Chapter 415: Return to Konoha

After Hanzo's defeat, the name "Ninja Master Sōsuke" spread throughout the ninja world at an extremely fast pace.

The commotion caused by this incident far surpassed any previous one.

Kakuzu was not weak in strength, but his fame in the entire ninja world was very ordinary. Only some strong ninjas or those involved in the black market knew of him.

Hanzo was different. Shinobi from ninja villages of all sizes and rogue ninjas from various countries all knew that there was a top-level strongman in the ninja world known as "Demi-God Hanzo."

Even among ordinary people, Hanzo was very famous, a true powerhouse who shook the ninja world.

Therefore, after the news that Hanzo led his ninja forces to defeat by the Ninja Master Sōsuke's Ninja Sect spread, it traveled extremely quickly. In the chaotic ninja world at the time, this was also a shocking major event.

However, the reason it spread so quickly was not entirely due to Hanzo's fame; someone was also secretly fanning the flames.

Mu Yue was also a bit surprised when he learned that the news had spread throughout the ninja world, because he had not instructed the Ninja Sect's ninjas to deliberately spread this matter.

As for the ninjas of the Rain Village, they were even less likely to spread it actively, because after the news came out, the Rain Village even came out to deny it, stating that their leader Hanzo had not fought and could not have retreated in defeat.

Of course, the Rain Village's denial did not have much effect; instead, it further confirmed the truth of the news.

Because the Rain Village only made verbal claims and did not immediately take practical action, as if they were afraid of something.

Additionally, the circulated news had too many details, and even the battle location was very clear. Some ninjas went to check the situation, and there were indeed signs of a great battle between powerful ninjas.

Considering various factors, Hanzo's defeat was confirmed, and Ninja Master Sōsuke was recognized as a top-level powerhouse in the ninja world, skilled in Fire Release.

Mu Yue guessed that it might be Shimura Danzo's doing, as this could further intensify the conflict between the Ninja Sect and the Rain Village.

However, Mu Yue didn't care too much. For the Ninja Sect to develop and spread its philosophy, conflict with the Rain Village was inevitable. Moreover, this incident had its benefits; at least they had made a name for themselves, and ninjas who agreed with the Ninja Sect's philosophy would voluntarily join.

Iwagakure Village, Tsuchikage Building.

Kurotsuchi personally handed the intelligence he had collected in the valley to Ōnoki.

"Tsuchikage-sama, Hanzo intends to cooperate with us Iwa to eliminate the Ninja Sect. Should we cooperate with them?" When Ōnoki put down the documents, Kurotsuchi asked.

"Although Hanzo cannot defeat Sōsuke, it is not easy for Sōsuke to defeat Hanzo either."

As someone who watched the entire battle, Kurotsuchi was very clear about the strength of both men.

In terms of raw strength, Mu Yue was much stronger than Hanzo, able to suppress Hanzo's Water Release with Fire Release, but Mu Yue had no way to deal with the poison mist of Hanzo's salamander. Additionally, Hanzo's Water Body Flicker Technique was extremely well-honed, so defeating Hanzo was not an easy task for Mu Yue.

Ōnoki shook his head and looked at Kurotsuchi, asking, "Why should we cooperate to eliminate the Ninja Sect? What benefit does that bring to our Iwa?"

"If the ninjas at the border were indeed killed by the Ninja Sect, I think we could cooperate with the Rain Village. We can't let the village's ninjas die in vain; we must avenge them." Kurotsuchi expressed his thoughts.

Before the matter was thoroughly investigated, Kurotsuchi would not act rashly. But if it were truly the Ninja Sect's doing, Kurotsuchi would not let the Ninja Sect off just because Mu Yue was strong.

A hint of disappointment flashed across Ōnoki's face. Caring about the village's ninjas was good, but to become a Kage, one needed more.

"This matter was not committed by the Ninja Sect's ninjas." Ōnoki rummaged through his desk and tossed a document to Kurotsuchi.

Kurotsuchi took the document and looked through it, finding records of various things the Ninja Sect had done during their travels, helping villagers solve problems and cracking down on bandits.

"This is a ninja force that yearns for naive peace. They have no reason to kill ninjas from a major village. It would bring disaster to the Rain Country." Ōnoki explained.

In Ōnoki's speculation, the only reason for conflict between the Ninja Sect and Iwa's ninjas would be if Iwa's ninjas attacked a Rain Village settlement and were spotted by Ninja Sect ninjas.

But attacking Rain Village settlements was not within the scope of Iwa's ninjas' work. Iwa's main task in the Rain Country was to stir up conflict between Konoha, Kumogakure, and Sunagakure.

Even if they came into conflict, given the Ninja Sect's behavior, Ōnoki believed they would not have killed all the Iwa ninjas.

