Chapter 175 Mission Level

“Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!”

Muzuki quickly formed hand signs and used a Fire Release on Troy’s corpse.

Boom!!

A large number of small fireballs all slammed into Troy’s corpse, instantly blowing it apart and charring it.

It wasn’t that Muzuki was so cautious that he had to blow up the person to feel at ease; rather, it was to prevent anyone from recognizing the corpse.

Muzuki didn’t believe that a Kumogakure Ninja of Troy’s caliber would be an unknown figure. Defeating Gang Ximei could let Hiruzen Sarutobi know, showcasing his practical combat skills.

But defeating a Ninja of Troy’s level was another matter entirely. His current displayed strength in Konoha Village was insufficient to accomplish that.

After the sea of flames dissipated, Kakashi and Obito arrived at Muzuki’s side to check the situation.

After realizing that Muzuki could completely handle two Jonin, Kakashi and Might Guy surrounded the Kumogakure Ninja who was fighting Obito. With their combined efforts, they quickly dealt with the opponent.

Worried that something might happen to Muzuki, one of them protected the client, while the other two pursued Muzuki.

“Muzuki-sensei, are you alright?” Obito quickly asked when he saw Muzuki.

Kakashi noticed the charred corpse next to Muzuki and knew that Muzuki had already dealt with both Jonin, so he reported:

“Muzuki-sensei, we’ve dealt with all the Iwagakure Ninja over there, but I don’t think they look much like Iwagakure Ninja.”

Although the enemies wore Iwagakure attire and their headbands were Iwagakure, Kakashi noticed that those Iwagakure Ninja were all using Lightning Release and no one was using Earth Release. This made Kakashi realize something was wrong.

Two Jonin were using Lightning Release, and the Chunin also used Lightning Release. Compared to Iwagakure, he felt they were more like Kumogakure Ninja.

“These Ninja are not only skilled in Lightning Release, but their skin also turned darker after they died. I think they might be Kumogakure Ninja disguised as Iwagakure Ninja using Transformation Technique,” Kakashi stated his conclusion.

Muzuki smiled and replied to Obito:

“The enemies have all been dealt with. Of course, I’m fine.”

Then Muzuki nodded to Kakashi and said:

“These Iwagakure Ninja are indeed very strange. Considering that both Iwagakure and Kumogakure are at war with us, it’s possible that Kumogakure Ninja want to escalate the war between us and Iwagakure.”

“Ah, these people aren’t Iwagakure Ninja? Then Kumogakure is too despicable!” Obito said with wide eyes.

He had been thinking that if he ever got the chance, he would definitely teach the Iwagakure Ninja a lesson, but he didn’t expect the enemies to be Ninja from Hidden Cloud Village.

“Each Ninja Village has different Ninjutsu traditions. Iwagakure Ninja primarily use Earth Release Ninjutsu, while Hidden Cloud Village Ninja are skilled in using Lightning Release Ninjutsu,” Muzuki explained, then educated Obito about some common knowledge of the Ninja World.

“Hidden Sand Village mainly inherits Wind Release and Puppet Jutsu, and Hidden Mist Village is Water Release and Assassination Jutsu.”

“What about our Konoha?” Obito noticed that Muzuki missed one.

Slap!

Muzuki lightly slapped Obito’s head with his left hand and said:

“Aren’t you a Konoha Ninja? Don’t you even know your own Village?”

“Hehe, I’m not really a Ninja yet, I’m still an intern,” Obito scratched his head and chuckled, “After all, I haven’t met many Ninja, and I feel like everyone is quite different.”

“Konoha is more diverse; there are users of all kinds of elemental releases, but you can tell by the Ninja clans. For example, your Uchiha clan generally uses Fire Release,” Muzuki explained. Konoha’s situation was different from other Ninja Villages.

Then Muzuki sealed all the Kumogakure Ninja into scrolls, preparing to take them back to Konoha.

Konoha had relevant policies for unexpected situations during such missions. If the client concealed information, saying there were no Ninja enemies when there were, the Ninja could terminate the mission on the spot and leave directly.

If the client didn’t conceal information and they unexpectedly encountered hostile Ninja during wartime, the mission rank and bounty could be raised to a certain extent based on the number and strength of the enemies. This money would be provided by the Village.

Muzuki estimated that it would be difficult to confirm the two Jonin corpses as Jonin.

