Chapter 504 Supporting the Battlefield

Since most of Yokogawa Tsutomu’s confidants were devoured by the paradise box, Dragon Gate quickly took control of Grass Ninja Village with Grass Flower, becoming the temporary Leader of Grass Ninja Village.

After becoming the leader, Dragon Gate immediately explained the events in the village.

The former leader, Yokogawa Tsutomu, went down an evil path, conducting forbidden research, which ultimately led to an experimental failure, transforming him into an inhuman monster that slaughtered many Grass Ninja. Finally, with the help of the righteous Konoha Ninja, they defeated the monstrous Yokogawa Tsutomu and protected Grass Ninja Village.

To thank Konoha for its help to Grass Ninja Village, Grass Ninja Village will now sign a friendship treaty with Konoha, becoming Konoha’s ally.

The people of Grass Ninja Village finally knew who the hero who killed the monster was—it was the renowned Raging Sun Mu Yue of the Ninja World.

Upon realizing that Grass Ninja Village was about to forge good relations with a top Ninja Village like Konoha, the villagers all felt that Grass Ninja Village was on the rise.

Of course, a small number of people believed that Dragon Gate had colluded with outsiders to seize power, and that everything was part of their conspiracy.

For such baseless conspiracy theorists, Dragon Gate usually locked him up for a few days to clear his head.

While Dragon Gate handled Grass Ninja Village affairs, Muzuki transmitted the current mission intelligence back and prepared for the next step.

They certainly wouldn’t be the ones to negotiate the specific treaty; Hiruzen Sarutobi would dispatch a specialized team when the time came.

However, this did not mean that the current Grass Ninja would not need to act as Konoha’s allies to help Konoha in battle.

Grass Ninja Village needed to order the Grass Ninja to backstab Iwagakure, helping Konoha gain an advantage on the battlefield.

Discussions about compensation could wait, but assistance in the war was needed immediately.

At the same time, Muzuki and his team could not afford to be idle; they were to act as a surprise force to aid the Konoha Ninja Force, striving to defeat the Iwa Ninja Force in one fell swoop.

Before leaving Grass Ninja Village, Muzuki, as a Konoha Ninja, chatted with Hana-rei Uzumaki for a while.

“The Uzumaki Clan is Konoha’s eternal ally. If you need, I can take you back to Konoha after completing the mission. It will be much safer there than Grass Ninja Village, undisturbed by war,” Muzuki said directly.

Although in his opinion, there was currently no truly safe place in the entire Ninja World, if forced to compare, Konoha was indeed a relatively safe place to live in the Ninja World.

Even when besieged by multiple great Ninja Villages, the flames of war never reached Konoha, at most only burning into the Land of Fire.

Ordinary people living in Konoha, as long as they didn’t encounter an incident like Pain coming to carry rice, could basically live a peaceful life.

Not to say how good life was, but it was stable.

Hana-rei Uzumaki showed hesitation; she didn’t know much about Konoha, only occasionally hearing adults talk about this clan ally when she was young.

But that was a very distant memory. Hana-rei Uzumaki only remembered hearing that Konoha was very prosperous, with many Ninja clans and such.

Hana-rei Uzumaki didn’t know if Konoha was a good place to go, or if her Uzumaki identity and special physique would bring her misfortune.

“Additionally, I have a friend, an Uzumaki Ninja, who is quite similar to you. Perhaps you two will have some common ground,” Muzuki briefly introduced Kushina’s existence.

With only a handful of Uzumaki Clan members surviving in the Ninja World, Muzuki thought it would be good to introduce Hana-rei Uzumaki to Kushina, benefiting both parties.

“Then I’ll trouble you when the time comes,” Hana-rei Uzumaki, hearing that there was a fellow clan Ninja in Konoha, no longer hesitated and agreed to Muzuki’s offer.

Alone in an unfamiliar environment, even if that place was described as excellent by others, she would feel uneasy.

But with a fellow clan member, it was different. Given the current situation of the Uzumaki Clan, any clan member could be considered family to her.

After the Grass Ninja Village matters were concluded, Muzuki quickly led his squad to the Konoha Ninja Force camp in Land of Grass.

“Muzuki, you’re finally here! With you and Minato, Konoha’s strongest new generation, assisting, I’m sure I’ll be able to take a vacation and rest soon,” Jiraiya said with a laugh, patting Muzuki’s shoulder.

As the leader of the Ninja Force, Jiraiya had received news of Muzuki’s deployment to the battlefield quite early.

Then Jiraiya looked at the members of Muzuki’s Ninja squad, subconsciously nodding; they were all Ninja of considerable strength.

Upon seeing Obito, Jiraiya couldn’t help but say, “Goggles kid, call me Grandmaster and let me hear it.”

This was the second time Jiraiya had met Obito on the battlefield; the first was when Obito was on a C-rank war mission and encountered an accident.

