Chapter 86: Shock and Seriousness
Chapter 86: Shock and Seriousness
"I'm aware of your situation, Feng Ye. You are now a special jonin directly under the front-line forces. Go and get some rest for now. I'll assign you a mission when the time is right."
Jiraiya spoke to Feng Ye.
While he wasn't too keen on relying on Feng Ye's power, he did have a sense of the bigger picture. He wouldn't let Feng Ye, such a powerful asset, remain idle and waste Konoha's combat strength.
So, his next step would be to devise a comprehensive battle plan and launch a decisive battle against the Sand Hidden Village. With Feng Ye's presence and the foiled ambush plan, their chances of victory would be greatly improved.
"Alright."
Feng Ye nodded.
He was feeling ready for a rest anyway. After rushing over from the Grass Country's camp and rescuing Kurenai Yuhi along the way, his physical exhaustion could be healed with time regression, but his mental fatigue was another matter. He needed to rest and recalibrate his state of mind.
As Jiraiya watched Feng Ye leave the tent, he turned to Minato Namikaze and shook his head. "In the upcoming battle, you must not lose to him, Minato."
Feng Ye was Orochimaru's disciple, and he was younger than Minato. If he performed more impressively than Minato in the coming battle, facing Orochimaru afterward would be a bit awkward.
Jiraiya's thoughts were straightforward.
He didn't want to become the Hokage himself, and he knew that both Orochimaru and Minato aspired to the position. One was his disciple, and the other was his comrade. While he didn't particularly care which of the two became Hokage, he did care about which of their disciples performed better—a matter of pride.
Minato smiled and said, "He's a talented ninja, but he won't surpass me. Maybe in the future, but right now, he's too young."
"No," Jiraiya shook his head as he looked at Minato. "Minato, don't underestimate him because of his age. Not long ago, he single-handedly wiped out a group of Sand ninjas who detoured through the Rain Country to launch a sneak attack on our elite forces!"
This intelligence had only recently reached Jiraiya, and it was news to Minato as well. Hearing Jiraiya's words, he couldn't help but show a look of astonishment.
Detouring through the Rain Country to ambush their elite forces from behind? Such a strike force wouldn't be too large, as it would be easy to expose themselves, but they wouldn't be too small either. Too few in number, and they might not be able to break through their defenses.
Kakashi Hatake, Obito Uchiha, and Rin Nohara, who were still present, also looked at Jiraiya with some shock. They, too, were unaware of this information.
"How many were in that strike force?" Minato asked, his eyes narrowing slightly.
Jiraiya's gaze turned profound as he replied, "Nearly a hundred... at least ten jonin."
"What?!" Minato exclaimed, unable to maintain his composure.
A hundred elite ninjas, including ten jonin—Minato was confident he could pull it off using the Flying Thunder God Technique, but without having attempted it in battle, it was hard to be certain.
The crucial question was: How had Feng Ye managed it?!
To annihilate a force of this size single-handedly, one had to ensure a fundamental principle: render all the opponent's attacks and restrictions ineffective!
With the Flying Thunder God jutsu, Minato could achieve this, but how had Feng Ye done it? He didn't seem like the type with extremely high defense, and while his speed was impressive, it didn't seem sufficient to evade all ninjutsu and restrictions.
Could Feng Ye also use the Flying Thunder God Technique?
"I don't know how he did it either, but the result is true," Jiraiya said.
As for being unable to do it himself...
He certainly couldn't do it on his own, but if he summoned the two great sages from Mount Myoboku and entered Sage Mode, then taking out over a hundred elite ninjas would be within his capabilities.
However, even if he counted that as his own strength, it wouldn't mean much. He was of the same generation as Orochimaru, so it was only natural that he would surpass Feng Ye. The crucial point was that if Minato's performance fell short of Feng Ye's, then he would be in a bit of a pickle.
"I'll take it seriously, Jiraiya-sensei," Minato nodded, a slight gleam in his otherwise calm eyes.
He was getting serious now.
If hearing about Feng Ye's exploits on the Grass Country battlefield had only piqued his interest before, this new information had truly sparked his competitive spirit, and he also realized that his previous assessment of Feng Ye had been wrong.
Feng Ye wasn't a naive ninja who still needed to mature; he was someone who, at such a young age, had already caught up to his level!
Kakashi Hatake, Obito Uchiha, and the others present were also stunned by these revelations. They were left speechless.
Jiraiya's words were like a cryptic scripture, hard to comprehend. The idea of encountering an elite squad of Sand ninjas, of a single person taking out nearly a hundred elites, including ten jonin, was mind-boggling.
What were these people even talking about?!
Even Kakashi, who was close to becoming a jonin himself, felt overwhelmed. As for Deidara and Rin, they were still only genin!
Even Kakashi, who was closest to Feng Ye, was shocked for a moment before he could gather his wits, a bitter smile appearing on his face.
He was no longer afraid of facing jonin; he had recently come close to defeating one. But compared to the current Feng Ye, he knew he didn't stand a chance.
"Feng Ye... he's too strong," Rin murmured, her eyes wide with awe. It took her a long while to snap out of her daze, and she couldn't help but whisper, as if still dreaming.
...
At the same time, in the central tent of the Sand Hidden Village's frontline camp.
After many days of searching, the scouts sent out by the Sand Village had found traces of the battle involving Yecang and others in the Rain Country, but these traces yielded almost no useful information.
The only certainty was that Yecang's group had most likely been wiped out!
Because, up until now, not a single survivor had been found. Even if just one person had survived, they should have made contact by now, but sadly, there was no sign of anyone.
The news spread through the camp.
The entire tent fell into a somber atmosphere.
"How is that possible...?"
Ebizo's eyes widened in disbelief.
He knew Yecang's strength well. Yecang led a group of nearly a hundred elite ninjas, and their combat power was formidable. Even if the Leaf Village sent double their number, they might not be able to wipe out Yecang's force!
To annihilate them completely, without letting a single person escape, would likely require three times their number in elite ninjas. But there was no way the Leaf Village could mobilize nearly three hundred elite ninjas without them knowing about it!
If that were the case, the war would have been over by now.
(End of Chapter)
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