Chapter 668: Might Guy’s Life Mission Settlement

Inside the meeting room, the Konoha Ninja and Ninja Sect sat on opposite sides of the conference table.

Kakuzu made no provocations, merely watching Orochimaru quietly.

Although he was very dissatisfied with Konoha’s idiotic demands last time, they were still generally in a weaker position.

Konoha wanted to use their power to pressure them, but they wouldn’t back down. If Konoha was willing to talk properly, they wouldn’t deliberately cause trouble.

“Our Sandaime greatly admires the strength of your Sect Leader, Sōsuke, and wishes to have a Ninja battle with him. After this battle, regardless of the outcome, the matter of Danzo Shimura will be considered resolved,” Orochimaru said.

“Hmm?” Kakuzu looked surprised.

What kind of grudge is this, to target Sōsuke specifically, even challenging him to a one-on-one fight?

Kakuzu couldn’t understand Konoha’s move at all; a Hokage personally coming out for a duel.

Roshi also looked surprised, somewhat bewildered.

He had lived for so long, and this was the first time he had seen such a conflict resolution plan: the leaders of both sides dueling to resolve a conflict.

The strongest Ninja Village was unexpectedly simple.

Orochimaru’s expression was calm; the Ninja Sect’s reaction was within his expectations, because even he himself was very surprised when he heard Hiruzen Sarutobi’s request.

Everyone knew that a Hokage’s strength was immense, but a Hokage, besides their strength, was also the leader of the Ninja Village, bearing the weight of the entire Ninja Village. Therefore, unless there were special circumstances, they would always remain in the Ninja Village, leading from the rear.

The Shinobi Sect matter wasn’t small, but it wasn’t big either.

In Orochimaru’s opinion, sending a larger Ninja squad could resolve the Shinobi Sect issue, without the Hokage needing to personally engage in battle.

However, his opinion was useless. Since Hiruzen Sarutobi wanted to do it this way, he only had to carry out the mission.

Nagato’s expression was subtle, his lips tightly sealed.

He originally didn’t want to come, as knowing Muzuki’s true identity would make him somewhat uncomfortable, but Kakuzu said his presence would make things better, so he came.

“What are your Sect’s thoughts on this?” Orochimaru asked.

“I need to go ask the Leader,” Kakuzu mused for a moment.

Sōsuke had given him authority, but this request involved Sōsuke himself, so he couldn’t make a rash decision.

Something like suicide could be rejected without even thinking, but for a one-on-one fight, Kakuzu felt that it was hard to say who would suffer a loss.

After all, Sōsuke was so confident in his own strength.

“Nagato, come with me,” Kakuzu said, calling Nagato as he stood up.

Nagato nodded and left the meeting room with Kakuzu, heading to Sōsuke’s office.

Upon reaching the wooden door of the office, Kakuzu unhurriedly knocked on the door and only entered after receiving Sōsuke’s approval.

“What is it? What’s the matter?” Muzuki put down his pen and looked up, asking.

“Konoha has given us a new condition. They said that as long as you fight the Third Hokage, no matter the outcome, the Danzo Shimura matter will be considered resolved,” Kakuzu summarized.

“You really are hated. Even the Third Hokage himself wants to kill you,” Kakuzu sighed.

What admiration for strength? This was clearly a threat after their suicide attempt failed, so they just rolled up their sleeves and wanted to fight.

“How should we reply to Konoha, agree or refuse?”

“Agree to their request,” Muzuki replied.

He was a Shadow Clone newly split from the main body after the meeting, so he already knew about this and had a plan in mind.

He definitely had to agree. Hiruzen Sarutobi’s mind was made up, and if he didn’t satisfy him, who knew what new ideas he would come up with.

Muzuki wanted to save Hiruzen Sarutobi some face, but he had tried to persuade him, and Hiruzen Sarutobi didn’t listen, so there was nothing he could do.

“You decided so quickly. Honestly, how much strength did you use when you fought me back then?” Kakuzu couldn’t help but ask.

He knew very well that Sōsuke was not a reckless person. Since he agreed, it must mean he felt his life was safe, or even that he could win.

“If you’re calculating based on my current strength, less than twenty percent, I’d say,” Muzuki thought for a moment and said.

When he fought Kakuzu, his Chakra reserves were just over a hundred thousand, but now his Chakra reserves had exceeded two million, and he had a bunch of highly proficient and powerful skills.

“Less than twenty percent?!” Kakuzu’s mouth twitched. Less than twenty percent, and a single Fire Release technique instantly took out his four lives.

Kakuzu was completely relieved. Hiruzen Sarutobi had truly kicked an iron plate by provoking Sōsuke.

Returning to the meeting room, Kakuzu gave a crisp reply: “Our Leader also greatly admires the Third Hokage and wishes to fight him.”