Because both Jonin died too horribly; one was burned beyond recognition by flames, and the other was directly blown up by Muzuki’s Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique finishing blow.

However, that was precisely the effect Muzuki wanted. What two Jonin? Clearly, it was one Jonin and seven Chunin. Although the Jonin’s corpse was unrecognizable, with so many Chunin, it was very reasonable for a Jonin to be leading them.

“It’s alright now, you can go back to sleep,” Muzuki said to the client’s tent.

“Thank you all,” Upon hearing Muzuki’s words, Numata Yoshie’s heart finally relaxed, but he didn’t dare to sleep too deeply, worried that there might still be trouble. The commotion earlier was too loud and very close.

Then Muzuki and his three disciples took turns keeping watch, spending a somewhat restless night.

The next morning, Numata Yoshie woke up according to his biological clock. Perhaps because he hadn’t slept well last night, he felt a bit dizzy and groggy.

He didn’t disturb his sleeping wife and daughter and carefully stepped out of the tent, but when he saw the world outside the tent, he was stunned.

North of the tent was a lush, vibrant forest, while south of the tent was a charred world.

The flames had incinerated all the green leaves of the trees. As far as the eye could see, not a single tree had green leaves; all were black and bare, with black ash and charred wood everywhere on the ground, a scene of desolation.

“Is this the power of Ninja?” Numata Yoshie swallowed, his worldview greatly impacted.

He knew Ninja were very strong, otherwise, he wouldn’t have specifically gone to a Ninja Village to post a mission to protect himself.

But what he considered strong was that Ninja could break a tree with one punch or destroy hard rocks with Ninjutsu, not that in just one night, the place he was in transformed from a forest into a burning ground.

A strange emotion suddenly arose in Numata Yoshie’s heart: were Ninja with such destructive power still the same species as them?

“Good morning, Uncle,” Obito greeted Numata Yoshie with a smile.

“Mm, good morning,” Numata Yoshie smiled back.

No matter what, they were the Ninja protecting him. He no longer had to worry about whether he could safely return home.

During the rest of the journey, they did not encounter any more Ninja, at most just bandits with swords, and successfully entered the capital of the Land of Rice Fields.

“If there’s ever another opportunity, I will definitely specify you all; you are truly reliable,” Numata Yoshie said with a smile after returning home.

Konoha allowed specifying Ninja for missions, if the specified Ninja were available.

Muzuki smiled and humbly replied a few words, then turned and left with his disciples.

“Bye-bye, big brothers,” The little loli waved goodbye to Muzuki and the others.

“See ya!” Obito waved excitedly.

“This mission was so exciting! I wish every mission was like this!” On the way back, Obito’s heart still pounded as he recalled the fierce battle that night, especially Muzuki’s Combination Ninjutsu; just thinking about it made him incredibly excited.

“What are you dreaming about? This was an unexpected exception. Normally, a mission of this level would at least be classified as an A-Rank Mission,” Kakashi said, shaking his head.

Because he hadn’t fought those two Jonin, he wasn’t sure of their exact strength, so Kakashi spoke somewhat conservatively.

“So what if it’s an A-Rank Mission? We still won!” Obito said proudly.

Kakashi rubbed his forehead speechlessly and said, “We were able to defeat the enemy because Muzuki-sensei’s strength is extraordinary. What are you so proud of?”

In Kakashi’s mind, this battle was actually very dangerous. If their sensei hadn’t been Muzuki but an ordinary Jonin, probably no one would have left alive.

“Why can’t I be proud? Muzuki-sensei is my sensei! Can’t I be proud that my sensei is strong?” Obito tilted his head slightly and retorted.

“And speaking of contribution, my contribution should be greater than yours, right? At least I held off one enemy. If Muzuki-sensei hadn’t been protecting you the whole time, you would have been taken out by the enemy long ago.”

Kakashi’s eyes flickered, and the memory of that night resurfaced in his mind. Obito was indeed right; in that battle, he had become a burden to Muzuki, and Muzuki had blocked many attacks for him.

“If it were me, would I protect my teammates like that?” Kakashi thought to himself. If the enemy’s strength was unknown and a teammate was controlled by an unknown Ninjutsu, he would probably prioritize eliminating the enemy and completing the mission rather than protecting his teammate.

“Muzuki-sensei, is your conviction also to protect your comrades?” Kakashi recalled what Muzuki told him on their first day of meeting: true Ninja always uphold their convictions.

More to come.