Chapter 462: Blazing Sun and Moon (10,000 monthly tickets requested)

“Killing a complete Tailed Beast with your own hands, Lord Mu Yue, your name and your Slash will spread throughout the Ninja World after this battle. I will report your merits to the higher-ups later,” Orochimaru said with a smile as he walked up to Muzuki.

He rarely showed such a smile, but he knew it would make him appear more approachable.

“It was just a trick, and this is everyone’s credit. If it weren’t for the Konoha Ninja Force’s attacks and you, Lord Orochimaru, creating an opportunity for me, I definitely wouldn’t have been able to kill the Jinchuriki,” Muzuki said after thinking for a moment.

Muzuki wasn’t overly modest. This battle was indeed the result of everyone working together. Whether it was Muzuki and Orochimaru, who were the main damage dealers, or Ino–Shika–Chō, or even the regular Konoha Jonin, everyone played a role, it was just a matter of how much.

“The power of the Konoha Ninja Force is important, but your final fatal attack, Muzuki, was even more crucial,” Orochimaru said, shaking his head slightly.

Taking down a Jinchuriki is not easy, and Muzuki’s Flying Thunder God Technique played a vital role.

After speaking, Orochimaru didn’t chat much more with Muzuki. After a brief conversation, he went to arrange work.

He knew how to maintain a balance; showing too obvious or strong an intention would only cause resentment, and Orochimaru was indeed very busy at the moment.

Although the battle was won, the fighting on the East Bank Battlefield was not completely over. Yagura Karatachi had escaped with a large number of Mist Ninja, which was no small problem.

Orochimaru also had to report the process and results of this battle to the Konoha higher-ups. Finally, Orochimaru had to arrange all the upcoming tasks.

“Muzuki-sensei, what’s the name of that Ninjutsu where you made a small sun appear in the sky?” Obito eagerly stepped forward and asked after seeing Orochimaru leave.

That Ninjutsu was too cool; Obito really wanted to learn it.

To be able to turn a whole area into daylight in the middle of the night, in Obito’s eyes, was simply the ability of a Sage.

“Solar Flare Technique,” Muzuki replied after a brief thought.

The name Great Sunny Day felt a bit out of place for a Ninjutsu, so Muzuki directly gave it a Hokage-style name.

“Solar Flare Technique,” Obito mumbled, “That’s so fitting! A scorching sun appears after using it.”

Then Obito looked at Muzuki with an expectant gaze and asked, “Muzuki-sensei, do you think I can learn this Ninjutsu?”

“Yes, you can learn it,” Muzuki replied affirmatively.

At that moment, Obito had already thought of his future titles: Obito of Blazing Flames, Konoha’s Fiercest Fire Tiger.

“But I don’t recommend you learn it now,” Muzuki’s additional words extinguished the flame in Obito’s heart.

“Why? Isn’t this Ninjutsu very powerful?” Obito asked, puzzled.

If Muzuki hadn’t suddenly used a Great Sunny Day, the Konoha Ninja Force would have had a much harder time winning that battle.

“Overall, the Solar Flare Technique is indeed very powerful, but in everyday small-scale battles, the Solar Flare Technique isn’t as useful as you might think,” Muzuki explained.

When Muzuki first obtained Great Sunny Day, he tested it. Using Great Sunny Day was not as effective as directly using Flame Breathing Chakra Mode; the latter was more powerful and saved Chakra.

Great Sunny Day is equivalent to deploying a domain that enhances Fire Release and weakens Water Release. The range, duration, and intensity of the domain depend on the Chakra consumed.

When Muzuki tested it, consuming 40,000 Chakra only produced a Great Sunny Day that covered a 200-meter radius and lasted only five minutes.

In this battlefield, Muzuki consumed a large amount of Chakra and sacrificed some of the Great Sunny Day’s intensity to cover the entire battlefield.

In normal squad battles or solo battles, 200 meters is simply not enough; it’s easy to move out of the Great Sunny Day’s range. But sacrificing intensity for range is truly not as good as using a few more Ninjutsu with Flame Breathing Chakra Mode.

“Moreover, this Ninjutsu is very difficult, and you’ll need to study it diligently for a long time to learn it,” Muzuki stated the final hurdle for Obito.

The high difficulty of Great Sunny Day was the reason Muzuki believed Obito shouldn’t learn it at this stage.

Otherwise, even if it wasn’t used much normally, Muzuki wouldn’t mind his disciples having more techniques, as they could simply choose not to use it if it wasn’t useful.

The most difficult Ninjutsu Muzuki had encountered so far was the localized Transformation Jutsu; he simply didn’t know how to teach it.