At this point, the negotiations came to an end. Orochimaru and his team also needed to contact Konoha to report on the progress and await further instructions.

Although the conditions were set, their mission was not complete until the details were finalized, such as the location of the duel.

After the meeting, Nagato returned to Sasori’s laboratory.

“Since your Shinobi Sect is about to be finished, why don’t we discuss this? I’ll help you assassinate some Konoha Jonin, and you release me early. Anyway, there isn’t much of my sentence left,” Sasori said, putting down his tools when Nagato returned.

Initially, his sentence was ten years, but due to his prosthetic limb technology and good behavior, he now only had a little over a year left.

“Who told you our Shinobi Sect is about to be finished?” Nagato asked sternly.

“You’re about to go to war with Konoha, and you’re not finished?” Sasori retorted.

“You might not know how strong Konoha is. Even Sunagakure, one of the Five Great Ninja Villages, was repeatedly defeated in its war with Konoha. Can your small force of only a few hundred Ninja stop Konoha? There’s a limit to naivety.”

“Your best outcome is for everyone to go their separate ways and run. Anyway, there are few of you, so Konoha probably wouldn’t waste a lot of effort searching for you across the Ninja World.”

Nagato shook his head, placing his hand on Sasori’s shoulder, “Don’t worry, with Sōsuke-sensei here, everything will be fine.”

Although Sasori wasn’t asking for early release to run away, Nagato could see that Sasori was worried.

Both their parents died at the hands of Konoha Ninja, but there were some differences. Sasori’s parents were killed by Konoha Ninja on the battlefield.

So it was normal for Sasori to have some lingering trauma from wars involving Konoha Ninja.

“Worried? I’m only worried if Sōsuke left any hidden Sealing Technique on my body,” Sasori denied.

Because of his good performance and the need for experiments, Sōsuke had removed the Sealing Technique on him.

However, Sōsuke’s Sealing Technique skill was too profound, and Sasori didn’t know if Sōsuke had completely removed the seal.

Seeing that Sasori was still being stubborn, Nagato didn’t say much. He was two months older than Sasori, so he should be more accommodating.

…

Konoha, Uchiha Clan Compound.

After dinner, Shisui went directly to Uchiha Fugaku’s house.

These past few days, he had been thinking about how to better complete the mission Muzuki had given him.

He wasn’t like Obito, who had few friends within the Uchiha Clan, but among the Uchiha Shisui knew, there weren’t many who met Muzuki’s requirements.

Muzuki needed Uchiha Ninja who could handle high-level missions.

Logically speaking, Uchiha Fugaku, as the head of the Uchiha Clan, would naturally be very clear about the Ninja within the clan.

However, in Shisui’s opinion, Uchiha Fugaku was also one of those Uchiha who didn’t care much about outsiders. Directly following Uchiha Fugaku’s advice might lead to problems, so Shisui had a backup plan in mind before going to see Fugaku.

When Shisui arrived, Uchiha Fugaku’s family had just finished dinner, and the whole family was chatting in the yard.

Seeing Shisui arrive, Uchiha Fugaku’s face broke into a smile.

“Good evening, Shisui-niisan,” Uchiha Itachi also greeted Shisui proactively.

“Hmm, good evening,” Shisui responded with a smile, then looked at Uchiha Fugaku and asked:

“Uncle Fugaku, are you free now? I have something to discuss.”

Uchiha Fugaku nodded and led Shisui to the study.

“It’s like this, recently there have been many high-quality requests in the Village, and coupled with the loss of some Ninja in the war, Muzuki-sensei had an idea…” Shisui relayed Muzuki’s words to Uchiha Fugaku.

Even if Shisui hadn’t needed to find Uchiha with suitable personalities, he would still have had to come to Uchiha Fugaku.

Uchiha Fugaku was the captain of the Police Force, and to mobilize a large number of Police Force Jonin, it was only right and proper to discuss it with Uchiha Fugaku first.

“That’s a bit difficult,” Uchiha Fugaku said, a troubled expression on his face.

“Most of the capable clan members hold important positions in the Police Force. Suddenly asking them to give up their current positions to perform missions, I’m afraid most of them wouldn’t be willing,” Uchiha Fugaku explained.

While he didn’t think separating the Police Force from the Uchiha was that important, if it came down to it, he would definitely side with Shisui.

With Shisui’s ability, barring any accidents, Shisui would be the new leader of the Uchiha Clan in the future. If Shisui wasn’t allowed to implement his ideas now, he might become more radical later. At least now, he had Fugaku to help keep an eye on things.

“Muzuki’s idea is beneficial to both the Village and the Uchiha, but pushing for reform is already a forceful process. If we also ask the clan’s Jonin to give up their positions, there will be strong opposition within the clan.”

