Chapter 439: War Ninjutsu
Chapter 439: War Ninjutsu
The Land of Water.
Hidden in the Mist Village, within the conference room of the Mizukage's office building.
The usually unchanging gentle smile on the Third Mizukage's face had vanished, replaced by a solemn expression tinged with coldness.
"Losing five of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, along with Suigetsu Han, was a significant blow. And yet, we failed to eliminate a single genius from Konoha. Have I been too lenient with Yagura? To think that such a massive operational mistake could occur!"
The Third Mizukage slapped the documents that had been handed to him onto the table, his face cold as he spoke.
The room fell silent. No one dared to speak up or make a sound.
The Mist forces on the eastern shore had indeed suffered considerable losses. No one wanted to incur the wrath of the Third Mizukage by defending Yagura at this moment.
After about a minute and a half, the Third Mizukage swept his gaze across all the high-ranking members of the Mist present.
Sitting to the right of the Third Mizukage, the Elder Yuan spoke up, "Yagura has indeed made a mistake, but the failure of this battle cannot be entirely attributed to him. After all, who would have thought that Konoha was hiding such a powerful shinobi proficient in the Flying Thunder God Technique?"
"Konoha and Uzumaki Muyue themselves are extremely secretive," Elder Yuan sighed.
By rights, shinobi with kekkei genkai should be the most difficult to hide. After all, they were incredibly rare in the shinobi world, and those with even a bit of strength tended to make a name for themselves.
What was absurd about Muyue was that he possessed the Hyoton bloodline limit and had mastered the Flying Thunder God, a rare space-time secret technique, yet he had managed to remain obscure.
With either of these two abilities, Muyue should have attracted attention.
However, the Mist Village had expended a great deal of effort to uncover Muyue's Flying Thunder God jutsu, and the battle that had taken Suigetsu Han's life hadn't even exposed it. This was because Muyue had not only taken the bodies of important figures but had also destroyed the corpses of other shinobi, making it impossible for the Mist to investigate at the outset.
"In fact, Yagura has already made efforts to remedy the situation," Elder Yuan pointed out, highlighting Yagura's efforts. "If it weren't for his timely adjustments, our forces would have suffered even greater losses."
It wasn't that the Mist shinobi were incompetent, but that the Konoha ninjas were too cunning.
"That is what he should do as the commander of the forces," the Third Mizukage said, his expression softening slightly but still carrying a chill.
Seeing this, Elder Yuan nodded inwardly. The act of reprimanding Yagura was temporarily over, and he had played along with the Third Mizukage.
Although the Third Mizukage appeared to be very angry, Elder Yuan knew that he was merely putting on a show. After all, the Mist Village had indeed suffered significant losses, and if the Third Mizukage didn't express his anger, the other elders would have to discuss how to punish Yagura.
Now that the Third Mizukage had vented his anger and seemed to have calmed down temporarily, the other elders wouldn't dare to bring up Yagura's mistakes again.
If the Third Mizukage were truly disappointed in Yagura, a mere reprimand would not suffice.
It was because Elder Yuan had realized this that he had spoken up for Yagura. He favored Yagura but would not go against the Third Mizukage over him.
It wasn't that Elder Yuan feared the Third Mizukage. With his status, that was unnecessary. He had been an elder of the Mist Village even before the Third Mizukage became the Kage.
Elder Yuan was concerned that this might send the wrong signal to the Third Mizukage, suggesting that he wanted to interfere with the selection of the Fourth Mizukage.
He did not want internal strife in the Mist Village over something like this.
"Now, Yagura wants to send reinforcements to continue fighting the Konoha forces. What are your thoughts on this?" The Third Mizukage looked at the Mist elders and asked.
The Third Mizukage was inclined to agree with Yagura's plan to continue wearing down Konoha's strength and dragging out the conflict. However, with Yagura's recent defeat, he couldn't make the decision himself, as it would make him seem overly authoritarian.
"I think it's feasible," the captain of the Mist Jonin class said after some thought. "The stronger Konoha appears, the more cautious other ninja villages will be. With such a powerful Konoha, other ninja villages will be more careful even when they are at war with each other, fearing the might of Konoha."
The three major ninja villages were not solely focused on ganging up on Konoha. For example, the Cloud Village was currently at war with Konoha, as well as the Rock and Sand Villages.
