Chapter 635: Mu Yue, Assistant to the Fire Shadow
Chapter 635: Mu Yue, Assistant to the Fire Shadow
Mu Yue gave a quick treatment to Kaji Yagura and, with her disciples, returned to the battlefield.
When she had used the 'Thoughtless Single Strike', she had deliberately missed, so although Kaji Yagura was severely injured, he was not dead.
However, Kaji Yagura was the only one who had survived. The other Kirigakure ninjas who had escaped with him had all perished.
Deidara and the others had shown no mercy, fighting with killing intent, so it was no surprise that few had been left alive.
"Mu Yue, is that Kaji Yagura you're holding?" Miyamura Smokebomb asked hurriedly, his eyes on the captive that Mu Yue held.
Capturing a powerful opponent like Kaji Yagura alive was an extremely difficult feat.
By Kaji Yagura's level of strength and status, he would likely know many secrets of Kirigakure, and most of the time, he would rather die in battle than be captured by an enemy village.
Because once captured, the interrogation and torture that awaited could be ten times more painful than death.
The difficulty in capturing him alive also represented a greater reward. By capturing Kaji Yagura alive, they could interrogate him for Kirigakure's secrets or use him as a bargaining chip in negotiations with the village.
"Mhm," Mu Yue nodded.
Having already witnessed Mu Yue single-handedly defeat a thousand-strong ninja force, Miyamura Smokebomb wasn't too surprised this time. Instead, he felt that Mu Yue was meticulous and reliable.
"Even if he had brought only a hundred men, I doubt the outcome of this battle would have changed," Miyamura Smokebomb marveled inwardly.
When they had set out, he had thought Mu Yue lacked tactical knowledge, but now he realized that it was he who had failed to understand Mu Yue...
With most of the Kirigakure ninja forces unconscious and their commander captured, the tension among the Konohagakure ninja forces instantly dissipated.
When they had first seen the Kirigakure forces, which outnumbered them almost two to one, some of the Konohagakure ninjas had almost given up hope.
"What relation might Mu Yue have with the First Hokage? Are they distant relatives, perhaps?" A Konohagakure ninja couldn't help but steal glances at Mu Yue, trying to find any similarities between her and Senju Hashirama.
Although Mu Yue's surname wasn't Senju, it was still possible that her mother or grandmother had some connection to the Senju clan.
Like Senju Hashirama, Mu Yue displayed powerful Wood Release ninjutsu at such a young age, making it difficult for people not to draw comparisons to the God of Shinobi.
She seemed like the next Senju Hashirama, the next God of Shinobi.
Of course, these were just their thoughts, and no one actually asked about it.
After a while, Chen, looking as if he was facing a formidable enemy, arrived with his forces in a hurry.
Chen, leading his troops from the front, quickly flew over using the Body Flicker Technique, only to see the Kirigakure ninjas lying on the ground and the Konohagakure ninjas cleaning up the battlefield.
Chen was bewildered. What was this? Weren't they facing a top-level crisis? Where was the crisis?
He had been prepared to fight his way out with Might Guy, but this was what he was shown instead.
Chen's forces were also perplexed. Some of them had participated in the previous battle and thought that they had fallen into another trap like last time.
Then, Chen noticed something strange. There were many oddly shaped trees and unnaturally long, thick vines here.
"This is the Wood Release ninjutsu of the First Hokage!" Chen's memory gradually recalled some scenes from the early days of Konoha's founding.
His qualifications were much older than Miyamura Smokebomb's, and he had personally witnessed Senju Hashirama's displays of power.
Although it wasn't as impressive as the Wood Release ninjutsu in his memory, there was no doubt that this was Wood Release!
"I'm sorry, Vice-Commander Chen. I misjudged the enemy's strength this time. We didn't encounter any danger, and the Kirigakure ninja forces have been defeated by us," Miyamura Smokebomb explained awkwardly.
When he had seen so many Kirigakure ninjas charge out and Mu Yue hadn't reacted, he had immediately ordered them to fire the signal flares. But Mu Yue's strength had far exceeded his imagination.
"But your arrival is just in time. We've captured a large number of Kirigakure ninjas this time, and we'll need to consolidate our forces to control them more safely."
Strictly speaking, the signal flares were still necessary, but they had used the wrong type.
"Someone used Wood Release ninjutsu?" Chen scanned the area and finally landed his gaze on Mu Yue, who was communicating with her disciples.
Although Mu Yue had never displayed Wood Release ninjutsu before, among the Konohagakure ninjas present, only Mu Yue had the strength to cast such a large-scale ninjutsu.
"It was Mu Yue," Miyamura Smokebomb nodded.
"The reason we were able to win this battle was mostly due to Mu Yue's efforts. She single-handedly defeated most of the Kirigakure ninjas and also captured their commander, Kaji Yagura, alive."
