Chapter 446: Battlefield Stalemate

Hiruko was just an ordinary Konoha jonin, holding no important position and lacking the fame of Orochimaru and the others, so his defection did not cause much trouble for Konoha.

Since it was during a war, Konoha couldn't even be bothered to dispatch a jonin team to pursue him; they merely sent someone for a symbolic check, and when nothing turned up, they let it go.

In the grand scale of Konoha, Hiruko's defection was like a giant tree losing a small branch, insignificant to the overall situation.

But even a small branch on a giant tree has leaves connected to it, and for Hiruko's friends, this was no trivial matter.

Orochimaru didn't have many friends, not because he couldn't make them, but because most people weren't qualified to be his friends.

Hiruko happened to be one of Orochimaru's few friends.

They were classmates in the same year and had been friends since their academy days.

Although Orochimaru and the others later became the legendary Sannin while Hiruko remained only an ordinary jonin, the three of them never cared about that and maintained their previous relationship with Hiruko.

However, judging from the data retrieved from Hiruko's lab, even though they didn't mind his strength, Hiruko himself was very concerned about it.

"Too reckless." Orochimaru put down the documents in his hand and shook his head slightly.

He had Danzo's help to cover up his human experiments, but Hiruko dared to do it alone—exposure was only a matter of time.

Although Konoha is called a "village," it's not a real countryside hamlet; its essence is a military base.

Orochimaru showed a trace of regret. Hiruko seemed to have decent research skills; if he had also joined the collaboration with Danzo, he wouldn't have ended up in this predicament.

But since Hiruko had already defected, Orochimaru wouldn't waste time on pointless nostalgia—he had many things to do now.

Orochimaru used this former friend's last remaining value to test Muyue's attitude toward human experiments.

While they were inspecting the work of various units in the camp as unit commanders, Orochimaru suddenly said, "Muyue-kun, did you know that a Konoha jonin recently defected?"

"I'm not really sure. Who is it?" Muyue shook his head in reply.

He hadn't received any relevant news, but Muyue thought it was probably just an ordinary jonin who hadn't done anything too damaging to Konoha's interests, or else it would have already spread.

Orochimaru wasn't surprised by Muyue's answer. Although Hiruko wasn't an important figure, defection isn't exactly good news, so Konoha wouldn't publicize it widely.

Orochimaru got the information partly because Hiruzen Sarutobi knew about Orochimaru's relationship with Hiruko, and partly because Danzo's side thought Hiruko's research might be useful to Orochimaru, so they gave Orochimaru the full details and the data Hiruko left behind.

"Hiruko," Orochimaru replied.

"It's actually Hiruko-senpai? I never would have guessed." Muyue put on a surprised expression.

"Muyue-kun knows him?" Orochimaru was somewhat surprised.

"Not very well. We just served as examiners together during the chunin exams. Hiruko-senpai seemed very quiet, like a law-abiding person. I never expected he would defect," Muyue explained.

At this point, Muyue roughly guessed part of Orochimaru's purpose.

Having seen the script, he knew why Hiruko defected—the same reason as Orochimaru later: conducting human experiments. However, Orochimaru was even more extreme than Hiruko, illegally researching Hashirama's cells and so on.

"Actually, he was my friend. We were ninjas from the same year. I never expected him to secretly capture innocent people from nearby villages for human experiments." Orochimaru sighed slightly, as if grieving over the loss of a friend, while watching Muyue's expression out of the corner of his eye.

He wanted to know Muyue's true attitude toward human experiments, which was very important to Orochimaru.

If Muyue was very interested in human experiments, then Orochimaru could fully pull Muyue onto his war machine and bind him tightly, forming a mutually beneficial relationship like his with Danzo.

If Muyue was uninterested but not opposed, then Orochimaru could safely reveal some secrets to Muyue, making him a trusted subordinate.

If Muyue was strongly opposed to human experiments, then Orochimaru would have to be careful when using Muyue and make sure he didn't find out about Orochimaru's secret research on Hashirama's cells.

"That's too extreme and excessive, capturing innocent people for human experiments," Muyue said bluntly.

Muyue didn't hate all human experiments, because some research indeed required them, but when it involved innocent people, Muyue could only say they deserved to die.

