Mokgetsu's words brought a look of surprise to Shisui's face.
Although Shisui wasn't arrogant, he was confident in his own abilities. After all, from childhood until now, he had only recently lost to Kakashi that one time.
And yet Mokgetsu actually said that there was someone in that ninja organization capable of killing him in an instant; this couldn't help but make Shisui think that there are always people better than you and skies beyond skies, because Yahiko and his crew didn't look very old.
"No need to be too concerned, just focus on your cultivation. Everyone has their own path of growth, and the result isn't certain until the end," Mokgetsu said, looking into the distance.
Nagato's features indeed looked impressive, but those Rinnegan ultimately weren't Nagato's own, but Uchiha Madara's.
If the Rinnegan aren't his, he can't use the unique dojutsu of the Rinnegan; he can only use basic abilities like Almighty Push and Heavenly Attraction.
If it were his own awakened Rinnegan, he could use special dojutsu. Uchiha Madara's Rinnegan ability is Limbo: Border Jail, while Sasuke's is Amenotejikara. The effects of special Rinnegan dojutsu are incomparable to basic abilities.
Of course, saying the basic abilities of the Rinnegan aren't strong refers to battles at the level of Uchiha Madara, Senju Hashirama, and the Six Paths. Even the basic abilities of the Rinnegan can easily crush opponents below the super Kage level.
Shisui nodded, his expression quickly recovering. He originally didn't have thoughts of being the number one genius in the ninja world, nor did he feel his determination was damaged—he just marveled at how vast the ninja world was and how many geniuses it contained. Just stepping out for a bit, one could encounter such a ninja.
Since the bandits had already been dealt with by Yahiko and his group, Mokgetsu and his team took care of the remaining two bandits before reporting to the client.
The speed at which Mokgetsu Squad completed the mission deeply impressed the middle-aged client, who marveled at how, indeed, the Konoha Hidden Village, renowned in the ninja world, had efficiency that was distinctly superior.
On the way back to Konoha, Anko couldn't help but sigh.
"I was nervous for a moment, but it turned out there were only two bandits who weren't very strong," Anko complained.
After all, it involved a real life-and-death fight, so no matter how carefree Anko was, she couldn't be that thick-skinned about such matters.
"Isn't that good? It means we solved two bandits and still earned the reward for a C-Class Mission," Shizune said with a smile.
She was quite happy that they could earn so much money just by taking a little walk.
"We should use the mission money to buy some liver supplements for Lady Tsunade, and also save up to buy something for Teacher Mokgetsu," Shizune was already planning on how to use the money.
"Hehe, that's true. The mission commission can buy a lot of dango," Anko said with a laugh.
She felt that Shizune's suggestion made a lot of sense; it was like a friend visiting your home, seeing your messy room, and helping you tidy up. In the end, your parents see it and think you did it, praising you for being so sensible and giving you a bit of pocket money as a reward.
Even if it's not much money, it would still make one happy, since it's essentially a free gain.
The route back was smooth, without encountering any other ninjas.
"Let's call it a day for now and resume cultivation as usual tomorrow," Mokgetsu said once they returned to Konoha.
Although this mission didn't involve much fighting, long hours on the road could still leave one physically and mentally exhausted. Therefore, Mokgetsu decided to give his students a day to rest.
"Mm-hmm," Anko nodded rapidly like a pecking chick, clutching the money Mokgetsu had given in advance as she dashed off towards the dango shop.
Shizune bid farewell to her teammates and headed towards Tsunade's home. It was a rare break, so they definitely intended to enjoy it.
Shisui, however, didn't hesitate and headed straight to the Southern Border Forest. He still hadn't beaten Kakashi to reclaim his position as Mokgetsu's strongest student; now he needed to seize any available time for cultivation to improve himself.
Next, Mokgetsu went to the mission hall in the Hokage Building to submit the mission and then went to Tsunade's home.
Although unexpected events also happened during this mission, it didn't require a special report.
Generally, when unexpected situations arise in a C-Class Mission, ninjas have two options: either the client pays more to match the task level, or the ninjas can just walk away.
In this case, despite the unexpected events, since the ninja among the bandits had been dealt with by Yahiko's group, Mokgetsu submitted it as an ordinary C-Class Mission.
Seeing Mokgetsu approaching, Tsunade had mixed feelings—happy for the feast to come and annoyed by the upcoming brain strain.
Originally, she was quite comfortable with her lackadaisical lifestyle, but due to a bet with Mokgetsu, she had to put it on pause and resumed researching ninjutsu.
Tsunade was deeply regretful, regretting enough to have started quitting gambling. However, the frequency was too high, and it wasn't long before she returned to day one of quitting.
"I should have introduced Orochimaru to you—he likes researching ninjutsu," Tsunade said, rubbing her forehead.
But soon she shook her head and said, "Then again, maybe it's better not to know him. That guy's so engrossed in his research on ninjutsu that he's gone a bit unhinged and is now even thinking about immortality."
Orochimaru was only slightly eccentric and composed when he was young, but Tsunade felt that the current Orochimaru was really somewhat unnormal.