Chen stared at Mu Yue in amazement.
Even though he had his suspicions, learning the truth still surprised him. This was the Bloodline Limit of the God of Shinobi, and it had reappeared so quietly?
With the need to report the intel to Konoha and await further orders from the village's high command, the consolidated forces set up camp nearby to rest.
The Konoha ninjas who had witnessed Mu Yue's display of the Flower Tree Descending Jutsu enthusiastically recounted her heroic deeds, proclaiming her as the next Ninja God.
Soon, all one thousand six hundred Konoha ninjas in the force learned of Mu Yue's valiant performance in battle.
"Teacher Mu Yue, in your opinion, what qualities would someone need to possess to defeat you?" Kakashi asked thoughtfully.
He felt that rather than worrying blindly, it would be better to make speculations based on the information Mu Yue provided.
"First, they would need to possess an extraordinarily large chakra reserve, far surpassing mine. Then, they would need extensive combat experience," Mu Yue replied.
Mu Yue had too many powerful skills, and with equal chakra, she had a significant advantage. However, due to the circumstances of her transmigration, combat experience was her weakness.
"They would also need to master some powerful ninjutsu and unique secret techniques, as well as a means to restrict my use of the Flying Thunder God Technique," Mu Yue analyzed.
With his current strength, if he didn't want to die and didn't act recklessly, it would be genuinely difficult for him to perish.
Kakashi wore a pensive expression.
Given the conditions Mu Yue outlined, even the Kage of the Five Great Shinobi Villages wouldn't be able to meet all the criteria, especially when it came to restricting the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Could it be that she encountered a Kage-led ninja force and, to protect her companions, refrained from using the Flying Thunder God Technique, ultimately sacrificing herself?
...
Konoha Village
Fire Shadow's Office, Conference Room
The three Konoha high-ranking officials wore grim expressions, and after their discussion, a brief silence fell upon the room.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's brow was furrowed, and he puffed on his pipe, exhaling clouds of smoke.
Konoha was truly facing one calamity after another. Just as they had suffered a defeat at Kirigakure, Iwagakure began stirring up trouble, with large numbers of their forces pouring into the Grass Country and attempting to breach Fire Country's borders.
Although Jiraiya had held off the Iwagakure forces, he had not defeated them.
This meant that Konoha was now engaged in battles on three fronts, and if they couldn't turn the tide soon, the village would be stretched too thin.
"We don't have many forces left in the village. If we send more ninja units to support Jiraiya, Kirigakure might seize this opportunity to directly attack Konoha," Danzo Shimura said, breaking the silence.
Homura Mitokado nodded. As their headquarters, Konoha was undoubtedly the most critical location to defend.
Hiruzen took his pipe out of his mouth and rubbed his brow. Logically, that was true, but it wasn't a long-term solution to simply hold out.
"For now, we can only wait for Mu Yue to achieve a breakthrough in her battle," Homura said.
Knock, knock.
At that moment, the door to the conference room was knocked on.
"Come in," Hiruzen said in a low voice.
Usually, high-level meetings were not to be disturbed, so it had to be an important matter.
Hiruzen hoped it wasn't news of Sunagakure declaring war on Konoha, as that would truly push the village to the brink.
The door creaked open, and a Root member quickly entered the conference room to report, "Third Hokage, Advisor Mito, and Advisor Danzo, we have urgent intelligence from the eastern front!"
Hearing that it was intelligence from the eastern battlefield, Hiruzen quickly took the report and began reading.
The battle between the Grass Country and the Yu no Kuni was intense, but the most critical concern was undoubtedly the domestic front.
"Just as we were talking about Mu Yue, she has delivered us some excellent news," Hiruzen said, his furrowed brow gradually smoothing out as he read, his expression shifting from surprise to a smile.
It had not even been half a month since Mu Yue's departure, and Hiruzen had assumed that she might have achieved a minor victory or gained an advantage in some aspect.
But upon reading the report, he realized that Mu Yue had achieved a resounding victory, even capturing a large portion of Kirigakure's forces, including Kaji Yagura.
Hiruzen took a shallow puff on his pipe and exhaled a puff of white smoke, feeling a sense of relief.
Although it was just a single battle, Mu Yue's triumph was of paramount importance.
Not only had Kirigakure infiltrated Fire Country, but Mu Yue's victory was also significant.
With the captured Kirigakure ninjas, including Kaji Yagura, Konoha could negotiate with Kirigakure and even demand reparations.
For a long time to come, Konoha wouldn't have to worry about attacks from Kirigakure and could focus on facing their two remaining opponents, Iwagakure and Kumogakure.
"What good news is it?" Mito asked, curious about Hiruzen's sudden change in mood after reading the report.
Hiruzen smiled and handed the report to Mito.
