Chapter 459: The Thunder Blade That Reversed the Situation

“Ninja who have mastered Fire Release can confidently use Fire Release to fight. Under the sunlight, your Fire Release will become stronger, while your enemies’ Water Release will become weaker.” Muzuki loudly reminded them after completing the release of Great Sunny Day.

The effect of Great Sunny Day definitely couldn’t be hidden, after all, this wasn’t weakening one or two people’s Water Release or strengthening one or two people’s Fire Release; it was a large-scale collective weakening and strengthening. So, Muzuki simply stated the effect of Great Sunny Day directly.

Anyway, even if the Mist Ninja knew, they wouldn’t be able to make Muzuki’s Great Sunny Day ineffective.

The Fire Release Ninja beside Muzuki looked surprised and delighted. They finally understood why Orochimaru had specifically transferred them from their original squads to form a Fire Release squad.

Originally, many Ninja were puzzled by Orochimaru’s action, because most Ninja in the Hidden Mist Village forces had mastered Water Release, and Water Release countered Fire Release, so forming a dedicated Fire Release squad didn’t seem to make much sense.

It was only because Orochimaru’s prestige was strong enough that no one questioned it.

Now, they just wanted to say that Orochimaru-sama was far-sighted and Lord Mu Yue’s Ninjutsu was extraordinary.

No one had expected that Muzuki also possessed such a miraculous Ninjutsu, capable of strengthening Fire Release while weakening Water Release.

The Mist Ninja who also heard Muzuki’s voice, on the other hand, had their expressions change drastically, unable to imagine that there would be such a Ninjutsu that countered Water Release.

Even if some quick-witted Mist Ninja thought that they could also use Fire Release to enjoy the boost, it was useless, because there were simply not many Mist Ninja in the Mist Ninja forces who knew Fire Release.

Even if there were Mist Ninja who knew Fire Release, their Fire Release wouldn’t be too strong, and the actual effect might still be inferior to using Water Release, as Water Release was at least more proficient, and the counter relationship still existed.

“Teacher Muzuki actually has this kind of Ninjutsu! After the battle, I must ask if I can learn it.” Obito looked at the dazzling sun in the sky, feeling very tempted.

Suddenly pulling off such a move at night was too cool; he instantly became the most dazzling guy on the field, and his best skill was Fire Release, so strengthening Fire Release meant strengthening his overall strength.

“Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!”

Obito gathered a large amount of Chakra in his throat and exhaled a huge, hot fireball, sending it hurtling towards the Hidden Mist Village forces.

This battle was different from before, with over a thousand enemies, so Obito didn’t casually waste Chakra and chose to use the Great Fireball Technique, which had great power and low consumption.

“Water Release: Water Formation Wall!”

The Mist Ninja quickly formed hand signs and exhaled a stream of water, forming a water sphere to block in front.

However, he underestimated Obito’s Fire Release and overestimated his own Water Release.

One must know that Obito’s current Fire Release not only had the Flame Breathing boost but also the Great Sunny Day boost, while the Mist Ninja’s Water Release was weakened under the effect of Great Sunny Day. With one rising and the other falling, how could it possibly block Obito’s Great Fireball Technique?

Sizzle!!

Boom!

Obito’s Great Fireball Technique directly engulfed the water wall, and the fierce flames enveloped the Mist Ninja’s body, charring it.

“Secret Technique: Great Fire Technique!”

Several Sarutobi Clan Fire Release Ninja stood together, forming hand signs to release the Sarutobi Clan’s Fire Release secret technique.

Incredibly scorching flames spewed from the mouths of the Sarutobi Fire Release Ninja, and streams of fire combined to form a sea of fire, incinerating all Mist Ninja it touched into ash.

“Lord Mu Yue’s Ninjutsu and the Secret Technique: Great Fire Technique are simply a perfect match.” A Sarutobi Ninja couldn’t help but praise.

The Secret Technique: Great Fire Technique was originally a Fire Release secret technique born for war; the flames it released were extremely hot, and its insufficient range could be compensated by multiple people releasing it together. Coupled with Muzuki’s Great Sunny Day enhancement, it was truly invincible on the battlefield.

“Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!”

“Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!”

“Water Release: Wild Water Wave!”

A large number of Jonin and Chunin Mist Ninja launched attacks on Muzuki, attempting to kill him to nullify the Ninjutsu that weakened Water Release.

Since they couldn’t break Muzuki’s Ninjutsu, they would just eliminate Muzuki.

