Chapter 564: Reinforcements Arrive, Battle Turns Around

Land of Grass, southern part.

As it bordered the Land of Fire and boasted a beautiful environment, the southern part of Land of Grass was considered one of its most developed regions.

Of course, this was before the war.

After the war began, the southern part of Land of Grass became the area most affected by the conflict.

Residents fled, merchant caravans dared not pass through, and the destruction from Ninja battles—various factors combined to strip the south of its peacetime prosperity.

“It’s truly frustrating! These major nations wage war on our land, causing our economy to decline, and we even have to help them!”

A patrolling Grass Ninja couldn’t help but voice his resentment as he looked at the deserted Villages.

Their Grass Ninja Village didn’t have the same renown as the Five Great Ninja Villages; not many foreigners specifically came to the Grass Ninja Village to issue requests. They mainly relied on their own countrymen for support.

However, the conflict between Iwagakure and Konoha in Land of Grass had a very detrimental impact on Land of Grass. As Land of Grass’s economy declined, the money the Grass Ninja Village could obtain also decreased.

The leading Grass Ninja quickly looked around. He only exhaled in relief when he didn’t spot any Konoha Ninja.

They were a Grass Ninja Village squad supporting the Konoha Ninja Force. Until they returned to the Grass Ninja Village, they had to obey the Konoha Ninja’s commands.

“It’s because our higher-ups are incompetent! That damned Yokogawa Tsutomu, for his own selfish reasons, cooperated with Iwagakure, leading to the Village becoming hostile with Konoha!” The leading Grass Ninja unceremoniously cursed the former Leader of Grass Ninja Village, who was long dead.

If it weren’t for Yokogawa Tsutomu’s meddling, they, the Grass Ninja, would have quietly laid low and perhaps even lived better.

To compensate for Yokogawa Tsutomu’s mistake, the Grass Ninja Village was forced to become an ally of Konoha, having to help Konoha resist Iwagakure.

“There’s nothing we can do about it now. Besides, siding with Konoha is better than Iwagakure. Konoha is stronger, and Raging Sun Mu Yue also helped the Village solve problems before,” one Grass Ninja said helplessly.

If viewed from the perspective of choosing the lesser of two evils, Iwagakure was indeed worse.

“Let’s rest here. It would be dangerous if we truly encountered Iwagakure Ninja,” the leading Grass Ninja said after leaping to a high vantage point and observing his surroundings.

Nominally, they were there to help Konoha, but he didn’t truly want to help Konoha; just putting on a show was enough.

After all, if they died at the hands of Iwagakure, Konoha certainly wouldn’t issue pensions to their families.

The other Grass Ninja immediately sat down upon hearing this, without the slightest hesitation.

Fighting for their own Village was one thing, but being enthusiastic about fighting for Konoha would be a bit problematic.

Pfft!

The leading Grass Ninja was just about to say something when, the next moment, a piercing pain struck him. A black Kunai pierced through his chest and into his body.

The leading Grass Ninja’s eyes widened, his face filled with disbelief. “How could this be? Clearly…”

Before the leading Grass Ninja could finish his last words, he collapsed. His corpse, lying on the ground, still stared with wide, puzzled eyes.

“Captain! Damn Iwagakure, when did they get here?”

The Grass Ninja, being trained Ninja after all, quickly noticed the movements of the “Iwagakure Ninja” who had just killed someone.

Their expressions were as puzzled as the leading Grass Ninja’s. They had clearly scouted the area; how had these Iwagakure Ninja managed to get here?

The unprepared Grass Ninja squad was quickly wiped out.

Whoosh!

A blond figure continuously flickered forward through the forest, moving at an extremely high speed.

Sensing the dissipating Chakra signatures, Minato Namikaze frowned slightly, using his Body Flicker Technique at full power to accelerate again.

But when he arrived, there was only a ground full of Grass Ninja corpses, with no other Ninja in sight.

“It’s like this again. What kind of Ninjutsu is it that even I can’t sense it?” Minato Namikaze’s expression was not good.

Just half a minute ago, he could still sense the Chakra of the killers, but as he was about to arrive, their Chakra signatures vanished.

Although Minato Namikaze was not a dedicated sensory Ninja, his excellent sensory abilities were enough to outclass many sensory Ninja in the sensory squad.

This meant that most of Konoha’s sensory Ninja would not be able to detect the Iwagakure assassination squad hidden by Ninjutsu.

“I wonder if the Hyuga Clan’s Byakugan can break through it,” Minato Namikaze fell into thought.

The Hyuga Clan’s Byakugan was different from ordinary sensory Ninjutsu; the Hyuga Clan’s Byakugan used the eyes to see. Theoretically, Ninjutsu that eliminated Chakra signatures would be useless against the Byakugan.

Minato Namikaze tried to search carefully within a ten-kilometer radius but still couldn’t find the Iwagakure Ninja who had just killed the Grass Ninja.