If Shisui hadn’t displayed his formidable strength and won the gamble, the Police Force reform would have been difficult to pass at the clan meeting.

“Then we won’t strip them of their original positions; they will just temporarily leave their posts for a few years for training,” Shisui began to explain his idea.

He had already considered Uchiha Fugaku’s concerns and thought of countermeasures.

Before Hiruzen Sarutobi agreed to the Police Force reform, the Uchiha couldn’t even escape from the Police Force.

This was because it was an order from the Second Hokage: the Police Force was to be entirely managed by the Uchiha Clan.

In other words, all positions in the Police Force had to be filled by Uchiha Ninja, and as a large department, the Police Force required a lot of manpower.

Even if some Uchiha initially didn’t want to work in the Police Force, they had to join to fill the positions.

It was just that now the Uchiha were used to the Police Force, and coupled with the Police Force’s nominally great authority, this led to the current situation.

Shisui felt that if some people were given the opportunity to take on high-quality missions, they might not want to return to the Police Force after a few years.

Performing missions was much more profitable than earning a fixed salary in the Police Force. The reward for one A-Rank Mission was significantly higher than a month’s salary in the Police Force.

“Also, we can organize events where Obito and I will talk about the benefits of going out on missions for strength growth,” Shisui continued.

As an Uchiha, Shisui felt that traditional Uchiha were easy to understand.

It was essentially two aspects: they cared about reputation, and they pursued strength.

If earning money for Konoha by performing missions was reframed as going out to train for strength growth, Shisui imagined many Uchiha would be interested.

“That does seem to have a high feasibility.”

Uchiha Fugaku thought carefully and had to admit that Shisui’s idea hit the pain points of Uchiha Ninja.

After the great war, Shisui and Obito’s reputations grew even more. If they both came out and said that performing missions was more conducive to strength growth, all Uchiha would believe it.

Shisui and Obito indeed had not joined the Police Force, always taking on requested missions.

“Besides some information on the clan’s Jonin, I also need to trouble you to distribute this survey questionnaire to all Uchiha Ninja,” Shisui said, taking out a questionnaire he had written and placing it on the table.

This was his supplementary plan: based on Uchiha Fugaku’s information, combined with the Uchiha’s answers to various questions, he would conduct a comprehensive evaluation and ultimately select suitable candidates.

“This is truly humbling, Shisui. You can still think so much for the family even while cultivating,” Uchiha Fugaku couldn’t help but praise him.

This was also why Uchiha Fugaku sometimes supported Shisui even when he didn’t fully agree with his ideas. Shisui genuinely wanted to lead the Uchiha to a better future, regardless of personal gain.

“It’s a pity that the last great war was too sudden and too intense, otherwise I could have taken Itachi there to let him witness your performance on the battlefield.”

Shisui frowned slightly.

He didn’t understand what Uchiha Fugaku was thinking. How old was Itachi? Even if Uchiha Fugaku protected Itachi and prevented anything from happening to him, the brutality of war could still leave unpredictable effects on Itachi.

However, Uchiha Fugaku was Itachi’s father after all, so Shisui didn’t say much. He just quietly changed his plans and spent some time with Itachi in the yard after finishing his conversation with Uchiha Fugaku.

Shisui had already silently given Uchiha Fugaku’s parenting ability an unreliable rating.

He even wondered if Itachi’s extremism to the point of clan annihilation in later generations was because Uchiha Fugaku had given Itachi too much psychological trauma, leading to personality problems.

Shisui decided to observe carefully. If Uchiha Fugaku acted up again, he would increase his intervention to prevent Itachi from being led astray by Uchiha Fugaku.

After leaving Uchiha Fugaku’s house, Shisui did not go home but went to Muzuki’s place to report on the mission’s progress and ask Muzuki for help in identifying any gaps.

“Well done. The fact that you could think of these things shows you’ve made significant progress,” Muzuki was quite satisfied with Shisui’s performance.

Compared to before, Shisui’s thinking was much more flexible now, and he also knew better how to utilize the advantages he had at his disposal.

Receiving Muzuki’s affirmation, Shisui’s confidence grew even stronger.

He wanted to protect his sensei, and he also wanted to protect his clan.

After Shisui left, Muzuki continued to study the Breathing Technique until it was time to sleep, when the system suddenly popped up a message.

“Disciple Might Guy’s strength has increased and his reputation has risen. He has made progress on the path to becoming the strongest in Taijutsu. Received progress reward: Medium Constitution Boost, Self-Selected Extraction Scroll Fragment S+ (Mastery Level), Taijutsu Insight Boost.”

The third extraction fragment has arrived.

PS: Give me a cool ability, preferably from a popular work, so I don’t have to choose one from Pokémon again ()