Because there were indeed some Ninjutsu in the Ninja World that could be dispelled by this method; the principle was that maintaining them required the caster to continuously output Chakra, and once the Chakra source was cut off, the Ninjutsu would naturally disappear.

However, they didn’t know that Great Sunny Day was not this type of Ninjutsu, and they also couldn’t eliminate Muzuki.

“Everyone, move back a little from me.” Muzuki told the surrounding Konoha Ninja to spread out, as he was about to use a wide-range Ninjutsu.

Sometimes, too large a range was also a problem, because friendly fire couldn’t be turned off in reality.

“Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!”

Muzuki switched his breathing to Flame Breathing, then gathered Chakra and quickly transformed it into Fire Release Chakra, exhaling it all in one breath.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!

Flames like a sea spewed from Muzuki’s mouth, rapidly forming a sea of fire that engulfed everything in front of Muzuki.

The intensely burning, high-temperature flames caused the temperature around Muzuki to rise rapidly, making the Ninja not far from him break out in hot sweat.

Looking at the overwhelming sea of fire, the Konoha Ninja understood why Muzuki wanted them to retreat a certain distance. With such a vast Fire Release, a slight misstep could engulf them as well.

The sea of fire exhaled by Muzuki added a fiery red hue to this bright spot in the darkness, and the faces of every Mist Ninja opposite Muzuki were illuminated by the firelight.

They watched in shock as the sea of fire mercilessly swallowed all of their Water Release. At this moment, it was as if the Chakra nature counter was not water countering fire, but fire countering water.

“His Fire Release is actually so powerful!” A Hidden Mist Jonin exclaimed in shock.

Regarding Muzuki’s abilities, the Mist Ninja were most wary of his Flying Thunder God Technique, which was similar to the Yellow Flash’s, followed by his powerful Ice Release Ninjutsu.

They hadn’t expected Muzuki to also possess such an exaggerated Fire Release, because in previous battles, Muzuki had never shown such powerful Fire Release.

“Even without that blazing sun secret technique, Lord Mu Yue’s Fire Release could rank third in all of Konoha.” Orochimaru’s peripheral vision noticed Muzuki’s terrifyingly powerful sea of fire.

And the reason Muzuki was third was because the top two were too strong: the second was Jiraiya, who was also one of the Sannin with Orochimaru, and the first was Orochimaru’s teacher, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Muzuki, being in the top three of Konoha, could even enter the top five in the Ninja World. Orochimaru felt that outside of Konoha, besides Ninja Master Sōsuke from the Amegakure, no one else’s Fire Release would be stronger than Muzuki’s.

Ninja Master Sōsuke was also an exceptional combatant; he defeated Hanzō, who was best at Water Release, with Fire Release. Orochimaru estimated that Sōsuke’s Fire Release was much stronger than Jiraiya’s, and most likely even stronger than Hiruzen Sarutobi’s.

Of course, Fire Release proficiency couldn’t represent overall strength, as Hiruzen Sarutobi had mastered thousands of Ninjutsu and didn’t rely solely on Fire Release.

“Hayate Mugetsu, it’s you again.” Yagura Karatachi frowned.

Last time, the Hidden Mist Village’s excellent situation was ruined by that encounter battle. Originally, the Hidden Mist Village had the upper hand on the East Bank Battlefield, but after suffering heavy losses in the encounter battle, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse.

Now, they had achieved a great victory in the intelligence war, but then Muzuki suddenly used an unknown Ninjutsu that was extremely effective against Mist Ninja.

“I must find a way to eliminate him. If this man doesn’t die, he will become a major threat to the Hidden Mist Village!” Yagura Karatachi’s heart surged with killing intent towards Muzuki.

Muzuki’s Great Sunny Day had too great an impact on the Mist Ninja forces; a sudden use in a large-scale battle would directly cause the overall strength of their Ninja forces to decline.

Unless the Hidden Mist Village never gathers its forces for large-scale battles again, Great Sunny Day will always be a huge threat to the Mist Ninja.

But this was clearly unrealistic. Konoha couldn’t counterattack the Land of Water now, but it was hard to say about the future.

“Mangetsu, you go find an opportunity to try and kill Hayate Mugetsu.” Yagura Karatachi ordered, and also gave a look to a Mist Ninja near him.

Hozuki Mangetsu was stunned for a moment. His strength was similar to Haku’s, and Haku couldn’t defeat Muzuki, so for him to kill Muzuki would be an extremely difficult task.

But rank overruled everything, especially on a battlefield where military orders were absolute. Hozuki Mangetsu could only use Body Flicker Technique to create distance and no longer entangle with Ino–Shika–Chō.