Finding nothing, Minato Namikaze finally used Flying Thunder God to return to the camp and reported his findings to Jiraiya.

“To be able to escape from you, Minato, it seems Iwagakure is serious,” Jiraiya said, stroking his chin.

If Jiraiya had only speculated before that Iwagakure might soon wage a major war against Konoha in Land of Grass, now Jiraiya was almost certain that Iwagakure was about to launch an attack on Konoha.

“It’s not a big problem. Among the Ninja who came to reinforce us this time, there are three Ninja from the Hyuga Clan, two of whom are Jonin,” Jiraiya told Minato Namikaze the intelligence about the reinforcements he had requested.

Considering the current situation on the battlefield, Jiraiya not only brought in a sensory squad but also some Anbu for intelligence work.

In Ninja force battles, intelligence was a crucial point.

For Ninja like Minato Namikaze, even if the opponent was a team of hundreds, as long as he knew their exact location, Minato Namikaze alone could wipe them out.

At night, Minato Namikaze thought for a moment, then picked up a pen and paper, preparing to write a letter to Kushina and Muzuki.

In the letter to Kushina, most of Minato Namikaze’s content was about reporting his safety and talking about daily life, without mentioning the war.

Kushina was working hard to become a qualified Jinchuriki, and Minato Namikaze didn’t want Kushina to worry too much.

In the letter to Muzuki, Minato Namikaze had fewer reservations.

It wasn’t that he thought Muzuki’s worry didn’t matter, but rather Minato Namikaze thought that if something happened to him in the war, he could ask Muzuki to help take care of Kushina.

Even as a famous young master in the Ninja World today, Minato Namikaze couldn’t say for sure that he would survive after the war.

Many Hokage had died at the hands of Ninja forces, and Minato Namikaze didn’t feel that he had surpassed the Second Hokage yet.

On the other side, Land of Grass, western part.

Retsuishi’s face broke into a smile as he watched the serious Ninja force approaching.

“Lord Retsuishi, the reinforcement force has arrived. There are a total of eight hundred Ninja, including seven Jonin and twelve Special Jonin…” Jonin Hikari walked up to Retsuishi and reported solemnly.

Retsuishi smiled and nodded.

“Eight hundred reinforcements, plus my force which still has one thousand two hundred Ninja, that makes two thousand Ninja! Jiraiya, what will you fight me with!” Retsuishi was extremely excited in his heart.

If Jiraiyas Ninja Force hadn’t changed much, it should be around one thousand.

Two thousand against one thousand, the advantage was with him. Retsuishi couldn’t imagine how he could lose.

Coupled with the orders from the higher-ups, Retsuishi was already thinking about what would happen after invading the Land of Fire’s mainland.

Retsuishi quickly convened a meeting to discuss the matters of defeating the Konoha Ninja Force.

Even if they had more people, they couldn’t just charge in without a plan; they needed to proceed with a strategy.

Perhaps the Iwagakure Ninja had been suppressed for too long, causing their sudden release of power to be very strong, or perhaps Retsuishi’s leadership was effective, or perhaps there were other reasons.

In short, the situation on the Land of Grass battlefield suddenly reversed completely.

The Konoha assassination squad was quickly dealt with, and Iwagakure’s intelligence unit repeatedly succeeded, obtaining crucial intelligence about the Konoha force.

………

Early morning, Land of Fire.

Konoha, South Border Forest.

“Everyone except Kakashi and Guy, gather,” Muzuki summoned his disciples.

“We won’t be training individually this morning. I’m going to teach you a new secret Ninjutsu,” Muzuki explained.

As for why Might Guy and Kakashi weren’t called, it was because Might Guy was still pondering Yin Release and learning Armament Haki.

Compared to Kenbunshoku Haki, Armament Haki was definitely more useful to Might Guy.

Kakashi had Transparent World, which overlapped in part with Kenbunshoku Haki’s abilities, and his Chakra was too strained, so it wasn’t suitable for him to learn it now.

Shisui, Obito, and the other disciples quickly gathered before Muzuki upon hearing his words.

“It’s a Yin Release. In terms of type, it can be considered a sensory Ninjutsu, but compared to ordinary sensory Ninjutsu, it has remarkable effects in combat, with effects similar to Transparent World,” Muzuki introduced.

“So many new Ninjutsu lately!” Obito was thrilled.

Muzuki taught a super Fire Release Azure Flame, the Shinobi Sect sent over a Flame Vortex, and now Muzuki was going to teach a new secret Ninjutsu.

“It’s basically being able to sense attacks and predict movements. Shisui, try attacking me with your Sharingan at full power,” Muzuki prepared for a combat demonstration.

Shisui, who was called upon, nodded and concentrated Chakra in his eyes. A crimson blood color quickly spread across his eyes, and his Three-Tomoe Sharingan appeared.

