Chapter 688: Conflicts among High-level Officials

Ōnoki shook his head at Kitsuchi and the other Iwagakure Ninja, gesturing for them to disperse, then looked at Sōsuke and said weakly, “Ninja Master’s strength is indeed as formidable as rumored; it’s truly admirable.”

Sōsuke’s power was inevitable, given that he could defeat Hiruzen Sarutobi, but Ōnoki truly hadn’t expected Sōsuke to be so ridiculously strong.

He hadn’t even fully grasped Sōsuke’s methods before he was utterly defeated.

It was only because Sōsuke held back; if it had been a real battle, he would likely have been killed.

Now, Ōnoki wasn’t curious about how Sōsuke defeated Hiruzen Sarutobi; he was very curious about how Hiruzen Sarutobi managed to return to Konoha alive from Sōsuke’s hands.

Even his Dust Release couldn’t do anything to Sōsuke, so Hiruzen Sarutobi’s Ninjutsu certainly wouldn’t have been effective against Sōsuke.

“For the Shinobi Sect, I presume.”

Ōnoki felt that Sōsuke probably didn’t want to go to full-scale war with Konoha, so he let Hiruzen Sarutobi live.

Sōsuke was indeed powerful, but even by gathering the elite Ninja from his Village, Ōnoki wasn’t confident he could take down Sōsuke.

However, no matter how strong Sōsuke was, he was still one person, while the Great Shinobi Villages had numerous elite Ninja.

Sōsuke could protect himself with his immense strength and kill many enemy Ninja, but he couldn’t protect every Shinobi Sect Ninja.

If the Shinobi Sect went to war with any of the Great Shinobi Villages, the inevitable outcome would be mutual destruction, with neither the Shinobi Sect nor the Great Shinobi Villages gaining anything.

The vast majority of Shinobi Sect Ninja would be killed by the Great Shinobi Villages, while the Great Shinobi Villages would also face the threat of Sōsuke, a Ninja of terrifying strength.

“Dust Release is indeed worthy of being a Bloodline Limit that surpasses other Bloodline Limits; it truly opened my eyes,” Muzuki replied, giving him face.

Ōnoki’s mouth twitched.

Although Sōsuke was praising him, he found it hard to be happy.

Because, combining it with the recent battle, Ōnoki had reason to suspect Sōsuke was being sarcastic.

He hadn’t even breached Sōsuke’s defenses, so what was there to be amazed by? Or was this “opened my eyes” referring to the fact that Dust Release, which was said to decompose everything, couldn’t even destroy his clothes?

“Village affairs are busy, so I won’t disturb you further.” Ōnoki said goodbye with a slightly darkened face, refusing the Shinobi Sect’s send-off, and left with the support of his subordinates.

Due to Ōnoki’s insistence, Muzuki and the others merely watched him leave from where they stood.

“He’s truly a stubborn and obstinate old man,” Roshi sighed.

Ōnoki’s arm injury was not light, yet he stubbornly refused Sōsuke’s treatment out of pride.

He was a bit confused; he had lost so badly, what pride was there left to speak of? Was being treated by his opponent so humiliating?

“Shirakawa, are you very familiar with the Tsuchikage?” Yahiko asked curiously.

Very few people in the Shinobi Sect knew Roshi’s true identity; only Muzuki, Nagato, and Kakuzu knew that Roshi was the Iwagakure Jinchuriki, while everyone else only knew Roshi’s public identity.

“I know a little,” Roshi nodded, not saying too much.

He didn’t care if his identity was known, but he was mainly worried about causing trouble.

Tailed Beasts were like the lifeblood of the Five Great Ninja Villages; if Iwagakure learned that he had joined the Shinobi Sect under the name Shirakawa, even if they were wary of Sōsuke’s strength, they would still try every means to deal with the Shinobi Sect.

Yahiko didn’t think too much and quickly put the matter out of his mind, excitedly asking Muzuki questions that arose from watching the battle.

On the other side.

After walking a short distance, at Ōnoki’s signal, the Iwagakure Jonin who mastered Medical Ninjutsu immediately began treating Ōnoki.

In fact, he had immediately prepared to treat Ōnoki as soon as the battle ended, but Ōnoki had stopped him.

“Lord Tsuchikage, are we still going to agree to the Hidden Sand Village’s cooperation?” Kitsuchi asked after a moment of silence.

After watching Sōsuke’s battle with Ōnoki, Kitsuchi finally understood why Konoha had no reaction when the news of Hiruzen Sarutobi’s defeat spread throughout the Ninja World.

With Sōsuke being so powerful, what could Konoha do?

Send a Ninja army to eliminate the Shinobi Sect?

To save face, they would lose a large number of Ninja and then be resented by a peerless expert; it would be a huge loss.

“Let’s put it aside for now,” Ōnoki replied after thinking for a moment.

His motive for dealing with the Shinobi Sect was that its continued growth would affect Iwagakure’s interests.

