Chapter 435: Promotion

The disciples looked at each other, trying to gauge each other’s thoughts from their expressions.

“I’ll go back too,” Kakashi said after a moment of silence.

He needed too much time to recover. If a sudden drastic change occurred on the battlefield and he hadn’t fully recovered by then, he might become a burden.

Kakashi believed it was better to return to Konoha to recuperate than to stay on the tense battlefield. A good environment would allow him to recover faster, and once fully recovered, he could return to the battlefield to perform missions.

“Ah? Kakashi, you’re going back too?” Obito scratched his head with both hands.

He wanted to stay on the battlefield, but if Kakashi returned to Konoha, his staying on the battlefield would lose its meaning.

He had wanted to compete with Kakashi on the battlefield and outperform him.

If Kakashi left, who would he compete with?

Even if he performed exceptionally well, Kakashi could still say he could have done better.

“I need three weeks of recuperation. It’s more comfortable back in Konoha. Recuperating on the battlefield limits even movement,” Kakashi replied indifferently.

If he had a choice, returning to Konoha was definitely better. War was no joke.

“Lord Mu Yue, is Rin going back?” Obito thought for a moment and asked Muzuki.

Since Kakashi wasn’t planning to stay on the battlefield, Obito’s interest in the battlefield had largely waned. After all, with his current strength, he couldn’t end the war, so his presence didn’t make much difference.

Obito decided to base his decision on Rin’s choice. If Rin decided to stay, he would also stay on the battlefield to protect her. If Rin returned to Konoha, Obito would also choose to return to Konoha.

“I’ll ask her in a moment,” Muzuki replied.

Due to her gender, Rin was recuperating in a different tent from Obito and the others. Since there were more disciples here, Muzuki came to ask Obito first.

“If Rin goes back too, then I’ll go back,” Obito said with a nod.

If Rin also left, there really wasn’t much point in him staying on this battlefield.

Kakashi glanced at Obito, feeling a bit speechless. He was far too indecisive.

“I want to stay on the battlefield,” Shisui said after much careful consideration.

He had been the leader among the disciples for a long time, but with the practical experience Obito and the others gained through various actual combat missions after their internship, Shisui was silently surpassed.

Shisui was very unwilling. He didn’t want to keep losing in the internal disciple competitions. He wanted to reclaim the title of Muzuki’s strongest disciple.

Therefore, Shisui wanted to use this war to temper himself and make up for the lack of actual combat experience.

After the ten-day recuperation period ended, Shisui would proactively ask Muzuki to go out on missions.

Besides tempering himself, Shisui had another idea: to complete more war missions to increase his qualifications.

Currently, he was only a Chunin, and a genius Chunin was still just a Chunin. A Chunin couldn’t cause much stir within the Uchiha. He wanted his words to carry more weight after the Clan Meeting, so he needed to raise his Ninja rank, and the battlefield was a good place to make achievements.

“No problem,” Muzuki nodded and agreed.

Except for Might Guy, who was forced to return to Konoha, Muzuki would not stop anyone else who wanted to stay on the battlefield.

As for Might Guy, Muzuki was mainly worried that an unavoidable battle might occur, forcing Might Guy to fight with an injured body and leaving him with incurable after-effects.

Although the Eight Gates was very strong, its danger was equally great, and Might Guy would also use Rock Breathing in conjunction.

Breathing Technique would not harm the body under normal circumstances, but overdrawing power in extreme situations was also very dangerous.

Muzuki then went to Rin and asked the same question.

“Are Kakashi and the others going back?” Rin didn’t immediately answer Muzuki’s question, instead asking about Kakashi’s situation first.

After Muzuki truthfully informed her, Rin thought for a moment and then gave her answer, “I want to return to Konoha.”

Rin’s reasoning was simple: Kakashi needed so long to recover, so he must have been seriously injured. If she went back with him, perhaps her medical treatment could help Kakashi recover better. At the same time, she could use this time to organize her recent gains and learn new knowledge from Tsunade.

After asking all the disciples, Muzuki did not immediately arrange for them to return. He planned to let them rest for a few days before having a Shadow Clone escort them back.

After all, they had just come off the battlefield and were too heavily injured. If they left now, someone would have to carry them all the way back. They needed to recover some mobility first.

Muzuki didn’t spend too long on his disciples. Soon, he went to complete the mission Orochimaru had given him.

Inoichi Yamanaka had examined the memories of the deceased Haku and the five Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. The Hidden Mist’s arrangements were basically exposed, and even if Hidden Mist reacted quickly enough, it would be impossible to complete all adjustments instantly.

Muzuki and his team’s mission was to race against Hidden Mist and overturn all the places Hidden Mist couldn’t adjust in time.

However, in this battle, Muzuki didn’t use his truly proficient methods much. Instead, he transformed into Haku and used Ice Release.

“Ice Release: Soaring Ice Dragon!”

With a wave of his hand, Muzuki created a giant ice bird that flew out, rushing towards a spot not far from Muzuki, freezing all the Mist Ninja in its path.

The Ice Release he was currently performing was not his own proficient-level Ice Release with one thousand proficiency points, but Haku’s master-level Ice Release with three thousand six hundred proficiency points.

