Chapter 423: The Seven Ninja Swordsmen

Although he was on the battlefield, Muyue's life actually became a bit more relaxed.

Because here he didn't have to balance the ninja academy and his disciples, and Orochimaru hadn't assigned him any combat missions for the time being either.

It wasn't just Muyue; aside from Orochimaru himself, many of the jonin who had recently been transferred over likewise had not been assigned combat missions.

Without a doubt, Orochimaru wanted to hit Kirigakure hard—catch them off guard.

To make the deception more plausible, Orochimaru only restricted most of the jonin, without restricting a small number of jonin and all chunin and genin.

After all, Kirigakure had already pushed into the Land of Fire's heartland; it would be unreasonable for Konoha not to send reinforcements.

Orochimaru created an illusion for Kirigakure: Konoha wanted to strengthen its forces on the Kirigakure battlefield, but due to other fronts the troops it could divert were limited.

To provoke Kirigakure's desire for a large-scale offensive, Orochimaru even deliberately exposed the location of his camp step by step to lure them in.

It had to be said, Orochimaru's plan was excellent. In the eyes of many Kirigakure ninja, the Konoha ninja forces they were fighting were merely paper tigers that looked strong.

That's right—paper tigers.

Although on the surface it was still the strongest ninja village, winning battle after battle on multiple fronts, in actual combat it was already showing signs of decline: plenty of ninja were out in action, but their quality was low.

If Konoha truly still had the strength to counter Kirigakure, would it need to specially transfer Orochimaru from another battlefield? Would it dispatch large numbers of chunin and genin to carry out missions on the front lines?

"Lord Yagura, intelligence operatives have discovered information about a new Konoha ninja camp. I believe this is a good opportunity to eliminate Konoha's effective strength," Mizutsuki Kan said during the Kirigakure war council.

Although Yagura looked young, he was a seasoned, long-serving Kirigakure ninja. Even Mizutsuki Kan, one of the main forces of Kirigakure, had to speak to him with respect.

"We found information about a new camp so quickly. Can its accuracy be confirmed? This might be a Konoha ninja trap," Yagura asked blandly, his expression unchanged.

He only looked like a youth; he had long passed the age of recklessness. A reliable adult would not take risks lightly.

"I don't think so. Based on our intelligence gathered over these past days, although Konoha has sent reinforcements, their overall strength is still inferior to ours, Kirigakure. They wouldn't want a large-scale head-on collision with us," Mizutsuki Kan stated his conjecture.

Yagura adopted a thoughtful expression. Of course he knew the same intelligence as Mizutsuki Kan. Recently, it was indeed clearly noticeable that Konoha ninja were increasing in number, but they were mostly chunin and genin; there were jonin, but very few.

According to common sense, this was a sign of a ninja village's insufficient strength.

But the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki of Konoha had yet to appear on any battlefield, and Yagura was very worried about that one point.

If the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki had secretly come to the eastern shore, then Kirigakure's forces here would no longer necessarily hold the advantage.

The destructive power of a jinchuriki was too terrifying. Not to mention ninja below jonin rank, even ordinary jonin were nearly useless in a battle against a jinchuriki.

Yagura had confidence that he could handle Orochimaru, but he did not believe Mizutsuki Kan or Hozuki Zangetsu could handle the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, especially when the opponent also had the current Ino-Shika-Cho.

"I don't care what you think; I need facts," Yagura said, shaking his head.

"If the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is in the Konoha camp, how should we deal with it?" Yagura looked calmly at the assembled Kirigakure ninja.

"We are the only ninja village to have invaded the Land of Fire's heartland. There's no surprise in whatever methods Konoha uses against us."

Mizutsuki Kan was momentarily speechless. Even as the current clan head of the Yuki Clan, he had no confidence to claim he could handle a jinchuriki.

Tailed beasts were the ultimate weapons of the Five Great Nations, and the Nine-Tails was the most outstanding among them.

The other Kirigakure ninja exchanged glances and remained silent.

"I understand you want to make a name for yourself, but we don't need to rush. Right now, it's Konoha that should be in a hurry," Yagura broke the silence.

He did not blame Mizutsuki Kan; after all, not every ninja was good at thinking—some were only suited as combat assets.

Kirigakure really didn't need to rush, because unlike Konoha, Kirigakure was not fighting three great ninja villages. Kirigakure was only at war with Konoha.

