Chapter 497

Chi!

The blade wrapped in yellow electric light stabbed into the red flesh wall, but the imagined scene of easily cutting through did not happen. The flesh wall before him seemed more defensive than iron walls and bronze barriers, and there was also a mysterious force that forcibly lodged Kakashi's White Fang short blade inside.

Kakashi could neither cut open the flesh wall nor pull the blade out.

Kakashi did not hesitate and immediately wanted to abandon the White Fang short blade, but several tentacles suddenly extended from the flesh wall, binding him tightly against it. Then the flesh wall in contact with him rapidly changed, pulling him inside.

Rin Nohara tried to help Kakashi but was instead caught off guard by one of Jiraiya's shadow clones and knocked down.

"Tch, no wonder you've earned the title 'Raiga' at this age. Your edge is even sharper than White Fang was in his youth." Jiraiya praised, glancing at the slightly exposed lightning blade tip.

Being able to pierce the intestinal wall of the Rock-Sleeping Giant Toad meant that Kakashi had exceptionally outstanding offensive power. Ordinary defensive jutsu most likely couldn't block Kakashi's strike.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was only a few years younger than Ōnoki. In his memory, Ōnoki was definitely a scheming old fox. How could such a fox easily reveal his full strength?

If he also went to fight Hanzo and won, that would mean surpassing the Sannin, since the Sannin had failed to defeat Hanzo back then.

Obito was also highly motivated. Seeing Kakashi's breakthrough made him feel extremely uncomfortable; he had to become stronger himself to feel better.

The Kirigakure that had launched a large-scale invasion of the Land of Fire was now silent. Kumogakure was busy fighting Sunagakure and hadn't wasted much strength on Konoha. Now Iwagakure was the major ninja village clashing most fiercely with Konoha, and the top brass placed great importance on the situation in the Grass Country battlefield.

The difference in Obito's fire release power before and after entering the Flame Breathing chakra mode was huge. Jiraiya guessed he possessed a secret technique that could enhance his abilities, somewhat similar to Sage Mode.

According to Kakashi and the others, Yamato, who had time-traveled from Loulan, did not recognize Mu Yue and even mistook him for Minato Namikaze.

"That's right, this is Konoha, the strongest and safest village!" Obito said with a proud look.

"The Land of Earth has many rocky mountains, making it easy to defend and hard to attack. Once our forces enter and supply lines are cut, they'll be doomed. Also, based on my understanding of Ōnoki, Iwagakure definitely has more power than it has shown." Hiruzen Sarutobi stated his view.

"How could my words be false? Don't you know my abilities? I'm more than enough for the Hokage Guard." Obito patted his chest and said.

Mu Yue nodded. This indeed wasn't Minato's fault.

Even though Mu Yue had already done so much for him, Shisui could still feel Mu Yue's concern for him from every little detail.

"Of course, this isn't Konoha's limit yet. With me around, Konoha can definitely become even more prosperous."

With the power of the Grass Ninja, Jiraiya didn't expect them to make much of a difference on the front lines. He only hoped the Grass Ninja could help Konoha build a larger war intelligence network and assist him in defeating Iwagakure so he could finish work early.

Far away in Konoha, the top brass received the intelligence and quickly held a meeting to discuss countermeasures.

"Since we've been discovered, let the Grass Ninja forces fight for us openly. Have them search for Iwagakure with all their might." Jiraiya said after some thought.

He had thought it would be like the Eastern Front battlefield, where they would only return to Konoha after defeating Iwagakure.

Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki smoothly spread out to both sides, revealing Anko, who was crouching with her head in her hands, silently muttering "Can't see me."

"My suggestion is to study the Armament Haki secret technique more." Mu Yue replied.

After carefully reading the documents again, Mu Yue sensed something unusual. This incident gave him a strange sense of déjà vu.

Moreover, compared to before, Iwagakure had lost the power of the Grass Ninja, while Konoha had gained the full support of the Grass Ninja. With these shifting advantages and disadvantages, Konoha had certainly made a small gain.

Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki extended their merciless iron hands and dragged her back.

"Mu Yue-sensei, Shisui, Obito-senpai, long time no see." Kotetsu Hagane greeted them.

"Mm, the top brass' arrangement." Mu Yue replied concisely.

Although his offensive power was strong now, combat wasn't judged by just one ability. Moreover, his strong output came at the cost of sustainability.

"So this is Konoha..." Looking up at Konoha's immensely tall wooden gates, then at the expressions on the faces of the passersby, Karin Uzumaki found it hard to imagine that Konoha was in the midst of war.

