Mutual Learning

Without the corresponding strength and talent, some realms are indeed only accessible to geniuses of exceptional intellect.

"I understand, thank you, Mizuki-sensei." Hearing that she wasn't actually that bad, Sakura felt relieved; the confidence that had been dampened by the massive influx of knowledge finally began to recover.

Mizuki had no intention of teaching Sakura Haruno anything too troublesome or any powerful ninjutsu. The former were things he hadn't fully researched himself, and it was hard to say how much patience a genin would have for overly abstruse pure theory. As for the latter, he couldn't even perform them himself, so how could he teach them?

A tall building rises from the ground up. Since he wanted to maximize the advantages of Sakura Haruno's intelligence and learning ability, a solid foundation was absolutely indispensable. The most important thing right now was to instill his own power system into Sakura; if possible in the future, finding a reliable helper wouldn't be a bad idea. He currently had too many projects piled up that required research, and one person's energy was truly limited.

No wonder scientific research in my past life was based on small teams; individual power is too insignificant in the face of countless unknowns. No wonder Orochimaru would tolerate an assistant like Kabuto Yakushi, who was always restless and often acted on his own initiative—talent is hard to come by.

"Sakura, let's take a break. Balancing work and rest is also very important," Mizuki suggested. "If you have time, let's just chat."

"Okay." Having studied for so long, Sakura was a bit tired.

"To be honest, I don't quite understand why you chose me for guidance. Actually, there are many ninjas in Konoha stronger than me who could teach you some very powerful ninjutsu. Wouldn't that be better?"

Hearing Mizuki's question, Sakura said awkwardly, "Aside from Mizuki-sensei, I don't really know many other powerful ninjas. Besides, in the Forest of Death, the things Mizuki-sensei gave me were a huge help; if it weren't for that, we might not have passed the exam. So I feel that you are more suitable for me, and I can also be of help to Sasuke."

"Oh? Do you remember what I said back then?"

"Yes, Mizuki-sensei. One day, I will also become someone my teammates can rely on, and I won't always be holding them back," Sakura said firmly.

"Hmm," Mizuki still felt it was better to be clear about some things. "Honestly, I don't know if it's a good thing for you to be taught by me. Given your talent and specialties, it stands to reason that there are more suitable teachers for you. Learning my knowledge now will divide your energy, and it's hard to say whether it will be good or bad for your future."

"This is my own choice. I feel that Mizuki-sensei is the most suitable teacher for me right now."

"Alright, no need to be so serious," Mizuki said with a smile. "I didn't mean I'm unwilling to teach you. Let's talk about something lighter. Who do you think is the strongest in the third exam? And who is the weakest?"

Sakura thought for a moment and said, "I don't know who is the strongest, but I'm definitely the weakest. As for the strongest, I think it's either Sasuke or Neji Hyuga."

"Heh," hearing Sakura's answer, Mizuki continued, "Then let me rephrase: who do you think has the most talent and will be the strongest in the future?"

Sakura shook her head. "That's even harder to say, but I think Sasuke's Sharingan is the most powerful."

"Let's put it this way: accurately judging the strength of others is a very important skill for a ninja. You should pay close attention to this in the future," Mizuki decided to explain to her. "As it stands, all the other ninjas in the Chunin Exams combined couldn't beat Gaara of the Sand."

"How could that be?" Sakura was shocked. "Can there be such a powerful ninja in the Chunin Exams? Then Sasuke..."

"You don't need to worry. I'm talking about right now. You need to have confidence in Sasuke and Kakashi; it's hard to say what the situation will be like in a month. There are special reasons for Gaara's strength, which we won't discuss for now. You are indeed the weakest, that's true, but that refers to arena duels; in other situations, it's not necessarily the case."

"Let's talk about talent. Actually, that's a matter of opinion, and it's hard for me to say who has the most talent. However, I do know who has the least talent, and that person is your opponent, Dosu Kin of the Sound Ninja."

As someone with limited ability who accepted Orochimaru's modifications to become a tool-like existence, one could see how low the ceiling of his talent was. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been casually discarded by Orochimaru as a pawn.

"So that means~" Sakura asked, seemingly realizing something.

"Exactly as you think. Actually, as long as you make the right response, it's not difficult to beat Dosu. A ninja like Dosu—if you lack intelligence and he gets the upper hand, not to mention you genin, even chunin with slightly inferior strength would be no match for him. But since you know in advance and have a month to prepare, Dosu can be considered the easiest one for you to deal with, aside from Naruto Uzumaki."

"Naruto? Is he that easy to deal with? Why do I feel like he's very strong?" Sakura asked incredulously.

"Naruto's weaknesses are even more obvious than Dosu's. As long as he is deliberately targeted, opponents with far less strength than him can take him down. Do you remember what the Third Hokage said after the preliminaries ended?"

"Intelligence and response?" Sakura muttered.

"Exactly. How to reach the third round without revealing too many weaknesses is the key," Mizuki affirmed. "Alright, let's continue studying. The things you are learning now are divine skills that become more effective the stronger you are. Once you become powerful in the future, you will find that this thing is a force multiplier that can push your combat power to a terrifying level~"

"Yes, teacher," Sakura replied. "However, while this will be very useful in the future, my strength is so poor right now that I can't bring out its power at all. Can I become a chunin by relying on this?"

"Not currently," Mizuki answered. "It's hard to say after a month."

"I see." Sakura couldn't hide her disappointment as she turned back to her studies.

The speaker had no intention, but the listener took it to heart. Sakura's final offhand remark seemed to remind Mizuki of something.

It seems I've been aiming a bit too high.

All this time, thanks to his overwhelming intelligence advantage, Mizuki had focused his efforts on reaching the source of power to avoid wasting energy. He had even looked down on some basic ninjutsu and hadn't worked hard to improve his own strength, only focusing on chakra control training.

Thinking this, Mizuki extended his right hand and circulated his chakra. Red firelight emerged from his palm, and as the flames gathered, the color deepened, shifting from red to blue, eventually forming a bright white-blue ball of light.

"I've completed so many semi-finished products, but aside from the Omnipotence Potion which still has side effects, not a single one can directly increase combat power. I was prepared to reach for the stars, yet I wasn't even sure if my own footing was steady."

Sighing, Mizuki glanced at the diligently studying Sakura.

"Sure enough, chatting with smart people yields quite a harvest. 'In a group of three, there must be a teacher for me'—the ancients truly did not deceive me."