Chapter 397: Muyue vs. Sand's Hero

Muyue's caution was justified, and it turned out that Obito and the others were really unlucky—or rather, the Land of Rain was truly chaotic.

Just as Muyue and the others were about to deliver their client to the destination, a squad of Suna ninja spotted them and immediately surrounded them.

Since Suna hadn't declared war on Konoha, Kakashi didn't act right away, instead signaling Obito to hold back with a glance.

"What do you Konoha ninja think you're doing?" The female ninja at the front of the Suna squad asked with a hostile expression.

"Are you guys crazy? You're the ones who suddenly rushed over and surrounded us, and now you're asking us what we're doing?" Obito complained irritably.

Although there were twelve Suna ninja over there, Obito wasn't the least bit worried, because Muyue was right beside him.

"Kid, didn't your parents teach you not to interrupt when adults are talking? Lady Hakura wasn't asking you." The Suna ninja beside Hakura scolded.

Hakura was a ninja he greatly admired, and he couldn't tolerate Obito's disrespect toward her.

But Obito wasn't someone who could be intimidated—he glared right back and said, "Do you think I'm talking to you? What are you even chiming in for?"

The Suna ninja immediately drew his longsword, instantly making the atmosphere tense and confrontational.

Kakashi silently drew his White Light Short Blade. Although Suna and Konoha hadn't gone to war, the other side had already shown hostility, so they couldn't just sit and wait.

Shisui and the others also focused their breathing, ready to strike at any moment.

Clang!

Just then, a transparent air blast struck the Suna ninja's longsword, directly shattering it.

"Didn't your teacher teach you not to point a weapon at people recklessly?" Muyue slowly lowered her hand-blade and said with a smile.

Muyue disliked people who were arrogant without having the strength to back it up.

The Suna ninja stared at the broken longsword, his expression turning to one of horror as he looked at Muyue.

This wasn't made of wood—it was a longsword forged from steel, both sharp and sturdy even without chakra reinforcement.

With that kind of destructive power, if she had struck his body instead of his sword, how severe would the injury have been?

The more fear the Suna ninja felt, the more satisfaction Obito experienced.

"I've got Muyue-sensei on my side—what do you have on yours?" Obito couldn't help the grin spreading across his face.

He finally understood why the descendants of those big villains in the ninja world were so arrogant—having a really strong backer was indeed enjoyable.

Hakura looked at Muyue with some surprise; she hadn't expected a random Konoha ninja they encountered to possess this level of power.

However, Hakura wasn't flustered. After all, she was the Hero of Suna—this was a small matter for her.

Hakura motioned for the Suna ninja with the broken sword to step back, then looked at Muyue. "Yesterday, a four-man squad from our Suna went missing. That day, local villagers only saw Konoha ninja operating nearby."

Hakura certainly wasn't looking for trouble for no reason. After all, Sunagakure had experienced internal turmoil and was also at war with Kumogakure, so their situation was far from stable.

Muyue didn't even need to think to guess who had done it—either Iwa or Kumo. Those two troublemakers loved pulling stunts like this.

Anyone with even a basic understanding of the state of the ninja world would know this wasn't the work of Konoha ninja. Konoha had already been declared war on by three major ninja villages—why would they be foolish enough to provoke Suna?

"As a ninja, you should know how easy it is to fool ordinary people. I think you'd be better off investigating Kumogakure or Iwagakure," Muyue replied.

Ordinary people don't have the eyesight to see through Transformation Jutsu. Even a basic Transformation Jutsu is more than enough to fool them.

If they put in a little more effort and got real Konoha forehead protectors and flak jackets, ordinary people wouldn't be able to tell at all.

"Whether it's true or false, it'll become clear once you cooperate with the investigation," Hakura admitted that Muyue's words had some merit, but they could also be an excuse from Muyue to defend her fellow villagers.

Under normal circumstances, with the current situation, Konoha really shouldn't provoke Suna. But every ninja has their own thoughts, and Hakura believed there might be other reasons why the Suna squad fought and was ultimately killed by Konoha ninja.

【Name: Hakura】

【Chakra: 】

【Skills: Scorch Release (Mastery: 2800/ ), Fire Nature Transformation (Mastery ), Wind Nature Transformation (Mastery ), Scorch Release: Steam Kill (Mastery )】

As a ninja, Hakura indeed had more reason to be arrogant than the Suna ninja who had been holding the longsword. With her decent mastery of Scorch Release and dual nature transformations, her strength surpassed over ninety percent of ninjas in the world.

But unfortunately, she was up against Muyue—a ninja who had mastered hundreds of jutsu and all seven chakra nature transformations.

"And what if I refuse?" Muyue said calmly, shielding her students behind her.

