Chapter 498 Mu Yue’s Plan

“Everyone, please summarize the information,” Lord Mu Yue said when the team members were all present.

“Our team investigated the guard strength of the building where the Leader of Grass Ninja Village’s office is located. We don’t know if it’s because the Leader of Grass Ninja Village is very confident in his strength or for some other reason, but there aren’t many Ninja guards there,” Nara Suzaku was the first to step forward and say.

Actually, their team primarily collected information through Shibi Aburame’s secret Ninjutsu, but since Shibi Aburame wasn’t someone who liked to talk, Nara Suzaku acted as his mouthpiece to help him report.

Then, Nara Suzaku handed Lord Mu Yue a detailed blueprint of the Grass Ninja Village office building.

Lord Mu Yue took it and glanced at it. It not only showed the structure of the Grass Ninja Village office building but also marked the purpose of many rooms.

Hiruzen Sarutobi clearly intended to get serious with the Grass Ninja Village. The teammates he chose for him basically all had unique skills and could not be considered ordinary Jonin.

It was only the first day, and the Grass Ninja Village office building was almost completely scouted.

“Although there aren’t many Ninja in the office building, we don’t know their strength. My idea is to find the Anbu base, which may contain confidential information we need,” Nara Suzaku said.

If they were directly attacking the Grass Ninja Village, there would be no need for such elaborate plans; they could just scout the office building, infiltrate, and start fighting. But they first needed to ascertain whether the Grass Ninja Village had indeed cooperated with Iwagakure.

“Hmm, well done,” Lord Mu Yue nodded in affirmation.

Nara Suzaku’s thinking was similar to his. As the most confidential department in a Ninja Village, the Anbu would almost certainly be involved in such secret major affairs.

Obito scratched his head, feeling a bit embarrassed.

The other teams sounded too professional, and their gains were significant.

Obito suddenly felt that not being the leader was also good; that way, he wouldn’t have to report, which was slightly less embarrassing.

“Our team first investigated the Main urban area of the Grass Ninja Village and found that the Grass Ninja Village seems to have been very busy recently, with high-intensity missions.

Moreover, when our team later went to the suburbs, we found that the Grass Ninja Village seemed to be short-handed. Facing thousands of refugees, they only dispatched a few Grass Ninja to manage them,” Kakashi reported with a serious expression.

“From this, the Grass Ninja Village’s suspicion is very high. It’s very likely that some of the more elite Grass Ninja have been sent to the battlefield to support Iwagakure, which led to the shortage of personnel and high mission pressure in the Grass Ninja Village,” Nara Suzaku analyzed.

The insufficient guard strength of the office building alone wasn’t enough to conclude anything, as there weren’t many people, but they could all be elites.

However, combined with what Kakashi said, the Grass Ninja Village became very suspicious. It couldn’t all be a coincidence, could it?

“Furthermore, our team also discovered a refugee who is very likely a survivor of the Uzumaki Clan. She was almost driven out by the Grass Ninja, but for some unknown purpose, the Leader of Grass Ninja Village forcibly kept her. To avoid exposure, we did not make contact with her,” Kakashi continued.

“A refugee from the Uzumaki Clan,” Kosuke Maruboshi said with surprise.

He was the oldest Ninja in this mission, and he was very clear about the relationship between the Uzumaki Clan and Konoha.

The most authentic Konoha Sealing Technique was actually the Vortex Sealing Technique, because Konoha’s Sealing Technique developed on the basis of the Vortex Sealing Technique. That year, the patriarch of the Uzumaki Clan personally came to Konoha to teach the Sealing Ninja the Vortex Sealing Technique.

To commemorate this friendship, the Konoha Ninja uniform was imprinted with the Uzumaki Clan’s emblem.

“Perhaps they want to obtain the Uzumaki Clan’s Sealing Technique?” Nara Suzaku believed that the Leader of Grass Ninja Village definitely had ill intentions.

Regarding the powerful Sealing Technique of the Uzumaki Clan, let alone ordinary Ninja Villages like Grass Ninja Village, even Great Shinobi Villages of the Five Great Ninja Villages level coveted it. Only Konoha, who had formed an alliance with the Uzumaki Clan, could maintain a normal attitude. The Uzumaki Clan suffered a devastating disaster largely due to their Sealing Technique.

“Your caution is correct. Since the Leader of Grass Ninja Village personally ordered to keep that Vortex refugee, he must have a motive,” Lord Mu Yue said after thinking for a moment.

He guessed that the Vortex refugee was very likely Karin’s mother from the original story.

At this point in time, in the Land of Grass, the only person he could think of was Karin’s mother.