"Maintaining the status quo is the best choice." Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded and said.

Shisui noticed that the future had already changed.

However, Jiraiya's words made Obito think of a good place to earn a great title—Hanzo.

"That's the only option for now." Minato Namikaze couldn't think of a better way.

But only Jiraiya and the others knew this was merely an illusion. Iwagakure's forces hadn't lost much strength because they were trying extremely hard to avoid direct confrontation.

"Kushina is gradually getting used to Kurama. In at most a year, Kushina will be able to function as a jinchūriki on the battlefield."

If he mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique, no matter how strong Kakashi's slashes were, they would be meaningless because they would never hit him.

And the ninja master Sōsuke, who had recently made a name for himself across the shinobi world, gained such fame only by repelling Hanzō.

Now that they had an even greater advantage, they naturally wanted to launch as many proactive attacks as possible to weaken Iwagakure's strength.

"Since Iwa is too cowardly to fight, then force them to fight. Just have Jiraiya lead the main force to strike at Iwa's border, sword pointed at Iwagakure Village. Iwa wouldn't just abandon their village, would they?" Shimura Danzō spoke up first.

Although it looked ordinary, not as dazzling as the "Musō Ittō", as long as Armament Haki was strong enough, it could possibly block both the Golden Skyline and the Musō Ittō.

But the course of events truly exceeded the expectations of Jiraiya and other high-ranking ninja officers.

There was some element of comfort in his words, but it wasn't just nonsense; an ordinary graduating genin really couldn't hope to stand guard at the gate.

Although there was no referee, everyone could see that the fight was already over.

Kakashi was a bit surprised; he hadn't expected Jiraiya to know the nickname he had earned on the Eastern Coast Battlefield.

"Haha, don't underestimate my intelligence-gathering abilities," Jiraiya said with a laugh.

Izumo Kōzuki and Kotetsu Hagane's faces lit up—if even Kakashi, the legendary super-genius of the Ninja Academy, said so, then it absolutely couldn't be wrong.

In the final battle on the Eastern Coast, Konoha had inexplicably lost the intelligence war, suffering a crushing blow. If they hadn't misjudged Muyue's strength, Kirigakure would have caused Konoha to stumble badly.

From the above, one can conclude that fighting Hanzō equals becoming famous equals obtaining a cool nickname.

For Shisui, who wanted to change the future, strength was a necessity. He planned to train according to Muyue's plan and devote most of his energy to Armament Haki.

This kind of secret technique generally required extremely powerful chakra; for example, Sage Mode required strong chakra just as a prerequisite.

The real reason was that Jiraiya had just noticed a problem during the fight—Obito, Kakashi, and the others had poor endurance in sustained combat.

Of course, the reason Jiraiya didn't have Obito sign the Mount Myōboku contract was not because Obito had annoyed him—he wasn't that petty.

Anko could already beat some chūnin instructors, so it was natural that she couldn't stand those D-rank chores.

"Big Brother Obito, I'll be the Dango Club President!" Anko also joined the group claiming him as their big brother.

The Konoha ninja were all very excited, as if they could already see another great victory right before their eyes.

"It seems mostly normal," Kakashi said with relief, putting the photo into his ninja tool pouch.

After all, Konoha hadn't lost out—they had weakened Iwa and also bled Kusagakure dry.

"I still have a long way to go to reach my father's level," Kakashi said, shaking his head.

Obito couldn't help starting to fantasize.

Shisui had considerable talent in Yin Release. In Muyue's plan for training Shisui, if Shisui was eager to enhance his combat ability, Armament Haki would be a good choice.

This bored them to death; they had to stand in front of the gate without moving and endure the stares of passersby.

Konoha hadn't done much yet, but clearly Kusagakure had slipped up.

Izumo Kōzuki looked embarrassed. "Uh, we're on a mission."

He believed this was the best plan at the moment—it could both force Iwa's forces to fight Konoha and display Konoha's sharp edge.

Given Obito's current chakra reserves, spending a lot of time on the Flying Thunder God Technique was a complete waste, because he didn't have enough chakra to use it.

"How can we know Ōnoki isn't just bluffing if we don't fight?" Shimura Danzō countered.

He had graduated early, so he wasn't very familiar with Kotetsu and the others, but since they were Muyue's students, he didn't mind helping clear up their confusion.

On one hand, they had Kusagakure keep a close watch on Iwa; on the other, they faked an intelligence defeat that caused a critical stronghold's information to leak.

