The next day, after finishing his morning classes, Makoto headed to the Hokage's Office.
After all, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, couldn't possibly sit in the Academy office every day waiting for Makoto's response. So he had told Makoto that if he was interested in becoming a tutor, he could come directly to the Hokage's Office.
When Makoto reached the floor where the Hokage's office was located, he was briefly stopped by the guards.
However, Makoto had already expected this. After stating that the Third Hokage had summoned him, he was immediately allowed through.
Makoto knocked on the wooden door of the Hokage's Office.
"Lord Third, I've made my decision," Makoto said, identifying himself and explaining his purpose.
"Hosokawa , is that you? Come in," Hiruzen's voice came from inside.
Makoto opened the door and walked in, only to find that the room contained not only the Third Hokage, but also Minato Namikaze.
Minato was also surprised to see Makoto enter. He hadn't expected the new neighbor he had just met yesterday to appear in the Hokage's office today.
"This is Teacher Hosokawa from our Ninja Academy," Hiruzen said with a smile as he set down his pipe. "His teaching ability is exceptional. Even I couldn't resist asking him to tutor Asuma."
Then Hiruzen noticed the expressions on their faces.
"You two know each other?"
Minato nodded.
"We're neighbors. Hosokawa 's house is right next to mine."
"What a coincidence," Hiruzen chuckled. "Hosokawa , Minato—you two should exchange ideas more often. You're both outstanding ninja in your respective fields."
"It's nothing special. I'm just doing my best," Makoto replied modestly.
Minato also said a few polite words before taking his leave. He had a good impression of Makoto, but the Hokage's Office was hardly an appropriate place for casual conversation.
Makoto thought the same. Since the setting wasn't suitable, he didn't try to talk further with Minato.
"Lord Third," Makoto said, "after returning yesterday, I gave it serious consideration. If I arrange my schedule properly, I can spare a few hours on weekends to teach Asuma."
"Good," Hiruzen said with a warm smile. "With you guiding him, I won't have to worry about Asuma's growth."
His words showed clear trust in Makoto.
"I'll do my best not to disappoint your expectations, Lord Third," Makoto said gratefully. "I'll devote myself fully to teaching Asuma."
What followed was the rather routine discussion about payment.
Hiruzen was fairly generous. He offered two thousand ryō per hour.
Makoto would teach eight hours across the weekend, with payment settled weekly.
They agreed that the tutoring sessions would run from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM.
Today happened to be Friday, and Makoto had no afternoon classes.
So he went directly to the small riverbank training area where he usually practiced.
Sure enough, Shisui Uchiha was there, practicing Fire Release with one of Makoto's Shadow Clones.
Ever since Shisui had taken first place in the entire grade without difficulty during the previous exam, he had followed Makoto's advice—sending a Shadow Clone to attend classes while he used that time to train here.
When Makoto arrived, he dispelled the clone.
Shisui sensed Makoto's real body had arrived and immediately stopped training.
"Makoto-sensei," Shisui greeted respectfully.
Makoto nodded and handed him a cloth towel with a smile.
"Take a break and wipe off the sweat."
Shisui thanked him and wiped the sweat from his forehead and neck before sitting down beside Makoto under a large tree.
Makoto then used his Appraisal ability.
Name: Shisui Uchiha
Chakra: 580
Potential: SS−
Compared to a month ago, Shisui's chakra had increased significantly.
Part of the improvement came from his higher training intensity, while another factor was that Shisui's body was gradually developing. His growth rate would only become faster in the future.
However, Makoto felt somewhat dissatisfied with the system panel.
It was far too simplistic—only displaying chakra and potential.
After resting for a while, Makoto spoke.
"Shisui, starting today, we're changing the training plan. You'll begin practicing the Body Flicker Technique, and we'll also work on improving your chakra control."
Since Shisui would eventually earn the nickname "Shisui of the Body Flicker" during the Third Great Ninja War, Makoto figured there was nothing wrong with teaching him the Body Flicker Technique early.
"Understood," Shisui nodded without objection.
After a month of training, he had complete confidence in Makoto's teaching ability.
Strictly speaking, Body Flicker Technique wasn't the name of a single jutsu.
Rather, it referred to a category of high-speed movement techniques.
More advanced examples included space–time ninjutsu like the Flying Thunder God Technique, or techniques such as Lightning Release Chakra Mode, which enhanced the body to drastically increase speed.
However, Makoto knew neither of those.
The Body Flicker Technique he taught was the most basic version.
By forming hand seals and concentrating chakra in the legs, the user could explosively release that chakra to temporarily strengthen the body and achieve high-speed movement.
The downside was that repeated use could quickly fatigue or even injure the leg muscles.
Although it was only considered a D-rank technique, it was extremely practical in battle—for both sudden attacks and quick retreats.
Once again, Shisui's talent did not disappoint.
Even though he had not yet awakened the Sharingan, his exceptional talent allowed him to learn the Body Flicker Technique immediately after Makoto demonstrated and explained it once.
Later that day, once the Ninja Academy finished classes, Might Guy and Obito Uchiha quickly arrived at the training grounds.
"Hold on, don't start training yet," Makoto said, stopping them. "I've prepared a two-month special training program for both of you."
Hearing Makoto's gentle tone, Obito thought Makoto was about to teach a new technique.
His face filled with excitement.
"Makoto-sensei, are you going to teach us a powerful new ninjutsu?"
"You haven't even fully mastered Fire Release: Dragon Flame Technique or Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique yet," Makoto replied, shaking his head. "Why would I teach you another one?"
"Then what's this special training?" Obito asked, a little disappointed.
"A training program that will allow you to defeat Hyūga Homon in the next final exam," Makoto said with a smile.
"Obito, your taijutsu is far too weak. Forget Hyūga Homon—even if you fought Guy right now, he could stop you from using a single ninjutsu. That's why you must strengthen your taijutsu."
Obito opened his mouth to argue, but quickly realized he couldn't.
Because his fights with both Hyūga Homon and Might Guy had ended exactly the way Makoto described.
Although ninja battles sometimes looked like long-distance exchanges of ninjutsu, treating yourself like a stationary artillery mage without practicing taijutsu was extremely dangerous.
On a real battlefield, those kinds of ninja died the fastest.
Most powerful ninja were at least competent in taijutsu.
"As for Guy," Makoto continued, "your task is to strengthen your greatest advantage."
"You must become even faster—so fast that even if Hyūga Homon's Byakugan sees your movement, he won't have time to dodge."
The Byakugan's observational ability was indeed powerful.
But Guy didn't need to surpass the visual perception of the Byakugan.
He only needed to surpass Hyūga Homon's reaction speed.
"From now on, every hour of training will be followed by thirty minutes of sparring."
"You may only use taijutsu—no ninjutsu allowed."
"Wait—no ninjutsu?" Obito froze.
He already struggled in fights, and now he wasn't even allowed to use ninjutsu. That basically meant getting beaten up repeatedly.
"If you don't want to lose to Hyūga Homon again in the next exam," Makoto replied calmly, "then don't use ninjutsu."
Obito thought about the bold promises he had made in front of Nohara Rin.
Even though he could already foresee the painful training ahead, he could only nod with tears in his eyes.
A new round of training had begun.
Meanwhile, Makoto wondered whether this special training would finally trigger the system reward for a disciple's strength increase.
So far, it hadn't triggered even once.
He was curious just how much improvement his students would need before the system recognized it.
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