Orochimaru savored Muyue's words for a moment, then said, "Hiruko was indeed a bit extreme. For some jutsu, human experiments are a necessary process. The village has also organized human experiments before, but the subjects were usually death row inmates and volunteers. Capturing innocent villagers is really inappropriate."

Muyue nodded with an expression of agreement.

Seeing this, Orochimaru had a general idea of Muyue's view on human experiments: not completely opposed, but must not harm the innocent.

"Muyue-kun has still experienced too little. I hope the coming war will help him understand the fragility of life," Orochimaru thought, believing Muyue had room for growth.

After all, people always change; the Orochimaru of today is very different from the Orochimaru of ten years ago.

"Recently, your disciple, that Uchiha Shisui, has been very active on the battlefield, even putting some jonin to shame," Orochimaru shifted the topic to Muyue's disciple.

Muyue was a smart person, so probing him had to be limited; talking too much would lead Muyue to form unnecessary suspicions.

"Shisui works too hard." Muyue said with a smile of praise.

…………

"Our team's reputation is growing. Last time the enemy recognized us before we even fought. If this continues, we might become ninja with titles." Uesugi Toru said excitedly.

"You're dreaming in broad daylight. The famous one is Shisui, what does that have to do with you?" Kobayashi Kenji couldn't help but retort.

As an eight-year-old chunin, Shisui had killed several Kiri jonin, and was already the most renowned Konoha genius on the Mist battlefield.

Originally, Might Guy was the undisputed strongest genius, but Guy and the others returned to Konoha to recover, so leaving that aside for now.

"Shisui is part of our team too, so it's all the same." Uesugi Toru put his hand on Shisui's shoulder and laughed like a good buddy.

"Right, Shisui?"

Shisui nodded. Although he wouldn't stay in this team forever, he was undoubtedly one of its members now.

"Quiet down now, we're approaching the mission site. Even with Shisui here, don't underestimate an A-rank war mission." Takagi Shinji warned.

Once the supervising jonin spoke, Uesugi Toru and the others immediately fell silent. Having spent a considerable time on the battlefield, they understood the cruelty and danger of war.

It wasn't just Kiri that suffered losses; Konoha also had casualties, but fewer than Kiri.

Shisui silently activated his Sharingan and began to survey the surroundings.

No one in their team had a sensory ability, so the most effective means of observation was Shisui's three-tomoe Sharingan.

As they drew closer, Shisui noticed the hidden enemies.

Upon detecting the enemy, Shisui did not make any large movements. With a calm expression, he quietly made several hand signs.

Upon seeing Shisui's hand signs, Uesugi Toru and the others instantly became alert—this was the signal for enemies.

Swoosh swoosh swoosh!!

When they got within a certain distance, Shisui and the four others instantly threw shuriken in multiple directions.

Some of the Kiri shinobi, caught off guard, were cut by the shuriken.

The injured Kiri shinobi immediately dodged to create distance.

Just as Uesugi Toru was about to pursue, several streams of water shot out from a slightly farther location.

Whoosh!

Quick-eyed and fast-handed, Shisui used the Body Flicker Technique to take Uesugi Toru and evade the Water Style attack.

"We've caught a big fish—Uchiha Shisui, who awakened his three-tomoe Sharingan at age eight." Eight Kiri shinobi who had been hiding in the village came out.

"At eight years old, you have the strength to kill a jonin—truly an unreasonable genius. But your ninja career ends here." One of the Kiri jonin, with bandages wrapped around his face, said coldly while holding a longsword.

The information here had been deliberately leaked, with the aim of attracting weaker Konoha teams to kill.

Although bad luck could still bring a powerful Konoha team, there was no absolute safety on the battlefield. If they encountered a strong one like Muyue, they would just have to accept their misfortune.

"Three fairly strong chakras..." Shisui's Sharingan quickly swept over all the Kiri shinobi, and then he frowned slightly.

If his judgment was correct, there should be three jonin and nine chunin and genin on the field.

Shisui was confident he could handle two Kiri jonin. The jonin they encountered this time were not as strong as the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, just ordinary jonin.

But the rest of the team might not be able to handle one jonin and nine chunin and genin.

"It's a trap! Fall back!" Takagi Shinji's expression turned grim.