Based on his veteran experience in stirring up trouble, Ōnoki judged that it was most likely another force that killed the Iwa ninjas and then framed the Ninja Sect.

Which force it was, Ōnoki could not determine, because ever since the news that Sōsuke possessed the Ninja Sect inheritance spread across the ninja world, many people had set their sights on the Ninja Sect and Sōsuke, especially after Sōsuke defeated Kakuzu.

"Given the Ninja Sect's reputation, that does seem to be the case. But currently, all evidence points to a ninja within the Ninja Sect. It might be the personal action of some Ninja Sect member." Kurotsuchi thought for a moment and said.

"Then continue your investigation in the Rain Country, but don't get involved for now." Ōnoki sighed slightly.

If Kurotsuchi had said that the Ninja Sect had too much potential and might threaten Iwa in the future, Ōnoki wouldn't have been so disappointed. Kurotsuchi's thinking on this matter was just too straightforward.

Kurotsuchi respectfully bid farewell and walked out of the Tsuchikage's office.

"There are too few talented people in the village." Ōnoki thought as he watched Kurotsuchi's back.

After a long period of recovery, Iwagakure's ninja forces had developed quite well, with over ten thousand combat-ready ninjas in the village. But what worried Ōnoki was that no satisfactory heir had emerged in Iwa.

Kurotsuchi's strength was good, but his personality was too straightforward, making him unsuitable to become Tsuchikage. Others with suitable personalities were too weak in strength to command respect.

Lightning Country, the Lightning Shadow’s office.

“What legacy does Sōsuke actually hold in his hands? Could it be the Six Paths Sage’s ninjutsu?” After reading the materials, the Third Raikage developed a bit of interest in Sōsuke.

Although the Rain Village’s strength was lacking, the Third Raikage still acknowledged Hanzō’s power—anyone who could defeat Hanzō was definitely no ordinary strongman.

The Cloud Village believed in the existence of the Six Paths Sage, because Cloud had descendants of the Six Paths Sage, and also possessed the Six Paths Sage’s ninja tools.

“Lord Raikage, should we mobilize our forces in the Land of Rain to investigate the Ninja Sect legacy that Sōsuke holds?” Dodai inquired.

“Not needed for now,” the Third Raikage refused.

Though he was somewhat interested, with wars breaking out everywhere, the Third Raikage felt it wasn’t worth diverting manpower and resources to this matter. After all, Sōsuke wasn’t made of clay—dealing with him would take considerable effort.

Land of Fire, Leaf Village.

Danzo, his face dark, opened the door and walked straight into the Hokage’s office without knocking.

“Hiruzen, I told you, that Ninja Master Sōsuke must not be underestimated. In such a short time he’s made such a big name for himself. We should…”

“Danzo, why did you come in without knocking?” Hiruzen Sarutobi interrupted before Shimura Danzo could finish.

The increasingly fierce war was already giving Hiruzen Sarutobi a headache, so he decided to knock Danzo down a peg and make him behave.

“Hiruzen, that’s not important. Didn’t you read the report I gave you…” Shimura Danzo tried to continue, but was cut off again by Hiruzen Sarutobi.

“Use my title during work hours,” Hiruzen Sarutobi said sternly.

Shimura Danzo’s face darkened, and he reluctantly called him “Third Hokage.”

He didn’t want to, but Hiruzen Sarutobi was acting too domineering. If he didn’t comply, there really might be no way to continue the conversation.

“You’re the Hokage’s Assistant—don’t be so hasty about things.” Hiruzen Sarutobi took his pipe out, exhaled a puff of smoke, and said calmly.

“Hiruzen, I’m doing this for the village,” Shimura Danzo emphasized.

“See? There you go again, getting impatient.” Hiruzen Sarutobi tapped two fingers on the desk.

“Third Hokage, how can I not be impatient when it concerns the village’s future?” Shimura Danzo said with a dark face.

“The village’s future? That’s an overstatement. Even if Sōsuke can defeat Hanzō, his Ninja Sect is just a ninja organization of less than a hundred people.” Hiruzen Sarutobi did not agree with Shimura Danzo’s words.

Hiruzen Sarutobi acknowledged Sōsuke as a top-tier shinobi in the world, but he did not think Sōsuke could cause trouble for Leaf.

A strong individual was just that—an individual. It was hard for one person to influence a war. From Hiruzen Sarutobi’s experience, Hanzō would actually be more troublesome than Sōsuke in a war, because Hanzō’s poison mist was very hard to counter.

Shimura Danzo started to speak, then stopped. There was certain information he couldn’t reveal, or it would expose Root’s unauthorized actions.