Nara Shikaku and the others naturally didn’t want to let Hozuki Mangetsu leave, but they were blocked by Jonin like Biwa Jūzō and Kuriarare Kushimaru.

Seeing this, Orochimaru prepared to release Wind Release to help Ino–Shika–Chō, but then he sensed a terrifying aura suddenly rise.

A seemingly unremarkable middle-aged Mist Ninja transformed into an old man with a white beard, and a stony tail taller than his body grew from behind him.

After the old man burst forth with Chakra, he attacked Orochimaru without any hesitation.

The Three-Tails Jinchuriki had been deployed to the battlefield for some time, but Yagura Karatachi wanted to give Konoha a big surprise, to catch Konoha off guard, so he had kept the Three-Tails Jinchuriki hidden and low-key.

“They actually deployed the Three-Tails Jinchuriki.” Orochimaru frowned slightly.

Even after learning about the Hidden Mist Village’s main forces, Orochimaru hadn’t directly launched a large-scale attack precisely because he was worried that there might be a Jinchuriki among the Hidden Mist Village’s reinforcements. His greatest fear had come true.

Whoosh!

“Summoning Technique!”

Orochimaru retreated rapidly and immediately used Ninjutsu to summon Manda.

Although Manda couldn’t defeat a Tailed Beast, it was tough and could take a lot of damage, so it could still entangle and stall for time.

A puff of white smoke flashed, and a giant purple snake with stripes appeared from within.

“Orochimaru, where are my hundred sacrifices?” Manda, who had been summoned, spoke unceremoniously.

Unlike ordinary Nin-Beasts, Manda didn’t regard Orochimaru as a master or companion; in its eyes, Orochimaru was just a collaborator.

“You’ll definitely get what’s due to you. This time, the enemy isn’t simple, don’t be careless.” Orochimaru, standing on Manda’s huge snake head, said expressionlessly.

If Manda weren’t powerful enough, and any other Nin-Beast dared to be so arrogant towards him, Orochimaru would have long since prepared them as ingredients.

Orochimaru glanced at Muzuki’s side out of the corner of his eye. With just Manda, he could at most ensure his own successful retreat and survival. Whether they could win depended on whether Muzuki’s side could exert a burst of power and eliminate Hozuki Mangetsu to help him.

“Water Gun Technique!”

Hozuki Mangetsu silently appeared behind Muzuki, raised his finger, and unleashed the Hozuki Clan’s secret technique towards Muzuki.

A water droplet pierced through the air like a bullet, shooting rapidly towards Muzuki’s head.

However, Muzuki seemed to have anticipated Hozuki Mangetsu’s attack, tilting his head to dodge the Water Release just as it was about to hit.

“He’s quite perceptive.” Seeing his sneak attack fail, Hozuki Mangetsu dashed forward and raised his other hand, also forming a pistol shape.

“Water Release: Twin Shot!”

Bang! Bang!!

Both hands simultaneously fired two high-speed water droplet bullets towards Muzuki.

This was the power of the Hozuki Clan’s secret technique; it required no hand signs and was extremely fast, a powerful Water Release only possible after mastering Hydrification Technique.

Hozuki Mangetsu didn’t believe Muzuki could dodge all of them by twisting his body this time; this was equivalent to four times the power of a normal Water Release: Twin Shot.

Whoosh!

Muzuki’s body vanished from his spot without warning, reappearing beside several Mist Ninja and kicking them all away with a whirlwind kick.

“Damn that Flying Thunder God Technique.” Hozuki Mangetsu’s face darkened as his Chakra-consuming attack missed.

Although Muzuki hadn’t thrown a Kunai since the battle began, this was a Konoha Ninja camp, so how could Muzuki’s Flying Thunder God Kunai be absent?

“Water Release: Water Hail!”

Annoyed, Hozuki Mangetsu didn’t continue pursuing Muzuki. Instead, he raised his hand and launched an attack at some Konoha Ninja not far from him.

If he couldn’t hit Muzuki, could he not hit those ordinary Konoha Ninja?

Dense water bullets were released from Hozuki Mangetsu’s hands.

However, although these water bullets seemed numerous, their individual power was not on the same level as Water Release: Twin Shot; their advantage was their wide range.

“Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!”

Kakashi formed hand signs, causing an earth wall to rise from the ground for defense.

His disciples were all fighting around Muzuki, not too far from him.

“Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!”

After handily dealing with a few Mist Ninja, Muzuki formed a hand sign and released a fire dragon, sending it to bite at Hozuki Mangetsu.