That time, Obito left a deep impression on Jiraiya. Obito, despite him being a genuine Sage, didn’t acknowledge him, insisting on calling him ‘Toad Uncle’.

Now Obito had become Minato’s student, and Minato was Jiraiya’s disciple. By seniority, Jiraiya could indeed be called Obito’s Grandmaster.

Hearing Jiraiya’s address, Obito was displeased. If Jiraiya had said something nice, he might have called him that in good spirits, but Jiraiya’s attitude clearly showed he was dreaming.

“Oh, hello, Toad Uncle,” Obito said impolitely.

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow, “Toad Sage or Grandmaster, pick one and call me that, and I’ll forgive you.”

“Okay, Toad Uncle,” Obito nodded and replied.

For him to admit that Jiraiya was a Sage was absolutely impossible. In his mind, only Muzuki Sage and Six Paths Sage could be called Sages.

“Come to think of it, the camp’s logistics still seem to be missing someone. So be it, then. From now on, the camp’s sanitation will be handled by you, Goggles kid,” Jiraiya threatened.

Obito’s eyes widened. Was it not a bit much for a dignified Sannin to pick on an eleven-year-old boy like him? He was still a child!

Shisui looked surprised; it was his first time meeting Jiraiya.

He hadn’t expected the legendary Sannin’s personality to be so… so peculiar.

Kakashi’s expression was normal. It wasn’t the first time Jiraiya had been unreasonable; last time, he even incited Obito and Minato, who weren’t even master and disciple yet, to engage in a ‘Royal City PK’.

“Jiraiya-sensei, let’s first discuss the current battlefield situation with Muzuki,” Minato Namikaze, standing nearby, called out helplessly.

His own teacher and his own disciple were arguing, which was truly a bit hard to bear.

“Just a joke to liven up the atmosphere,” Jiraiya said with a smile, leading Muzuki’s squad into the meeting tent.

Of course, he wouldn’t actually make Obito do logistics; he just found Obito’s reaction amusing.

“The two most troublesome and noteworthy individuals in the Iwa Ninja Force don’t need me to elaborate. Muzuki, you’ve fought those two Jinchuriki and know their capabilities,” Jiraiya said seriously after entering the tent.

Muzuki nodded.

Iwagakure’s Four-Tails and Lord Fifth Jinchuriki’s strength was incomparable to the Three-Tails Jinchuriki he encountered on the East Bank Battlefield.

The Hidden Mist’s Three-Tails Jinchuriki could only achieve full Tailed Beast transformation by trickily using a secret technique to make the Tailed Beast go berserk, making him the weakest type of Jinchuriki.

Jinchuriki who could autonomously enter the full Tailed Beast transformation state possessed extremely strong combat abilities. Even a terrifyingly powerful technique like the Tailed Beast Ball was merely a Ninjutsu with a slightly higher Chakra cost for them.

Even the current Muzuki, facing the terrifying power of the Tailed Beast Ball, could only use Flying Thunder God to dodge; he couldn’t confront it head-on.

Muzuki wasn’t completely unable to withstand a Tailed Beast Ball, but the cost was too great, not as efficient as Flying Thunder God.

He would have to expend most of his Chakra on Armament Haki to withstand a single Tailed Beast Ball.

“Besides the Jinchuriki, the strongest Ninja in the Iwagakure Ninja Force is Retsuishi, the captain of the Iwa Explosion Corps. This person has mastered the Explosion Release Bloodline Limit to an incredible degree; both his Ninjutsu and Taijutsu can cause explosions,” Minato Namikaze said, handing some documents to Muzuki.

“Aside from Captain Retsuishi, the Iwa Explosion Corps’s vice-captain, Iwakura, has also appeared in recent battles. Compared to Retsuishi, Iwakura’s Explosion Release is more adept at long-range Ninjutsu bombardment.”

Just as the Five Nature Transformation have various different Ninjutsu, the same Bloodline Limit can show significant differences in the hands of different Ninja.

Muzuki had encountered a Kumogakure Ninja named Troy with Magnet Release a long time ago. Unlike Rasa, who played with gold dust, Troy’s Magnet Release focused on magnetic control.

“Whether it’s Captain Retsuishi or Vice-Captain Iwakura, they never act alone. They usually bring at least three members of the Iwa Explosion Corps,” Minato Namikaze continued, sharing Iwagakure’s intelligence.

Muzuki nodded; he estimated that Ōnoki had dispatched most of the Blast Squad to the Land of Grass battlefield.

No wonder Hiruzen Sarutobi had urgently sent Minato Namikaze to the Land of Grass battlefield.

Multiple Explosion Release Ninja unleashing full-power bombardments together could create powerful suppressive fire, posing a huge threat to Ninja forces.

Coupled with the Jinchuriki’s Tailed Beast Ball, it was truly a carpet bombing.

Muzuki finished reading the intelligence and distributed the documents to his teammates for circulation.