Obito only needed to keep growing and increasing his chakra, and then his problems would naturally be solved, and the Mount Myōboku blood contract would naturally become useful.

Obito was a bit puzzled.

The final cooking duty fell to Muyue, who had volunteered; no one raised any objections.

"Iwagakure Village is indeed not easy to handle," Minato Namikaze said, frowning at the intelligence passed on by Kusagakure.

Shisui nodded and thanked him.

After all, Kakashi and Obito were Minato Namikaze's students, so Jiraiya paid them a bit more attention.

In his eyes, a genius like Obito truly had the potential to become Hokage.

Anko's outrageous words even made Uzumaki Hualing smile, giving her even more anticipation for her upcoming life in Konoha.

"I must change the future!" Shisui silently thought to himself.

Even if Obito didn't believe in their abilities, he believed in Muyue's abilities—they were outstanding students in Muyue's class.

"Although training hard is a good thing, there might be a major combat mission soon, and it'll be very tiring then," Kakashi reminded.

They could make Kirigakure flee in panic, so why couldn't they strike Iwagakure with full force?

Feeling everyone's gaze, Anko coughed lightly twice and stood up, her face wearing an expression that even a three-year-old could see through.

"Ah, going back so soon this time?" Obito asked in surprise, having prepared to settle down on the battlefield.

For some unknown reason, Iwagakure suddenly discovered Kusagakure's defection, raided the Kusagakure troops, and then vanished without a trace.

If Kushina could go to the battlefield as a jinchuriki, it would be a considerable boost for Konoha.

Obito:...

"You're pretty cocky, goggles kid. Kakashi earned the title 'Raiga' on the battlefield. What title do you have?" Jiraiya asked knowingly.

What attracted him was not the summoning beasts of Mount Myoboku, but the Sage Mode that Jiraiya had mentioned.

"So what do we do now? Just keep wasting time with Iwagakure there?" Shimura Danzo really couldn't think of any counterargument.

He had silently repeated this sentence thousands of times in his heart, but Shisui didn't think it was too much, because it concerned the safety of the person he cared about most.

Since the war began, Konoha had never taken the initiative to invade any major country, always staying on the defensive. Shimura Danzo thought this was bad and would harm Konoha's reputation.

She felt that a ninja village with such cute ninjas couldn't be too bad.

The gate of Konoha wasn't something you could guard just because you wanted to. Guarding the gate was a D-rank or higher mission. According to Konoha's rules, the three of them were probably not qualified to guard the gate for now.

Her teammates were full of fighting spirit, and Rin Nohara also longed to become stronger to help them more.

For Jiraiya, who was used to traveling, staying on the battlefield for a long time was really boring.

"Obito-boss, really?" Gangetsu immediately lit up with admiration, calling Obito 'boss'. If Obito said pressing one would make him a guard, Gangetsu would press that one until it broke.

The rewards from the student-returning burst were too random. To get skills that matched one's disciples, the life mission was the best choice.

"And us!" Gangetsu and Izumo Kamizuki, who were on guard duty, also got fired up upon hearing Obito's words and shouted along.

"Goggles kid, you're too weak to cook. But since you have the heart, you can wash the vegetables," Jiraiya said, patting Obito's shoulder with a sly grin.

"What? It must be because your poor performance before was remembered by the Third Hokage—this is your punishment." In an attempt to salvage her image in Muyue's eyes, Anko tried to argue.

"Guarding the gate is training. After the training comes promotion—it must mean serving as the Hokage's guard!"

Obito understood: he just had to train even harder.

Now that Muyue had some power in Konoha, everything went very smoothly and quickly.

Muyue nodded in response. He had seen Gangetsu, Izumo Kamizuki, and Anko crouching behind them with her head in her hands early on, but he was pondering why they were guarding the gate.

If Iwagakure hadn't chosen to directly turn against Kusagakure, but instead pretended not to find out that they were passing false information to set an ambush for Konoha, the Konoha ninja forces in the Land of Grass would have faced the same situation as the Konoha forces on the eastern shore battlefield.

Kakashi:...

If possible, he still didn't want to collapse after swinging a single sword.

For Obito, slow had its advantages too—he could discover more scenery and take photos for memories.

Muyue's disciples tacitly headed to the Southern Forest together.

After handling the miscellaneous matters, Muyue took Uzumaki Karen to meet Uzumaki Kushina, who had been very curious about her along the way.

That time, he and Shisui both scored full marks, but being tied for first still counted as first.

