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Chapter 578: The Most Vigilant Foe
Chapter 578: The Most Vigilant Foe
The Iwagakure ninjas, under the cover of the tailed beast bomb, retreated and regrouped. Their first course of action was to send a report back to their village.
Oonoki was in a pleasant mood due to the fine weather. However, upon receiving news from the battlefield in the Grass Country, his smile faded.
Lately, every report from that front had been positive, and Oonoki was surprised that things were going so smoothly.
Despite facing the formidable combination of the Yellow Flash and one of the Sannin, Jiraiya, the Iwa ninja force led by Retsushi had managed to emerge relatively unscathed and forced Jiraiya's troops into a continuous retreat.
"The intelligence unit made a mistake and fell into Konoha's trap, resulting in heavy casualties for our forces?" Oonoki's initially upturned lips curved downward as he read the report.
"Hmm? How many are left?" He asked, incredulous as he scanned the encrypted scroll.
He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and then opened them again, but the number remained unchanged—a mere 323. There was no extra digit in front of it.
Bang! Oonoki slammed his fist on the desk, his face contorted in disbelief.
That was an entire force of 2,000 ninjas! Not samurai or ordinary men, but trained ninjas, and now they were down to just over 300?
Oonoki felt dizzy. Out of a force of 2,000 ninjas, only a little over 300 remained.
Iwagakure had been biding its time, slowly building up its forces to amass a total of 12,000 ninjas. Now, in a single battle, they had lost almost a sixth of their strength.
Oonoki's original plan was to use their numerical advantage to score a minor victory over Konoha, wear down their ninja forces, and then feign another loss when Konoha reinforced their numbers. This would allow them to continue playing it safe and observing the overall situation.
The number of casualties Oonoki could accept was 500. After all, in a real battle, it was unrealistic to expect zero deaths.
However, losing nearly 1,700 ninjas in one go was something Oonoki struggled to accept.
Among these casualties were jonin and elite Iwa ninja units, and it would take Iwagakure a significant amount of time to train new ninjas to replace them.
With a grim expression, Oonoki carefully read through the entire report.
In summary, he believed that Iwa's impatience and rush for quick gains had led them to this disastrous outcome.
The bulk of the responsibility would undoubtedly fall on the shoulders of Iwa, the acting commander who had given the orders.
Moreover, since Iwa was already dead, he could bear as much blame as needed without any objections.
"Order them all to return," Oonoki commanded.
While 300 ninjas were not a small number, the main force of 2,000 had been crushed, and leaving the remaining 300 would only result in more casualties. It was better to call them back immediately.
After all, such a significant incident could not be pinned on a deceased person.
Oonoki swiftly convened a high-level meeting to share the latest intelligence from the battlefield with Iwagakure's entire upper echelon.
Upon reading the report, the elder, Ki, broke into a cold sweat.
When the decision to send reinforcements was made, he had analyzed and presented the benefits of doing so. Now, with the front-line forces suffering heavy losses, he felt a share of the responsibility.
If he hadn't stood up to support sending reinforcements, even if Iwagakure's forces in the Grass Country had been completely annihilated, the damage wouldn't have reached the staggering number of 1,700 casualties.
"The casualties are nearly 1,700! How many graduating classes from the Ninja Academy will it take to train that many qualified ninjas? I said it from the beginning—maintaining the status quo was the safest option!" Elder Mokka glared at Ki and Chojin, his displeasure evident.
Ki and Chojin had argued against him, and Mokka remembered it clearly.
Now, seeing their guilty expressions, Mokka felt a surge of schadenfreude beneath his outward anger.
Ki glanced at Oonoki, but the latter showed no signs of wanting to speak.
Ki furrowed his brow in thought and then said, "Elder Mokka, that's not entirely accurate. While it's true that we've suffered heavy losses, it doesn't mean our strategy was flawed.
Our forces had the upper hand at first and drove Konoha's troops into a panicked retreat. This proves that our overall direction was correct."
"However, the person executing the mission encountered unexpected circumstances. Iwa wasn't as mature as Retsushi, so he fell into Konoha's trap.
If Iwa hadn't taken that impulsive action, our plan would have been successfully carried out."
In reality, the overall trend of this Iwagakure war aligned with their desired trajectory—win first, then lose. The only difference was that the loss was devastating.
Ki skillfully attributed the victory to their strategy and shifted the blame for the defeat onto the deceased Iwa.
"Moreover, our critical asset, Jinchuriki, also encountered issues. He recklessly unleashed his complete tailed beast form in the center of our forces and used the tailed beast bomb against Konoha ninjas, endangering his own allies. This was practically intentional murder!
I suggest we conduct a psychological evaluation on Murasaki. He may have been driven insane by the influence of the tailed beast chakra."
"If Murasaki could properly harness his power and fight for Iwagakure, even if our forces couldn't defeat Konoha's, breaking through their encirclement shouldn't have been a problem.