Currently, the only ninja village in the world that shared Konoha's situation was Kumogakure. Kumogakure was also at war with three great ninja villages: Konoha, Sunagakure, and Iwagakure.

However, unlike Konoha, Kumogakure mostly initiated wars and stirred up trouble, whereas Konoha was forced to accept them.

"Are we just going to do nothing?" Mizutsuki Kan was a little unwilling.

This time they had been lucky to obtain intelligence. If Konoha discovered the problem and relocated elsewhere, it wouldn't be so easy to find them.

"You're too extreme. War isn't just about all-out conflict or ceasefire. We can start with probing actions," Yagura said, crossing his arms.

In Yagura's view, Mizutsuki Kan was too binary. He had only suggested directly sending a large force of ninja to encircle and attack—how did that become "doing nothing"?

After making arrangements for probing actions, Yagura dismissed the meeting and sent his trusted subordinates to summon the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist.

Originally, the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist were directly under the Mizukage; in theory, only the Mizukage could give them orders.

However, special measures were taken during wartime, and the Third Mizukage specifically granted Yagura Karatachi the authority to command the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist.

"Go destroy the logistical support of the Konoha ninja. Most of the Konoha ninja active recently are chūnin and genin, so it should be easy for you." Yagura Karatachi marked a position on the map and showed it to the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist.

Kirigakure is famous in the ninja world for its assassination skills, and as assassins, they also possess considerable intelligence capabilities, not losing to Konoha ninja in this aspect.

Yagura Karatachi's goal was simple: to efficiently massacre the lower and mid-level forces of Konoha, thereby testing whether Konoha truly lacked sufficient strength or was merely pretending to be a paper tiger.

He had wanted to do this for a long time, but previously the Konoha ninja had been very cautious and had not sent so many squads out to operate simultaneously.

"Tch, chūnin and genin, huh? A mission to bully the weak." Juzo Biwa, carrying the Executioner's Blade, showed a disdainful smile.

Juzo Biwa could easily kill ten chūnin or genin by himself, yet Yagura Karatachi wanted all seven of them to hunt such ninja squads. Juzo Biwa couldn't think of a better description than bullying the weak.

"It is indeed bullying the weak, but a mission is a mission and must be carried out, right?" Raiga Kurosuki looked at Juzo Biwa and said calmly.

Fuguki Suikazan, Kushimaru Kuriarare, and the other members of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist all looked at Juzo Biwa. They were not companions who moved together. If Juzo Biwa really refused to execute the mission for such a reason, they would be the first to step forward and cleanse their organization.

"Tch, do you even need to say that?" Juzo Biwa replied with a mocking expression.

Although he was somewhat reluctant, he had no intention of refusing to complete the mission, because he was a Kirigakure ninja. For Kirigakure ninja, the highest priority is the mission; everything else comes second.

………

"Oh, Guy, you guys came too? Why don't I see Teacher Chen?" Obito, who happened to encounter Might Guy's squad, asked in surprise.

"Teacher Chen has some business and will be a little late," Might Guy replied honestly.

"What a coincidence. So now we are both squads without a supervising teacher," Obito said, scratching his head when he thought of their current situation.

Muyue was on the same battlefield as them, but because he had an important mission, he could not lead them to complete their missions.

"Did Lord Minato not come to this battlefield with you?" Ebisu asked curiously.

He felt that Minato Namikaze was not the kind of irresponsible person who would leave his disciples alone on the battlefield, and none of Obito's team had become jōnin yet.

"Minato-sensei is on another battlefield. The one who brought us here was Muyue-sensei, but he has other very important tasks and can't take us on missions for now," Obito explained.

"I see! This is the bond between us!" Might Guy made an expression of sudden realization, then looked at Kakashi with excitement.

Kakashi:...

He hadn't even said anything; how did this become a bond with him?

"Since your supervising teacher is not around, you need to be more careful when carrying out missions," Kakashi thought of something and reminded them.

Because there was no leading jōnin, even though Ebisu and Shiranui Genma had been promoted to chūnin, Might Guy's squad could not accept B-rank or higher missions. However, the battlefield situation changes in an instant, and even B-rank missions can easily have accidents, so they need to stay vigilant at all times.