So, the captain of the Jonin class approved of Yagura's overall plan, believing that this was a good opportunity for the Mist Village to rise to unprecedented heights and gain immense fame and profit.
"Continuing the battle is fine, but in the current situation, we can only send a jinchuriki into the battlefield as a trump card to defeat the Konoha ninja forces," said a Mist elder with his lower face wrapped in bandages, his voice deep and solemn.
In fact, it would be even better if the Third Mizukage himself were to join the battle, but as the leader of the ninja village, he couldn't casually enter the battlefield.
Moreover, for an advisor to suggest that the Kage enter the battlefield was somewhat disrespectful.
"Jinchuriki..." The Third Mizukage fell into thought.
Their village had two tailed beasts—the three-tails and the six-tails. However, both jinchuriki were not in optimal condition, especially the three-tails jinchuriki.
...
[Disciple, Obito Uchiha's strength has increased, his reputation has risen, his qualifications have improved, and the probability of becoming the Hokage has increased slightly. Obtain progress rewards—Chakra +1500, Fire Attribute Skill Scroll·S (Proficiency Level), Fire Attribute Ninjutsu Proficiency Scroll.]
[Fire Attribute Ninjutsu Proficiency Scroll: Can upgrade any mastered Fire Release ninjutsu to Proficiency Level. If the ninjutsu is already at Proficiency Level, the effect converts to increasing proficiency by 3000 points.]
After a period of fermentation, Obito's life task progress has once again increased slightly, successfully refreshing the progress rewards.
Muyue opened the panel and took a look at Obito's total progress.
[Name: Obito Uchiha]
[Life Task: It's not that people who become Hokage are recognized, it's that those who are recognized can become Hokage.]
[Main Objective: Become the Hokage of Konoha]
[Task Progress: 31%]
Apart from Kakashi's rather unique life task, Obito's life task progress remained the highest after this skirmish, two percentage points higher than Maito Gai's, the only disciple to trigger the life task progress rewards three times so far.
After checking on Obito, Muyue turned to look at Itachi, who had yet to trigger a single life task reward.
[Name: Itachi Uchiha]
[Life Task: Uchiha and Konoha]
[Main Objective: Eliminate the conflict between the Uchiha and Konoha and integrate the Uchiha into Konoha.]
[Task Progress: 3%]
Muyue understood the reason for this. Obito's life tasks didn't require him to do anything special; his normal growth and development would naturally contribute to the progress.
For example, with Obito's status as a fire shadow, the more he demonstrated his genius and accomplished on the battlefield, the more his life task progress would increase. However, training and carrying out missions were things that every ninja did and should do.
"Things will get better once Itachi makes a name for himself on the battlefield," Mu Yue thought to himself.
The world of the Hokage is one of extraordinary power, where might makes right. While it is customary for juniors to respect their seniors, exceptional strength negates this need.
If Itachi were to make a name for himself as a formidable fighter, even the Uchiha Jonin wouldn't dare to underestimate him, as the Uchiha clan places greater emphasis on ninja prowess than most.
Closing Itachi's life task panel, Mu Yue proceeded to check the rewards for Obito's progress settlement.
The chakra reward was undoubtedly generous, and one could never have too much of it.
The scroll draw was more targeted than the one at the 20% progress settlement, offering a fire attribute skill draw that would definitely grant a fire-related skill.
The Proficiency-level Fire Release ninjutsu had transformed into a Fire Release-exclusive ninjutsu proficiency scroll, making it more versatile. Mu Yue quite liked this, as acquiring more of these scrolls would enable him to create a perfect-level skill.
As there were no Fire Release ninjutsu he wanted to enhance, Mu Yue skipped the Fire Attribute Ninjutsu Proficiency Scroll and prepared for the exciting draw phase, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.
[The S-rank Fire Attribute Skill Draw Scroll has been consumed. Obtained skill—Clear Skies.]
As the draw concluded, a flood of related training memories surged into Mu Yue's mind, instantly familiarizing him with the Fire Release ninjutsu, Clear Skies.
"This is actually a weather-changing skill from Pokemon," Mu Yue quickly recalled the skill's description from the Pokemon games.
Using Clear Skies alters the weather in the area to clear skies for five turns. During this time, Fire-type moves deal 1.5 times the damage, while Water-type moves only deal 0.5 times the usual damage.