"How about letting me, the legendary Sannin, give you one: 'Konoha's Flickering Flame.' You used a few Fire Release jutsu and then collapsed—truly a bit weak," Jiraiya said, stroking his chin in mock seriousness as he teased.

Muyue's series of moves stunned Uzumaki Karen. She had been thinking all along about whether to sleep on a park bench or under a bridge, but Muyue quickly solved all her living problems.

As an elite squad, if Minato's plan succeeded, they would definitely be assigned important combat missions. That was also the purpose of Sarutobi Hiruzen sending them to the battlefield.

"That's fine too. I haven't seen Little Fire Dragon for a while. I wonder how Grandma is feeding it."

"This is the difference between us, Kakashi. You can only see the missions that might be executed or the civil war a few months from now, while I'm already thinking about how to defeat the Demigod Hanzo," Obito replied calmly.

Jiraiya hadn't hit Obito's head, but why did it seem like his brain had been slammed in a door?

As for Tenma Haruki, everyone agreed, and she felt there was no reason to refuse.

Thump thump!

At night, after dinner, Obito trained around the camp.

Shimura Danzo wanted Muyue to continue training the Wood Release shinobi for him, while Sarutobi Hiruzen wanted Muyue to plan the third phase of the ANBU training program.

In fact, Obito and the others' performance exceeded Jiraiya's expectations; the squad's overall combat strength was enough to complete some important S-rank war missions. Among them, Kakashi stood out, with both combat literacy and raw power far surpassing ordinary jonin.

Although Shimura Danzo's plan was aggressive, given the current strength of Konoha's shinobi in the Land of Grass, a strike into the Land of Earth was actually possible.

"If that's the case, it might be better to end the mission of the Habuki Muyue squad and have them return to Konoha." Mitokado Homura said after thinking for a moment.

"I won't sign it, and I don't care. In the future, the Little Fire Dragon will definitely be stronger than those toads." Obito pouted, unconcerned about Mount Myōboku's blood contract.

"You inherently evil white-haired old bastard, just wait until I get stronger—I'll make you pay!" Obito raged silently, feeling humiliated.

Jiraiya patted Kakashi on the head with his big hand, "Why did you have to learn this from Minato and Muyue? There's no need to be so modest about strength you've cultivated yourself."

"A department where everyone has to buy the director a dango every day." Anko answered immediately.

Facing Kakashi's Thoughtless Slash layered with the Lightning Breathing Chakra Mode's transparent world, Obito felt that using Fire Release made him as simple as a caveman.

As everyone knows, the Three Ninja were the title given to Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru during the Second Great Ninja War after they fought Hanzo.

"Muyue-sensei, when will I be able to learn the Flying Thunder God Technique?"

Currently, Konoha had over 1,800 shinobi in the Land of Grass, including strong ones like Jiraiya, Minato Namikaze, and Muyue, as well as elite jonin like Aburame Shibi and Maruo Kosuke. It was the strongest shinobi force Konoha had assembled in recent years.

The corner of Kakashi's mouth twitched; he felt these two probably didn't need his comforting either. They were so optimistic he didn't even know what to say.

Kakashi looked speechless. If Obito really became Hokage, he would only think Konoha was doomed.

What he regretted most was that Rin Nohara always insisted on calling Kakashi to join them instead of enjoying a private time for the two of them.

After leaving the shinobi force camp, Muyue led the squad to the Grass Village, recruited Uzumaki Karen into the team, and took her along to Konoha.

"It depends on your own situation. If things go quickly, you might be able to do it within a year." Muyue replied after appraising Obito's stats.

If he worked hard for a year and pushed his chakra above twenty thousand, with careful management, he might barely manage to incorporate the Flying Thunder God into Obito's combat habits.

The one he should pity was the squad leader—this was like having three Obitos.

Kakashi needed to become more familiar with the Thoughtless Slash and, at the same time, strengthen his body to address his chakra shortfall.

Compared to the lowly Fire Nature, space-time was undoubtedly a noble existence.

He hated white-haired people!

And what he had to do was survive together with Muyue and the other disciples in this new future.

Obito scratched his head and realized that leaving was a good thing—for now, he only had to face one inherently evil white-haired bastard.

The original purpose of sending Muyue on the mission was to resolve the Grass Village issue while helping the Land of Grass shinobi force gain an advantage. Now that the Grass Village problem was solved and the Land of Grass battlefield was unlikely to see a major war, keeping Muyue in the Land of Grass force was somewhat a waste of combat power.