Based on the existing information, Lord Mu Yue could basically confirm the Leader of Grass Ninja Village’s objective: he likely wanted to feed Karin’s mother to the paradise box.

For that box, which could absorb Chakra, the Uzumaki Clan, with their powerful Chakra, was the best resource.

The Leader of Grass Ninja Village, eager to open the box, would not let go of the Chakra that presented itself. Therefore, Karin’s mother should currently be under surveillance by the Grass Ninja, making it indeed difficult to approach her casually.

Obito looked at Kakashi, who was speaking eloquently, and then at Lord Mu Yue, who was nodding in approval, and was bewildered.

So their team had investigated so much information? How did he not know?

Or was Kakashi, who had been with them all along, a Shadow Clone, and the real Kakashi had already gone to investigate information alone?

Although Obito was very confused, he knew that this was not the time to ask questions.

Because asking now would make him seem unintelligent and very lazy, not even knowing what his own team had done.

“The Uzumaki Clan is an ally of Konoha. Although the Uzumaki Clan has now perished, we cannot ignore the past friendship between the Uzumaki Clan and Konoha. As for the survivors of the Uzumaki Clan, we will do our best to help her without affecting the mission,” Lord Mu Yue finally said.

Kosuke Maruboshi nodded inwardly, gaining a better impression of Lord Mu Yue.

Lord Mu Yue’s handling method was both humane and in line with Konoha’s regulations.

No matter how deep the friendship between the Uzumaki Clan and Konoha once was, if Lord Mu Yue were to abandon a mission for someone he had never met, it would prove that Lord Mu Yue was a very unqualified Ninja, or even, more severely, an unqualified comrade. Such behavior would be too irresponsible to his teammates.

Everyone else also agreed with Lord Mu Yue’s decision, feeling that if the mission went smoothly, they could appropriately help the Uzumaki Clan member.

“I have found the Anbu base and investigated some internal information of the Grass Ninja Village,” Lord Mu Yue announced some of his gains after discussing their attitude towards the Uzumaki Clan.

Strictly speaking, Lord Mu Yue had already completed the investigation mission today, and he could now begin the next phase: thoroughly beating the Grass Ninja Village.

He had obtained too much information about the Grass Ninja Village from Wu Chang’s mind. When Iwagakure and the Grass Ninja Village reached their cooperation, Wu Chang was even present at the scene.

However, Lord Mu Yue found it difficult to directly reveal these things because he couldn’t explain the secret Ninjutsu on him that allowed him to view memories.

He couldn’t just say that he was a Ninjutsu genius who had learned the Yamanaka Clan’s secret Ninjutsu without a teacher just by looking at Inoichi Yamanaka once.

Of course, this wasn’t the main reason Lord Mu Yue didn’t disclose the information. Even without revealing those memories, Lord Mu Yue, having obtained Wu Chang’s memories, could easily find evidence of the Grass Ninja Village’s cooperation with Iwagakure.

The most important reason Lord Mu Yue didn’t disclose all the information was that he had a better solution.

If Lord Mu Yue disclosed the information, the development would be that Lord Mu Yue and his team would act together, capture the high-ranking Grass Ninja, and kill them to establish their authority. In the process, they might even be forced to eliminate some more Grass Ninja due to conflicts.

The final result would definitely be that the Grass Ninja Village would sign a treaty with Konoha, compensate for losses, and send troops to help Konoha.

Conversely, if Lord Mu Yue didn’t disclose the information, he would, on one hand, guide Kakashi and the others to gradually uncover the truth, and on the other hand, contact Grass Flower, the political rival of Grass Core.

When Lord Mu Yue presented the evidence to Grass Flower, he believed that Grass Flower, as a conservative, would do everything in his power to minimize the Grass Ninja Village’s losses.

However, the Leader of Grass Ninja Village, having gone this far, would certainly not give up easily. He would fight with all his might to turn the situation around, gambling that the paradise box could make him stronger.

The Leader of Grass Ninja Village’s wish would come true; the box would open, and he would indeed become stronger, but at the cost of turning into a monster that would kill indiscriminately.

Finally, when the Leader of Grass Ninja Village, transformed into a monster, was wreaking havoc, Lord Mu Yue and the others, as agents of justice, could make their appearance.

They would eliminate the monstrous Leader of Grass Ninja Village and “save” the Grass Ninja Village.

And Grass Flower could also take advantage of Grass Core’s weakness to become the Leader of Grass Ninja Village, changing the Grass Ninja Village’s current aggressive policies.

Although the culprit, the Leader of Grass Ninja Village, died, the Grass Ninja Village still had to compensate for the adverse consequences of their actions on Konoha.