The difference between the two was even greater than the difference from beginner to master with just one proficiency point.

“Ice Release: Freezing Ray!”

For those who dodged the ice bird’s attack, Muzuki followed up with a Freezing Ray to freeze them.

Although he had transformed into Haku, Muzuki tried not to use the other’s Ice Release Ninjutsu. He didn’t have a Sharingan, and directly copying Ninjutsu purely by talent would be somewhat beyond common sense.

“Such powerful Ice Release! How can there be such a powerful Ice Release Ninja among the Konoha Ninja!” The ambushed Mist Ninja were stunned.

Bloodline Limits were not exclusive to each Ninja Village. For example, Sunagakure and Kumogakure both had Magnet Release Ninja, but they had never heard of an Ice Release Ninja outside of Hidden Mist, and one so powerful at that.

A Mist Ninja swallowed hard as he watched his comrades being rapidly frozen one by one, “Why does this person’s Ice Release feel even stronger than Lord Haku’s?”

In a sense, he wasn’t wrong, because Muzuki’s Chakra was greater than Haku’s. Even with the same proficiency in Nature Transformation, Muzuki would use it more powerfully.

Ice Release was indeed quite effective for dealing with weaker opponents. Muzuki quickly froze all the Mist Ninja he was responsible for.

However, when Muzuki went to the next location, he couldn’t catch the Mist Ninja successfully. The Mist Ninja had rapidly contracted their forces.

“Yagura Karatachi, he’s a decent opponent,” Orochimaru’s lips curved slightly after consolidating everyone’s battle results.

Although Yagura Karatachi reacted quickly enough, this was still a successful operation, effectively striking at Hidden Mist’s forces on the East Coast of the Land of Fire.

Next, if there were no external influences, with the ebb and flow, Yagura Karatachi was bound to lose. Orochimaru’s victory was only a matter of time.

In the conference room, the other Jonin also showed excited expressions. Winning a battle also brought them considerable benefits.

“From now on, Lord Mu Yue will serve as the unit’s Vice Commander,” Orochimaru announced Muzuki’s new position in the unit as the meeting was about to end.

This was the decision made after the Konoha higher-ups’ reply.

However, this didn’t mean Nara Shikaku’s Vice Commander position would be removed. Instead, they would both serve as Vice Commanders.

This was a relatively common practice in Konoha: one main position with multiple vice positions.

“Jonin Mu Yue, congratulations,” a Jonin who knew Muzuki offered his congratulations.

Although the Ninja unit commander was a temporary war position, it held an unusual status, indicating that Muzuki was valued by the Konoha higher-ups.

Muzuki smiled and responded modestly, his heart completely unmoved.

In his opinion, this was not an important matter, it only represented a signal that he wouldn’t be able to return to Konoha anytime soon.

At the very least, he would only be able to return to Konoha with the Ninja unit after Hidden Mist retreated.

Before becoming Vice Commander, Muzuki actually held no position. The reason he could participate in Orochimaru’s small meetings was due to multiple factors, unlike others who held important positions in the Ninja unit.

Muzuki believed there were two reasons for the change in his position: first, he had made great contributions; second, Hiruzen Sarutobi’s change in thinking.

Hiruzen Sarutobi might have initially planned to recall him to Konoha once the battlefield situation improved, but now Hiruzen Sarutobi’s expectation for him was to resolve the Hidden Mist problem.

Orochimaru, as before, called out to Muzuki and walked with him near the camp.

However, this time Orochimaru didn’t discuss personal matters with Muzuki but instead informed Muzuki about the Konoha higher-ups’ rewards for this skirmish.

“If your three disciples pass the assessment, they will become the youngest Jonin in Konoha’s history,” Orochimaru looked at Muzuki and said with a faint smile.

Konoha’s requirements for Jonin were too strict. No matter how much of a genius one was, no one had been promoted to Jonin at the age of ten.

Some had enough strength but insufficient achievements, and a very small number met both conditions but were still lacking in other aspects.

Muzuki’s eyes flickered, curious if his disciples becoming Jonin would trigger a reward. Genin and Chunin did, so Jonin should as well.

“From my understanding of the assessment, it shouldn’t be difficult for your three disciples, Lord Mu Yue, to pass based on their strength,” Orochimaru said, assuming Muzuki was worried about his disciples failing the assessment.

Obito and Kakashi both had the strength to hold off one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, and Might Guy, when he unleashed his power, could even fight three at once. Passing the assessment was practically a certainty.

“Lord Orochimaru, you think too highly of them. Only one of them should be able to pass the assessment,” Muzuki said, shaking his head with a smile.

There was no need to worry about Obito and the others’ strength, but promotion to Jonin wasn’t just about strength.

When assessing other criteria, Obito and Might Guy might not necessarily be better than experienced Chunin.

The only one who could steadily pass the Jonin assessment was Kakashi. Kakashi was a true all-rounder, skilled in everything, though he lacked stamina in combat.

PS: There’s one more chapter coming, but it will be quite late, possibly between 2:30 AM and 3:00 AM. I recommend reading it tomorrow. Staying up late is not good.