The main problem was that Might Guy's squad was not strong enough. Ebisu and Shiranui Genma were excellent among their peers, but on the battlefield, it wasn't a fight between peers. In war, no one cares how old you are.

To put it bluntly, Might Guy would actually be safer carrying out missions alone.

If Might Guy encountered three jōnin alone, Kakashi thought that Might Guy could safely escape by going all out. But adding Ebisu and Shiranui Genma would be uncertain.

Because Might Guy could not bring himself to abandon his comrades, and Ebisu and Shiranui Genma could not escape from jōnin, Might Guy would have no choice but to fight head-on.

"As expected of my best friend! Teacher Chen also reminded us about this," Might Guy gave Kakashi a thumbs up.

At this moment, a sudden idea flashed through Obito's mind. Since neither squad had a supervising teacher and couldn't take high-level missions, if they formed a new squad together, maybe they could take A-rank missions.

"How about you guys join us, Guy? That way we'd be a team of seven chūnin, which should qualify us for A-rank missions, right?" Obito said his idea.

Obito was truly frustrated. Before coming to the battlefield, he planned to perform well and surpass Kakashi. But Kakashi, with his outstanding speed, always took down enemies first and dealt the most damage.

After several missions, Obito had only fought a little with Shadow Clones against the Kirigakure ninja in the first mission; in the remaining missions, he barely did anything.

Because the ninja they encountered were too weak. At least in the first mission they ran into a jōnin; after that, it was all chūnin and genin.

Obito knew this wasn't bad luck, but the nature of the missions. It was normal not to encounter jōnin in B-rank missions; encountering one was an unexpected situation.

So Obito wanted to take higher-level missions, where he would encounter stronger enemies and have more chances to shine.

Of course, Obito wasn't stupid; he wouldn't clamor to take S-rank missions, which would be pure suicide on the battlefield.

"We can't just casually join another squad like that," Shiranui Genma said uncertainly.

"You should be more certain in your tone. Of course not," Ebisu shook his head and said.

This was the battlefield. How could they allow ninja to freely merge and form teams? That would be complete chaos.

"In theory, no, but I can go ask Teacher Muyue about it," Kakashi said after thinking it over.

Kakashi felt that merging with Might Guy's team would be good, benefiting both sides.

Kakashi's team would gain Might Guy as a powerful combatant, while Ebisu and Shiranui Genma would be safer as well.

With the strength of their seven ninjas, carrying out an A-rank mission was well within their capability. In fact, when carrying out A-rank missions in Konoha, Kakashi and the others usually didn't need Muyue or Minato to step in unless something unexpected happened.

"Teaming up with my rival? I think it's fine," Might Guy said, also wanting to fight alongside Kakashi.

They discussed it for a while and finally went to ask Muyue.

"Wanting to take on greater responsibility is a good thing. I'll mention it to Lord Orochimaru," Muyue encouraged his disciples and said he would help them settle it.

This was also a good thing for Muyue; it would make things easier for him, so he wouldn't have to split his attention protecting disciples in two different places.

If everyone was on the same battlefield, Muyue would have to treat them all equally and look after all his disciples.

Although Madara Uchiha probably wouldn't go after Might Guy, Might Guy's tragedy in the original story happened because of Hozuki—he had to guard against that.

Not stinting on help for his future achievements, Orochimaru directly agreed, allowing Might Guy's team to merge with Kakashi's team to form a brand-new team and raising their mission authorization.

"Since we don't have a supervising teacher, we need a vice-captain. Originally, I was the vice-captain of our team, but since a new team has joined, for fairness let's vote again," Kakashi proactively proposed re-electing the vice-captain.

If it were just Might Guy joining alone, that wouldn't be necessary, but now the entire Might Guy team was joining, so re-election was very important—only a recognized vice-captain would truly be obeyed by everyone.

The final election result was that Kakashi won by a landslide with six votes, becoming vice-captain again. Except for Obito, who voted for Rin Nohara, everyone else voted for Kakashi.

Might Guy gave people a strong sense of security, but Shiranui Genma and Ebisu felt that Kakashi was more suitable for the command position.

Usually, when their team needed to think through something, Ebisu would come up with ideas. Now that there was a better person for it, Ebisu certainly wouldn't take it upon himself—he didn't have the confidence to compare with Kakashi.