Next was Great Sunny Day. The first difficulty of Great Sunny Day required a high level of Fire Release Chakra Nature Transformation, which Obito could barely meet because Flame Breathing Chakra Mode provided a bonus.

The second difficulty of Great Sunny Day was its inherently extremely high training difficulty. At Obito’s learning speed for Ninjutsu, Muzuki estimated that he would need to study diligently for at least half a year before being able to use it.

With that much time dedicated to learning other things, his strength would improve even more significantly.

No Thought Strike, as a Lightning Release sword technique, was actually more difficult than Great Sunny Day, but even if it wasn’t successfully mastered, the product of the training process provided a tangible increase in strength. Therefore, after Kakashi met the training requirements, Muzuki directly taught it to Kakashi.

Obito’s face showed uncontrollable disappointment. Even if this Ninjutsu couldn’t play a significant role, Obito still really wanted to learn it. He could simply not use it in battle and only use it for showing off normally.

However, upon hearing that it would take a long time to learn, Obito still collected himself. Strength was the foundation; any Ninjutsu that hindered strength improvement was unacceptable, otherwise, he would lose miserably in disciple internal battles.

Obito didn’t want to be constantly punished with endless homework just to show off; that price was too high.

After chatting with his disciples and casually healing Might Guy, Akimichi Choza and the others found Muzuki.

“Muzuki, today’s battle was thanks to you! Otherwise, if that Tailed Beast had slammed down, I would have been in big trouble,” Akimichi Choza said with a loud laugh, thanking him.

“If there’s anything you need help with in the future, just say so. Although my strength can’t compare to yours, Muzuki, I have many channels for cultivating secret medicines.”

Muzuki’s heart stirred. He remembered that the Akimichi clan seemed to have some secret medicines specifically for their secret techniques, and they had done a lot of research on secret medicines. The Nara clan, which advanced and retreated with the Akimichi clan, was involved in the medicinal ingredient business.

“We are all comrades; helping each other is only natural,” Muzuki first said with a gentle smile, then showed a somewhat troubled expression.

“I don’t really have any need for secret medicines, but recently I’ve wanted to buy some medicinal ingredients, some of which are quite rare and difficult to obtain.”

Muzuki had the formula for a restorative secret medicine and could refine it himself, but some of the ingredients were indeed too rare, and even with money, they weren’t guaranteed to be available.

Akimichi Choza laughed heartily, slinging his arm around Nara Shikaku’s shoulder and saying, “Then you’ve found the right person! Konoha’s medical system relies on Shikaku’s family to supply medicinal ingredients. You can’t go wrong with him.”

Nara Shikaku nodded slightly, “Muzuki, if you have any medicinal ingredients you want to buy, you can give me a list, and I’ll have someone look into getting them ready.”

The Ino–Shika–Chō are one entity. Muzuki saving Akimichi Choza was equivalent to saving their Nara clan, so Nara Shikaku didn’t mind helping with a small favor.

Even without this incident, Nara Shikaku would most likely help because he was optimistic about Muzuki’s future.

“Then I’m truly grateful to you, Shikaku. I’ll write out the list and give it to you when I have time,” Muzuki said with a grateful smile.

He only planned to give Nara Shikaku the task of buying some of the rare medicinal ingredients; he would buy the common ones himself.

The effects of this item were a bit too outstanding; releasing it widely could cause trouble.

Afterward, Orochimaru did not order the Konoha Ninja Force to pursue the Mist Ninja overnight but instead had them rest for a night, only sending out a large number of Konoha Ninja to sweep the East Coast during the day.

Yagura Karatachi seemed to have guessed that Orochimaru would choose to strike while the iron was hot, and directly fled back to the Land of Water with the Mist Ninja Force. Orochimaru only found a few Mist Ninja left behind to gather intelligence.

At this point, the war on the East Bank Battlefield concluded with a great victory for the Konoha Ninja Force.

…

Konoha Village.

Hokage Building, conference room.

“Hiruzen, if you had listened to me earlier and sent Muzuki to the battlefield, perhaps our Konoha would have achieved even greater results long ago!” Danzo Shimura stood up excitedly and fired at Hiruzen Sarutobi.

He had said a long time ago that Muzuki should be sent to the battlefield to help Orochimaru, but Hiruzen Sarutobi only relented when Orochimaru was transferred to the East Bank Battlefield.

Now, the better Muzuki’s achievements, the more credit it brought to Danzo Shimura, and at the same time, it was a slap in the face for Hiruzen Sarutobi, powerfully proving that Danzo Shimura had better foresight than Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Danzo Shimura knew he was getting a bit too carried away; Hiruzen Sarutobi was the Hokage after all, but he couldn’t quite control himself, his grin wouldn’t go away.

