Chapter 495

Since most of Yokogawa Tsutomu's loyal followers were devoured by the Box of Ultimate Bliss, Ryukai quickly took control of Kusagakure with Kusabana and became the temporary leader of Kusagakure.

After becoming the leader, Ryukai immediately explained the incident within the village.

The previous leader, Yokogawa Tsutomu, went down a dark path to conduct forbidden research, and eventually an experiment went wrong, causing him to transform into an inhuman monster that slaughtered many Kusagakure shinobi. Finally, with the help of the righteous Konoha shinobi, they defeated the monstrous Yokogawa Tsutomu and protected Kusagakure.

To thank Konoha for its assistance to Kusagakure, Kusagakure will next sign a friendship treaty with Konoha and become an ally of Konoha.

Now the people of Kusagakure finally knew who the hero was that killed the monster; it turned out to be the renowned Engetsu Muyue of the ninja world.

Thinking that Kusagakure was about to form good relations with a top-tier ninja village like Konoha, the villagers all felt that Kusagakure was rising and thriving.

Of course, there were also a few people who believed that Ryukai had colluded with outsiders to seize power, and that everything was their conspiracy.

In the entire battlefield, there were actually only four who qualified as his opponents: two jinchuriki and two captains of Iwa's Explosion Corps. The rest of the somewhat famous jonin were probably for Kakashi and Obito to match against.

"I don't need to tell you about the two most troublesome and noteworthy people in the Iwa forces. Muyue, you have fought against those two jinchuriki and know their capabilities." After entering the tent, Jiraiya spoke with a serious expression.

Uzumaki Karen showed a hesitant expression. She didn't know much about Konoha, only occasionally hearing adults talk about this clan ally when she was a child.

Because judging by Iwa's current behavior, they clearly wanted to make Konoha suffer, and they certainly wouldn't let an opportunity slip by.

At the same time, Muyue and the others couldn't stay idle either; they were to act as a surprise force to assist the Konoha ninja troops, aiming to defeat the Iwa forces in one go.

However, this did not mean that the current Kusagakure no longer needed to help Konoha fight as their ally.

Plus, the jinchuriki's Tailed Beast Ball was like a carpet-bombing bombardment.

Just as there are various and diverse ninjutsu for the five basic nature transformations, the same kekkei genkai can vary considerably in the hands of different shinobi.

Before every battle plan, Iwa would contact Kusagakure, and Kusagakure would go to the designated location to receive orders.

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow. "Choose one—either 'Toad Sage' or 'Great Teacher'—and call me that, and I'll forgive you."

When alone in an unfamiliar environment, even if that place is described wonderfully by others, she would still feel uneasy.

"I heard you're already a jonin. Let me, your great teacher, check your training on behalf of Minato." Jiraiya showed a warmly menacing smile.

"Oh, hello Toad Uncle," Obito said rudely.

"Just making a joke to lighten the mood." Jiraiya smiled and led Muyue's team into the meeting tent.

They certainly didn't need to negotiate the specific terms; Hiruzen Sarutobi would send a dedicated team for that.

When he saw Obito, Jiraiya couldn't help but say, "Goggle brat, call me 'Great Teacher' and let me hear it."

"Missing it is only natural. Lately, I eat Muyue-sensei's cooking every day and never get tired of it." Obito surprisingly understood Jiraiya's hint and spoke with a reminiscent expression.

No wonder Hiruzen Sarutobi had urgently dispatched Minato Namikaze to the Grass Country battlefield.

Muyue nodded, estimating that Onoki had sent most of the Explosion Corps to the Grass Country battlefield.

"Unless you're going to test our whole squad, otherwise it's a no. Our squad is a unit," Obito still refused.

Although Kusagakure didn't have much information on Iwa, since Kusagakure was Iwa's ally, there was considerable room for maneuvering.

Before leaving Kusagakure, Muyue, as a Konoha shinobi, chatted for a while with Uzumaki Karen.

"If you perform well, I'll allow you to contract with Mount Myoboku."

"Since Kusagakure is now our ally, we could casually let Iwa learn some intel about our outposts, then wait for Kusagakure to relay information to us," Minato Namikaze said after listening.

Muyue had encountered a Magnet Release user from Kumogakure named Toroi long before. Unlike Rasa, who used gold dust, Toroi's Magnet Release was mainly about magnetic control.

Shisui looked surprised; it was his first time seeing Jiraiya.

Hearing the term "Sage Arts," Obito showed an interested expression. Though he didn't know what it was, the word "sage" made it sound powerful.