The lethality of Scorch Release was considerable even among all bloodline limits. At Hakura's level of Scorch Release, even a jonin would be instantly killed if struck by it. To be safe, she needed to keep her students at a safe distance from Hakura.

"Then I'll have to defeat you and investigate afterward." Yecang assumed a fighting stance and ordered her subordinates to seal off the position.

Several Sunagakure ninjas flickered into view behind Muyue and the others.

However, Yecang had underestimated the strength of Kakashi, Obito, and the others.

Obito concentrated his breathing to heighten his physical abilities and enhance nature transformation, while activating his Three-Tomoe Sharingan. Using only taijutsu, he swiftly knocked two Sunagakure chunin to the ground.

Shisui also activated his Sharingan.

"Phantom Body Flicker Technique!"

In the eyes of the Sunagakure ninjas, dozens of Shisuis suddenly appeared on the field.

Just as they thought all were illusionary clones, those Shisuis' fists landed solidly on their bodies.

The two Sunagakure chunin were defeated at high speed without even finding where Shisui's real body was.

Kakashi directly concentrated his breathing to the utmost and entered the state of the Transparent World.

The Sunagakure jonin intended to deal with Kakashi first, then take care of Obito and the others, but soon he abandoned that thought because he felt an immense pressure from Kakashi.

All of his attacks were seen through by Kakashi, while he could not withstand Kakashi's attacks.

In just over a minute, five Sunagakure ninjas were beaten until they lost combat capability.

The remaining Sunagakure ninjas were all blocked by Muyue; whenever a Sunagakure ninja tried to get past Muyue to attack Kakashi and the others, Muyue would flash over, knock them unconscious, and toss them to the ground.

Yecang's expression turned grim. This Konoha squad's strength exceeded her imagination.

"Scorch Release: Steam Kill!"

After witnessing Muyue's taijutsu, Yecang did not intend to engage in close combat with Muyue and directly activated her kekkei genkai, Scorch Release.

Yecang burst out a large amount of chakra, condensing six head-sized fireballs around her body and hurling them rapidly at Muyue.

Muyue did not underestimate the technique because of the fireballs' size; Scorch Release was different from ordinary Fire Release.

"Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!"

Muyue gathered a large amount of chakra and spat out a waterfall-like torrent of terrifying water that surged toward the Sunagakure ninjas.

"A Water Release user? A bit troublesome, but no big deal." Facing the incoming terrifying water, Yecang's expression remained unchanged.

As a kekkei genkai formed from the fusion of Wind and Fire chakra nature transformations, Scorch Release differed greatly from ordinary flames; Water Release could not counter Scorch Release very effectively.

Under Yecang's control, the fireballs arranged in a straight line, ignoring the water of the Great Waterfall Technique and charging straight at Muyue.

The water stream was rapidly evaporating, and Yecang's fireballs were slowly shrinking, but unlike ordinary flames, they were not directly extinguished.

"Freezing Beam!"

Muyue lightly leaped and stood on the water's surface, then raised a hand and fired a beam of cold air into the water stream, instantly freezing it. Yecang's Scorch Release flames dissipated in their struggle with the ice.

"Ice Release?" Yecang looked at Muyue in surprise. Konoha actually had such a powerful Ice Release user.

Swish! Swish!

Muyue threw out a large number of Flying Thunder God kunai, covering all the Sunagakure ninjas including Yecang.

Yecang naturally would not be hit by such an ordinary kunai; she sidestepped and dodged it.

"Scorch Release: Flame Wave!"

Yecang decided to change tactics and use a larger-area ninjutsu to attack.

A large amount of Scorch Release flames was spewed from Yecang's throat, forming a small sea of Scorch fire that rushed toward Muyue.

Although her opponent also possessed a kekkei genkai, Yecang still had confidence in victory.

Strictly speaking, there was no hierarchical counter between different kekkei genkai like single-element affinities, but Yecang felt her Scorch Release still had an advantage over Ice Release. It was common for flames to melt ice, but ice could not freeze flames.

Facing Yecang's Scorch Release ninjutsu, Muyue did not release a ninjutsu nor dodge; he simply gathered chakra on the spot.

"What is this guy doing?"

Muyue's action set off alarm bells in Yecang's mind.

Given the strength Muyue had displayed, he clearly would not be frozen in fear by her ninjutsu. There must be some method she did not know about.

Yecang warily scanned his surroundings with his peripheral vision, finding nothing unusual, and the other Konoha ninjas also remained still.

Just as Yecang was filled with intense confusion, Muyue moved.

Whoosh!

Yecang felt a blur before his eyes; she instinctively kicked forward.

But how could Yecang's reaction speed and striking speed possibly be faster than Muyue's?

Thump!