There was no other way; for Danzo Shimura, this was truly a satisfying slap in the face. All the reprimands Hiruzen Sarutobi had once directed at him had now turned into boomerangs hitting Hiruzen Sarutobi himself.

At this moment, Danzo Shimura’s favorability towards Muzuki reached its peak. He felt that Muzuki was the perfect creation of Root, his most successful work since he established Root.

Because no Root member had ever allowed him to slap Hiruzen Sarutobi’s face.

“If not for that period of tempering, perhaps Muzuki wouldn’t have shone so brightly on the East Bank Battlefield,” Hiruzen Sarutobi retorted.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was indeed a bit embarrassed, but he didn’t feel too much like he had been slapped in the face, because Muzuki was half his disciple.

How could Hiruzen Sarutobi feel humiliated when his disciple became outstanding and powerful? He only felt that his teaching ability had been proven once again.

Although Muzuki’s strength was not weak when he came out of Root, and he could be considered an elite among Jonin, he was far from what he is now.

While Muzuki’s current strength wasn’t entirely due to him, a part of it was; many of Muzuki’s Ninjutsu were rewards from him, and he had also taught Muzuki Nature Transformation.

“It’s also possible that Muzuki would have gained experience on the battlefield and become even stronger than he is now!” Danzo Shimura said forcefully.

He was truly confident now, because Muzuki going to the battlefield was precisely the result of his continuous efforts to recommend him.

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Danzo Shimura with a dark expression. If not for Danzo Shimura’s contribution, Hiruzen Sarutobi would have wanted to kick him out of the meeting room. He kept talking about one point, and those who didn’t know would have thought that Danzo Shimura was the one who killed the Jinchuriki.

“There’s no need to argue too much about this. Both of you have contributed. Danzo, you discovered Muzuki, and Hiruzen, you nurtured Muzuki,” Homura Mitokado said, trying to mediate.

Under normal circumstances, he would have sided with Hiruzen Sarutobi, but today it was indeed difficult to criticize Danzo Shimura.

“Let’s discuss the main business now: how to handle the relationship with Hidden Mist moving forward,” Utatane Koharu added.

Danzo Shimura’s expression gradually returned to calm, and then he nodded.

From his understanding of Hiruzen Sarutobi, he should be on the verge of anger right now, so he needed to stop. Otherwise, if he truly angered Hiruzen Sarutobi, his Root might be targeted.

Although Danzo Shimura felt that everything he did was for Konoha, many of his actions did not comply with Konoha’s regulations and could not withstand scrutiny.

“Make Hidden Mist Village compensate for war losses, or we’ll continue the war,” Danzo Shimura stated his idea directly.

Konoha not only killed the Three-Tails Jinchuriki of Hidden Mist but also eliminated Hidden Mist powerhouses like Haku and Hozuki Mangetsu. It could be said to be a complete and utter victory. If not for other battlefields, Danzo Shimura would have shouted the slogan of flattening Hidden Mist Village.

“Too aggressive. According to the intelligence provided by Orochimaru, Yagura Karatachi still led a considerable number of Ninja troops back to Hidden Mist. Furthermore, Hidden Mist still has the Six-Tails Jinchuriki. They are not without the power to fight, so it’s impossible for them to agree to give Konoha large compensation,” Hiruzen Sarutobi analyzed.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had seen the casualty report. From the beginning until now, only over seven hundred Mist Ninja had died on the East Bank Battlefield, which was not a crippling loss for the Five Great Ninja Villages with their deep foundations.

Adding a Six-Tails Jinchuriki, Hidden Mist actually still possessed considerable combat power.

“Then what should we do? We can’t just seek unconditional peace after achieving a great victory, can we?” Danzo Shimura retorted.

If Hiruzen Sarutobi really intended to do that, Danzo Shimura would strongly object; it would be too humiliating.

“Of course not,” Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head.

How could they seek unconditional peace after being invaded and reaching their homeland? This was something no Konoha Ninja could tolerate.

Fighting against invaders with their lives, finally achieving victory, only to seek unconditional peace.

“No compensation, no unconditional peace, then what do you suggest?” Danzo Shimura asked bluntly.

It couldn’t be that Konoha was going to compensate Hidden Mist, could it? If so, he really wanted to see what was in Hiruzen Sarutobi’s head.

“Since the Hidden Mist troops have already withdrawn from the Land of Fire, then we will temporarily ignore Hidden Mist,” Hiruzen Sarutobi stated his idea.

“Although the Hidden Mist troops still have the power to fight, they have also suffered considerable losses. Such a major defeat will surely make them dare not easily go to war with Konoha again. We will dispatch forces to deal with Hidden Mist after our other battlefields conclude.”

Hiruzen Sarutobi’s idea was actually very simple: to maintain a tacit peace for a period.