At that time, no Grass Ninja would feel that such compensation was inappropriate. They had indeed done bad things to Konoha, and then the Konoha Ninja had saved them. This money was given reasonably and legally, and helping to fight Iwagakure was a deserved atonement.

Compared to directly disclosing the information, the second plan was clearly smoother and more in line with Konoha’s interests.

Of course, what was more meaningful to Muzuki was that he could use Wu to train his disciples, and at the same time, he could also study the paradise box and the Wu within it.

Grass Ninja Village was much safer than the battlefield; in Grass Ninja Village, Muzuki had absolute confidence that nothing would go wrong.

Even the Uzumaki Clan member he hadn’t met yet, Muzuki could guarantee his safety.

Because the Ninja guarding the paradise box had now become Muzuki’s Shadow Clone, while the real Wu Chang was hidden by him.

“In that case, I can start trying to infiltrate Anbu tonight.”

Nara Suzaku’s face lit up when he heard Muzuki’s words, and he thought to himself, ‘As expected of a Ninja as famous as Yellow Flash, he can obtain such important information alone on the first day.’

Kakashi’s team members all looked normal; unless Muzuki completed the mission on the first day, it would be difficult for them to be surprised, as Muzuki had surprised them too many times before.

After exchanging information, Muzuki and the others first had dinner. Teams with further action in mind began new operations after getting Muzuki’s approval.

After Kakashi and the others left, Muzuki continued with his plans.

…

In the evening, Dragon Gate took a stroll in the Grass Ninja Main urban area after dinner.

“It would be great if it could always develop like this,” Dragon Gate sighed, looking at the bustling commercial street in the Main urban area.

He still remembered the simplicity and poverty of Grass Ninja Village when it was first built in his childhood. At that time, let alone the suburbs, there were few good-looking houses even in the Main urban area; they were all mainly practical.

With development, the number of residents and Ninja in the village increased, and Grass Ninja Village became more prosperous.

“If we just avoid getting involved in the conflicts of the Great Shinobi Villages, Grass Ninja can always maneuver and develop, and one day it will become strong. Why do more people agree with Grass Core?”

Dragon Gate thought of the current situation of Grass Ninja Village, and his good mood turned sour again.

He was not troubled by the decline of his faction, but rather worried about the future of Grass Ninja.

Because Dragon Gate was first and foremost a Grass Ninja Village Ninja, and only then the leader of Grass Flower.

He genuinely felt that in such a chaotic situation, they should be more conservative, use diplomatic means to maneuver with neighboring great nations to preserve their strength, and then continuously accumulate and wait for an opportunity.

Dragon Gate, in a bad mood, had no desire to continue his stroll. He sighed and walked back home.

Upon entering his home, Dragon Gate quickly reached into his Ninja tool pouch, looking cautiously at the blond stranger sitting on his living room sofa.

“Who are you? What is your purpose?” Dragon Gate asked in a deep voice, holding a Kunai.

“Who I am is not important. What’s important is, do you know what your Grass Ninja have done?” Muzuki turned to look at the entering Dragon Gate and asked with a light smile.

“Raging Sun Mu Yue?!” After clearly seeing Muzuki’s face, Dragon Gate’s pupils instantly constricted, and his heart pounded.

For Grass Ninja Village, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist were not to be trifled with, and Muzuki’s first famous achievement on the East Bank Battlefield was killing four of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist plus a well-known Ice Release expert in one battle.

Dragon Gate’s hand, holding the Kunai, trembled slightly, and fine sweat quickly secreted on his forehead. He frantically pondered the information contained in Muzuki’s words.

“It seems I’m not entirely unknown in Land of Grass, at least you didn’t call me Yellow Flash,” Muzuki said kindly, joking.

Perhaps because Minato Namikaze became famous earlier, Muzuki was often mistaken for him in the past; he was even mistaken for Minato by Pakura before.

“You are too modest, sir. Not just Grass Ninja Village or Land of Grass, how many Ninja in the entire Ninja World do not know the great name of Raging Sun Mu Yue?” Dragon Gate took a deep breath and flattered him.

Although he was much older than Muzuki, acting old and arrogant with a powerful Ninja from a major village who had no relation to him would be tantamount to being tired of living.

“Could it be that some short-sighted Grass Ninja offended Lord Mu Yue? What is his name? I will immediately send someone to arrest him for investigation,” Dragon Gate continued.

He vaguely had a guess in his mind: perhaps Yokogawa Tsutomu had done something that infringed upon Konoha’s interests.

He could sense the recent abnormality in Grass Ninja Village, but Yokogawa Tsutomu had hidden it very well, and he hadn’t been able to investigate the reason.