Mito looked on, his expression becoming quite colorful as he registered surprise, delight, and a hint of embarrassment.
He was astonished by Mu Yue's swift and decisive victory, delighted by the large number of captives, and embarrassed because Mu Yue had employed a strategy similar to his, yet she had achieved a resounding success while he had been badly defeated and forced to retreat.
"This is indeed good news, the best possible outcome for Konoha," Mito Mononari exclaimed.
Upon seeing Mito's reaction, Tsunade Koharu became curious and asked him for the intelligence report.
After reading it, she was stunned and couldn't help but ask, "Has Mu Yue's Wood Release progressed so quickly that she can single-handedly take on most of the Kirigakure ninjas with her wood techniques?"
She recalled that Hiruzen Sarutobi had mentioned Mu Yue had just started to develop her Wood Release and needed time to refine and train her skills. Yet, here she was, wreaking havoc on the battlefield.
"After all, Mu Yue is no ordinary ninja. She has profound insights into other nature transformations and ninjutsu," Hiruzen quickly came up with a plausible explanation.
There was a significant difference between a ninja cultivating their first nature transformation and a ninja who, after mastering several nature transformations, goes on to cultivate a new one. The latter's progress would be much faster.
There were commonalities in chakra training, and even between different nature transformations, there were some transferable experiences. This was even more evident in the training of ninjutsu.
Since Mu Yue had always been known as a rule-breaking genius, Hiruzen didn't dwell on it too much.
He secretly hoped that Mu Yue would become even stronger and reach the level of Hashirama Senju within a year, thereby restoring Konoha to its former glory.
Unfortunately, this was impossible. Even Hashirama hadn't become the God of Shinobi at Mu Yue's current age.
"Since Mu Yue has achieved such a great victory, we can contact Kirigakure for negotiations, and we can also transfer Mu Yue to the Iwagakure battlefield to support Jiraiya. That way, we can resolve our current predicament," Mito quickly suggested.
Although this itinerary would be somewhat strenuous for Mu Yue, it was the optimal solution.
Hiruzen and Tsunade agreed with Mito's suggestion.
"After Mu Yue returns from Iwagakure, he can fill the vacancy of the Fire Shadow's assistant," Hiruzen suddenly said.
Unless something unexpected happened, Hiruzen intended to pass on the position of Fire Shadow to Mu Yue.
He wanted Mu Yue to gain experience as the Fire Shadow's assistant first, so that the succession would be smoother and less likely to encounter any problems in the future.
Tsunade instinctively wanted to refuse, thinking that Mu Yue was too young to take on such an important position as the Fire Shadow's assistant.
But after considering the recent intelligence report, she ultimately closed her mouth and remained silent.
"Mu Yue is indeed a good choice. His achievements are enough to command respect," Mito nodded in approval.
After all, Mu Yue had accumulated numerous merits, both large and small, and with this latest triumph, only the Sannin could rival him based on their seniority.
However, Mu Yue had Hiruzen's support, so even the Sannin couldn't compete with him.
Seeing that Mito also agreed, Tsunade simply nodded.
...
Apart from the victorious Konoha, Uchiha Madara, who had sent the White Zetsu to spy on the Konoha ninja forces, also quickly obtained the latest intelligence regarding Mu Yue.
"Lord Madara, I'm afraid we'll have to change our plans. This Mu Yue is overly protective of her disciples. She insists on bringing them with her whenever she goes into battle," Black Zetsu said helplessly.
Their original plan had been to stir up trouble in the ninja world and have Konoha surrounded by enemies, so that Mu Yue would be too preoccupied to pay attention to Obito and the others.
Unexpectedly, Mu Yue exhibited such strong possessiveness over her disciples, allowing them to fight alongside her and even forbidding them from leading teams on their own or taking on missions.
This left them with no opportunity to strike.
With Mu Yue's formidable strength and her mastery of the Flying Thunder God technique, it was almost impossible to deal with her using their current schemes.
"Bring that Grass ninja here. We'll use the backup plan," Uchiha Madara said, leaning on his cane.
"But that plan involves you, Lord Madara. Isn't that too dangerous?" Black Zetsu expressed his concern.
"I don't have much time left, and this time, there won't be any problems," Uchiha Madara replied, exuding absolute confidence.
After all, this time, he would be taking matters into his own hands, so how could there be any mishaps?
"Understood, Lord Madara. I'll go fetch him immediately," Black Zetsu said, his tone filled with loyal obedience as he withdrew.
The elderly Uchiha Madara sat alone in a dimly lit cave, looking like a helpless, lonely old man.
However, anyone who saw his face would immediately dismiss the previous notion, as the wrinkles on his face seemed to exude an air of dominance.
"Mu Yue, the second ninja to master Wood Release after Hashirama... Don't be too boring..."
(End of Chapter)
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