Chapter 421: Joining the War

Muyue had the disciples check their belongings once more, and after confirming nothing was left behind, led them to the eastern battlefield of the Land of Fire.

"Rin, why did you vote for Kakashi?" Obito couldn't help asking Rin on the way.

Compared to Kakashi getting three votes while he got zero, Obito was more bothered that Rin voted for Kakashi instead of him or herself.

Because it gave Obito the feeling that Rin trusted Kakashi more than she trusted him.

"I feel Kakashi is very suited to be vice-captain—he'll be very reliable." Rin thought for a moment and answered with a soft smile.

In other matters, Rin trusted Obito a lot, but when it came to leading a team, Rin still felt Kakashi was more dependable.

This wasn't baseless speculation; it was a conclusion Rin had drawn from their mission experience.

Kakashi could always analyze the most advantageous course of action for them based on the current situation, while Obito might exceed expectations against strong enemies, but only in combat—relying on Obito to formulate tactics was impossible.

However, stating the fact directly might be a bit hurtful, so Rin just said it was her feeling.

Obito's face instantly fell—what could be more painful than the girl you like complimenting another guy right in front of you?

Of course there was: when that complimented guy happened to be your archrival.

"Damn Kakashi!" Obito roared in fury in his heart.

In Obito's mind at that moment, Kakashi's image shifted from a friend with a bad personality to an inherently evil little brat from the Hatake family.

The thought that he had just lost to Kakashi in the recent internal sparring and had to do a bunch of problems made Obito even more miserable.

And then thinking how much harder it would be to catch up since Kakashi had learned the powerful new technique Muyue taught him, Obito instantly felt things were getting worse and worse.

Within a single minute, Obito recalled every unpleasant thing Kakashi had ever done to him.

"It's all Kakashi's fault—this time I'll definitely outshine him on the battlefield." Obito silently vowed, a flame igniting in his gaze as he looked at Kakashi.

Sensing Obito's gaze, Kakashi glanced back, met Obito's eyes for a second, then turned away with a calm expression.

Obito's thought process was too quirky, he was careless in doing things, and he easily got carried away—Kakashi was worried about Obito's safety, which was why he suggested to Muyue that they have a vice-captain.

With the position of vice-captain, even if Obito didn't agree, he would have to obey, since it was personally approved by Muyue—which probably held more weight for Obito than even the Hokage's words.

Seeing Kakashi so unconcerned made Obito even angrier—Kakashi's attitude was basically saying, "I haven't even tried yet and you're already down."

Shisui saw everything on Obito's face and opened his mouth but ultimately chose not to offer any comfort.

Self-awareness is very important; if he simply comforted Obito and gave him the illusion that he too could lead a team, it might cause problems in the future.

They were all senior brothers and sisters who spent every day together, so they knew each other quite well.

On the surface the vote was a multiple-choice question, but in Shisui's eyes there was only one answer: Kakashi.

Setting aside everything else, just in terms of experience, Kakashi outclassed everyone—because he graduated early, he had already been a ninja for five years.

After arriving at the ninja unit's camp, Muyue didn't have time to say much to his disciples before being called to a meeting.

As soon as Muyue walked into the large tent serving as the meeting room, he saw quite a few "familiar faces."

The first he saw was the unit commander, Orochimaru, sitting expressionless at the head of the long table.

Without changing his expression, Muyue appraised Orochimaru.

【Name: Orochimaru】

【Chakra: 】

【Potential: S】

【Skills: Yin Release Nature Transformation (Mastery 4800/), Wind Release Nature Transformation (Mastery 3040/), Fire Release Nature Transformation (Mastery 2008/), Water Release Nature Transformation (Mastery Level), Earth Release Nature Transformation (Mastery Level), Hidden Shadow Snake Hands (Mastery Level)...】

Orochimaru's status panel was somewhat similar to Hiruzen Sarutobi's, also loaded with an overwhelming number of jutsu, everything from S-rank forbidden techniques to D-rank basic jutsu—very complete.

However, unlike Hiruzen Sarutobi, the skills Orochimaru had the highest mastery in were the snake techniques he developed himself, not the five basic nature transformations.

Judging from the panel, the one most likely to inherit Hiruzen Sarutobi's complete skillset should be Orochimaru, given his many master-level nature transformations.

As for why Orochimaru chose not to follow in Hiruzen Sarutobi's footsteps, Muyue thought there were two possibilities.

The first was that Orochimaru felt his own talent in jutsu was inferior to Hiruzen Sarutobi's, and walking the same path would only make him a "little Third Hokage," so he chose to forge his own path.