“Muzuki-sensei, I’m coming!” After a verbal warning, Shisui burst with Chakra and charged towards Muzuki.

Facing Shisui’s attack, Muzuki made a move that surprised everyone else: he closed his eyes.

“Secret Technique: Kenbunshoku Haki!”

With Chakra activated within him, Muzuki’s senses became exceptionally sharp.

“Leaf Whirlwind!”

Although surprised by Muzuki closing his eyes, Shisui didn’t stop, kicking out a whirlwind kick at extreme speed.

The blindfolded Muzuki seemed to have invisible eyes. He simply sidestepped, precisely dodging Shisui’s whirlwind kick. Shisui’s sole brushed two centimeters in front of Muzuki’s clothes, and the airflow from his kick hit Muzuki’s clothes, making them flutter.

Shisui’s expression remained normal as he rapidly threw a punch towards Muzuki’s abdomen.

Muzuki quickly took a small step back, and Shisui’s punch missed.

“Kenbunshoku Haki allows you to perceive attacks that are out of your sight,” Muzuki explained.

This was a very useful ability. With Kenbunshoku Haki, even in a chaotic battle with a large number of people, one could protect themselves to the greatest extent.

Then Muzuki opened his eyes. He motioned for Shisui to continue his attack.

“Next, you’ll throw a left punch, and your next move will be a whirlwind kick…” Muzuki dodged while predicting Shisui’s next attacks.

And Shisui seemed like Muzuki’s puppet on strings; whatever Muzuki said, he did.

Of course, everyone present knew that Shisui wasn’t intentionally following Muzuki’s words; rather, Muzuki was predicting all of Shisui’s attacks.

Because even if Shisui wanted to follow Muzuki’s words, he wouldn’t be able to react in time. Almost the moment Muzuki finished speaking, Shisui’s fist would be thrown, his brain simply unable to keep up.

“So amazing! It feels even more useful than the Sharingan,” Obito scratched his head and couldn’t help but say.

He didn’t use Genjutsu much, so the Sharingan’s main function for him was to enhance dynamic vision and insight.

But Kenbunshoku Haki could not only see through movements like the Sharingan, but also perceive attacks outside of his line of sight, and even had the effect of sensory Ninjutsu.

This made Obito suddenly feel that the Sharingan wasn’t that strong after all.

Long ago, before he awakened his Sharingan, awakening it was Obito’s dream.

Because in Obito’s perception at that time, the Sharingan, once activated, granted an invincible posture; it was the Uchiha Clan’s reliance, Konoha’s strongest noble clan.

But the reality of the Sharingan was that even when Obito reached the highest Three-Tomoe, he couldn’t gain an advantage among his fellow disciples.

Compared to the Sharingan with its great reputation, Obito felt that the Uzumaki Clan’s Bloodline Limit was better and stronger.

He had met three members of the Uzumaki Clan: Uzumaki Kushina, Uzumaki Naruto, and Hana-rei Uzumaki.

Even Hana-rei Uzumaki, who hadn’t undergone Ninja training, had unusual Chakra.

Kushina and Naruto were even more obvious; Obito had personally experienced their bottomless Chakra in combat.

“No wonder Uchiha Madara wasn’t a match for Senju Hashirama. Maybe the Sharingan isn’t as good as the Senju’s Bloodline Limit,” Obito realized.

Although there were many who hyped up Uchiha Madara’s combat power in the Uchiha Clan now, no matter what, Uchiha Madara simply couldn’t defeat Senju Hashirama; this was a well-known fact.

“All of you try to learn it. If you can’t, then just give up. This Ninjutsu requires talent in sensory abilities,” Muzuki reminded them.

In the current Ninja World, all Ninja Villages, whether large or small, highly valued sensory Ninja.

A Ninja force with sensory Ninja was completely different from one without.

And the cultivation of sensory Ninja wasn’t just about having sensory Ninjutsu; the most important thing was having Ninja with sensory talent.

The threshold for sensory Ninjutsu was very high; if one didn’t have sensory ability, they would never learn it no matter how much they tried.

That’s why the other Four Great Shinobi Villages were all very envious of Konoha’s Hyuga Clan. Without training, a child born into the clan was a natural sensory Ninja, and an outstanding one at that. It was truly wonderful.

All the disciples nodded.

After the demonstration and explanation, Muzuki began the formal teaching.

After Muzuki had been teaching for a while, a memory from a Shadow Clone suddenly flowed back into his mind.

It was his Shadow Clone at home being visited by the Anbu.

“You can train freely for now. I’m going to the Hokage Building,” Muzuki said to his disciples.

After speaking, Muzuki swiftly rushed to the Hokage Building. Combining this with the letter Minato had sent earlier, Muzuki guessed that something had happened on the battlefield.

PS: Sorry, I had something to do today, so it’s only 4k. I’ll make it up if I have time in the future.