Mu Yue employed the Flying Thunder God technique to leave the Konoha camp and find an uninhabited area to test his new skill.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"
Mu Yue gathered chakra in his throat and unleashed a torrent of flames.
The blazing inferno formed a massive fireball that crashed into the ground, creating a charred pit.
"Clear Skies!"
Immediately after, Mu Yue gathered chakra in his palm, and a dazzling sphere of light gradually formed. As he threw the sphere into the sky, the area within fifty meters of Mu Yue was bathed in intense sunlight.
After using Clear Skies, Mu Yue could feel the surrounding air grow hotter. He once again gathered chakra in his throat, precisely controlling it to match the amount he had used for the previous fireball, and unleashed another giant fireball.
Boom!!
The fireball slammed into the ground, creating an even larger, charred crater.
Mu Yue then used the Body Flicker Technique to move out of the range of Clear Skies and observed that the area remained unchanged, still bathed in bright sunlight.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu!"
Outside the Clear Skies zone, Mu Yue performed hand seals and manipulated water chakra. A torrent of water swirled around him, eventually forming a water dragon that smashed through numerous trees.
When Mu Yue re-entered the Clear Skies zone and attempted to use a water jutsu, he could feel that even before executing the technique, the presence of Clear Skies demanded that he expend more chakra to maintain the same level of power.
"The base effect of the ninjutsu is similar to the game skill, but the effect isn't as rigidly defined," Mu Yue concluded after testing both fire and water ninjutsu.
In the games, regardless of the level or the Pokemon using Clear Skies, the effect remained constant—Fire-type moves at 1.5 times the power and Water-type moves at 0.5. This was true even for legendary Pokemon like Groudon.
However, a ninjutsu in the real world wouldn't be as rigid as its game counterpart; otherwise, training would be pointless.
The localized version of Clear Skies in the ninja world would have its effect determined by the user's skill level and the amount of chakra expended.
The higher the skill level and the more chakra used, the larger the area affected by Clear Skies, and the stronger the amplification effect on Fire Release ninjutsu and the suppression effect on Water Release ninjutsu.
Mu Yue experimented by moving farther away and using more chakra to cast Clear Skies, but he found that the ratio of chakra consumption to Fire Release ninjutsu amplification wasn't as efficient as the Flame Control Chakra Mode.
"If it's a one-on-one battle, and the enemy doesn't use Water Release ninjutsu, then using the Flame Control Chakra Mode to enhance Fire Release ninjutsu is the optimal choice. If the enemy does use Water Release ninjutsu, then Clear Skies would be more advantageous," Mu Yue calculated the cost-effectiveness of the two options.
Overall, the Flame Control Chakra Mode was more versatile and could be used in various situations, but Clear Skies had stronger targeted effects.
However, only children make choices; adults choose to have it all. These two options weren't mutually exclusive, and Mu Yue could use Clear Skies first, followed by the Flame Control Chakra Mode, and then a Fire Release ninjutsu.
Of course, Mu Yue wouldn't normally do this because it was extremely chakra-intensive. Both Clear Skies and the Flame Control Chakra Mode were chakra-guzzling techniques.
Mu Yue had just consumed 40,000 points of chakra to cast Clear Skies, covering an area of only 200 meters, and it had only lasted for five minutes.
"But this skill is incredibly useful in a war setting," Mu Yue quickly realized.
If only one ninja could benefit from the boost, it wouldn't be worth the chakra expenditure. However, if a hundred Fire Release ninjas were all enhanced by Clear Skies, their combined might could surpass that of the Flame Control Chakra Mode.
Mu Yue couldn't help but think how fortuitous it was. The fact that it was the Mist Village on the battlefield, where most ninjas used Water Release ninjutsu, made Clear Skies even more advantageous.
He realized that if he were to cast Clear Skies on the battlefield, it could potentially turn a balanced battle into a one-sided rout.
Once again, Mu Yue recognized the value of an S-rank draw scroll; there truly were no useless skills.
If the effects of Clear Skies were to be publicized, the Mist Village might go as far as to send ninjas to hunt him down, while Konoha might consider forming a specialized Fire Release ninja squad just for him, as this was a direct group buff.
(End of Chapter)
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