Chapter 161: The Fourth Disciple
Masahiko stayed in Konoha for about half a month. From the "Hero Saves Beauty" incident and Tsunade's proposal to add medical ninjas to squads, he gained 10 Witness Points each, making it a rewarding trip.
Before leaving, he also escorted Tsunade to the Shikkotsu Forest. Learning from the Slug Sage that Tsunade possessed the conditions to master Sage Mode made him even happier.
"Speaking of which, maybe Tsunade will be stronger than Jiraiya in the future?"
As for Orochimaru, Masahiko didn't try to make a comparison. He honestly didn't know which category Orochimaru's strength should fall into.
"Survivability rating: SSS. He's not someone to trifle with."
Nawaki really did follow Masahiko back to the Land of Whirlpools. It seemed that fighting Fugaku for Mikoto Uchiha had become his greatest motivation for training.
Masahiko smiled at him. "Nawaki, you are fifteen now, and Mikoto is fourteen. Any later, and she'll be married off."
Nawaki shook his head. "No, she won't! Mikoto said she would wait for me to defeat Fugaku Uchiha!"
Masahiko's face stiffened as he muttered, "What's the situation? Has it turned into Nawaki saving the captive Princess Mikoto from the Great Demon King Fugaku?"
He shook his head, not really buying it.
"It's probably just the kind-hearted Mikoto encouraging him, right?"
The Fourth Disciple
Upon returning to the Whirlpool, Masahiko didn't go looking for Nagato immediately. In his heart, there was something even more important.
"Yuna-kun, how is the research on the kunai cutting machine going?" When Masahiko pushed the door open, Yuna-kun was still busy.
Seeing Masahiko, she paused for a moment, then looked at another Masahiko standing to the side.
"Grandpa Masahiko, you actually used a Shadow Clone to fool me!" Yuna-kun's shout rang out.
Masahiko's face stiffened. He smiled sheepishly, then frowned.
He fully accepted the information transmitted back by the Shadow Clone and sighed. "Did it fail?"
Yuna-kun shook her head. "It's not exactly a failure, Grandpa Masahiko. We couldn't increase the precision, so we can let ninjas operate it instead. As long as they have the chakra control of a Chunin, there generally won't be any errors."
Masahiko nodded, though he still felt it was a pity. In this world where chakra was mainstream, they ultimately couldn't develop a device that required absolutely no chakra. Although it could still mass-produce kunai, civilians wouldn't be able to participate in the process at all.
Although Masahiko had completely forgotten his knowledge of economic development measures, he still knew that a nation could only be strong if commoners had a stable source of income. That was why he proposed building such a machine, but unexpectedly, it still failed in the end.
Seeing Masahiko looking a bit down, Yuna-kun smiled and shook her head. "Grandpa Masahiko, it's not completely hopeless. I can try again."
Masahiko nodded. "There shouldn't be anything else I can help with later. Leave Nagato to me."
Yuna-kun paused, then smiled. "Nagato is five and a half years old. He really should start training."
Masahiko waved his hand and turned to walk toward Izuko-kun's place. Since Yuna-kun and her husband had been very busy recently, Nagato spent most of his time with Izuko-kun.
Sure enough, when he arrived at the Clan Head Hall, Nagato-kun was sitting to the side, watching Izuko-kun work.
"Sensei, you're back?"
Masahiko nodded and smiled.
"I'm back. Nagato is about to become your little junior brother."
Izuko-kun was stunned. "Sensei, are you actually going to officially accept him as a disciple?"
Over the years, Masahiko had taught quite a few people: Sasuke Sarutobi, Ken Shimura, Kushina, Nawaki, the Hyuga Brothers... But inwardly, the only ones Masahiko acknowledged as true disciples were Izuko-kun and the other two. Now, however, Nagato was to be added to the list.
Masahiko nodded, looking at the confused Nagato-kun. "This child's talent is very good. I'm preparing to accept my fourth disciple."
For some reason, Izuko-kun's expression suddenly turned strange.
"You... won't teach Nagato to be like Kento-kun, will you?"
Masahiko was startled, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
Indeed, of the three disciples he had accepted, the two girls turned out fine—one specializing in Sealing Jutsu, the other in Ninjutsu. However, the male disciple who specialized in Taijutsu was truly a dark history.
"Don't worry. Although you three have good talent, you can only specialize in one area. But Nagato is different; he might have the hope of inheriting all my Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, and Sealing Jutsu."
Izuko-kun still hesitated. "Ninjutsu and Sealing Jutsu should be enough..."
Masahiko glared. "How can a ninja have shortcomings? Just like you right now—although your strength is decent, you can never become one of the top few people in the ninja world..."
Masahiko began his lecture on disciple education.
After a good while, Masahiko finally stopped. He said a few words to Nagato-kun and led him next door.
The first step of ninja initiation, aside from ninja history and such, was refining chakra. As for ninja history, Masahiko didn't think it was that important. The current him could shamelessly say: He is the history of the ninja world!
Therefore, Masahiko planned to thoroughly promote his own glorious history while teaching Nagato...
Anyway, Nagato's first step in ninja initiation was chakra refining.
As for the so-called chakra refining method, Masahiko didn't really have anything special. Or rather, the entire ninja world used the same fixed set.
Fortunately, Nagato's talent was indeed high. Using the same chakra refining method, he succeeded in about ten minutes.
As for what level "ten minutes" represented? One could tell just by looking at Masahiko's flushed old face. Back in the day, he took ten hours and was still called a genius of the Uzumaki clan...
There was no need for chakra induction paper. Once Masahiko activated the Mind's Eye of the Kagura, he could sense Nagato's chakra natures. After his Yin Release reached Level 9, this ability had also improved.
"Wind, Earth, Fire? This is too coincidental!" Masahiko was secretly delighted. Although Nagato without the Rinnegan didn't naturally possess all five natures, it was just right—these three attributes were the same as Masahiko's when he was young.
"In that case, it would be best to improve him using the same training methods I used when I was young!" Masahiko muttered. "And with natural Wind, Earth, and Fire affinities, there is hope for him to master Dust Release..."
After thinking about it, Masahiko sighed again. "I can only hope he has the talent himself."
Masahiko mastering Dust Release was entirely thanks to the System. He could only describe it roughly; he had absolutely no idea how to teach it to others. That was why Izuko-kun still hadn't mastered Dust Release to this day.
"From today on, I will formally teach you ninjutsu and accept you as my fourth disciple!" Masahiko looked at Nagato-kun and said with a smile.
"Mm!" Nagato-kun was somewhat introverted and simply agreed.
Masahiko, however, was stunned as a line of characters flashed before his eyes: *Witnessed and completely changed the Naruto world Side Story: Nagato's Teacher. Received 10 (10) Witness Points.
"That works too?" Masahiko was overjoyed. "In that case, maybe I should accept a fifth, or even a sixth disciple..."
☆☆☆
-> 30 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you