Hozuki Mangetsu dared not be careless against Muzuki’s Fire Release, especially since the large scorched marks left by Muzuki’s overwhelming Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation were still visible.

Hozuki Mangetsu released Water Release himself while calling on other Mist Ninja to help him resist.

The entire battlefield was now divided into two sections: one centered around Orochimaru, Yagura Karatachi, and the Three-Tails Jinchuriki, and the other centered around Muzuki and Hozuki Mangetsu.

Originally, the Mist Ninja outnumbered the Konoha Ninja, and with the Three-Tails Jinchuriki assisting Yagura Karatachi, he had sent most of his Jonin to besiege Muzuki.

On Konoha’s side, most of the Konoha Jonin, led by Ino–Shika–Chō and Hyuga Hizashi, were helping Orochimaru fight the Jinchuriki and Yagura Karatachi, while the Chunin and Genin were concentrated around Muzuki.

Thus, the situation on Muzuki’s side was that the lower and middle ranks were evenly matched, while the upper ranks were held by Muzuki and his disciples.

“Muzuki, you must win.” Hyuga Hizashi, with his wide field of vision, could see Muzuki’s battle with the Hidden Mist.

The combination of Yagura Karatachi and the Three-Tails Jinchuriki was truly difficult to deal with. The key to this grand battle lay in whether Muzuki could withstand the pressure and gain an advantage.

In fact, reaching this point was already incredibly difficult, as they had too many disadvantages in all aspects. Without Muzuki’s Great Sunny Day, they might have already been forced to retreat to preserve their strength.

Even Hyuga Hizashi on the other side was focused on Muzuki’s battle, let alone the area centered around Muzuki.

“Haku died at Lord Mu Yue’s hands. Hozuki Mangetsu can’t possibly defeat Lord Mu Yue.”

“Not this time, Muzuki-sensei will win!” Shisui observed the situation and drew his conclusion.

Currently, the Konoha forces were only at a slight disadvantage; how could this lead to such a powerful Muzuki dying on the spot?

Some Konoha Ninja fought desperately, trying to hold back more Mist Ninja for Muzuki, and got injured. Some Mist Ninja who besieged Muzuki died under Muzuki’s Ninjutsu.

Hozuki Mangetsu was very cautious; he marked down every place Muzuki threw a Kunai and would not step there again, to ensure he wouldn’t be suddenly attacked by Flying Thunder God.

After all, Yagura Karatachi only said to find an opportunity to kill Muzuki. If he wasn’t careful himself, how could he find an opportunity against Muzuki?

Black Zetsu, watching from afar, was a bit speechless. Hydrification Technique’s survival capability was among the top tier in the entire Ninja World; not only was it completely immune to physical attacks, but even most Ninjutsu could be dissolved by turning into water. How did he develop such a cowardly fighting style?

Hozuki Mangetsu seemed to be constantly engaging and disengaging with Muzuki, but in reality, he was steadily approaching Obito.

According to the intelligence they had gathered, Uchiha Obito was Muzuki’s disciple. Hozuki Mangetsu wanted to make Muzuki lose his composure and expose a weakness by killing his disciple.

Hozuki Mangetsu had already planned it out in his mind: even if he didn’t succeed, he would still have killed a Konoha genius, eliminating a hidden threat for the Hidden Mist, so Yagura Karatachi couldn’t criticize him after the battle.

Actually, killing Might Guy would be a greater achievement, but Hozuki Mangetsu felt that a super genius like Might Guy would be hard to kill, so he chose Obito for a higher success rate.

Obito’s Sharingan saw Hozuki Mangetsu’s ill intentions. He immediately retreated and threw several Shuriken towards Hozuki Mangetsu.

Under the powerful observation of the Sharingan, Obito’s already excellent Shuriken throwing became even stronger. Each Shuriken played a different role: some targeted Hozuki Mangetsu’s vital points, while others sealed off his dodging space.

But Hozuki Mangetsu sneered and accelerated towards Obito; no matter how strong a physical attack, it wouldn’t affect him.

Then, something surprising happened to Obito: Hozuki Mangetsu’s body, struck by the Shuriken, suddenly turned into liquid. The Shuriken passed through the water and directly plunged into the ground, while Hozuki Mangetsu was unharmed.

Obito made a quick decision and immediately concentrated his breathing to the extreme, entering Flame Breathing Chakra Mode. Being without Chakra on the battlefield was very dangerous, but that was something to worry about after Chakra was depleted. Being caught in close quarters by Hozuki Mangetsu was an immediate crisis.

But Hozuki Mangetsu’s Water Instant Body was incredibly fast, almost instantly reaching a spot only one meter from Obito. Hozuki Mangetsu raised both hands, forming pistol shapes.