If it had been the Cloud, Muyue thought both forces might already have clashed. With an intelligence advantage, the Cloud would not lack the courage to take a gamble.

Mitokado Homura's proposal received approval from all the high-ranking officials.

Shisui and Obito also responded in turn.

【Name: Uchiha Obito】

Across the entire Konoha, only two shinobi had mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique: one was Minato Namikaze, and the other was Muyue. They had respectively earned the titles of the Yellow Flash and the Blazing Sun Muyue—the two most renowned young powerhouses of Konoha.

"But if it's a year, there are two civil wars in between." Obito scratched his ears and cheeks anxiously, hoping to fast-forward to the next year immediately.

She truly felt that Gang Zitie and the others had held her back. Sarutobi Hiruzen had inspected several times, but Gang Zitie and Shin'getsu Izumo kept making reckless moves—once, they even used that so-called Confusion Technique to attack Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Obito's expression was blank. At that time, he definitely would only teach Jiraiya the Great Fireball Technique.

Obito's face darkened, and he remained silent. He was also angry about not having a nickname.

【Chakra:】

He thought those Mist guys had no vision at all—they couldn't see the immense potential hidden in his body.

Gang Zitie scratched his hair, "I often make it into the top two."

"What is the Dumpling Department?" Obito thought about it and really had never heard of Konoha having such a department.

"If it weren't for you, Anko, making a fuss about wanting higher-ranked missions and displeasing Lord Third, how could we have been assigned to guard the gate!" Kotetsu directly publicized Anko's crime.

Hiruzen Sarutobi showed a thoughtful expression, his right finger unconsciously tapping lightly on the conference table.

This result was within his expectations, because in a certain sense, his strategic significance surpassed Jiraiya's.

Obito's face instantly turned red. If he had chakra, he would definitely enter Flame Breathing Chakra Mode and give Jiraiya a Flame Iron Mountain Body Slam.

In Uzumaki Hualing's somewhat hazy childhood memories, after the Whirlpool Country was drawn into war, the entire country's atmosphere became heavy. Even the normally most mischievous children became honest under the influence of such an atmosphere.

Muyue could not only undertake various teaching tasks in Konoha, but also complete high-reward S-rank missions. In case of emergencies, Muyue could also be dispatched for support.

"Eh, what a coincidence. Teacher Muyue, you guys just finished a mission too? I still have things to do, so I'll be going now." Anko made as if to leave.

The house was in Konoha's main district, with a living allowance of eighty thousand ryo per month, enough for Uzumaki Hualing to live normally in Konoha.

"Muyue, don't you think so?"

Because Shisui's life mission progress lagged behind other disciples, Muyue didn't have any powerful skill that perfectly suited Shisui.

The first-year juniors he once guided had all graduated and become ninja.

Shisui didn't actually want to learn Mushin Issen; he was thinking of learning one more nature transformation technique to enhance his adaptability.

Jiraiya reported the intelligence while making new combat arrangements.

"Based on my experience, this should be considered a good thing," Kakashi said.

Hearing this slightly familiar voice, Obito then noticed that two familiar juniors were also at the door.

Jiraiya bowed to him, "Fire God Obito, I once wrongly looked down on you from a toad's perspective. Please, by all means, teach me the powerful Fire Release to defeat Hanzō."

If Jiraiya at age eleven had Kakashi's current strength and reputation, he would use Wind Release to create some wind while walking, Orochimaru would take a detour when seeing him, and if a roadside dog dared to bark, he'd just kick it.

"Maybe Lord Third wants to train you. New graduates rarely get such opportunities," Kakashi analyzed.

Because of Uzumaki Hualing's identity as a Uzumaki survivor, Muyue also helped her apply for subsidies, free housing, and living allowance.

"Izumo, what do you think the next step will be?"

Jiraiya dispatched sensory ninja to search for Iwa, and at the same time sent elite ninja to annihilate them in places with Iwa leads. For a time, the Konoha ninja forces held absolute initiative in the Grass Country.

Unable to use information gaps to ambush the enemy, they could only compete head-on in unit capabilities, just like before.

Just when Anko was making a scene at the mission desk, Hiruzen Sarutobi passed by and directly assigned them a B-rank mission — guarding Konoha's gate.

Thinking of Kakashi, who activated Lightning Breathing Chakra Mode during this mission, and then thinking of himself, Obito couldn't help asking.

"Teacher Muyue, do you think it's appropriate for me to start training in Lightning Nature Transformation now?" Shisui asked Muyue.

