Chapter 434: War Merit Rewards

“I believe this battle can be heavily publicized, just like when Minato Namikaze drew with the AB Combo last time,” Danzo Shimura was the first to voice his thoughts.

“It can both give the Village’s Ninja more confidence in the future of the war and deter our enemy Ninja Villages.”

Muzuki was a Ninja from Root, and Danzo Shimura believed that Muzuki gaining greater fame and achieving higher status and more power in Konoha would be more beneficial to him.

After all, he was Muzuki’s most respected Root leader; there was no way Muzuki would refuse his arrangements.

“It’s true that it can boost morale, but can this increase in morale truly compare to the effect of Hayate Mugetsu acting as a surprise attack?” Utatane Koharu raised a different opinion.

“You must know that this time he killed four of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist and also Haku; if we have a few more such results, Konoha will surely win the war.”

Utatane Koharu believed that Konoha should not only refrain from publicizing Muzuki’s achievements but also have the Ninja below keep it a secret, letting Muzuki remain a hidden assassin.

“Have you been off the battlefield for too long? Such a battle result cannot be achieved by mere strength,” Danzo Shimura retorted unceremoniously.

Although both were retorts, Danzo Shimura’s retorts to Utatane Koharu were somewhat different from those to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

The main reason Danzo Shimura retorted to Hiruzen Sarutobi was that Hiruzen Sarutobi’s suppression made him unhappy.

His retort to Utatane Koharu, however, was because Danzo Shimura understood this old classmate too well.

Utatane Koharu, like him, was a Ninja dedicated to Konoha; as long as the starting point was for Konoha or the final result was beneficial to Konoha, Utatane Koharu would not care about minor details.

His more intense words, on the contrary, made it easier for Utatane Koharu to understand his sincere devotion to Konoha.

After thinking it over, Utatane Koharu did not refute Danzo Shimura’s words; it had indeed been a long time since she was on the battlefield.

After all, after Hiruzen Sarutobi became Hokage, she was promoted to Konoha’s high command, and a powerful Ninja Village like Konoha rarely needed its high command to be dispatched.

Watching Utatane Koharu’s reaction, Danzo Shimura nodded silently in his heart; dealing with Utatane Koharu meant dealing with Homura Mitokado, as these two usually acted in unison.

In fact, Danzo Shimura did not think highly of the two of them; although they could all be considered disciples of the Second Hokage, Danzo Shimura only had Hiruzen Sarutobi in his eyes, believing that Hiruzen Sarutobi was the only Ninja on the same level as him.

The reality was as he thought; after becoming Konoha’s high command, Homura Mitokado and Utatane Koharu rarely had their own opinions.

If it were just a lack of opinion, that would be fine, but they were also Hiruzen Sarutobi’s yes-men, which made Danzo Shimura very unhappy.

Because this meant that during high-level meetings, he was isolated and without support.

However, Danzo Shimura knew that this was not because of his lack of ability, but simply because Hiruzen Sarutobi was the Third Hokage, and he was merely the Hokage Assistant.

If their positions were reversed, then Utatane Koharu and Homura Mitokado would be his yes-men.

Danzo Shimura looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had remained silent.

Given the personalities of Utatane Koharu and Homura Mitokado, even if they tacitly agreed now, they would immediately support Hiruzen Sarutobi if he provided a logical reason to object, so Hiruzen Sarutobi’s opinion was very important.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, sensing Danzo Shimura’s gaze, did not speak immediately but picked up his pipe, took a deep puff, and exhaled wisps of white smoke.

The question of whether or not to publicize the achievements was not worth Hiruzen Sarutobi pondering for too long; he was thinking about other issues, one of which was the current strength of the various Hokage candidates in Konoha.

Currently, the weakest in popularity was Tsunade, who had not gone to the front lines to participate in the war, while Orochimaru and Jiraiya were currently evenly matched.

When Jiraiya achieved a great victory on the Land of Grass battlefield, his popularity surpassed all other candidates, but as Orochimaru made achievements on the Land of Hot Springs battlefield, he gradually caught up to Jiraiya.

Even though Hiruzen Sarutobi, as the current Hokage, had absolute authority over the selection of the next Hokage, he could not ignore the popular opinion within Konoha.

Because the First Hokage was elected by all Konoha Ninja, if he, Hiruzen Sarutobi, chose someone that everyone did not approve of to become Hokage, it might cause some damage to the Hokage’s prestige.

Of course, Hiruzen Sarutobi was not someone who didn’t know what was important; if he believed that the highly popular person was not suitable to become Hokage, even if it meant losing some of the Hokage’s prestige, he would still appoint the candidate he deemed suitable for Hokage.