A dull impact sounded, and Yecang's face and body made intimate contact with the ground, carving a pit into the earth.

"Lord Yecang!" The Shinobi behind Yecang stared at Muyue in disbelief.

Yecang was a hero of Sunagakure, with many Shinobi in the village worshipping him. During the period when the Third Kazekage went missing, Yecang was also a strong candidate for the Fourth Kazekage.

"It's the Yellow Flash!" Some Sunagakure Shinobi recalled the legendary Yellow Flash, who had recently made a huge name in the battles of the Land of Grass and the Land of Hot Water.

"Shouldn't he be on the battlefield? Why is he in the Land of Rain?" The Sunagakure Shinobi were extremely puzzled.

Muyue had always been a kind-hearted person. Seeing how worried the Sunagakure Shinobi were about Yecang, he immediately invited them to join Yecang lying on the ground.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Muyue once again used the Flying Thunder God to appear beside the Sunagakure Shinobi, taking down all of them in an extremely short time.

"These Sunagakure Shinobi aren't that strong. Except for that female ninja with green and yellow hair, did the rest of them combined even last ten seconds?" Obito commented.

Since Muyue had ordered them to fall back, Obito and the others didn't go forward to help Muyue even after taking care of the Sunagakure Shinobi to the rear.

Obito did want to fight alongside Muyue, but he didn't want to cause Muyue trouble. Muyue must have had a reason for telling them to retreat.

"It's not that the Sunagakure Shinobi are weak; it's that Teacher Muyue is too strong," Kakashi corrected.

Kakashi looked at Obito, "Do you know who that female ninja with green and yellow hair is?"

Obito scratched his head, then shook it, "Is she a famous ninja? She didn't seem particularly strong."

Strictly speaking, Muyue had only used three ninjutsu to defeat Yecang just now, making it look easy and simple.

"That's why I said you need to brush up on the basics of the shinobi world," Kakashi sighed.

"Her name is Yecang, a ninja known as the Hero of Sunagakure. She wields the Scorch Release Kekkei Genkai. If her Scorch Release flames touch you, you'll instantly turn into a dried-up corpse. She's a well-known powerhouse in the shinobi world," Kakashi educated Obito.

Although Yecang couldn't last a few moves before being defeated by Muyue, Kakashi knew this was due to multiple factors.

The biggest one was intelligence. Kakashi didn't think Muyue would be like Obito, not even knowing a famous ninja like Yecang, so Muyue must have known Yecang's information.

But Yecang couldn't possibly know Muyue's information because Muyue was too low-profile.

Yecang didn't know Muyue had mastered the Flying Thunder God, so getting instantly defeated at close range by the Flying Thunder God was perfectly normal.

Muyue defeating Yecang looked simple, but if Kakashi and the others were to fight Yecang, Kakashi felt that the four of them combined might not even be able to beat her.

The power of Scorch Release was too strong. If hit by Scorch Release, Nohara Rin's medical ninjutsu might not be able to treat it in time.

"Is this really common sense? Where did you learn that, Kakashi?" Obito couldn't help asking.

Obito felt that this was definitely not common sense.

"This isn't just common sense; it's the basic skill of a ninja. Don't you know how important intelligence is to a ninja?" Kakashi looked at Obito in exasperation.

"See more, hear more, and pay more attention to major events in the shinobi world," Kakashi reminded.

Then Kakashi stopped wasting words with Obito and walked over toward Muyue. Shisui had already gone over while they were discussing Yecang.

"So what if he's the Hero of Sunagakure? He still got mauled by us and Teacher Muyue," Obito muttered, then also walked over.

"Is this considered an investigation cleared up? If Konoha really wanted to deal with Sunagakure, do you think you'd still be alive now?" Muyue said, watching Yecang slowly get up from the ground.

Although Rasa definitely didn't like Yecang, if Rasa knew Muyue had killed Yecang, he might even open champagne to celebrate.

But Yecang's status in Sunagakure was indeed not simple. Killing him could easily escalate into a diplomatic incident. Muyue didn't want Konoha to fast-forward to being besieged by the four great ninja villages—that wouldn't be good.

"You should focus more on Kumogakure or Iwagakure."

"The Yellow Flash lives up to his reputation. This time was my mistake. I will reinvestigate after returning," Yecang apologized and accepted Muyue's suggestion.

"My name is Yusheng Muyue. Don't mistake me next time." Leaving behind this sentence, Muyue led the slightly startled client toward their destination.

Ye Cang and the group of Sand Hidden stood frozen in place, all looking at a loss.

Wait, there's another chapter of 4k words, but it'll be very late, probably around three in the morning. It's recommended to read it tomorrow. Also, the previous chapter has been revised, so you can subscribe.