[Disciple Uchiha Obito sets a cultivation task]
[Cultivation Task: Achieve first place in the Ninja Academy's practical exams]
[Reward: Depends on the task completion and strength increase during the task]
[Disciple Might Guy sets a cultivation task]
[Cultivation Task: Achieve first place in the Ninja Academy's practical exams]
[Reward: Depends on the task completion and strength increase during the task]
Looking at the sudden pop-ups, Mokgetsu fell into thought.
Although not sure what happened, the outcome seems pretty good.
With two cultivation tasks plus the exam rewards, by the end of the semester his chakra will definitely break into five digits.
Unfortunately, the practical exam won't end in a tie for first place; there will definitely be a one-two ranking, which means one task reward will be slightly less.
"If one of them unexpectedly can't take the exam and pushes it to next semester, would that be better?" Mokgetsu pondered this question seriously.
Mokgetsu was a bit hesitant, as he was confident he could handle this.
But he couldn't guarantee it was the optimal solution, since there had never been two simultaneous cultivation tasks; Mokgetsu assumed a person could have at most one cultivation task.
If one of them postponed to finish the task by next semester's exams, there would be nearly three months where new cultivation tasks couldn't be triggered.
Extending the task duration could enhance the base reward, but would it really provide more benefit than completing more cultivation tasks?
According to the cultivation task trigger mechanism, the disciple who places second might trigger another task to place first out of dissatisfaction.
Mokgetsu decided to play it by ear and plan the strengthening of Obito and Might Guy, as regardless of the outcome, more strength would lead to greater rewards, this was certain.
...
On Tuesday morning, Anko happily hummed an unknown tune as she walked towards the Ninja Academy.
She took a leave of absence on Monday, adding the weekend meant she hadn't heard Mokgetsu's lectures or played with her close friends for three days.
So Anko was really looking forward to school today.
"Maybe Teacher Mokgetsu thought I was sick and would inquire about my well-being; did Kotetsu and Izumo win the prize money from the match? Really looking forward to it." The more Anko thought about it, the more excited she became about going to school.
"That's Mitarashi Anko, right? One of the three geniuses."
"Yeah, it's her. I remember her, she was the second in last practical exam in her grade."
"Second in practical exams, that's pretty strong, though her thinking seems a bit odd."
Approaching the school, when more students appeared, Anko noticed many giving her strange looks.
"Could it be no one usually takes a leave at the Ninja Academy, and it spread across the school?" Anko thought it was because of her leave.
Muttering to herself, Anko headed towards the classroom of Class 1-A.
As she got closer to the classroom, she noticed the strange looks increased, making her start feeling something was off.
Entering the classroom, she noticed something unusual: Kotetsu and Kamizuki Izumo weren't chatting, rather they had their heads buried on the desks as if sleeping.
Usually, when she arrives, they would either be discussing how to deal with Kotetsu's troublesome cousin or talking about meeting girls.
Just as Anko was about to return to her seat and wake them to ask what happened, a girl she got along with stopped her by saying.
"Anko, you've become famous at the Ninja Academy these past two days." The girl said, covering her mouth and trying to hold back laughter.
"Huh? I haven't even been at school these days, could it just be for taking a leave?" Anko scratched her head, a bit confused.
"Did you develop that jutsu that turns into a chair?" The girl asked, still holding back her laughter.
"Transform into a chair? Do you mean the Deception Jutsu? Sort of, developed it with Kotetsu and Izumo." Anko replied.
This time the girl couldn't hold it back anymore and smiled, "Haha, you should ask those two friends of yours."
"Kotetsu, Izumo, didn't you sleep well last night?" Getting more confused, Anko opted to wake her two friends.
But you can never wake someone pretending to sleep, they seemed to be in a deep sleep. Anko called several times but couldn't wake them.
Usually, a girl might give up and use a finger to poke, but Anko was different.
Confirming her friends were pretending to sleep, Anko simply punched each of them.