“Jiraiya, why are you so unwilling to become Hokage?” Thinking of this, Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed in his heart.

If Jiraiya were willing to become Hokage, he wouldn’t have to think so much; he had already paved the way for Jiraiya, but Jiraiya was unwilling to walk it.

From Hiruzen Sarutobi’s perspective, he found Jiraiya’s choice very difficult to understand.

This was the position of Hokage of Konoha, possessing supreme power.

Although the Hokage was nominally one rank below the Lord Daimyo of Fire Country, in reality, they were on equal footing; the Lord Daimyo of Fire Country could not order the Hokage to do something he did not want to do.

Then Hiruzen Sarutobi thought of Muzuki again; if Muzuki had been born five or six years earlier, Hiruzen Sarutobi would have unhesitatingly taken Muzuki as his disciple and trained Muzuki towards becoming Hokage.

Muzuki was Hiruzen Sarutobi’s ideal disciple: like him, he possessed Ninja talent far exceeding ordinary people, was gentle and humble, had a deep understanding of The Will of Fire, and even possessed unparalleled teaching ability—he was simply a strengthened version of his younger self.

Thinking of Muzuki’s personality, and then thinking of the personalities of his three disciples, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt that it was truly infuriating to compare people.

Hiruzen Sarutobi exhaled white smoke and took down his pipe, “Even if concealing intelligence, such achievements are difficult to replicate, and two of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist escaped; Hidden Mist will also know about this very soon. In such a situation, deliberate concealment is meaningless. Let’s mobilize our forces to publicize this victory.”

The results Muzuki achieved on the battlefield far exceeded Hiruzen Sarutobi’s expectations; when he fought against the Hidden Sand Village hero Pakura before, he had asked Muzuki to conceal it once out of consideration for Hidden Sand Village’s reputation. This time, Hiruzen Sarutobi was not prepared to inconvenience Muzuki again.

The fame Muzuki currently possessed was too disproportionate to his strength.

After Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke, Utatane Koharu and Homura Mitokado also expressed their agreement, and Danzo Shimura showed a satisfied smile on his face.

“How should Might Duy be rewarded? Should he be promoted to Jonin? But he doesn’t seem to know Ninjutsu, and promoting someone who doesn’t know Ninjutsu to Jonin seems a bit against the rules,” Homura Mitokado said, looking at the data in his hand.

Konoha’s selection of Jonin was very strict; in peacetime, Jonin not only had to have sufficient achievements for promotion but also had to undergo various assessments to complete the promotion. Those who failed had to keep studying until they passed to be promoted.

Although it was not as strict during wartime, Might Duy was not just specializing; he only knew one subject, which had no precedent in Konoha, so Homura Mitokado said it was against the rules.

“Then Special Jonin it is. Anyway, he’s only skilled in Taijutsu, and it hasn’t been long since his Chunin promotion; this is already considered a special promotion,” Utatane Koharu said, looking at Might Duy’s file.

It was only because this achievement was truly significant; otherwise, Utatane Koharu wouldn’t even want to promote Might Duy.

He clearly possessed such a powerful forbidden Ninjutsu, yet he never used it, long pretending to be a Genin for years. She saw this as a Ninja without The Will of Fire.

Danzo Shimura closed his mouth and said nothing; Might Duy’s promotion to whatever rank was none of his business.

“Rules are dead; Konoha has also changed its rules from the very beginning until now. Whether it’s Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, or Genjutsu, they are all essentially part of a Ninja’s strength. Might Duy was able to fight two of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist; this strength is sufficient to become a Jonin,” Hiruzen Sarutobi offered a contrary opinion.

Hiruzen Sarutobi knew Might Duy and had a brief encounter with him, so Hiruzen Sarutobi generally knew what kind of person Might Duy was.

He believed that with the temperament Might Duy displayed, becoming a Konoha Jonin was completely fine.

Moreover, Might Duy indeed rendered great service this time; if it weren’t for Might Duy’s timely support, Kakashi and the others would not have been able to repel the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, nor would they have been able to hold out until Muzuki arrived, and thus there would have been no great victory this time.

“Hiruzen, you make a good point. Sometimes, it’s true that we cannot rigidly adhere to rules,” Homura Mitokado showed a look of agreement.

“Then let’s promote him to Jonin,” Utatane Koharu also changed her stance.

A hint of disdain flashed in Danzo Shimura’s eyes; if Hiruzen Sarutobi had refuted his opinion, he would have argued with Hiruzen Sarutobi for a bit.

“Since Might Duy is being promoted to Jonin, what about Kakashi Hatake and Might Guy?” Homura Mitokado spoke again.

“Among the few, except for Kakashi Hatake, most were promoted to Chunin only in the last two years, and Shiranui Genma, Ebisu, and Uchiha Shisui were even promoted to Chunin only this year.”