If they were to act against the Shinobi Sect now, in conjunction with the Hidden Sand Village, they would thoroughly offend Sōsuke without being able to kill him, and Iwagakure might not have a good outcome in the end.

Fortunately, Iwagakure hadn’t committed to anything in the first place, so they didn’t need to explain anything to the Hidden Sand Village.

“Why hasn’t Iwagakure produced such a genius?” Ōnoki sighed in his heart.

He had thought that after the God of Shinobi passed away, there would be no more Ninja of such extraordinary caliber, but he hadn’t expected a monster like Sōsuke to appear so quickly, along with Muzuki, a potential monster.

Ōnoki was truly depressed. They were all Five Great Ninja Villages, so why was Konoha so exceptional, first with Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara, and then with Muzuki?

After half an hour of treatment, Ōnoki, worried about potential complications, didn’t linger for a moment and immediately returned to Iwagakure.

The first thing Ōnoki did upon returning to the Village was to convene a high-level meeting and inform all the high-ranking officials of the intelligence he had gathered.

Upon hearing the report, the Iwagakure high-ranking officials all showed expressions of extreme shock.

If the information hadn’t come from their own Tsuchikage of Iwagakure, they would have probably doubted its authenticity immediately.

“Konoha is truly sinister. No wonder they kept it so secret. They probably want to use the Shinobi Sect to make us suffer a huge setback,” Elder Muka instantly sensed Konoha’s malicious intentions.

If Iwagakure were to blindly clash with the Shinobi Sect like this, they would definitely suffer a terrible outcome.

“Indeed, thanks to the Sandaime’s caution,” Elder Chouki said with lingering fear.

If Iwagakure were to be severely weakened because of this, they would become the Village’s sinners.

“I think we can use this to our advantage and let the other Ninja Villages and the Shinobi Sect fight to mutual destruction,” the Jōnin Squad Leader thought for a moment and said.

What Iwagakure hadn’t expected, other Ninja Villages likely hadn’t either, which would give them an intelligence advantage.

“The Hidden Sand Village has ideas about the Shinobi Sect, don’t they? Instead of sending troops with the Hidden Sand Village to attack the Shinobi Sect, we can cooperate with them in other areas to mislead them, letting the Hidden Sand Village and the Shinobi Sect fight to mutual destruction.”

Ōnoki thought carefully, then nodded.

If this plan succeeded, it would truly be killing two birds with one stone, both resolving the threat of the Shinobi Sect and weakening the Hidden Sand Village.

…

Land of Fire, Konoha Village.

Hokage Building.

Upon receiving the news that a high-level meeting was being held, Utatane Koharu and Homura Mitokado rushed to the conference room.

Regardless of their attitude towards the new Hokage, they still had to put on a good show; this was the new Hokage’s first high-level meeting.

As they neared the conference room, the two encountered Hiruzen Sarutobi.

The three greeted each other and then walked into the conference room together.

Muzuki and Minato had arrived at the conference room early. Seeing the high-ranking officials arrive, Muzuki nodded in greeting.

After Hiruzen Sarutobi sat down, he curiously glanced at the documents on the table. Of the five seats in the conference room, only Muzuki’s side had no documents; all other seats did.

“Ninja Academy Reform…”

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the document title, and a hint of curiosity arose in his heart.

The Ninja Academy was where he first discovered Muzuki, and Hiruzen Sarutobi also knew that Muzuki had an inexplicable love for the position of a teacher.

Perhaps it was because of Muzuki’s passion that he had many thoughts about the Ninja Academy and proposed many beneficial suggestions for it.

For example, the Medical Ninjutsu specialty students, though only established for less than two years, were highly praised by the Village’s Ninja, who all considered it a very correct measure.

However, since Muzuki was bringing the Ninja Academy to a high-level meeting this time, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt that it must be more than just a minor issue like Medical Ninjutsu specialty students.

So Hiruzen Sarutobi was very curious about what kind of reform plan this would be.

“Minato, I’ll trouble you,” Muzuki said to Minato Namikaze.

Minato Namikaze nodded, cleared his throat twice, and said, “Next, I will explain this proposal regarding the Ninja Academy reform.”

Although Muzuki understood the plan better, Muzuki was the Hokage and couldn’t do everything himself; otherwise, what would be the point of having Minato Namikaze as the Hokage Assistant?

“The current six-year system of the Ninja Academy will be changed to a four-year system, designated as elementary school. A new three-year middle school section will be added. Elementary school graduates will no longer be able to become Ninja as before; they must advance to and graduate from middle school to become official Ninja.”

As Minato Namikaze explained, Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others also flipped through the documents on the table.

Utatane Koharu’s brow gradually furrowed.

This change was truly too significant; it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say it completely overturned the original Ninja Academy.

Moreover, the new Ninja Academy would require Konoha to invest more, and the process of training Ninja would also be longer.

