Chapter 116 – Three Generations of Kindness
Upon returning home, Mugetsu opened the scroll Hiruzen had given him.
Inside was exactly what he expected—a Special Jonin appointment letter, bearing the Hokage's signature. Compared to his Chunin promotion, it felt far more formal. In his original memories, becoming a Chunin only required a single sheet of paper, but the Special Jonin appointment was written on a scroll.
Placing the scroll casually in his study, Mugetsu began reviewing the Sealing Technique materials Kushina had provided.
The Five Elements Seal was even more difficult than he'd imagined, truly living up to its reputation as a super high-level Sealing Technique. Twelve days had passed since he began practicing the Five Fingers Seal, yet his proficiency with the Five Elements Seal still lingered in the low eighties, unable to reach the introductory level.
He considered using the Skill Proficiency Scroll on the Five Fingers Seal to instantly master the Five Elements Seal.
After some thought, he shook his head. Using such a rare item on a practice technique with almost no real combat use would be wasteful. His Sealing Technique talent was good enough—he could master it eventually without shortcuts.
A scroll that could raise any Ninjutsu directly to proficient level, regardless of difficulty, should be saved for something truly valuable. If he could one day acquire the Flying Thunder God and learn its basics, the Skill Proficiency Scroll would be the perfect tool.
And according to the system's rule that obtaining the same Ninjutsu multiple times could stack proficiency, using several of these scrolls in succession might even allow him to master a technique instantly.
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Not long after, he heard a knock at the door. Putting down the Sealing Technique materials, Mugetsu went downstairs to answer it.
"Jonin Mugetsu, this is from the Third Hokage," a ninja said, handing him three scrolls.
Mugetsu thanked him and invited him in for tea, but the man politely declined and left.
Mugetsu couldn't help noting how much more disciplined Hiruzen's people were compared to Danzo's. At least they didn't appear silently inside his home—they even knocked.
Opening the first scroll, he found two Ninjutsu: Water Release: Water Colliding Wave and Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique.
Both were good. Water Colliding Wave required few hand seals and worked for both offense and defense, able to form a protective vortex or unleash a waterfall-like strike. The Great Dragon Fire Technique was a highly flexible Fire Release.
Still, Mugetsu already had both at proficient level—he had learned Water Colliding Wave once through teaching, and he had long since mastered Great Dragon Fire Technique. But now, he could at least use them openly.
The second scroll contained a straightforward reward—three hundred thousand ryō in cash. Considering a Ninja Academy teacher's monthly pay was one hundred thousand, Hiruzen had essentially given him triple salary.
Mugetsu accepted it without guilt. He had personally trained eight Fourth Grade classes, along with standout students from other grades and even some graduated Genin. Even if Hiruzen had given him ten times that, it would have been deserved.
The third scroll contained Hiruzen's work arrangements for the coming term.
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The Ninja School would reopen in nine days, with teachers starting a week earlier—meaning Mugetsu would return in two days.
Hiruzen wrote that he wanted to promote Mugetsu to Vice Class Leader of the teachers' division, but since he'd only been at the Academy a short time and served as a regular teacher until now, the move might cause controversy. Instead, he would first appoint Mugetsu as a grade director for one semester, then promote him in the third semester.
This was the part Mugetsu valued most. The pay raise meant little, but the authority meant he could secure more rewards for himself. Through the summer training, he had learned that rewards for large classes were double those for normal ones.
With that authority, he could push for a curriculum reform—adding more large classes to increase both rewards and teaching efficiency. Large-group teaching could also ease the burden on overworked teachers like Ikeya Yu, whose schedules were already full.
Of course, not every class could be a large one. Mugetsu could handle massive Ninjutsu and Taijutsu sessions, but most Chunin teachers would struggle. Theoretical classes, however—Ninja World history, Konoha history, mathematics—could be taught to any number of students with minimal loss in quality.
Reading between the lines, Mugetsu could feel Hiruzen's goodwill.
Hiruzen might tolerate a Root ninja as a standard teacher, but he would never actively promote one to a high-ranking position. For him to offer Mugetsu this path forward meant something.
Mugetsu suspected he might soon be able to leave Root entirely—perhaps without even breaking the cursed seal himself. Danzo might have to remove it for him.
In Konoha, Danzo could never outmaneuver the Hokage. Hiruzen truly could do whatever he wished.
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That evening over dinner, Mugetsu casually told Kushina and Minato about his promotion.
"Does the Third Hokage always move this fast?" Kushina asked in surprise. She hadn't expected him to finalize the promotion the same day.
"From now on, we can attend meetings together," Minato said with a gentle smile, genuinely happy for him.
There was a vast gap between Chunin and Jonin—even a Special Jonin. While it might not be obvious in peacetime, in war the difference was enormous. A Jonin could lead important missions on their own.
"I always thought your Sealing Technique talent might get you promoted to Special Jonin one day, but I guess I underestimated you, Jonin Mugetsu," Kushina said with a teasing smile.
When she first tested his Sealing Technique skills, she'd thought to help him advance that way. But his excellence in teaching had earned him the rank before his Sealing arts even reached their peak.
"Compared to you and Minato, I'm still far behind. Becoming a full Jonin is my next goal," Mugetsu replied with a chuckle.
"You can do it if you keep training hard," Minato encouraged.
Since Kushina had brought up Sealing Technique, Mugetsu smoothly shifted the conversation toward the difficulties he'd been facing in his studies.
He wouldn't rely entirely on others—he would continue researching and learning on his own. More skills were always better. Even if not for breaking Root's cursed seal, mastering advanced Sealing Techniques would only make him stronger.
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