"This time, it's still a precision training, give it your all to attack the shadow clones for victory," Mokgetsu said after summoning three shadow clones.
Since it was Kakashi's first time participating, Mokgetsu explained the punishment mechanism of the special training once more.
"Then we need a quick assault, hit the shadow clones as fast as possible," Kakashi thought to himself after hearing the rules.
Since this was a scored training, Kakashi naturally hoped to get a good score, and he didn't want to do too many questions.
If it were questions at the level of the Ninja Academy, that would be fine, but Mokgetsu's questions were not simple. Occasionally doing a few felt nice to Kakashi, but if there were too many, it became overwhelming.
The number of questions Kakashi found acceptable was around thirty per training session, which meant averaging four to five questions a day, easily completed during rest after cultivation.
"Begin!"
"Breath of Thunder, Full Concentration Breathing!"
Kakashi silently altered his breathing rhythm, channeling it to the utmost limit.
As soon as Mokgetsu signaled the start, Kakashi immediately pulled out the White Fang Short Blade and charged at the shadow clones.
Special training differs from real combat; real combat requires dealing with unforeseen situations and conserving Chakra, while a time-limited ten-minute training clearly does not.
Kakashi converted a large amount of Chakra into the lighting attribute and then propelled it from his lower body, suddenly increasing his speed, reaching the shadow clone in the blink of an eye.
A flash of white light streaked past, cutting the tree next to the shadow clone, yet the clone managed to evade unscathed with a timely backward dodge.
"To react at such speed, it's clear that using ordinary full power won't quickly end the training," Kakashi thought.
Because it's training, the shadow clones won't attack him, so Kakashi had pushed his speed to the limit, yet still missed, leading him to judge that typical exertion of full power wouldn't conclude the training ahead of time.
The training was tough, but expected by Kakashi, for even someone with as swift progress as Obito found this training excruciating.
After a few more attempts, Kakashi discovered that no matter how he pushed his abilities to the limit, it was still narrowly lacking.
After probing for three minutes, Kakashi changed tactics, throwing a smoke bomb to conceal himself, while his shadow clone attracted attention on the outside, and the real body moved underground.
During a close combat entanglement with the shadow clone, Kakashi decisively appeared and used Purple Lighting, splitting it into dozens of bolts rushing towards Mokgetsu to ensure a hit.
Mokgetsu gracefully dodged, maintaining a slight distance from Kakashi's shadow clone, then clasped his hands and spewed a massive flame that completely blocked Kakashi's Purple Lighting.
"Ordinary tactics don't work, either," Kakashi momentarily halted his attack, quickly reviewing the situation in his mind to gather more information.
Based on Mokgetsu's performance, Kakashi concluded that Mokgetsu had been aware of his real body hiding all along; his sequence of actions was too fluid.
At the nine-minute mark, Kakashi still hadn't hit the shadow clone even once.
"This time, I probably can't finish ahead of schedule, but with this experience, I can think of a targeted strategy when I go back," Kakashi thought, realizing that one minute was obviously insufficient to launch an effective assault on the shadow clones.
During these nine minutes, Kakashi didn't just mindlessly crash into the shadow clones like a headless chicken; he was trying to gather intelligence.
The information Kakashi collected so far was that the shadow clone's speed was just slightly faster than his own, and that Ninjutsu is significantly stronger, leaving no way to win through Ninjutsu confrontation, also if he doesn't use Ninjutsu, the shadow clone won't use it either.
The second and third points corroborate each other; if the shadow clone used its powerful Ninjutsu liberally, even if they doubled their strength, they wouldn't stand a chance.
After ten minutes, Mokgetsu reported the results.
"No one struck a shadow clone within ten minutes, all three have fifty questions each to answer."
"Ah, fifty questions again," Obito's eyes gradually lost their shine at the thought of the horror facing him that night.
Shisui took a couple of breaths, having also formulated a battle plan this time but without success, and noted that the shadow clones were faster than in the previous session.
"Try to finish the problems diligently, there won't be any time limits this time, you can come to me for explanations in the evening," Mokgetsu said with a smile.
This time he reset the shadow clones' abilities, usually ensuring the training ends automatically at ten minutes unless the disciples make a breakthrough or come up with a good strategy.
However, now that most students have graduated, Mokgetsu removed the time limits, allowing students to progress at their own pace, emphasizing that the main purpose isn't merely solving the problems but deriving the thought process involved and the knowledge Mokgetsu imparts afterward.
"Great!" Obito's dull eyes regained some brightness at the prospect of no time limits, meaning that dreadful instalment payments no longer existed.
While instalments had made life easier for a time, the sudden addition of extra questions felt like sheer wickedness to Obito.