Kakashi tentatively took out Obito's photo and waved it in front of Obito's eyes.

Kotetsu and Izumo were both very excited, saying that from now on they recognized Obito as their big brother.

Having said that, Jiraiya canceled the Summoning Jutsu, and the red flesh wall rapidly disappeared.

"For your age, your performance is not bad. But, goggles kid, if you want to sign a contract with Mount Myoboku, you need to work a bit harder," Jiraiya commented.

As days passed, Konoha's plan proceeded methodically.

But now Yamato had become Muyue's disciple. If this were normal historical development, then Yamato absolutely would not fail to know Muyue. That is to say, history was changing, and the new future was completely unknown.

Obito could hardly hold it in. "Comedy superstar group"? How did the team of these three juniors feel so fun?

Of course, from Iwa's actual choices, Muyue could tell that Iwa knew Muyue had arrived at the battlefield with an elite squad, so they didn't want to take risks.

After receiving orders from the higher-ups, Muyue bid farewell to Jiraiya and Minato, preparing to lead his team back to Konoha.

Shimura Danzo truly felt that Hiruzen Sarutobi had changed in his old age. If it were Hiruzen Sarutobi from ten years ago, he would have approved his plan.

Shimura Danzo was silent for a moment. What Hiruzen Sarutobi said was indeed very reasonable.

Obito collapsed from exhaustion, Rin Nohara was defeated by Jiraiya's Shadow Clone, and Kakashi had also basically lost combat capability.

After leaving, Muyue took Uzumaki Hualing to handle the various necessary procedures for residing in Konoha.

If Jiraiya's attitude was sincere enough, he wouldn't be entirely unwilling to teach.

"There's no way we performed poorly—it must have been your unreasonable behavior that caused the trouble." Shin Getsu Izumo didn't think their performance had any problems.

A Jinchuriki's Tailed Beast Ball is far more terrifying than several dozen Jonin using an Army Ninjutsu together; it's a major weapon in large-scale warfare.

"For freshly graduated Genin like you, guarding the gates of Konoha is already a high-level mission. You must have had decent grades at the Ninja Academy, right?" Kakashi asked.

"Also, whether you have issues with training or problems in your daily life, feel free to come to me without any burden." Muyue patted Shisui's head and said.

Kakashi looked at Anko with pity—being teammates with these two was almost like having two Obitos as teammates.

"You're just back from a mission too, what a coincidence." Obito let out a sigh as he looked at the forehead protectors on the two.

"I got first place in practical combat!" Anko puffed out her chest and shouted, but after glancing at Shisui, she lowered her raised head a little and added:

After entering Konoha, Muyue disbanded the squad.

"Rather than betting that everyone else will be as weak as you imagine, it's better to stabilize the situation and strengthen your own power." Hiruzen Sarutobi disagreed with Danzo Shimura's gambler mentality.

"First place in all three semesters across the entire third year."

So having Obito sign the contract for Mount Myoboku now would be pointless; that's why Jiraiya told Obito to keep working harder.

Kakashi:???

"When I become Hokage, I'll choose you both as my Shadow Guards!" Obito declared boldly.

"Too radical." Hiruzen Sarutobi finally shook his head in denial.

Because Uzumaki Karei had never undergone ninja training, Muyue's return speed was a bit slower than when he came.

But Kakashi had already activated his Transparent World ahead of time, seeing through all of Obito's movements. By stepping to the side and retreating, he almost made the rushing Obito trip.

Obito now had the weakness of being unable to fight for long periods due to insufficient chakra, and summoning a powerful Summoning Beast through the Summoning Technique required consuming a large amount of chakra.

Obito instantly lost his composed demeanor and reached out with both hands toward the photos.

"It's not that your plan has problems, Minato, nor that Iwagakure is too strong—it's that Kusagakure lacks ability." Jiraiya put down the intelligence and shook his head.

【Skills: Flame Breathing Chakra Mode, Fire Nature Chakra Nature Transformation (Mastery: 150/), Flame Breathing (Mastery: 250/), Fireball Technique (Mastery: 20/)…】

If Jiraiya had to grade them, out of a full score of one hundred, he would give them ninety-eight. He withheld the full two points because of Obito's foolishness.

"Of course—I got first place in theory!" Shin Getsu Izumo answered first.

ps: Thank you for your concern. If my body were truly unwell, I certainly wouldn't force myself to write—after all, writing a novel is a long-term battle.

As long as my physical condition permits, Xiaoju will try to write as much as possible.