The shadow clone of Hanzo, disguised as an ordinary ninja, grew increasingly dark in complexion.
So even if he defeats Sosuke now, others would think Sosuke held back?
Moreover, why must Fire Dragon Dance always be mentioned? Are there no other Fire Release ninjutsus in the Ninja World?
If life could be restarted, Hanzo truly wished he could travel back and kill Shimura Danzo when he approached.
Though called a collaboration, it was the Rain Village that suffered losses, Hanzo lost face, while only a few Konoha ninjas died on Danzo's side.
Despite feeling upset, Hanzo wasn't interested in troubling a few ordinary ninjas and canceled the shadow clone after a patrol.
As the shadow clone's memories returned, Hanzo sitting in the Ninja Sect reception room instantly darkened his face, but quickly shifted to his usual calm expression.
Mokgetsu paused slightly upon seeing this, wondering why Hanzo suddenly displayed face-changing skills.
"Sosuke, don't blame me for not warning you, though I've accepted your invitation, if during the lesson you suddenly need me to assist in some activity, I might not agree." Hanzo said with a blank expression.
Hanzo indeed had no intention of challenging Sosuke, not because of winning or losing, but simply because it's meaningless.
Though he himself wasn't interested, Hanzo suspected Sosuke might consider using him as teaching material.
At the last unrestricted lesson, Sosuke specifically named him to extinguish fire with Water Release, Hanzo felt this time Sosuke might require him to stage a fight.
To prevent becoming a teaching backdrop, Hanzo chose to state his position early.
"That's certainly fine," Mokgetsu nodded with a slight smile.
He couldn't be completely sure of Hanzo's thoughts but could guess some.
Mokgetsu had considered using Hanzo as material, but not defeating him in battle as that might hurt Hanzo.
Hanzo nodded calmly, feeling much reassured inside.
If Sosuke defeats him a second time in front of thousands of ninjas, he would completely become Sosuke's backdrop.
Then Hanzo quickly left the Ninja Sect reception room and returned to the accommodation arranged for him.
Just thinking of those people saying he only won against Sosuke because Sosuke held back unsettled him when sitting with Sosuke.
Clearly, he only lost to Sosuke once, why presume he could never possibly win against Sosuke?
Meanwhile, after seeing Hanzo off, Mokgetsu began reviewing his lesson plan.
This time both the number and quality of ninjas were better than last, he must ensure teaching quality and achieve an S-rating.
After going through his plan, Mokgetsu used Observation to encompass Six Paths City.
There were so many ninjas present, relying solely on Ninja Sect's few ninjas wouldn't guarantee no issues.
"Hmm?" Without sensing, it's fine; upon sensing, Mokgetsu really did detect several familiar but unlikely to appear chakras.
Since those chakras were all within Mokgetsu's Byakugan range, Mokgetsu directly activated his Byakugan to identify them one by one.
[Name: Hiramizuiro]
[Chakra: 8300]
[Skill: Water Attribute Chakra Nature Changes (Master Level)...]
[Name: Sakai Toda]
[Chakra: 7600]
[Skill: Fire Attribute Chakra Nature Changes (Master Level)...]
"It really is those Root ninjas." After viewing the Identification Jutsu information, Mokgetsu found he hadn't misidentified.
The detection info from Identification Jutsu is the most accurate; even the best disguiser, White Zetsu, couldn't deceive it.
"Danzo intends to act against Ninja Sect?" Mokgetsu displayed a pondering expression.
Mokgetsu knew Shimura Danzo well, much likely hoping to seize the so-called Ninja Sect inheritance and Nagato's Rinnegan.
"What is Danzo planning this time?" For a moment Mokgetsu couldn't figure out Danzo's method.
Root's power can work intelligence, but forcibly taking things from Ninja Sect is nearly impossible, even if Danzo leads personally.
Ninja Sect isn't weak among ninja organizations, having Sosuke who can defeat Hanzo, the legendary black-market ninja Kakuzu, and Nagato, a recognized prodigy.
Just combining the three is a considerable force.
"Maybe it's to utilize me." Mokgetsu recalled his Root Ninja identity.
Sending a Konoha young ninja representative against a not-weak neutral ninja organization seems odd, yet Mokgetsu felt it reasonable if Danzo were the commander.
After all, Shimura Danzo's actions aren't easily understood.
"Or he might continue utilizing the Rain Village." Mokgetsu racked his brain to think from Danzo's perspective.
Shimura Danzo essentially has two choices: using Konoha's power directly or cooperating with other ninja forces aiming at Ninja Sect.
In Danzo's view, the Rain Village is a good choice: firstly, they have an alliance against Ninja Sect, and secondly, irreconcilable disputes exist between Rain Village and Ninja Sect.
Furthermore, a weakened post-battle Rain Village better serves Konoha's interests.
"Hidden Sand is also quite likely."
The Land of Rain borders Land of Wind, Hidden Sand surely dislikes its former plaything becoming a threat.
Besides, Hidden Sand remains the only Great Ninja Village that hasn't declared war on Konoha in the current Ninja World, so Mokgetsu suspects Danzo and Hidden Sand might band together.
After reminding ninjas responsible for station vigilance, Mokgetsu ignored them.
Capturing those Root ninjas is pointless since Danzo, managing various techniques to keep his secrets, won't allow intelligence extraction from them, even using the Yamanaka Clan's Secret Techniques.
Rather than alerting the enemy, feigning ignorance might exploit information asymmetry to relay false intel at critical moments.
...
The next day, the second unrestricted lesson began punctually.
Though Ninja Sect now owned a town, Mokgetsu's planned unrestricted lessons wouldn't be frequent, coupled with ongoing town expansions, a dedicated lecture venue wasn't built.
So similar to the first time, Mokgetsu casually chose a training ground and placed a podium without other arrangements.
Yet, the simplistic lecture setup didn't dampen the ninjas' enthusiasm for attending.
Take Roshi, he previously believed arriving thirty minutes early sufficed, but upon arriving, he found crowds already surrounding the podium.
Roshi surveyed the swelling gathering, feeling like a mighty troop had assembled.
"How early did these get here?" Roshi thought helplessly.
"Shows Sosuke truly possesses skill; otherwise, such support is unattainable," Four-tails remarked.
Not only Roshi but now Four-tails was curious about Sosuke.
Because Sosuke not only established the Ninja Sect but also trained a Rinnegan-wielding disciple.
Four-tails suspected Sosuke might have some connection with the Six Paths Sage.
"We'll soon find out," Roshi glanced around and withdrew his gaze upon realizing Sosuke hadn't arrived.
Having traveled from northern Land of Rain, Roshi already gained significant unexpected insights, making it a worthwhile journey.
Still, his main motivation was the man called Sosuke, if he turns out plainly as a ninja, there'd indeed be some disappointment.
When ten minutes remained until lesson commencement, Mokgetsu arrived.
"Teacher Sosuke."
Ninjas who attended Mokgetsu's previous lesson greeted him with bows.
"Yes, good morning," Mokgetsu replied with a slight smile, raising his hand.
The crowd then automatically parted, forming a path for Mokgetsu to reach the podium.
Though Roshi's height prevented his seeing Sosuke initially, he heightened his earth stack using chakra, finally witnessing Sosuke's appearance.
PS: Posting one 4k character chapter first.
Another chapter will be posted tomorrow afternoon or noon, as a break from work.
Can't stay up too late today.
Additionally, requesting monthly votes, currently two thousand three hundred and fifty short of averaging twenty thousand.
This might be my only chance for a Fire Shadow based two-million average, requesting support.