Chapter 433: Battle Merit Reward

"I believe this battle should be widely publicized, just like the time Minato Namikaze fought the A-B Combo to a draw." Shimura Danzo was the first to state his opinion.

"It can both give the village's ninja more confidence in the war's future and deter our enemy ninja villages."

Muyue was a Root ninja, and Shimura Danzo believed that Muyue gaining greater fame, a higher status, and more authority in Konoha would be more beneficial to him.

After all, he was the leader of Root whom Muyue respected the most. How could Muyue refuse the arrangements he ordered?

"It's true that it would boost morale, but can that increase in morale really outweigh the value of Hanyu Muyue serving as a surprise trump card?" Utatane Koharu raised a different opinion.

"You must understand, this time he killed four of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, and also killed Mizunoyuki Kan. If he could achieve results like this a few more times, why would Konoha ever worry about winning the war?"

Utatane Koharu believed that Konoha should not only refrain from spreading Muyue's achievements, but also have the lower-ranked ninja keep them secret, letting Muyue operate as a hidden assassin.

"Have you been off the battlefield that long? Achievements like this aren't something you can create just by having strength." Shimura Danzo retorted without any courtesy.

Although he was rebutting someone in both cases, Shimura Danzo's retort to Utatane Koharu was somewhat different from his retorts to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

The main reason Shimura Danzo retorted to Hiruzen Sarutobi was because Hiruzen's suppression of him made him feel resentful.

As for retorting to Utatane Koharu, it was because Shimura Danzo knew this old classmate too well.

Utatane Koharu, like him, was a ninja completely dedicated to Konoha. As long as the starting point was for Konoha's benefit, or the final outcome was favorable to Konoha, Utatane Koharu wouldn't mind the details.

His more intense rhetoric actually made it easier for Utatane Koharu to understand his sincere devotion to Konoha.

Thinking it over in her mind, Utatane Koharu did not refute Shimura Danzo's words. She really had been off the battlefield for quite some time.

After all, once Hiruzen Sarutobi became Hokage, she was promoted to Konoha's high command. A powerful ninja village like Konoha rarely needed its high command to take the field.

Seeing Utatane Koharu's reaction, Shimura Danzo nodded inwardly. Getting Utatane Koharu on board was equivalent to getting Homura Mitokado on board. The two usually moved together.

Actually, Shimura Danzo didn't think much of either of them. Although everyone could be considered disciples of the Second Hokage, in Shimura Danzo's eyes, only Hiruzen Sarutobi was on the same level as him.

The facts also proved his point. After becoming Konoha's high command, Homura Mitokado and Utatane Koharu rarely had their own opinions.

If it were just a lack of independent opinions, that would be one thing, but they were also Hiruzen Sarutobi's yes-men. That really irked Shimura Danzo.

Because it meant that during high-level meetings, he was isolated and alone.

However, Shimura Danzo knew this wasn't because he lacked capability, but simply because Hiruzen Sarutobi was the Third Hokage, while he was merely the Hokage's Assistant.

If their positions were reversed, then Utatane Koharu and Homura Mitokado would be his yes-men.

Shimura Danzo looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had remained silent.

Given the personalities of Utatane Koharu and Homura Mitokado, even if they had tacitly agreed for now, if Hiruzen Sarutobi voiced a logical opposing reason, they would immediately support him. So Hiruzen Sarutobi's opinion was very important.

After feeling Shimura Danzo's gaze, Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't speak immediately. Instead, he picked up his pipe, took a deep puff, and exhaled wisps of white smoke.

The issue of whether to publicize the battle results wasn't worth Hiruzen Sarutobi pondering for long. He was thinking about other things, one of which was the current strength of the reputations of Konoha's several Hokage candidates.

Currently, the weakest reputation belonged to Tsunade, who had not gone to the front lines. Meanwhile, Orochimaru and Jiraiya were currently evenly matched.

Jiraiya's acclaim surpassed all other candidates when he won a great victory on the Grass Country battlefield, but Orochimaru gradually caught up to Jiraiya as he earned merits on the Hot Water Country battlefield.

Even though Hiruzen Sarutobi, as the current Hokage, had the absolute authority to choose the next Hokage, he could not ignore the public opinion within Konoha.

Because the First Hokage was elected by all of Konoha's ninja. If he, Hiruzen Sarutobi, chose someone everyone disapproved of to become Hokage, it might damage the sanctity of the title.

Of course, Hiruzen Sarutobi was not someone who didn't understand priorities. If he believed that a highly acclaimed candidate was unsuitable to become Hokage, even at the cost of damaging the Hokage's sanctity, he would still appoint the person he felt was suited for the role.