This conjecture was based on the mastery level of Orochimaru's skills—though he had quite a few master-level nature transformations, their progress was not particularly outstanding.

The second is that Orochimaru's desire for immortality surpasses his desire for strength. Was Hiruzen Sarutobi's path strong? Of course it was—he rarely had opponents unless he encountered a cheating ninja—but combined ninjutsu clearly couldn't achieve longevity, so Orochimaru abandoned combined ninjutsu to study forbidden techniques.

This was Muyue's guess based on summarizing Orochimaru's level from the original work.

"There's still plenty of room for improvement." Muyue thought, recalling the stat panel Orochimaru had appraised at the previous Jonin meeting.

Perhaps because the war forced them to frequently contend with enemies of the same level, although they weren't improving as rapidly as young ninja like Minato Namikaze, strong ninja like Orochimaru and Jiraiya were still making progress.

Muyue shifted his gaze slightly. To Orochimaru's right sat Shikaku Nara, with his pineapple hair, one of the current Ino-Shika-Cho trio.

【Name: Shikaku Nara】

【Chakra: 】

【Skills: Yin Release Nature Transformation (2600/ ), Shadow Imitation Technique (Master Level)...】

On his left was Hyuga Hizashi, the younger brother of the current Hyuga clan head.

【Name: Hyuga Hizashi】

【Chakra: 】

【Skills: Gentle Fist (Master: 2640/ )...】

"Muyue-kun, please have a seat." Orochimaru spoke first, his magnetic voice resounding in the tent.

"Everyone should already know Muyue-kun, so there's no need for me to introduce him specially." Orochimaru looked around and asked.

The jonin in the tent nodded one after another and greeted Muyue.

"Of course we know him. Jonin Muyue is so young and promising—he's an outstanding jonin of our Konoha."

"I once had the honor of hearing about Jonin Muyue's achievements in the Grass Country War..."

Although Muyue's feat of defeating Yegura wasn't widely publicized, he still had a certain reputation in Konoha. After all, he was teaching more and more people, and he had also made some contributions on the battlefield.

Since they were in a meeting, the jonin didn't say much and soon quieted down.

Then Orochimaru looked at Shikaku Nara.

Shikaku Nara nodded and then stood up.

"I will now explain the current battlefield situation. If you have any questions, you can raise them directly." Shikaku Nara said seriously.

Actually, half of the jonin in the meeting room had just been transferred not long ago, including the commander Orochimaru.

Ninja of Orochimaru's level were naturally qualified to receive various detailed intelligence provided by Konoha, while some ordinary jonin didn't get that treatment. Of course, this was also for a certain degree of confidentiality.

Shikaku Nara's job today was to make them understand the battlefield situation and the tasks they needed to complete.

Shikaku Nara first circled the Kirigakure landing points and their main areas of activity on the large map, explaining the approximate number of Kirigakure troops in the Land of Fire and their combat methods.

"Kirigakure ninja squads are generally equipped with at least one ninja skilled in the Hidden Mist Technique. When we are not numerically superior and lack sensory ninjas, we should avoid direct confrontation as much as possible." Shikaku Nara reminded.

He didn't explain the effects of the Hidden Mist Technique; it was the most famous ninjutsu of Kirigakure, and all the jonin present were Konoha jonin—there was no way they didn't know such common knowledge.

Some Konoha jonin frowned slightly. The Hidden Mist Technique was indeed troublesome, directly turning a normal battlefield into one where the enemy was hidden and we were exposed.

Hyuga Hizashi's expression remained unchanged. This was exactly why Hiruzen Sarutobi had dispatched a large number of Hyuga ninja to the Kirigakure battlefield. The Byakugan of the Hyuga clan was the best sensory ninjutsu.

Finally, Shikaku Nara talked about the notable Kirigakure strong ninja on the battlefield.

"Yagura Karatachi, extremely skilled in Water Release. Although he appears young, he is actually an experienced veteran ninja. He is the strongest Kirigakure ninja to appear on the battlefield so far."

"Haku Yuki, a Yuki clan ninja from Kirigakure specializing in Ice Release, a kekkei genkai ice user with formidable strength."

"Zangetsu Hozuki, a Hozuki clan ninja from Kirigakure skilled in Water Release, able to use the Hydrification Technique that renders physical attacks ineffective. He is very strong."

"All members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist require attention. Each of them is an elite among jonin, with strength not to be underestimated. Their combined strength is extremely dangerous. If you encounter them on the battlefield, please be careful." Shikaku Nara said seriously.

In terms of individual strength, no single member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen could compare to the three he had singled out, but the Seven Swordsmen often operated as a group for assassination, while Yagura and the others did not.