Konoha would not seek reparations from Hidden Mist, and Hidden Mist would honestly recuperate and not provoke Konoha. This way, both sides would save face and obtain what they wanted.

Konoha temporarily had one less enemy, and Hidden Mist, having lost, would not have to pay a price.

“Hiruzen, this idea is very good; it fully considers Konoha’s current situation,” Homura Mitokado nodded in agreement.

He felt that Hiruzen Sarutobi’s idea was the most suitable measure for Konoha’s current situation, both saving face and achieving the goal of reducing enemies.

“Demanding compensation is indeed inappropriate. If it’s too little, it has no practical meaning, and if it’s too much, Hidden Mist will not possibly give it,” Utatane Koharu also agreed with Hiruzen Sarutobi’s plan.

Ultimately, Hiruzen Sarutobi’s proposal for handling the Hidden Mist aftermath was passed with an overwhelming majority of three to one.

Danzo Shimura snorted and said nothing.

Upon careful thought, he felt that what Hiruzen Sarutobi said indeed made sense, but Danzo Shimura had a rare chance to feel triumphant over Hiruzen Sarutobi today, and he didn’t want to back down.

After discussing the major issue of their attitude towards Hidden Mist, the next agenda was some arrangements for the Ninja on the East Bank Battlefield, followed by rewards for meritorious Ninja and promotions for certain Ninja.

Due to Obito’s further contributions on the battlefield, coupled with Orochimaru’s recommendation, Hiruzen Sarutobi finally decided to promote Obito to a formal Jonin.

Although Obito’s theoretical knowledge was a weakness, his strength was truly outstanding, and his resume was sufficient. Hiruzen Sarutobi had no reason not to promote Obito; this was wartime, after all.

To publicize this great victory and boost the morale of Konoha Ninja, Hiruzen Sarutobi ordered the Leaf Newspaper staff to work overtime to produce and distribute a new issue of the Leaf Newspaper, while also mobilizing resources to promote it in the Land of Fire and other countries.

“The East Bank Battlefield achieved a great victory, the Hidden Mist Three-Tails Jinchuriki died, and their Ninja troops were routed and fled from the Land of Fire!” Tsunade nodded as she read the newspaper that Shizune had bought while grocery shopping.

Killing a Jinchuriki was a significant event, and driving out the only Ninja village that had invaded their homeland also held considerable meaning.

When she saw the first subheading of the newspaper, Tsunade was stunned.

“The tacit battle between the Sannin Orochimaru and Konoha’s New Generation Solar Flare Raging Sun Mu Yue, slaying a Tailed Beast in its full form.”

Because Muzuki’s display of Solar Flare Technique was too shocking, the title Solar Flare Muzuki spread among the Konoha Ninja Force after that battle with the Tailed Beast. The newspaper contributor thought it was good and simply wrote it down.

“Tsk, is Muzuki that strong? So the Jinchuriki was killed by him and Orochimaru together,” Tsunade was a bit surprised.

Tsunade wasn’t very clear about Muzuki’s strength, as she didn’t really care much about it. For Tsunade, Muzuki’s cooking skills were the main focus.

However, Tsunade truly hadn’t expected Muzuki to achieve such a feat. Information in the Leaf Newspaper was generally reliable, and if Muzuki hadn’t played a significant role in the fight against the Jinchuriki, he wouldn’t have been listed alongside Orochimaru at the forefront.

“If he’s this strong, regular training should be enough, right? He still wants to develop a Sealing Technique for storing Chakra. I really don’t know where this guy gets such strong motivation to train.” After finishing the content related to Muzuki, Tsunade tossed the newspaper aside and continued to lie on the sofa, enjoying life.

With the release of the latest issue of the Leaf Newspaper in Konoha, the name Solar Flare Muzuki quickly spread throughout the entire Konoha.

Ninja Academy teachers who had once worked with Muzuki couldn’t help but feel emotional upon hearing this news; two years ago, they were all colleagues.

Two years later, Muzuki became a Jonin, then a Vice Principal, and now he had made such a huge name for himself on the battlefield. It was truly unimaginable.

However, someone soon discovered a problem: the Yellow Flash Minato Namikaze and Solar Flare Hayate Mugetsu were not only similar in age, but also somewhat similar in hair color and appearance, and both could use the Flying Thunder God Technique.

This couldn’t help but make some people subconsciously compare the two.

Some thought Muzuki was stronger because Muzuki killed a Jinchuriki, while Minato Namikaze only fought the New AB Combo to a draw.

Others thought Minato Namikaze was stronger because Muzuki killed the Jinchuriki in cooperation with Orochimaru, and also had the help of the Ninja troops.

However, everyone agreed that they were among the strongest new generation Ninja in Konoha and even the entire Ninja World.