"Jiraiya, why are you so reluctant to become Hokage?" Thinking of this, Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed inwardly.

If Jiraiya were willing to become Hokage, he wouldn't have to think so much. He had already paved the way for Jiraiya, but Jiraiya refused to walk it.

From Hiruzen Sarutobi's perspective, it was very difficult to understand Jiraiya's choice.

This was the position of Hokage of Konoha, wielding supreme authority.

Although the Hokage was nominally one rank below the Land of Fire's Daimyo, in reality, they were on equal footing. The Daimyo could not order the Hokage to do anything he didn't want to do.

Then Hiruzen Sarutobi thought of Muyue. If Muyue had been born five or six years earlier, Hiruzen Sarutobi would have unhesitatingly taken him as a student and groomed him toward becoming Hokage.

Muyue was the ideal student in Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes. Like himself, he possessed far superior ninjutsu talent, was gentle and modest, had a deep understanding of the Will of Fire, and even had unparalleled teaching abilities. He was practically an enhanced version of his younger self.

Thinking about Muyue's personality, then thinking about the personalities of his three disciples, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt that comparing people truly could drive one to frustration.

After exhaling the white smoke, Hiruzen Sarutobi took the pipe down. "Even if we conceal the information, such achievements are hard to replicate. Moreover, two of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen escaped, and Kirigakure will find out about this soon. In that case, deliberate concealment is meaningless. Mobilize our forces and publicize this victory."

Mu Yue's achievements on the battlefield had already far exceeded Sarutobi Hiruzen's expectations. Previously, when fighting Yagura, the hero of the Hidden Sand, he had asked Mu Yue to keep it a secret out of consideration for the Hidden Sand's reputation. This time, Sarutobi Hiruzen did not intend to make Mu Yue suffer anymore.

The reputation Mu Yue currently has is far from matching his strength.

After Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura also agreed one after another, and Shimura Danzo showed a satisfied smile on his face.

"How should we reward this Might Duy? Promote him to jonin? But it seems he can't use ninjutsu. Making someone who can't use ninjutsu a jonin seems a bit against the rules," Mitokado Homura said, glancing at the documents in his hand.

Konoha's selection for jonin was very strict. In peacetime, a jonin not only had to have sufficient merits for promotion, but also had to undergo various examinations to complete the promotion. Those who failed had to keep studying until they passed to be promoted.

During wartime, it wasn't that strict, but Might Duy's case wasn't just being imbalanced in subjects; he only knew one subject. There was no precedent for this in Konoha, which was why Mitokado Homura said it was against the rules.

"Then make him a tokubetsu jonin. After all, he's only good at taijutsu, and it hasn't been long since he became a chunin. This already counts as a special promotion," Utatane Koharu said, glancing at Might Duy's file.

It was only because the merit this time was truly considerable; otherwise, Utatane Koharu wouldn't have wanted to promote Might Duy at all.

He clearly mastered such a powerful forbidden technique, yet he never used it and long disguised himself as a permanent genin. In her view, this was a ninja without the Will of Fire.

Shimura Danzo kept his mouth shut and said nothing. What Might Duy was promoted to was none of his business.

"Rules are dead. From the very beginning until now, Konoha hasn't been without changes to its rules. Whether it's ninjutsu, taijutsu, or genjutsu, they are all part of a ninja's strength. Might Duy was able to fight two of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen; such strength is enough to become a jonin," Sarutobi Hiruzen offered a contrary opinion.

Sarutobi Hiruzen knew Might Duy and had even briefly fought him once, so he generally knew what kind of person Might Duy was.

He believed that with the character Might Duy had shown, becoming a Konoha jonin was completely fine.

Moreover, Might Duy had indeed rendered great service this time. If not for Might Duy's timely support, then Kakashi and the others wouldn't have been able to repel the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, nor could they have held out until Mu Yue's arrival, and thus there would have been no great victory.

"Hiruzen, you have a point. Sometimes we really can't rigidly follow the rules," Mitokado Homura showed an expression of agreement.

"Then let's promote him to jonin," Utatane Koharu also changed her words.

Shimura Danzo couldn't help a flash of disdain in his eyes. If it had been Sarutobi Hiruzen refuting his opinion, he would have argued with Hiruzen at least a little.

"Since Might Duy is being promoted to jonin, how should we handle Hatake Kakashi and Might Guy?" Mitokado Homura spoke again.

"Among them, except for Hatake Kakashi, most were promoted to chunin only in the last two years. Among them, Shiranui Genma, Ebisu, and Uchiha Shisui were promoted to chunin just this year."