Uzumaki Karen didn't know if Konoha was a good place to go, or if her Uzumaki identity and special physique would bring her trouble.

"Whether it's Captain Retsuseki or Vice Captain Ganko, they never act alone. They usually bring three or more Iwa Explosion Corps members," Minato Namikaze continued relaying information on Iwa.

"Think about it—the camp's logistics tasks still seem to be missing one person. So it's decided: from now on, the camp's cleaning duties are yours, goggle brat," Jiraiya threatened.

"Muyue, you're finally here. With you and Minato, Konoha's two strongest new generation fighters backing us up, I should be able to take a break soon." Jiraiya patted Muyue's shoulder and laughed.

But those were very distant memories; Uzumaki Karen only remembered that Konoha was very powerful and had many ninja clans, things like that.

Minato Namikaze looked puzzled; he didn't remember saying that.

Mu Yue nodded. If there were no problems on the Kusagakure side, Minato Namikaze's plan would be quite feasible.

Not to say life was very good, but it was stable and secure.

If Obito was beaten until he couldn't move, then naturally he wouldn't be able to cook.

The Three-Tails Jinchuriki of Kirigakure could only achieve full tailed beast transformation by using a secret technique to make the tailed beast go berserk; he was the weakest among the Jinchuriki.

Jinchuriki who could voluntarily enter full tailed beast transformation had extremely strong combat abilities. Even a technique as terrifying as the Tailed Beast Ball was just a slightly more costly ninjutsu to them.

If Kusagakure and Iwagakure were in the same base, then Mu Yue could easily coordinate with Kusagakure from within to eliminate a large number of Iwagakure's effective strength.

While Longfei was handling Kusagakure village affairs, Mu Yue transmitted the current mission intelligence back and simultaneously prepared for the next step.

Obito stared wide-eyed. Was it a bit too much for the famous Sannin to compete with an eleven-year-old boy like him? He was still a child!

"Mount Myōboku is one of the three sacred places. It's different from ordinary summoning animals. If you meet the conditions, you can even train in senjutsu there!" When speaking of Mount Myōboku, Jiraiya's expression became a bit more serious.

"Then I'll trouble you when the time comes." Upon hearing that there were fellow clan ninja in Konoha, Uzumaki Hualing no longer hesitated and agreed to Mu Yue.

For such baseless conspiracy theorists, Longfei generally locked him up for a few days to clear his head.

After discussing some plan details, Mu Yue contacted Kusagakure to make arrangements.

Mu Yue nodded.

Of course, he wouldn't actually let Obito do logistics; he just thought Obito's reaction would be very interesting.

Kusagakure needed to order the Kusagakure ninja to backstab Iwagakure, helping Konoha establish an advantage on the battlefield.

That time Obito left a deep impression on Jiraiya. He was a genuine sage, but Obito refused to acknowledge it and insisted on giving him the nickname "Toad Uncle."

He had to spend most of his chakra on using Armament Haki to withstand one Tailed Beast Ball.

Although he thought Jiraiya was inferior to Mu Yue and the Sage of Six Paths, Jiraiya was still one of the legendary Sannin, obviously not someone he could provoke now; he would be thoroughly beaten in a fight.

"To repay your kindness, Teacher Mu Yue, let me cook dinner for you tonight," Obito volunteered.

"What a coincidence. Minato was just saying this morning how he missed your cooking, Mu Yue, and then you came in the afternoon." After settling down, Jiraiya smiled and said.

Hearing Jiraiya's form of address, Obito was displeased. If Jiraiya said something nice, he might actually call

But if there were fellow clan members, it would be different. Given the current state of the Uzumaki clan, any clansman could be considered family to her.

Even if ganged up on by multiple great ninja villages, the flames of war never reached Konoha; at most, they only penetrated the Land of Fire.

He didn't think Minato Namikaze's plan was all that radical—after all, he used to often work with Orochimaru, and Orochimaru was the truly radical one.

He barely got to eat it a few times a year, yet Obito got to eat it every single day.

Yokogawa Tsutomu formed a ninja unit composed of Kusagakure ninja to help Iwagakure in battle.

He didn't expect the legendary Sannin to have such a... such a peculiar personality.

Multiple Explosion Release ninja bombarding at full power could create overwhelming fire suppression, posing a huge threat to ninja units.

But the current leader of Kusagakure was Ryūhi, so former Iwagakure comrades would become Konoha comrades, and the first strike to backstab Iwagakure would be their pledge of allegiance to Konoha.

While the team members were reviewing the documents, Muyue explained the general situation of Kusagakure Village.