“Compared to the Land of Rain, you should focus more of your energy on the Mist Village. Front-line ninja report that Mist has increased its forces to intensify the invasion of the eastern bank. This kind of encroachment on our territory cannot be tolerated!” Hiruzen Sarutobi’s expression turned serious.

The Land of Fire’s Daimyo gave Leaf so much money every year—not for nothing. Now was the time to act.

Shimura Danzo nodded on the surface, but inside he relaxed a little. With this happening, Hiruzen Sarutobi would have even less time to investigate Root. He didn’t have to worry about his actions being discovered, and could even use the opportunity to develop Root further.

…

“This Hanzō guy seems to have some skill after all. I feel like after Sōsuke beat him, his reputation shot up a ton. A lot of people are talking about it,” Obito said. It seemed Hanzō was really a good opponent for making a name.

This time, the degree of discussion about the Ninja Master Sōsuke was completely different from before. Even some Leaf villagers were discussing it.

“What, are you thinking of challenging Hanzō yourself?” Kakashi looked at Obito.

He thought that with Obito’s way of thinking, he really might have that idea.

“Of course not. I think that if Teacher Muyue went, he’d definitely become famous across the ninja world.” Obito waved his hand.

He did have the idea of challenging Hanzō, but not now—only after he felt his strength was sufficient.

“Do you think Teacher Muyue likes to show off as much as you do?” Kakashi felt that Obito didn’t need to put himself in Muyue’s shoes.

If Muyue wanted to be famous, he could have been famous long ago. Simply stopping the new Cloud AB Combo by himself was enough to make Muyue’s name known across the ninja world.

Why was Kakashi so certain? Because Minato Namikaze became famous precisely because of that feat.

But Muyue was too low-key; he never publicized his achievements.

“It’s not about showing off. I just feel that the title ‘Ninja Master’ suits Teacher Muyue better.” As he spoke, Obito looked over at Muyue beside him.

“Teacher Muyue, I really think this title fits you. All the students you’ve taught say good things about you. Only someone who is both strong and good at teaching can be called a Ninja Master.”

"But it's not good to steal someone else's title. How about your title be 'Great Ninja Master', Muyue-sensei? It sounds more imposing." Obito thought of a good idea.

Slap!

Muyue's finger precisely tapped Obito on the head. "Stop thinking about such messy things. The Great Fire Annihilation we trained together—Shisui uses it much more skillfully than you."

Obito chuckled sheepishly and didn't mind.

Something that doesn't exist won't be hurt. In terms of learning, aside from being ahead of Shisui in Flame Breathing, Obito lagged behind Shisui in all other ninjutsu progress. So he never compared ninjutsu progress with Shisui, only actual combat strength.

"Let me demonstrate once more for you. Watch carefully." Muyue called Shisui and walked to an open area to demonstrate.

Muyue gathered a large amount of chakra in her throat, quickly converted it into fire-nature chakra, and then instantly spat out a vast expanse of flames sufficient to form a sea of fire.

After a simple demonstration, Muyue began to explain the techniques involved, and then slowly demonstrated in detail while explaining.

Both Obito and Shisui looked thoughtful, and after a break, they quickly began to practice.

Not only Obito and Shisui, Muyue evenly guided all the disciples training in the southern border forest.

The disciples had accumulated two months of experience, and with the guidance empowered by Muyue's teaching, each of them felt that today's condition was exceptionally good and their training was very fruitful.

At this moment, Muyue was the main body rushing back from the Rain Country, not a shadow clone.

The Enlightenment skill could be remotely enhanced via the panel, but teaching could not—only Muyue herself could be effective.

This was an awkward situation, forcing Muyue to run back and forth between Konoha and the Rain Country.

Fortunately, the improvement of the Yang Seal had to some extent solved the shadow clone chakra problem, allowing shadow clones to last longer; otherwise, it would be more troublesome, because in Konoha he had to teach disciples and handle ninja academy affairs, while on the Ninshu side, he was still the leader, needing to hold classes and plan the Ninshu's development path.

To solve the problem of student classes, Muyue had an idea: develop a projection ninjutsu that could see each other from thousands of miles away, allowing disciples to attend his online classes.

Since it would still be the main body teaching, theoretically the teaching skill would trigger normally.

"Shisui, the Chunin Exam is about to start. Do you want to participate?" After training, Muyue looked at Shisui and asked.

This Chunin Exam was different from Obito's; it was only held within Konoha Village, not jointly with other ninja villages.

Actually, holding it alone was now the norm; joint hosting was rare.

After all, joint hosting was meant to flaunt military strength and attract missions. Konoha's current situation was not suitable for a large-scale Chunin Exam.

"I do. I'll trouble you." Shisui thought for a moment and replied.

Raising his ninja rank was beneficial and not harmful to him. A higher ninja rank also gave him a bit more weight within the Uchiha clan.