If Kakashi and the others were also promoted to jonin, it would be a bit frightening. Konoha would have several young jonin, and Shisui was only eight years old this year.

Sarutobi Hiruzen showed a thoughtful expression and then said, "Hatake Kakashi, Uchiha Obito, and Might Guy will undergo a jonin assessment after returning to the village. If they pass, they can be promoted to jonin. Nohara Rin will be directly promoted to tokubetsu jonin. The rest will remain unchanged for now."

The reason Ebisu and Shiranui Genma were not on the promotion list was simple. Although they had also worked hard, they basically just coasted along in the battle and didn't have the strength to be promoted to jonin.

A ninja's strength not matching their rank is a very terrible thing. It not only affects the village's reputation but also makes it easier for ninjas to die in missions.

Although Uchiha Shisui had enough strength, his merits were insufficient. He had done too few missions to meet the requirements for jonin.

Treating Nohara Rin differently from Obito and the others was also a matter of strength. Nohara Rin's current strength was not enough to serve as a jonin, but her outstanding medical abilities and merits were enough for a direct promotion to tokubetsu jonin.

Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu both showed expressions of agreement. Sarutobi Hiruzen had considered all aspects.

After the meeting, Mu Yue went to visit his injured disciples.

This time, every disciple was injured, just to varying degrees.

"Mu Yue-sensei!" Obito happily waved when he saw Mu Yue.

Shisui, not as enthusiastic as Obito, also sat up to greet Mu Yue.

Kakashi sat up a little and softly greeted Mu Yue.

Might Guy, due to severe injuries, could only slightly lift his head to find Mu Yue's position and then greeted Mu Yue with a somewhat weak voice.

"Is everyone okay?" Mu Yue showed a warm smile, then walked over to his disciples to check their bodies again.

This time, Mu Yue used the Transformation Technique to turn into Tsunade to examine them. After the examination, he treated the disciples again.

Because of the black-rimmed glasses he was wearing, none of the disciples noticed Mu Yue's transformation. They only felt that their bodies had recovered a bit under Mu Yue's treatment.

"Mu Yue-sensei's medical ninjutsu has improved so much," Kakashi thought with some surprise as he received treatment.

As the disciples' strength grew, injuries during practice fights were inevitable. Most of the time, Mu Yue treated them, while Nohara Rin only assisted. So Kakashi had a good understanding of Mu Yue's medical ninjutsu level.

At some point, Mu Yue's medical ninjutsu advanced by leaps and bounds. According to Mu Yue himself, it was the result of learning from Tsunade.

This time, Mu Yue's improvement was very obvious, even a ninja like Kakashi who didn't understand medical ninjutsu could notice it.

"As expected of Teacher Muyue, the genius who developed Armament Haki and the Breath Technique." Kakashi attributed the progress to Muyue's talent and effort.

He did not deny that Tsunade had contributed, but believed it was mainly because Muyue was skilled enough; otherwise, if Tsunade started a medical ninja training class, wouldn't she be able to produce a bunch of medical ninjas at the level of little Tsunades?

"Teacher Muyue, when will we fully recover?" Obito couldn't help asking.

Although he had shown off when facing the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, it happened to be a joint kill of Fuguki Suikazan with Kakashi. Obito wanted to outdo Kakashi, so he wanted to recover quickly and continue participating in the battle.

"You, Shisui, and Rin will recover in ten days. Kakashi will take three weeks, Might Guy a month and a half." Muyue thought for a moment and replied.

Although Tsunade's medical abilities were strong, in order to avoid leaving hidden health issues in his disciples, Muyue still planned to let them rest a bit longer.

"It's going to take that long!" Might Guy's eyes widened.

"After two weeks of rest, you can start rehabilitation exercises, just don't overdo it." Muyue added.

Might Guy breathed a sigh of relief. If he couldn't train for that long, it would be really painful for him. What would be even more painful would be if Kakashi and the others took the chance to surpass him during this time.

"The fighting on the battlefield will become even more intense. I plan to send you, Might Guy, back to Konoha. Is there anyone among you who wants to go back with Guy?" Muyue looked at the other disciples.

After all, Mist had already invaded the Land of Fire's homeland. As long as Mist didn't retreat, Orochimaru would absolutely lead his ninja forces to fight tooth and nail with Mist.

Muyue had created such a golden opportunity for Orochimaru, and Orochimaru would absolutely not let this chance slip. In the following days, the intensity of the war on the East Coast Battlefield would keep escalating.