The strength of Iwagakure's Four-Tails and Five-Tails jinchūriki was not comparable to the Three-Tails jinchūriki he had encountered on the eastern front.

For him to acknowledge Jiraiya as a sage was absolutely impossible; in his heart, the only ones worthy of being called sages were Muyue Sage and the Six Paths Sage.

Although he did yearn for it, Minato Namikaze usually wouldn't say it out loud—at most, he'd reminisce in his dreams at night.

An ordinary person living in Konoha, as long as they didn't encounter the incident of Pain showing up to knock on doors carrying rice, could basically live a stable life.

Although in his view, there was no truly safe place in the entire ninja world at present, if forced to compare, Konoha was indeed a relatively safe place to live in the ninja world.

He felt that the situation with Kusagakure couldn't be hidden for long; to maximize the use of Kusagakure, they would have to screw over Iwagakure in one big blow.

"Jiraiya-sensei, how about first explaining the current battlefield situation to Muyue?" Minato Namikaze called out helplessly from the side.

Muyue wasn't completely unable to withstand a Tailed Beast Ball, but the cost was too high—not as good as using the Flying Thunder God.

After reading the intelligence, Muyue distributed the documents among the team members for circulation.

"Besides the captain Retsuseki, the vice-captain of Iwagakure's Explosion Corps, Ganku, has also appeared in recent battles. Compared to Retsuseki, Ganku's Explosion Release is more skilled at long-range bombardment ninjutsu."

Next, Jiraiya looked over Mu Yue's ninja squad members and nodded subconsciously—they were all ninjas of no small strength.

Even Mu Yue, faced with the terrifying power of a Tailed Beast Ball, could only evade using Flying Thunder God; he couldn't confront it head-on.

Mu Yue couldn't help but admire how cautious Stone Village was; even though Iwa was cooperating with Grass Village, Grass didn't know Iwa's base location.

Kakashi remained expressionless—this wasn't the first time Jiraiya had acted inhumanely; last time he even tricked Obito and Minato, who weren't master and student yet, into a royal city PK.

"Also, I have a friend like you, a ninja of the Uzumaki clan. Maybe you'll have something in common." Mu Yue briefly introduced Kushina's existence.

This was the second time Jiraiya had encountered Obito on the battlefield; the first time was when Obito ran into trouble during a C-rank war mission.

Jiraiya's face darkened. He only got a few chances to eat this per year, and he was going to take that away too, huh? Obito clearly had no idea what the Sannin were worth.

"Not a bad idea. If we can take down the two captains of the Blast Corps, Iwa might have to consider peace talks with Konoha." Jiraiya stroked his chin in thought.

"Tch, I already have a summon." Obito wasn't falling for it.

As the leader of the ninja corps, Jiraiya had received news early on that Mu Yue would support the battlefield.

His own teacher and his own disciple quarreling—it really was a bit hard to hold back laughter.

"Although a bit aggressive, it's best to target important bases so that Stone Village gathers most of its forces to attack." Minato Namikaze continued sharing his view.

Compensation and such could be discussed later, but the battle needed immediate help.

There was no way he was going to suffer beatings alone; at the very least, Kakashi had to join him.

"Okay, Toad Uncle." Obito nodded in reply.

Mount Myoboku could be said to be the turning point of his life; he had once been a dead last, and Mount Myoboku changed his life.

"The Uzumaki clan are eternal allies of Konoha. If you need, after I complete my mission, I can take you back to Konoha, which will be much safer than Grass Village and free from war." Mu Yue said bluntly.

"Aside from the Jinchuriki, the strongest ninja in Iwa's ninja corps is Retsuseki, the captain of the Explosion Corps. This man has mastered the Explosion Release Kekkei Genkai to perfection; both his jutsu and taijutsu can trigger explosions." Minato Namikaze took out some materials and handed them to Mu Yue.

To lure Obito, Jiraiya took out the summoning contract of the Three Great Sacred Lands as a reward.

Now there were only a handful of surviving Uzumaki clan members in the ninja world. Mu Yue thought introducing Uzumaki Karei to Kushina would be good for both sides.

Jiraiya really wanted to send Obito to logistics at this point. When Obito called him "Toad Uncle," he just let it slide, but this time he was truly envious.

After finishing matters with Grass Village, Mu Yue quickly led his squad to the Konoha ninja corps camp in the Grass Country.

Now Obito had become Minato's student, and Minato was Jiraiya's disciple. By seniority, Jiraiya could indeed be considered Obito's grandmaster.

Kakashi:...

How did I become the subject of gossip while gossiping?

PS: Not in good form today, so a little less.