“Water Release: Twin Shot!”

To prevent any accidents, Hozuki Mangetsu chose to use the more powerful double Water Release: Twin Shot.

Obito, without any hesitation, immediately ignited his entire body with flames. Leveraging the Flame Breathing Chakra Mode’s enhancement to Fire Release Chakra Nature Transformation, he instantly formed a flame protective shield around himself.

Whoosh!

Before Hozuki Mangetsu’s Water Release: Twin Shot could hit Obito’s flame shield, Muzuki used Flying Thunder God Technique to appear beside Obito, controlling his strength to draw Enma and unleash No Thought Strike.

As Muzuki swung his sword, dazzling Lightning Release burst forth in his hand, and the roar of thunder erupted, drawing the attention of surrounding Ninja.

Hozuki Mangetsu instinctively used Hydrification Technique, but his face instantly changed when he saw the lightning flashing on Enma.

Hydrification Technique was strong, but not without weaknesses. Hydrification Technique’s weakness was Lightning Release; Lightning Release’s electricity could cause paralysis to the user of Hydrification Technique, preventing full liquefaction and thus causing injury.

“Move, body, move!” Hozuki Mangetsu desperately tried to dodge, but found Muzuki’s slash to be exceptionally fast.

“Damn it, I’m going to be seriously injured. Good thing our Ninja forces have more people.” After confirming he couldn’t dodge, Hozuki Mangetsu was already thinking about how to escape Muzuki’s pursuit after being severely wounded.

Although Lightning Release countered his Hydrification Technique, it was only a counter, not a guaranteed death upon contact with Lightning Release. Otherwise, how could this secret technique have created the powerful Hozuki Clan? Learning a Lightning Release wasn’t that high a cost.

“This person is dead.” Kakashi directly sentenced Hozuki Mangetsu to death in his mind.

As someone currently learning No Thought Strike, he understood just how terrifying this Lightning Release sword technique was; it was not an attack a person could withstand head-on.

“Still trying to hit me? Don’t you know I have the protection of Muzuki-senpai?” Seeing Hozuki Mangetsu’s attack cut down by Muzuki’s slash, Obito exited Flame Breathing Chakra Mode.

He admitted Hozuki Mangetsu had some tricks, almost catching him with a sneak attack, but against the omnipotent Muzuki-senpai, Hozuki Mangetsu’s life was like a flickering candle in the wind.

The electric light infinitely magnified in Hozuki Mangetsu’s eyes. When Enma struck his body, Hozuki Mangetsu’s eyes widened, and an unspeakable pain spread from the point of impact throughout his entire body.

At this moment, Hozuki Mangetsu realized he was wrong; he had severely underestimated the Lightning Release slash Muzuki unleashed.

He never imagined that Muzuki, whose Fire Release far surpassed ordinary people, whose Ice Release was no weaker than Haku, and who had mastered Flying Thunder God, would also possess such a powerful Lightning Release sword technique.

Hozuki Mangetsu truly didn’t understand, even to his death, how Muzuki cultivated these abilities. Even if he started training from the womb, it shouldn’t be like this. Did Muzuki’s day have 240 hours or something?

Hozuki Mangetsu didn’t suffer for too long. Almost the instant the pain hit, Hozuki Mangetsu’s body directly shattered, and a scorched slash mark appeared on the ground where he had stood.

“Lord Mangetsu!” The surrounding Hidden Mist Jonin were all surprised and grief-stricken.

The battle situation changed too quickly. Just a moment ago, Hozuki Mangetsu was fighting Muzuki back and forth, and suddenly he was directly instantly killed by Muzuki’s drawn sword. Even if the Hidden Mist wanted to provide support, it was too late.

Muzuki, having killed Hozuki Mangetsu, did not stop. He formed hand signs on the spot and spat out fierce flames, surging towards the Hidden Mist.

Trying to attack his disciples was truly courting death. Because it was on the battlefield, Muzuki had given each disciple two Flying Thunder God Kunai: one to throw and one to keep on their person for constant positioning.

“A bunch of useless trash! Is killing Hayate Mugetsu that difficult?!” Yagura Karatachi was going crazy.

Such a huge advantage, how did it all disappear as the fight progressed, and even a strong member of the Hozuki Clan died?

“Lord Mu Yue, you truly are someone I can trust.” Orochimaru’s lips curved upwards.

Today is 6k, not very long, but I guess it can be considered a mid-chapter?

Also, I’m collecting names for Rockruff. Naming is really hard.