There were only four individuals on the entire battlefield who qualified as his opponents: the two Jinchuriki and the two captains of the Iwa Explosion Corps. The remaining Jonin with some reputation would likely be matched against Kakashi, Obito, and their like.

While his teammates read the documents, Muzuki explained the general situation of Grass Ninja Village.

Yokogawa Tsutomu had formed a Ninja force composed of Grass Ninja to assist Iwagakure in battle.

But now the Leader of Grass Ninja Village was Dragon Gate, so Iwagakure’s former teammates would become Konoha’s teammates. The first stab in Iwagakure’s back would be their pledge of allegiance to Konoha.

Muzuki couldn’t help but lament how cunning Iwagakure was. Even when cooperating with Grass Ninja, Grass Ninja didn’t know Iwagakure’s base.

Before every combat plan, Iwagakure would contact Grass Ninja, and Grass Ninja would go to the designated location to receive orders.

If Grass Ninja and Iwagakure were in the same base, Muzuki could easily work with Grass Ninja from the inside and out to eliminate a large number of Iwagakure’s forces.

“Since Grass Ninja are now our allies, we can subtly let Iwagakure know some information about our strongholds, and then wait for Grass Ninja to relay information to us,” Minato Namikaze said after listening.

Although Grass Ninja didn’t have much intelligence on Iwagakure, they were Iwagakure’s teammates after all, offering considerable room for maneuver.

“While a bit aggressive, it’s best to use some more important strongholds and let Iwagakure organize a large force to attack,” Minato Namikaze continued, expressing his opinion.

He felt that the situation with Grass Ninja couldn’t be kept secret for too long. To maximize Grass Ninja’s impact, they had to severely trick Iwagakure in one go.

“That’s a good idea. If we can keep those two Blast Squad captains, Iwagakure might even consider peace talks with Konoha,” Jiraiya thought, stroking his chin.

He didn’t find Minato Namikaze’s plan particularly aggressive, given that he often acted with Orochimaru in the past, and Orochimaru was truly aggressive.

Muzuki nodded. If there were no problems on the Grass Ninja side, Minato Namikaze’s plan had a high feasibility.

Because based on Iwagakure’s current performance, they clearly wanted Konoha to suffer some losses, and they wouldn’t miss an opportunity if it arose.

After discussing some plan details, Muzuki contacted Grass Ninja Village to make arrangements.

“It’s quite a coincidence, actually. Minato was just saying this morning that he missed your cooking, Muzuki, and then you arrived this afternoon,” Jiraiya said with a smile after they settled down.

Minato Namikaze looked puzzled; he didn’t remember saying that.

Although he did miss it, Minato Namikaze generally wouldn’t say it aloud, at most reminiscing about it in his dreams at night.

“Missing it is perfectly normal, isn’t it? Lately, I’ve been eating Muzuki-sensei’s cooking every day and I never get tired of it,” Obito, surprisingly understanding Jiraiya’s hint, said with a reminiscent look.

Jiraiya now truly wanted to send Obito to logistics. Obito calling him ‘Toad Uncle’ he could laugh off, but this, Jiraiya was genuinely envious.

He only got to eat it a few times a year, yet Obito ate it every day.

“To repay your kindness, Muzuki-sensei, I’ll cook for you tonight!” Obito volunteered.

Jiraiya’s face darkened. Was Obito going to deprive him of the few chances he got each year? He thought Obito clearly didn’t understand the value of a Sannin.

“I hear you’re already a Jonin. Let me, your Grandmaster, check your training for Minato,” Jiraiya said with a benevolent smile.

If he beat Obito until he couldn’t move, then naturally Obito couldn’t cook.

“Perform well, and I’ll allow you to sign a contract with Mount Myōboku.”

To tempt Obito, Jiraiya offered the Nin-Beast blood contract of the Three Great Holy Lands as a reward.

“Tch, I already have a Nin-Beast,” Obito didn’t fall for it.

Although he thought Jiraiya was not as good as Muzuki and Six Paths Sage, Jiraiya was still a Sannin as rumored, clearly not someone he could provoke now without getting beaten up.

“Mount Myōboku is one of the Three Great Holy Lands, unlike ordinary Nin-Beast. If you meet the conditions, you can even train in Sage Mode there!” Jiraiya’s expression became a bit more serious when he spoke of Mount Myōboku.

Mount Myōboku could be said to be a turning point in his life; he was once a dead last, and Mount Myōboku changed his life.

Hearing the words’Sage Mode’, Obito showed a look of interest. Although he didn’t know what it was, anything with’Sage’ in it sounded very powerful.

“Unless you’re going to test our entire squad, then no. Our squad is a single unit,” Obito still refused.

There was no way he would take a beating alone; at least Kakashi had to join him.

Kakashi:…

How did he, while eating melon, suddenly become the melon himself?

PS: Not in good shape today, so a bit less.