After the Second Ninja World War ended, the Sannin had a gathering, casually chatting about the future. Tsunade said she didn't want to do anything at all, Jiraiya said he wanted to continue his travels to find a student capable of changing the world, and Orochimaru mentioned researching ninjutsu to achieve immortality.
Mokgetsu smiled and didn't say anything. At this stage, he really had no intention of interacting with Orochimaru. Though now Orochimaru hasn't defected yet and is a strong candidate for Hokage, it's okay for fellow Sannin like Tsunade to criticize him, but it's not a good idea for Mokgetsu to join in.
Mokgetsu reached into his Ninja Pouch, and just when Tsunade thought he was going to pull out a Scroll filled with various questions, Mokgetsu took out a pack of cards.
"This is a tabletop game I thought of in my spare time. Constant study can indeed be depressing, so you can play this to relax," Mokgetsu said with a warm smile.
Although Tsunade wouldn't go so far as to break the bet, Mokgetsu still hoped the collaboration between the two could be more pleasant, so he created a Ninja World version of a certain board game from his previous life.
"A game?" Tsunade showed a curious look and picked up a few cards on the table, flipping them over to look.
"Uchiha Tajima, skill Genjutsu, lets the opponent guess the suit of a card in hand. If guessed wrong, the opponent loses one point of health. Skill Fire Release can convert a normal attack to a fire attack," Tsunade read the small text on the card.
"Interesting, but aren't you worried you'll get in trouble for making a game out of the Uchiha Clan's ancestors?" Tsunade became intrigued.
"Senju Butsuma, skill Senju Clan, increases maximum health by one, skill Compassion, restores one point of health after gifting two cards in hand,"
"Oh boy, even the Senju are included," Tsunade showed a serious expression.
"You know, this is my..."
"What do you want to eat tonight?" Mokgetsu interrupted and asked.
"I haven't had white-cut chicken for a while; let's have that tonight. And also stir-fried pork with plenty of meat, and..." Tsunade unabashedly listed the dishes she wanted to eat today.
Don't mention making a game out of Senju Butsuma; Tsunade wouldn't even mind if her grandfather, Senju Hashirama, was made into a game.
Tsunade even thought if Senju Hashirama knew about it, he might be quite happy.
But the game should be done normally, without insult or belittlement, otherwise, Tsunade would take serious action.
"Hyuga Tenshin, skill Gentle Fist, can treat attack as dodge and dodge as attack. Skill Byakugan allows you to view all cards of any character at the start of the turn."
While looking at the cards, Tsunade listened to Mokgetsu explain the rules and became increasingly interested in this game called Ninja Kill.
However, Mokgetsu didn't start playing with Tsunade immediately but instead resumed talking to her about the research on ninjutsu associated with the Yang Seal.
"The cards for this game aren't done yet, so we won't play today," Mokgetsu explained.
Although making a few cards was easy for him, sometimes taking things slow has its advantages.
Tsunade went through the cards and indeed found many missing; there were many Mokgetsu had mentioned that weren't in there.
"Then let's play tomorrow. Let me tell you about some of my progress these days," Tsunade nodded and said.
She wasn't a child, not so impatient as to not wait for another day; she wasn't in that much of a hurry.
Mokgetsu put himself into an Enlightened State and seriously listened to Tsunade's explanation.
"Since your Breath of Rock can be maintained non-stop for twenty-four hours, we can modify the Fuinjutsu like this..." Tsunade started officially explaining.
After listening, Mokgetsu felt grateful for coming to Tsunade for help; she truly lived up to being the strongest Medical Ninja in the Ninja World, with strong research abilities related to the body.
If he had to study on his own, the time it would take would be at least twice, even thrice or four times longer.
The next day after training, Mokgetsu brought the missing cards as he had promised and played a few rounds with Shizune and Tsunade.
"Can't we have more character cards? Just five ninjas are too few, and it becomes less interesting after playing repeatedly," Tsunade chimed in after playing for a few days.
With so few ninja cards, one might end up with the same ninja for several games if luck wasn't on one's side.
"Why don't you make some cards for my grandfather and the others, too? I've already thought of the skills for you. Skill Wood Release, deal four points of damage to any chosen character," Tsunade coaxed.
"I'll go look through some history books these days," Mokgetsu smiled, politely refusing Tsunade's suggestion.
The reason for including Senju Butsuma was that Mokgetsu only planned to play privately with Tsunade; Senju Hashirama was too close to them, and it wouldn't be good.
"You can make a card for me too; I don't mind. Skill Monster Strength Power, add one to the damage of attack and duel, skill Medical Ninjutsu, recover one point of health for every point of health lost," Tsunade said with a cheerful smile.
Mokgetsu said he'd consider it.
If Tsunade wanted it, Mokgetsu could indeed make a card for her, but the skills certainly couldn't be exactly as Tsunade described, or it would be too overpowered.
This was also why Mokgetsu didn't want to make Senju Hashirama's card; being too strong would be overreaching, and if it wasn't strong, it wouldn't feel right. The name Senju Hashirama itself evokes the beauty of dealing massive damage.