"Are you hiding something from me?" Anko asked, looking suspicious.
Realizing they couldn't pretend any longer, the two opened their eyes.
"It was all Kotetsu's fault, he embarrassed himself on stage and dragged us into it," Kamizuki Izumo immediately sold out his good friend and explained the weekend's match to Anko.
"He deliberately announced our full names loudly, abominable!" Kamizuki Izumo stood with Anko, both feeling righteously indignant and condemning Kotetsu.
Anko clutched her fists, thinking her one-day leave couldn't have snowballed into this, it turns out that Kotetsu made a fool of himself involving her.
Seeing Anko ready to pounce, Kotetsu quickly pointed out Kamizuki Izumo's "brilliant" idea yesterday:
"Anko, don't believe him. Izumo's got a rebellion in him, it was his suggestion to blame everything on you since you weren't here yesterday, saying you developed the jutsu."
Anko: …
Her gaze landed on Kamizuki Izumo, eyes full of impending doom.
Just yesterday she was hoping they'd win and treat her to dango with the prize money, but these two friends were adept at stabbing her in the back.
"You two are terrible, take your punishment!" Anko grabbed Kamizuki Izumo and Kotetsu.
Feeling guilty, the two tried to escape, and the atmosphere in the classroom became lively again.
The commotion only ended with Mokgetsu's arrival.
"Teacher Mokgetsu, my reputation's ruined, I'm now 'talent' Anko instead of 'genius' Anko." Anko complained to Mokgetsu, looking frustrated.
"At least they didn't call you worthless, this means people still recognize your competence." Mokgetsu smiled, reassuring her.
"I still think 'genius' sounds better."
"Then prove it with strength next time."
"Will there be dango if I do well in the exams?"
"If you do well, there will be."
"Awesome." Hearing about the dango reward, Anko immediately cheered up and smiled.
Just then, the class bell rang.
"Let's start class." Mokgetsu began today's lesson.
He patiently explained the three basic ninjutsu taught at the Ninja Academy.
[Class Complete]
[Evaluation: A]
[Reward: Water Release: Water Array Wall]
[Under your guidance, Class 1-A students have made significant progress in ninjutsu, earning a reward—Master Level Three-Body Jutsu]
When the lesson ended, Mokgetsu was surprised by an unexpected reward, besides the usual lecture reward.
"Turns out it's not just the lecture rewards." Mokgetsu was a bit surprised.
Teaching for over two months, it was his first time triggering such a reward.
Though just the Three-Body Jutsu, it's still at a master level which is useful beyond teaching at the Ninja School.
Mokgetsu thought it made sense, as this was a teacher system, not solely a master-disciple system.
As a teacher, continuously guiding a group of students and contributing to their progress should earn some rewards.
"I wonder if teaching slightly more advanced ninjutsu would offer better rewards?" Mokgetsu contemplated enhancing the rewards.
The idea was good, but currently unachievable since the Ninja Academy's policy dictates only teaching the Three-Body Jutsu besides theoretical lessons.
Mokgetsu could somewhat understand this policy.
With forty students in a class, each having different innate chakra attributes, it's unrealistic to expect a Chunin Teacher to know all five chakra attribute jutsus, not to mention considering students' learning capacities.
For Mokgetsu, this posed no problem as he not only mastered numerous jutsus but was well-supported by teaching skills, making his lecture quality great.
However, for his safety, Mokgetsu definitely couldn't showcase too much.
"Perhaps I could propose handling Class 1-A's taijutsu lessons to the Third." Mokgetsu felt he could focus more on improving non-disciples' teaching quality.
He recalled that Class 1-A students weren't satisfied with the Taijutsu Teacher, often saying the teacher's lessons were poor and boring.
If Mokgetsu personally taught Class 1-A's taijutsu, the students' taijutsu skills might improve faster.
After lunch, Mokgetsu, while contemplating ways to enhance Class 1-A's proficiency, returned to his office.
In the office, last month's events seemed to be repeating.