Whether they could have successfully broken through the siege at that time was unclear, but what mattered now was that it sounded reasonable during this crucial moment of sharing the blame.
"Indeed, a jinchuriki like Laozi is far too dangerous. We must keep a strict watch on him, and if necessary, we can even extract the Four-Tails and choose a new jinchuriki," Zhongjing agreed, nodding.
With so many ninja deaths, they had to provide an explanation, and with Laozi's glaring weakness, he couldn't think of a reason not to pin the blame on him.
Zhongjing and Hui analyzed the situation, doing their best to shift the blame onto the high-ranking Iwagakure ninja who had perished in the battle.
The core message they conveyed was that their plan and strategy were sound, and the failures occurred only in the actual execution by the troops.
Kaihua remained silent, choosing not to add insult to injury despite their usual political differences. A bit of mocking was enough for now.
"Let's leave the topic of the defeat for now, and focus our attention on the strength that Konoha displayed in this war," Onoki spoke up.
Sharing the blame was important, but what was even more crucial was analyzing their opponent.
The true priority was to defeat the other powerful ninja villages and establish Iwagakure as the top ninja village in the ninja world.
"Hanyu Muzhuye," Onoki said gravely, "This man will undoubtedly be Iwagakure's greatest enemy going forward."
Onoki produced a stack of documents and placed them before the Iwagakure high-ranking officials.
The officials picked them up and began to flip through the pages, discovering that they contained personal information about Muzhuye, including all the intelligence Iwagakure had gathered on him.
"His first appearance on the battlefield was two and a half years ago in the Grass Country. Back then, his strength was only slightly stronger than Kari's, and in battles against jinchuriki, he could only provide support," Onoki explained.
He had been closely monitoring both Muzhuye and Namikaze Minato, and by now, he had memorized Muzhuye's dossier.
"However, when he reappeared last year on the eastern front of the Fire Country, fighting against Kirigakure, his strength had far surpassed his previous showings.
Kirigakure's renowned Hyoton ninja, Minatsuki Han, along with the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, encountered his squad, and in the end, only two of the Seven Swordsmen survived. Most of the other ninja, including Minatsuki Han, were killed by Hanyu Muzhuye."
"Furthermore, in subsequent battles, a powerful member of the Hoshigaki clan, Hoshigaki Garam, was also slain by Hanyu Muzhuye. During a major battle, Muzhuye even joined forces with Orochimaru to kill a jinchuriki whose tailed beast had gone berserk."
"All of this happened within just one year."
As the Iwagakure officials read through Muzhuye's dossier and listened to Onoki's commentary, an image of a formidable young prodigy formed in their minds.
"And this year, he continues to grow stronger at an astonishing rate," Onoki continued gravely.
"His Hyoton was first revealed during last year's battle with Kirigakure, and now he's capable of freezing a jinchuriki. His most powerful Hyoton technique can instantly kill a dozen elite ninja."
"Even an incomplete jinchuriki like Laozi was left virtually helpless against his suiton."
The more they learned about Muzhuye, the more outrageous he seemed to the Iwagakure officials.
They had encountered young prodigies before, like Konoha's Namikaze Minato.
However, compared to Muzhuye, Minato seemed far more conventional in his growth. Before Minato began his killing spree on the battlefield, he had already gained some fame as an elite ninja.
On the other hand, Muzhuye's strength skyrocketed with each appearance, as if he had just entered a rapid growth phase, which was truly frightening.
"During our battle with him this year, he rarely used katon. But it's worth noting that he earned the nickname 'Burning Sun' on the Kirigakure battlefield, and katon used to be his most proficient ninjutsu."
"I have no doubt that he could become a ninja proficient in all attributes, like the Third Hokage. If he reaches that level, he will be even stronger than the Third Hokage because he also possesses Hyoton and can use the Flying Thunder God Technique."
As Onoki described Muzhuye, the Iwagakure officials broke into cold sweats.
The Third Hokage was already an incredibly formidable ninja, and there was currently no ninja in the ninja world who dared claim they could consistently defeat him.
If Muzhuye became an enhanced version of the Third Hokage, he would likely be recognized as the undisputed top ninja.
Seeing the expressions on the officials' faces, Onoki nodded inwardly.
If he had to describe Muzhuye in such a way for them to recognize the threat he posed, and they still failed to do so, then Iwagakure was truly doomed.
"If we ever have the chance to kill Hanyu Muzhuye, it would be worth sacrificing a 2,000-strong ninja force to do so!" Onoki declared solemnly.
Should Muzhuye become a stronger version of the Third Hokage, it would be akin to the resurrection of either Senju Hashirama or Uchiha Madara in the current ninja world.
The Iwagakure officials nodded in agreement.
A 2,000-strong force could be rebuilt over time, but a genius with Muzhuye's incredible potential might not appear again for a hundred years.
In fact, they believed that even a 3,000-strong force would be a worthwhile exchange for Muzhuye's life.
And so, on this day, Muzhuye rose to the top of Iwagakure's kill list.
(End of Chapter)
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