Without the Sharingan, he couldn't discern the strength of the Kiri shinobi, but such numbers clearly shouldn't correspond to an A-rank mission—unless most of the twelve Kiri were genin and there wasn't a single jonin.

But there was only one possibility for such a composition of a ninja team—the commander was brain-dead, and Takagi Shinji didn't think Yagura was brain-dead.

"Hidden Mist Technique!"

The three Kiri jonin jointly performed the Hidden Mist Technique, and an extremely thick white mist quickly enveloped the area. Takagi Shinji and the others couldn't even tell direction, let alone retreat.

Since the mist was created with chakra, even Shisui's Sharingan could not see through the enemies hidden within it.

"Everyone, don't panic. Watch your surroundings and face the enemy calmly." Shisui said quickly.

Although the enemy outnumbered and outmatched them, as long as a ninja hadn't reached Muyue's level of power, there was no absolute strength or weakness. A tokubetsu jonin might not necessarily lose to a jonin, and a chunin also had a chance to kill a jonin.

If you panic, it's different. When two meet on a narrow path, the brave one wins. The one who panics first has already fallen into a disadvantage.

"Shisui is right, don't panic." Takagi Shinji said, seeing that retreat was not possible for the time being.

With the double reassurance from the instructor and the strong ally, and since Uesugi Toru and the others were experienced Chunin, they quickly calmed down and observed their surroundings, ready to fight.

"Heart, head, thigh, arm—guess which part will be attacked first."

Kirigakure's cruel sneer pierced through the thick fog and reached Shisui and the others' ears.

This was not just pre-battle boasting; it was a psychological warfare essential to Kirigakure's killing in the mist.

Vision is very important to humans. Many things are terrifying because they are unknown; once you can see and touch them, they are not so terrifying. On the contrary, sudden loss of vision easily leads to anxiety.

Cruel words can effectively stimulate the already unstable emotions, causing them to panic and reveal openings.

Whoosh!

Two kunai wrapped in flames shot towards the direction of the speaking Kirigakure ninja.

"Eh, they actually found me." The speaking Kirigakure Jonin was somewhat surprised after quickly dodging.

Speaking to intimidate in thick fog also required skill. Logically, someone without special training should not be able to directly pinpoint his location from the sound.

Shisui closed his Sharingan and, with his eyes shut, charged at the Kirigakure Jonin.

To prevent this situation, Muyue had given him special training—abandoning vision in low-visibility thick fog to enhance other senses.

At first, Shisui was very uncomfortable because the Sharingan provided such strong insight, but after getting used to it, he could basically exert his full strength in the fog, though using genjutsu was a bit inconvenient.

At first, the Kirigakure Jonin thought it was a coincidence, but Shisui's subsequent close-range attacks made him realize that the most dazzling genius on the battlefield before him was not just a name.

"This time, your teammates are not Might Guy and Kakashi." The Kirigakure Jonin, now at a disadvantage, was not panicked.

It was true that he couldn't beat Shisui, even in the fog, but once his teammates killed Shisui's teammates, could Shisui really take on all twelve of them alone?

Swish!

The sound of a blade cutting through clothes and piercing flesh rang out, and then Shisui heard Kobayashi Kenji's sharp intake of breath.

"Flame Breathing, Full Concentration!"

Shisui could only maximize his breathing to temporarily push back the Kirigakure Jonin in front of him and then flash over to rescue Kobayashi Kenji.

Although he was stronger than the Kirigakure Jonin, killing a Kirigakure Jonin was not that simple. By the time he killed the enemy, Kobayashi Kenji's corpse would be cold.

If it were Obito or Kakashi, they might be able to burst out and instantly kill a Kirigakure Jonin, but Shisui really couldn't, because his burst ability was the worst among Muyue's disciples, except for Nohara Rin.

Obito had the Flame Breathing Chakra Mode, Kakashi had the Transparent World, and Might Guy had the Eight Gates. They all had super powerful burst skills that Shisui hadn't mastered.

Shisui successfully rescued Kobayashi Kenji with his precise perception and ghost-like Body Flicker Technique, but upon sensing the state of his other teammates, a feeling of helplessness surged in his heart.

He could fight two Kirigakure Jonin, but the Kirigakure ninjas who knew his combat power weren't that stupid. Wouldn't it be better to kill all the other teammates first and then gang up on him? Why focus on the genius first?