“Yokogawa, I really should have fought you to the end back then,” Dragon Gate regretted in his heart.

For the renowned Raging Sun Mu Yue to personally come, what Yokogawa Tsutomu did was absolutely no small matter.

“You Grass Ninja even dared to directly join Iwagakure to attack the Konoha Ninja Force, and you still care if a Grass Ninja offends me?” Muzuki’s smile remained warm, but his words made Dragon Gate’s body uncontrollably shiver.

Dragon Gate slowly wiped away the cold sweat from his forehead, cursing Yokogawa Tsutomu countless times in his heart.

This was simply the worst-case scenario. If the Konoha Ninja Force hadn’t been temporarily tied up, Muzuki might not even have needed to come; Konoha’s Ninja Force in Land of Grass would have directly flattened Grass Ninja Village.

“Lord Mu Yue, these are all the results of Yokogawa Tsutomu and his Grass Core acting on their own. Many Ninja in Grass Ninja Village are innocent, and we Grass Flower had no idea he was secretly doing such despicable and evil things,” Dragon Gate said quickly.

Although he wished he could slice Yokogawa Tsutomu into a thousand pieces, Dragon Gate’s mind hadn’t completely shut down. Since Muzuki was sitting in the living room with a friendly expression, there was still room for negotiation.

If Muzuki truly intended to act, the time they spent talking would have been enough for Muzuki to kill him several times over.

Dragon Gate never dared to underestimate a powerful Ninja from a major village like Muzuki; they were beings that small Ninja Villages could almost never cultivate.

“As long as Lord Mu Yue gives the order, I will immediately gather my companions from Grass Flower to confront Yokogawa Tsutomu. I will never allow such a malicious person to continue serving as the Leader of Grass Ninja Village,” Dragon Gate’s words made it seem as if he had become Muzuki’s subordinate, standing on the same front as Muzuki.

Dragon Gate’s subtext was simple: they could get rid of Yokogawa Tsutomu, and in return, they hoped that Lord Konoha would not hold a grudge, and Grass Ninja would become Konoha’s subordinate, working for Konoha.

“You don’t need to go to such lengths. Konoha does not lack Ninja capable of carrying out missions,” Muzuki refused.

Through his Byakugan observation, the Chakra inside the paradise box had accumulated to a certain extent; with a little more effort from Yokogawa Tsutomu, the box could be opened.

With such a good laborer to utilize, how could Muzuki kill him?

If he was going to kill him, it would be after he had been used.

Muzuki had to admit that Yokogawa Tsutomu’s efforts had extended his life a little.

If it weren’t for the paradise box being close to opening, Muzuki would certainly be too lazy to wait and would just follow the normal procedure to complete the mission.

After all, opportunities to train disciples would come again in the future, and even if the paradise box opened, he might not be able to research anything useful to him.

But if this was something that could be done easily, then the cost-effectiveness increased, since he was already here.

“What you need to do is find concrete evidence of Iwagakure and Grass Ninja’s cooperation, and then be ready to become the Leader of Grass Ninja Village at any time,” Muzuki arranged.

Actually, the former wasn’t necessary for Dragon Gate to do, because Muzuki could obtain such things at any time if he wanted. Muzuki wanted to test Dragon Gate’s character.

If Dragon Gate, even when he thought they didn’t have evidence, still chose to help them find concrete evidence and overthrow Yokogawa Tsutomu, it would indicate that Dragon Gate’s mind was still clear and he might be useful in the future.

If Dragon Gate chose to communicate privately with Yokogawa Tsutomu and reveal Muzuki’s presence in Grass Ninja Village, then Muzuki would choose a smarter person to become the Leader of Grass Ninja Village.

Regardless of whether Muzuki had the ability to find evidence, during wartime, Konoha didn’t really need such concrete evidence; a reason would suffice.

“I will complete it as soon as possible, Lord Mu Yue,” Dragon Gate promised.

Listening to Muzuki’s words, Dragon Gate breathed a sigh of relief.

Since Konoha chose to support him, Grass Flower, to become the leader, then Grass Ninja Village would not suffer a devastating blow.

However, weakening was certainly inevitable, and most of the high-ranking members of Grass Core would likely die.

In Dragon Gate’s view, this was already a good outcome, at least it wasn’t Raging Sun Mu Yue killing his way into the Grass Ninja office building, eliminating all the high-ranking Grass Ninja, and then launching an indiscriminate attack on the entire Grass Ninja Village.

PS: It seems I’m recovering well, at least my eyes don’t give out after an hour or two of writing. Next, I’ll try to write more and aim to resume 8k updates.