Chapter 566: The Value of Mu Yue’s Intelligence

“The forces have begun to assemble at Training Ground 11,” Hiruzen Sarutobi said.

Due to the suddenness of the event, this was an emergency assembly to form a unit, and many standard procedures were skipped for speed.

Just a few minutes before Muzuki entered the Hokage Office, Hiruzen Sarutobi was actually still in a high-level meeting.

The Konoha forces in Land of Grass had been defeated too suddenly; not long ago, they had even driven the Iwa Ninja Force to the Land of Earth border, but then there was a sudden reversal.

Konoha’s high-ranking officials didn’t even have time to find the cause of the defeat; they quickly decided in the meeting to form a support unit to go to Land of Grass, showing extremely high efficiency.

There was no other way; inefficiency was not an option. If the Land of Grass forces were completely wiped out, then the northwest of the Land of Fire would be in danger.

The Iwagakure Ninja Force could directly enter the Land of Fire from the border between Land of Grass and the Land of Fire.

At that time, not only would it be difficult to explain to the Lord Daimyo of Fire Country, but Konoha’s prestige in the Land of Fire would also be affected, and it might even pose a threat to Konoha.

It should be known that the Iwagakure Ninja Force in Land of Grass had two Jinchuriki who could fully transform into Tailed Beasts.

Even Danzo Shimura, who usually liked to contradict Hiruzen Sarutobi, didn’t cause trouble this time; he only had a slight disagreement with Hiruzen Sarutobi over the choice of commander.

Initially, Danzo Shimura wanted Orochimaru, who was stationed in the Land of Hot Springs, to lead some Ninja forces directly to Land of Grass, and then Konoha would send some additional personnel.

Hiruzen Sarutobi believed this was robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Kumogakure hadn’t caused much trouble recently, but Hiruzen Sarutobi didn’t believe Kumogakure had truly settled down.

If the news of Konoha’s defeat spread, Kumogakure would definitely be restless and want to probe, and if Orochimaru wasn’t there, wouldn’t the defense line in the Land of Hot Springs be in danger again?

So, Hiruzen Sarutobi cleanly refused Danzo Shimura and stated his own arrangement, which was for Muzuki to serve as the commander of the support unit.

Holding the idea that Muzuki was also one of their own, and given the truly critical situation, Danzo Shimura did not continue to fight for Orochimaru’s opportunity.

“Are my disciples on the list of the support unit?” Muzuki thought for a moment and asked.

With the Ninja World situation becoming increasingly chaotic, Muzuki felt that his disciples would be safer by his side.

Although Konoha was safe, it was wartime, and with Obito and their strength, Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn’t possibly let them remain idle; it would be too much of a waste of combat power.

Currently, Obito and the others are considered elites among the Jonin; this level of combat power is not common even among the Five Great Ninja Villages.

Instead of leaving Obito and the others in Konoha and then having them fall into Uchiha Madara’s trap during missions, it would be better to take them directly to the battlefield.

Although the battlefield was dangerous, at least Muzuki was there to back them up.

Even if they couldn’t win, Muzuki could still take them away.

“They are all there,” Hiruzen Sarutobi replied.

Considering the grim situation on the Land of Grass battlefield, the strength of the support unit could not be weak, or else they would just be sent to their deaths.

And Kakashi and the others are not only excellent in terms of strength but also have a special relationship with Muzuki, making them the best candidates for the Jonin level of the support unit.

Of course, if Muzuki wanted Kakashi and the others to stay in Konoha, Hiruzen Sarutobi would agree.

Compared to Kakashi and the others, Muzuki was definitely more important, and it was fine for a commander to have a few small privileges.

Moreover, Kakashi and the others staying in Konoha could form an elite squad and still contribute to Konoha.

“Once the unit is assembled, I will immediately lead them to Land of Grass,” Muzuki nodded, preparing to leave the Hokage Office.

Aside from his disciples, he had no other special requests.

“These are intelligence reports on the Land of Grass battlefield; you must read them on the way if you have time,” Hiruzen Sarutobi handed Muzuki a scroll.

They didn’t have much time left, and explaining the Land of Grass battlefield intelligence in detail would be too time-consuming, so Hiruzen Sarutobi only gave a brief overview.

Muzuki took the scroll, bowed slightly, and then turned to leave.

“I’m counting on you, Muzuki,” Hiruzen Sarutobi watched Muzuki depart.

If they lost again, Konoha’s situation would become dire.

…

After leaving the Hokage Office, Muzuki rushed to Training Ground 11.

When Muzuki arrived at the Training Ground, he saw a Ninja Force that was still small in number.

In fact, the assembly of the force and the notification to Muzuki happened at roughly the same time, but Hiruzen Sarutobi took some time to brief Muzuki on the intelligence.