The jonin in the tent all memorized the intelligence Shikaku Nara had provided.

Kirigakure was the most low-key of the major hidden villages, rarely participating in wars on the mainland, so other villages had little intelligence on them.

For example, regarding the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, many Konoha jonin had only heard of the name but didn't know their specific abilities and areas of expertise.

Muyue showed a thoughtful expression.

There is ultimately a gap between reality and the manga. Even in Konoha, he had come to know some excellent jonin who didn't appear in the story. It was only reasonable that Kirigakure, which was rarely featured in the plot, would pop out two unfamiliar strong shinobi.

After speaking, Nara Shikaku sat down and nodded at Muyue.

Because of his position, Nara Shikaku had received specific information on Muyue's strength, specially provided by Sarutobi Hiruzen.

After all, he was the strategist; if he didn't even know the strength of his own side's personnel, then he couldn't formulate the most suitable battle plan.

After reading the materials given by Sarutobi Hiruzen, Nara Shikaku was somewhat shocked.

Because Muyue had appeared in the Konoha News once for fighting alongside Jiraiya against a tailed beast on the Grass Country battlefield, Nara Shikaku was not unfamiliar with Muyue.

Yet the information provided by Sarutobi Hiruzen still made Nara Shikaku astonished at Muyue's strength.

Assisting Jiraiya in repelling a jinchuriki was completely different from Muyue single-handedly defeating the Sunagakure hero, Yagara.

Nara Shikaku had not been present at the Grass Country war. According to the Konoha News article, Jiraiya was the main force, Namikaze Minato was the strongest support, and then came Muyue.

Moreover, based on the article's length, Muyue, as the second support, was quite far behind Namikaze Minato.

What did it mean that Muyue single-handedly defeated Yagara? Yagara's reputation in Sunagakure was stronger than Namikaze Minato's reputation in Konoha. The significance represented by these two achievements was far too different.

Nara Shikaku thought that if not for Sarutobi Hiruzen's concern about Sunagakure's feelings, Muyue would have already risen to fame across the ninja world by stepping on Yagara's reputation.

There was no need for Muyue to say it himself—Konoha would actively promote Muyue. After all, he was a ninja of their own village, and spreading the word could attract commissions.

But now the situation was somewhat awkward. Sunagakure was the only major ninja village not at war with Konoha. If Sunagakure became displeased and declared war on Konoha over this matter, it would be like Konoha picking up sesame seeds and losing the watermelon.

Therefore, Konoha now not only couldn't promote Muyue, but also had to be careful that this intelligence was not known by too many people, to prevent widespread dissemination.

In Nara Shikaku's mind, Muyue was the second strongest on the battlefield, with strategic importance second only to the commander, Orochimaru.

However, Nara Shikaku couldn't determine whether Muyue could beat Minazuki Kan or Hōzuki Zangetsu. One couldn't judge a ninja's victory or defeat without an actual fight.

As for Yagura Karatachi, that matchup would be handled by Orochimaru.

Muyue smiled in response. Nara Shikaku was a clever man, and dealing with clever people was less troublesome.

"Muyue-kun, please wait." After the meeting, Orochimaru called out to Muyue alone.

Nara Shikaku had intelligence on Muyue's strength, but Orochimaru had even more detailed intelligence. He even knew that Muyue had previously been a Root ninja.

The source of this intelligence was none other than Orochimaru's partner, the Root leader, Shimura Danzo.

In the information passed on by Shimura Danzo, Muyue was a good assistant that he had argued fiercely and angrily confronted the Third Hokage to secure for Orochimaru, definitely able to help Orochimaru achieve great deeds and earn battle merits.

"Orochimaru-sama, is there another mission you need to assign me?" Muyue turned back and asked calmly.

Before setting out, Muyue had received instructions from Shimura Danzo.

Shimura Danzo had indicated that Orochimaru was also a member of the Root family, and that Muyue and Orochimaru should communicate more, get along, and help each other.

Additionally, Shimura Danzo's mission for Muyue was to help Orochimaru earn battle merits, and he emphasized that this was the most important and highest priority mission for Muyue on the battlefield.

Of course, Muyue would not take Shimura Danzo's words to heart. His strength had already reached a level where he could ignore Shimura Danzo; he was still willing to put on a facade just to avoid trouble.

But with Muyue's strength, being on the battlefield and casually striking a few times was already helping Orochimaru; he didn't need to pay special attention. Therefore, Shimura Danzo's mission was essentially no mission at all.

PS: Another day of visiting everywhere for New Year's greetings. Today's meal could be described as a battle. I feel there were about thirty people. If you don't have some serious eating skills, you really can't manage.