawn and know nothing," Zabuza said, snapping out of his shock and grinning.

He had no good feelings towards the Hidden Mist Village Elders, but he truly knew nothing. His orders were simply to perform well in the Chunin Exam and suppress the Konoha Ninjas.

"My mission is just to achieve a good result in the exam. How you handle it is up to you. I really don't know why a Jonin infiltrated," Kurosawa said straightforwardly.

Hoshigaki Kisame's response was similar to Zabuza and Kurosawa's; the three of them all appeared to be unaware.

As Mutsuki expected, no useful information was obtained, but he didn't mind. The focus wasn't on this side but rather on Hiruzen's side.

After treating Kakashi and the others, Mutsuki took them back to the central tower. However, since Ensui's team hadn't gathered all the Earth and Heaven scrolls, they didn't join Mutsuki and continued with the exam.

Mutsuki didn't terminate the Chunin Exam, but he did dispatch Ninjas to monitor all the Mist exam participants, arresting anyone who exhibited suspicious behavior.

Once inside the central tower, the students began discussing what had just happened, while Mutsuki checked the panel to review the gains from the incident.

[Disciple Hatake Kakashi's trust level has increased, current trust level: 4] [Detected that there are already four disciples with trust level 4, reward granted—Disciple Slot +1]

Seeing this reward, Mutsuki smiled. He considered this reward to be much more valuable than a Perfect-level skill.

A disciple nurtured from under ten years old can provide multiple rewards, including various skills and a large amount of Chakra for training and returning to the master.

Mutsuki planned to carefully consider who to allocate this slot to once he returned.

This slot was hard-earned, and it was uncertain whether more slots would be available in the future, so Mutsuki needed to make a careful choice.

Mutsuki continued to look at the system messages. In addition to the trust level increase, Kakashi had also unlocked an additional reward.

[Disciple Hatake Kakashi has made significant progress in strength under your guidance, reward granted—Earth Release: Light-Weight Rock Jutsu (Mastery Level)]

Mutsuki nodded inwardly. This was a very good reward and was more meaningful to him than the Added-Weight Rock Jutsu he had obtained previously.

Because Light-Weight Rock Jutsu allows him to fly, and flying is a rare ability in the world of Naruto—usually, it relies on Summon Beasts.

Although Added-Weight Rock Jutsu is also a high-level Earth Release technique, it focuses more on output, and Mutsuki has other, better methods for output.

...

Through Telescope Jutsu, Hiruzen discovered that Genji, along with several Mist Ninjas, were drinking tea in a teahouse in Konoha.

Hiruzen stationed most of the ANBU outside and then entered the teahouse with a few elite ANBU, heading to the private room where Genji was.

"Hokage, what is this about?" Genji looked at Hiruzen and the Konoha ANBU who had barged in, feeling a bit uneasy.

"Do you know a Ninja named Akutami Hideyuki?" Hiruzen didn't rush into questioning but instead sat down and asked calmly.

"Yes, he is a Jonin from our Hidden Mist Village and also a member of the delegation visiting your village," Genji nodded and replied.

"Just now, Akutami Hideyuki infiltrated the Chunin Exam venue through unknown means and launched an attack on our Konoha exam candidates. Do you have any explanation for this?" Hiruzen looked at Genji and asked, releasing a powerful aura at the end.

Genji's expression changed slightly. Although Hiruzen's tone was calm, he could sense the Hokage's anger from his aura. The Third Hokage, known throughout the ninja world, was clearly angry.

"No wonder you're the Hokage; this terrifying aura indicates that your strength is even greater than the Third Mizukage," Genji thought, making a simple comparison between Hiruzen and the Third Mizukage.

The Jonin next to Genji couldn't help but tremble from the terrifying aura, with cold sweat streaming down their foreheads.

"Hokage-sama, could this be a misunderstanding? Our visit to Konoha was absolutely not intended to be hostile," Genji said with a calm expression.

In the Hidden Mist Village, apart from the Mizukage, Genji held the highest authority. He was confident that no orders had been given to send Ninjas to kill Konoha exam candidates.

"A misunderstanding? Come and see for yourself if it's a misunderstanding," Hiruzen said, leading Genji towards the Forest of Death, where there were not only surveillance records but also Akutami Hideyuki's corpse.

Hiruzen found the situation a bit suspicious, so despite his anger, he didn't take immediate action and prepared to see how Genji would explain it.

As they exited the teahouse and saw the ANBU stationed outside, Genji began to believe Hiruzen's words. It seemed that Akutami Hideyuki had indeed attacked the exam candidates in the Chunin Exam venue.

If such an event hadn't truly occurred, Konoha wouldn't suddenly launch such a large-scale operation against them. Konoha was already at war with two major ninja villages; it would be foolish to provoke the Hidden Mist Village at this time.

"Who could have done this? The hawkish faction?" Genji speculated.

He really didn't want to have a conflict with Konoha at this moment, especially since he was still in Konoha.

Hiruzen then took Genji to the central tower of the Chunin Exam and retrieved the surveillance records of Akutami Hideyuki attacking Obito and the others.

Watching the screen where Akutami Hideyuki continuously attacked Obito and the others, Genji frowned deeply.

After a few minutes, Hiruzen looked at Genji. If a satisfactory answer was not provided, Genji and his group would certainly not leave Konoha.

"I deeply apologize for this incident," Genji said, handing his cane to a nearby Mist Ninja and bowing deeply to Hiruzen.

"But I can assure you that this absolutely has nothing to do with the Hidden Mist Village. Akutami Hideyuki should be a spy from another ninja village hiding within our Mist Village, trying to sabotage the friendship between the Mist and Konoha!" Genji said with a firm expression.

He didn't know if Akutami Hideyuki had gone mad or something, but right now, labeling Akutami Hideyuki as a spy was the best option.

"Third-sama, here is Akutami Hideyuki's corpse," Mutsuki stepped forward and handed the sealed scroll containing Akutami Hideyuki's body to Hiruzen.

Hiruzen nodded. Whether or not Akutami Hideyuki was a spy could not be decided merely by Genji's words; it would ultimately depend on the memories from the corpse.

For efficiency and accuracy, Hiruzen called in the Yamanaka clan's Clan Head to use their Secret Jutsu to examine Akutami Hideyuki's memories.

Genji remained calm. If Konoha could indeed uncover who had directed Akutami Hideyuki, he would actually be grateful to Konoha and could then proceed with a cleansing operation back home.

Genji's confident demeanor only made Hiruzen more suspicious.

"Could it be that this Chunin Exam incident really wasn't planned by the Hidden Mist Village?" Hiruzen wondered.

The Yamanaka Clan Head placed his hand on Akutami Hideyuki's head, closed his eyes, and began using Secret Jutsu.

Although Akutami Hideyuki was severed in two, as long as the brain wasn't damaged, it wouldn't affect his ability to view memories.

However, as the Yamanaka Clan Head delved into Akutami Hideyuki's memories with Secret Jutsu, he furrowed his brows and opened his eyes.

"Third-sama, his brain has been damaged by a technique, and it's impossible to view his memories," the Yamanaka Clan Head reported.

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