“Commander Muzuki, I am Mimurabe Ketsu, the vice-commander of the unit. Currently, over a hundred Ninja have assembled, and fifteen Jonin and fifteen Special Jonin have all arrived,” Mimurabe Ketsu reported to Muzuki.

Muzuki nodded slightly; the Jonin must have been notified first, and Jonin also moved faster.

“Minato-sensei, I was just thinking you might be the commander. My guessing ability is pretty good,” Obito chuckled as he greeted Muzuki.

No sooner had Muzuki left than the communication for Jonin assembly reached them. Except for Yamato, everyone else arrived at Training Ground 11 as instructed.

Kakashi glanced at Obito indifferently; he felt this didn’t require guessing.

There was no such coincidence: Muzuki had just gone to the Hokage Building, and an emergency summons was issued here. It was clear that Muzuki had been given a more important mission.

Muzuki smiled in response, surveying the Jonin present.

Among the fifteen Jonin, his disciples accounted for five. Muzuki basically knew the remaining ten Jonin, as Konoha’s Jonin circle wasn’t large.

There was Nara Suzaku and Shibi Aburame, who had gone with Muzuki to Land of Grass to strike at Grass Ninja Village, and Hyuga Hizashi, who had fought alongside him on the Hidden Mist battlefield, and Akimichi Dōton, whom he had met through Minato Namikaze at a Jonin meeting.

Most of the official Jonin were Ninja from various Ninja clans, while Special Jonin were mostly ordinary Ninja.

As Muzuki surveyed them, the Ninja also surveyed Muzuki.

Except for Jonin holding important positions in the Ninja Force, who received direct notification from a Ninja, other Ninja still didn’t know what was happening, nor did they expect the commander to be Muzuki, who was not old and had little experience.

“Currently, among the Village, besides the high-ranking officials and Lady Tsunade, Commander Muzuki is the most qualified to lead the Ninja Force,” Nara Suzaku thought to himself.

If Shikaku Nara were in Konoha, he could barely compare; although Shikaku Nara was not strong, his wisdom was outstanding, and he would have the support of the Akimichi and Yamanaka clans.

Now that Ino–Shika–Chō were not in Konoha, and even Minato Namikaze, who was as famous as Muzuki, was not present, Muzuki was the most suitable candidate.

“I never thought that after becoming a Jonin for such a short time, he would actually become the commander of a unit,” Akimichi Dōton was surprised by Muzuki’s growth rate.

If he remembered correctly, it had only been a little over two years since Muzuki became a Jonin.

“Having Muzuki as the commander is truly reassuring,” Hyuga Hizashi gave Muzuki a slight smile.

He was the perception captain of this support unit and knew Muzuki was the commander before he arrived.

Hyuga Hizashi didn’t find this inappropriate; although Muzuki had been a Jonin for a short time, in terms of achievements, he was far ahead of many veteran Jonin with over ten years of experience.

Muzuki quietly watched the rapidly assembling Ninja Force without speaking.

Obito and his other disciples also knew this was a serious occasion, so apart from when Muzuki first arrived, they didn’t speak again, standing quietly in the front row of the Ninja Force.

After the Ninja Force had fully assembled, Muzuki spoke:

“Konoha’s Ninja Force in Land of Grass was defeated, just recently.”

Muzuki’s words were like throwing a bomb into calm water, instantly unsettling most of the Ninja in the force.

Some looked shocked, surprised by the defeat in Land of Grass which came without warning, while others showed worried expressions, concerned about their relatives or friends who were on the battlefield.

“Something happened in Land of Grass! Jiraiya and Minato-sensei seem to be in the Ninja Force there,” Obito immediately thought of Jiraiya and Minato Namikaze, feeling a bit worried.

Although Jiraiya liked to boast and was often unreliable, he was decent to him, and Minato Namikaze, of course, was Obito’s second most respected and beloved teacher.

“They should be fine,” Kakashi said softly, shaking his head.

According to future information, Minato Namikaze died after becoming Hokage, and Jiraiya died at the hands of the Evil Akatsuki Organization when Uzumaki Naruto was in his teens.

Although the future would certainly change due to their actions, for example, Yamato becoming Muzuki’s disciple.

However, they haven’t acted much yet, so it shouldn’t have too much impact on the Ninja World.

Compared to Minato Namikaze and the others, Kakashi was more worried about Muzuki.

This defeat came too suddenly; even Kakashi, who paid attention to the Ninja World situation, hadn’t noticed any premonition.

In his impression, the Konoha forces in Land of Grass should have had a significant advantage.

Since the Iwa Ninja Force could suddenly turn a great disadvantage into an advantage, they must have some powerful means, and it might even be the war in which Muzuki perished.

“Still too weak,” Kakashi sighed inwardly. With their current strength, perhaps only Might Guy could barely help Muzuki.