When the afternoon training concluded, and considering it was Obito and the others' last day of rest, Mokgetsu announced he'd prepare a great feast for them, buying a lot of ingredients for the occasion.
Coincidentally, however, Mokgetsu received an unanticipated guest that evening.
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"Haha, it's quite lively here. Looks like we came at the right time," Jiraiya laughed heartily as he entered Mokgetsu's house with Minato.
The war with the Hidden Rock had come to a halt, and although it wasn't a complete ceasefire, no large-scale battles had broken out again. So, Jiraiya returned to Konoha to take a break.
"Master Minato, Toad Uncle, why are you here?" Obito greeted Jiraiya.
"What do you mean, Toad Uncle? I'm the Toad Sage!" Jiraiya corrected him.
"Ahem, the Toad Sage is a secret title. I'm more widely known as one of the Sannin, the most handsome white-haired man among the Sannin - Jiraiya!" Since there were two children who did not recognize him, Jiraiya made a grand self-introduction.
"Are you the legendary Jiraiya who is as famous as Lady Tsunade?" Nohara Rin asked in surprise.
The Sannin were quite famous in Konoha, even someone like Nohara Rin, who had just graduated, knew of their legendary names.
"That's right, the legendary Jiraiya, in person!" Jiraiya said with a proud chest and beaming face.
Minato watched Jiraiya, who was proudly introducing himself to the children, and couldn't help but gently rub his forehead.
Shisui had a somewhat strange look on his face; the Sannin didn't seem all that reliable.
"You guys picked the right time. I was just about to prepare a grand meal," Mokgetsu said with a smile.
Jiraiya's timing was indeed perfect; since he had chosen the Mystical Palm Jutsu as a reward, some time had passed, and now he had a legitimate reason to ask Jiraiya to connect him to Tsunade for advice.
"A grand meal!" Jiraiya's eyes lit up. He promised this was the most beautiful sentence he had heard in days since it meant Mokgetsu's feast, full of delicious dishes.
After hearing Mokgetsu's words, Minato immediately headed to the kitchen to help.
Meanwhile, Jiraiya stayed in the living room, recounting his adventures around the Ninja World to the children.
"Toad Uncle, how do you have so much time to travel across so many countries?" Obito became interested when Jiraiya spoke about his travels to different nations.
So far, Obito had only been to a few small neighboring countries and had left quickly.
"I wasn't traveling the Ninja World for fun; it's for something very important, concerning the fate of the entire Ninja World," Jiraiya said, raising an eyebrow.
Jiraiya had been searching for that child of prophecy from the Great Toad Sage's vision. He would continue his journey once the war ended completely.
"What's so important that it involves the fate of the entire Ninja World?" Obito asked skeptically, even though he knew Jiraiya was powerful, the whole Ninja World seemed exaggerated.
"Even if I told you, you wouldn't understand. Besides, someone who can't even call names properly could never be the child of prophecy," Jiraiya laughed aloud.
If Jiraiya had to say which of his disciples most resembled the child of prophecy, his first choice would be Nagato because Nagato had the legendary Rinnegan of the Six Paths Sage. His second choice would be Minato, who possessed extraordinary ninja talent.
"I'm not an idiot. The elders of the Uchiha Clan say I'm a genius!" Obito retorted.
With Nohara Rin beside him, Obito couldn't allow himself to be labeled as an idiot.
"It's said only idiots get anxious to explain themselves when called an idiot," Jiraiya added.
"I..." Obito showed a speechless expression, wanting to explain but holding back because of Jiraiya's words.
"Haha, you're an interesting kid. You're nothing like those other Uchiha," Jiraiya chuckled, seeing Obito's wanting-to-speak-but-not-daring-to expression, which amused him.
It was the first time Jiraiya had met such a naïve Uchiha like Obito, and he couldn't resist wanting to tease him a little.
Kakashi: ...
What could he say? Jiraiya's image continued to crumble in Kakashi's mind.
Kakashi silently noted Jiraiya's methods to use on Obito in the future.
"Lord Jiraiya, can you tell me about Lady Tsunade?" Nohara Rin looked at Jiraiya expectantly.
Jiraiya thought for a moment. He first thought about Tsunade's gambling addiction and her tendency to skip bills but decided to share some of her good traits instead, seeing Nohara Rin's hopeful face.
"Here's the chicken soup," Mokgetsu said as he placed a large pot of chicken soup on the dining table.
Next came various dishes, mostly from Mokgetsu's previous life's diverse cuisines, with a few being native to the Fire Country.
When dish after dish with enticing aromas was placed on the table, no one talked anymore. They all swallowed eagerly, eyes full of longing, staring at the dishes on the table.
Once Mokgetsu placed the final dish on the table, an unprecedented, smoke-free war began.