If Kakashi and the others were also promoted to Jonin, it would be a bit shocking; Konoha would have several low-aged Jonin, and Shisui was only eight years old this year.

Hiruzen Sarutobi showed a thoughtful expression and then said, “Kakashi Hatake, Uchiha Obito, and Might Guy will undergo Jonin assessment upon returning to the Village; if they pass, they can be promoted to Jonin. Rin Nohara will be directly promoted to Special Jonin, and the others will remain unchanged for now.”

The reason Ebisu and Shiranui Genma were not on the promotion list was simple: although they also tried hard, they were basically just bystanders in the battle and did not have the strength to be promoted to Jonin.

A Ninja’s strength not matching their Ninja rank was a very terrifying thing; it would not only affect the Ninja Village’s reputation but also make the Ninja more likely to die during missions.

Although Uchiha Shisui was strong enough, his achievements were not sufficient; he had done too few missions to meet the requirements for Jonin.

Treating Rin Nohara and Obito differently was also a matter of strength; Rin Nohara’s current strength was insufficient to be a Jonin, but her outstanding medical abilities and achievements were enough for a direct promotion to Special Jonin.

Homura Mitokado and Utatane Koharu both showed expressions of agreement; Hiruzen Sarutobi had considered all aspects.

…

After the meeting, Muzuki visited his injured disciples.

Every disciple was injured this time, just a matter of severity.

“Muzuki-sensei!” Seeing Muzuki, Obito waved happily.

Shisui, not as enthusiastic as Obito, also sat up and greeted Muzuki.

Kakashi sat up slightly and softly greeted Muzuki.

Might Guy, due to his severe injuries, could only slightly lift his head to find Muzuki’s position and then greet Muzuki with a somewhat weak voice.

“Are you all doing well?” Muzuki smiled warmly, then walked to his disciples and re-examined them.

This time, Muzuki used Transformation Jutsu to transform into Tsunade to examine them; after the examination, he treated his disciples again.

Because of his black-framed glasses, none of the disciples noticed Muzuki’s change, only feeling that under Muzuki’s treatment, their bodies recovered a few more points.

“Muzuki-sensei’s Medical Ninjutsu has improved so much,” Kakashi, receiving treatment, was somewhat surprised in his heart.

As his disciples grew stronger and stronger, injuries during training battles were inevitable; most of the time, Muzuki treated them, with Rin Nohara only assisting, so Kakashi was quite clear about Muzuki’s Medical Ninjutsu level.

At a certain point, Muzuki’s Medical Ninjutsu advanced by leaps and bounds; according to Muzuki himself, it was the result of his studies with Tsunade.

Muzuki’s progress this time was very obvious; even a Ninja like Kakashi, who didn’t understand Medical Ninjutsu, could perceive it.

“Muzuki-sensei is indeed a genius who developed Armament Haki and Breathing Technique,” Kakashi attributed the progress to Muzuki’s talent and effort.

He did not deny Tsunade’s contribution, but believed that it was mainly because Muzuki was so formidable; otherwise, if Tsunade opened a Medical Ninja training class, wouldn’t she be able to train a bunch of Medical Ninja at the level of a small Tsunade?

“Muzuki-sensei, when can we recover?” Obito couldn’t help but ask.

While he had put on a show against the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, it was specifically the killing of Suikazan Fuguki in cooperation with Kakashi. Obito wanted to surpass Kakashi, so he wanted to recover quickly and continue fighting.

“You, Shisui, and Rin can recover in ten days. Kakashi will need three weeks, and Guy one and a half months,” Muzuki thought for a moment and replied.

Although Tsunade’s medical abilities were strong, to ensure his disciples’ bodies had no hidden dangers, Muzuki still planned to let them rest for a longer period.

“It’ll take that long!” Might Guy’s eyes widened.

“After half a month of recuperation, you can start rehabilitation exercises, just don’t overdo it,” Muzuki added.

Might Guy breathed a sigh of relief; if he couldn’t train for such a long time, it would truly be too unbearable for him, and it would be even more unbearable if Kakashi and the others took advantage of this time to surpass him.

“The battles on the battlefield will become more intense from now on. I plan to send Guy back to Konoha. Does anyone else want to go back with Guy?” Muzuki looked at his other disciples.

After all, Hidden Mist had already invaded the Land of Fire’s mainland; as long as Hidden Mist did not retreat, Orochimaru would definitely lead his Ninja troops to fight to the death with Hidden Mist.

Muzuki had created such a good opportunity for Orochimaru, and Orochimaru would definitely not let this opportunity pass. The intensity of the war on the East Coast battlefield would continue to increase.