“Assistant Minato, please pause for a moment. I would like to ask, what exactly is wrong with the current Ninja Academy, and why is such a major reform necessary?” Utatane Koharu asked unceremoniously.

Although she knew this was Muzuki’s reform proposal, it didn’t stop her from challenging Minato.

“A six-year system becoming a seven-year system—have you calculated how much cost this extra year will incur, and how many fewer Ninja there will be? Furthermore, the middle school even requires students to master a C-rank Ninjutsu, which also raises the requirements for teachers’ skill levels. The total increase in various costs is not a small number.”

Minato Namikaze’s expression remained unchanged. Muzuki had still asked him to speak, so he had long prepared a comprehensive plan.

Minato Namikaze calmly explained, “The current Ninja Academy’s teaching is too lenient, and the quality of Genin varies greatly…”

Before the meeting began, Minato Namikaze not only retrieved data from the Ninja Academy but also personally inspected the Ninja Academy, and finally took the summary report to consult Muzuki.

Regarding the various problems of the current Ninja Academy, Minato Namikaze had already committed them to memory.

Seeing that Minato Namikaze actually articulated the problems of the current Ninja Academy so clearly, Utatane Koharu was somewhat surprised, but she didn’t give up there.

“If the Ninja Academy has so many problems, why has our Konoha been able to cultivate so many excellent Ninja?”

Utatane Koharu hadn’t paid attention to the Ninja Academy since graduating from it. She couldn’t judge whether Minato Namikaze’s words were true or false.

However, over the past few decades, Konoha had continuously produced various genius Ninja, so she felt that the Ninja Academy should not have any problems.

Minato Namikaze suddenly didn’t know how to answer Utatane Koharu.

Utatane Koharu’s statement was very emotional and illogical, but it happened to be a fact.

“Advisor Koharu, is it possible that we should have had even more excellent Ninja?” Muzuki said calmly.

“Or are you saying, Advisor Koharu, that you believe Konoha is sufficient by maintaining the status quo and doesn’t need to strive for better?”

Now it was Utatane Koharu’s turn to be speechless.

Muzuki immediately slammed such a big accusation down, and she wouldn’t dare to agree; if she did, she would be seen as a high-ranking official who was lazy and unprogressive.

“Regardless, the past cannot be changed. Let’s continue discussing our current reform,” Hiruzen Sarutobi said with a chuckle, signaling Minato Namikaze to continue his explanation.

In Hiruzen Sarutobi’s view, both Muzuki and Utatane Koharu were somewhat out of line.

Muzuki was too sharp and showed little respect for a venerable elder, while Utatane Koharu lacked regard for the new Hokage, so openly opposing the reform in the very first high-level meeting.

Minato Namikaze instinctively looked at Muzuki, who nodded, and only then did Minato Namikaze continue his explanation.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had been very good to him, and Minato Namikaze also respected Hiruzen Sarutobi, but this was a high-level meeting, and Muzuki was his true comrade now.

After Minato Namikaze finished his explanation, Homura Mitokado spoke, “I believe that the reform can indeed improve the quality of graduating Genin, but is this improvement truly worth the cost of the reform?”

After some thought, Homura Mitokado still decided to stand on the same front as his old friend Utatane Koharu.

Muzuki’s assertiveness was too strong; if they backed down this time, their influence in the Village would likely be severely diminished.

This was something Homura Mitokado did not want to see. The reason he had initially supported Muzuki’s ascension was because Hiruzen Sarutobi had promised them six years in high-level positions.

During these six years, if Muzuki were to clash with them and try to remove them, Hiruzen Sarutobi would intervene.

If they lost their voice in the high-level meetings, what kind of high-level officials would they be? What would be the meaning of his position as a high-level official?

Moreover, he wasn’t talking nonsense; these were real problems that existed within the plan.

Hiruzen Sarutobi silently flipped through the documents without speaking.

If this were someone else’s plan, Hiruzen Sarutobi’s attitude might be similar to Homura Mitokado’s, but this was Muzuki’s Ninja Academy reform plan.

Muzuki’s proposals for the Ninja Academy had never been wrong.

So Hiruzen Sarutobi was actually biased towards the reform, but in the current situation, Hiruzen Sarutobi found it truly difficult to speak.

If he expressed his stance, it would mean the old and new Hokage had reached a consensus, and Utatane Koharu’s and Homura Mitokado’s opinions would no longer matter.

That would be stepping on his old friends to help Muzuki, and Hiruzen Sarutobi didn’t want to do such a thing, nor could he.

Anyway, it wasn’t as if the reform wouldn’t pass; they could just hold another meeting and pass it then.

PS:

Sorry, I had a small matter, so the update was a bit late.

The extra updates from the past two days were a warm-up; in one more day, it will be the joyful seven-day continuous burst for National Day.

The plan is for daily updates to be no less than 7-8k characters, and more if I can write more.