Although they had trained very hard, their training time was still too short. After all, most of them were still only eleven years old, an age when they wouldn’t have graduated from the Ninja Academy in peacetime.

“I hope I can learn the Yang Seal before that day comes.”

If he could master the Yang Seal, even if his other abilities didn’t improve at all, Kakashi’s actual combat power would still increase dramatically.

Shisui’s expression was solemn; he had a similar conjecture to Kakashi.

“There’s still too little time.”

Compared to Kakashi and the others, Shisui was still a bit younger, not even ten years old yet.

Muzuki didn’t give the Ninja too much time to react and quickly continued:

“Next, our mission is to support the Land of Grass Ninja Force and prevent the Iwagakure Ninja Force from entering the Land of Fire.”

Hiruzen Sarutobi did not demand that Muzuki must defeat the Iwagakure Ninja Force; his requirement was to establish a strong defense and prevent Iwagakure from invading the Land of Fire’s mainland.

As long as Iwagakure didn’t break through the defense line and enter the Land of Fire, Muzuki would be considered to have completed his mission.

If Muzuki repelled the Iwa Ninja Force and severely crippled them, that would be an additional achievement.

“Move out!” After about a minute, Muzuki scanned all the Ninja in the unit with a serious expression and shouted.

No one raised questions or complained; they all silently followed Muzuki, quickly leaving Konoha and heading towards Land of Grass.

For Ninja, this wasn’t too outlandish an operation, in fact.

When there was an urgent mission to be executed, they were given a mission objective and had to get to work.

This time, it could be seen as an emergency collective mission for a large number of people.

Moreover, Konoha’s Village-love education was very successful, and the Ninja had a high sense of responsibility to protect the Village.

Upon hearing that Iwagakure might invade, many Ninja thought that they must block Iwagakure outside the Land of Fire and not allow Iwagakure to have a chance to destroy Konoha.

On the way, Muzuki began to read the intelligence Hiruzen Sarutobi had given him.

If Muzuki were moving at his own full speed, he certainly wouldn’t be able to read intelligence while running.

But if he was moving with the Ninja Force, then Muzuki had the leisure to read while running.

After all, the Ninja Force’s moving speed was not fast for him.

“Hiromi Sarutobi betrayed and assassinated Jiraiya, exhibiting abilities similar to the Iwagakure assassination squad.” Seeing this intelligence, Muzuki showed a thoughtful expression.

In the Hokage Office, Hiruzen Sarutobi had spoken quite briefly, only mentioning the Iwagakure assassination squad slightly and not the Hiromi Sarutobi’s betrayal attack.

When Muzuki first heard Hiruzen Sarutobi speak, he felt it sounded like White Zetsu, and after reading the detailed war intelligence, Muzuki felt there was a 98% chance, if not 100%, that White Zetsu was causing trouble.

The Ninjutsu that rapidly eliminated presence was the Mayfly technique, and the reason Hiromi Sarutobi betrayed was that he wasn’t Hiromi Sarutobi himself; it was a White Zetsu using the Transformation Technique.

The strength of ordinary White Zetsu was actually not strong; if there was intelligence, even a skilled Chunin could kill a White Zetsu.

What made White Zetsu formidable was their skill set; their skills could only be described as high-end.

The Transformation Technique was the most powerful Transformation Technique in the entire Hokage series, capable of mimicking a Ninja’s essence—Chakra.

And the Mayfly technique was the top-tier stealth movement Ninjutsu, allowing one to merge with the earth, eliminate all presence, and move at high speed.

These two skills combined made White Zetsu the strongest intelligence Ninja in the Ninja World and an assassin difficult to guard against on the battlefield.

With White Zetsu acting, Muzuki felt it was normal for Jiraiya to be defeated; White Zetsu interfering in the Third Shinobi World War was somewhat like a dimensionality reduction attack.

It should be known that the eighty thousand Allied Shinobi Forces with a large number of strong individuals in the Fourth Shinobi World War were troubled by White Zetsu, let alone Jiraiyas Ninja Force.

“However, for me, this isn’t too much trouble,” Muzuki thought to himself.

Muzuki had an inconspicuous but very powerful skill, which was Appraisal Technique.

No matter how well White Zetsu disguised themselves, one look with Appraisal Technique at their skills would expose everything.

The drawback of Appraisal Technique was that Muzuki had to see them to use it, and currently, Muzuki hadn’t seen any White Zetsu brave enough to appear before him.

As long as White Zetsu dared to play an undercover game in his Ninja Force, Muzuki would let them know what an intelligence Muzuki was.

An ‘intelligence Jiraiya’ only existed in theory, while Muzuki truly possessed the Appraisal Technique that could see through Chakra and skills.

PS: The plot has recently reached a relatively critical point, and it has been time-consuming due to constant revisions. Today’s update is a bit shorter, one chapter of 4k.