Chapter 531: Reinforcements Turn the Tide

Grass Country, South.

Bordering the Fire Country and blessed with a beautiful environment, the South of Grass Country was considered one of the more developed areas in the entire country.

Of course, that was before the war broke out.

After the war began, the South of Grass Country became the region most affected by the conflict in the entire country.

Residents fled, merchant caravans dared not travel, and ninja battles caused destruction — all these factors robbed the South of its peacetime prosperity.

"It's really frustrating. These great powers wage war on our land, wreck our economy, and we still have to help them."

A patrolling Grass ninja looked at the deserted village and couldn't help voicing his resentment.

The Grass Village didn't have the fame of the Five Great Ninja Villages. Few foreigners would come specifically to post missions there; they mostly relied on support from their own country.

But the battle between Iwagakure and Konoha on Grass Country's soil had a devastating impact on the country. The economy declined, and the money the Grass Village could obtain shrank accordingly.

The leading Grass ninja quickly glanced around. Only when he saw no Leaf ninja did he breathe a sigh of relief.

They were a squad assigned to support the Leaf ninja forces. Until they returned to Grass Village, they had to follow the orders of the Leaf ninja.

"Who's to blame? Our incompetent leadership. That damn Yokokawa Nu colluded with Iwa for his own selfish gains, making the village hostile to Konoha." The leading Grass ninja cursed without restraint at the already-dead former Grass Village leader.

If Yokokawa Nu hadn't stirred up trouble, the Grass ninja could have just kept their heads down and maybe even lived a bit better.

To make up for Yokokawa Nu's mistakes, Grass Village was forced to become an ally of Konoha and had to help Konoha fight Iwa.

"There's no use crying over spilled milk. Anyway, following Konoha is better than following Iwa. Konoha is stronger, and Reiyō Mokuzuki once helped solve problems for the village." A Grass ninja said helplessly.

If they had to pick the worse of two evils, Iwa was still worse.

"Let's rest here. If we actually run into Iwa ninja, it'll be dangerous." The leading Grass ninja jumped to a high spot, looked around, then said.

Nominally they were here to help Konoha, but he didn't really want to help them; just going through the motions was enough.

After all, if they died at the hands of Iwa, Konoha certainly wouldn't pay survivor benefits to their families.

The other Grass ninja immediately sat down without any hesitation.

Fighting for their own village was one thing, but being enthusiastic about fighting for Konoha would be a bit of a problem.

Ptoo!

The leading Grass ninja was just about to say something when, the next moment, a piercing pain struck. A black kunai pierced his chest and stabbed into his body.

The leading Grass ninja's eyes widened in disbelief. "How… but…"

Before he could finish his last words, he fell. The corpse on the ground still stared with eyes full of confusion.

"Captain! Damn Iwa ninja — when did they get here?"

The Grass ninja were trained shinobi after all, and quickly sensed the commotion of the "Iwa ninja" killing their leader.

Their faces showed the same confusion as the squad leader. They had already scouted the area — how did these Iwa ninja manage to get in?

Unprepared, the Grass ninja squad was quickly wiped out.

Swish!

A golden-haired figure flickered through the forest at tremendous speed.

Sensing the fading life forces one by one, Minato Namikaze frowned slightly and used the Body Flicker Technique at full power to accelerate again.

But when he arrived, all he saw were the corpses of the Grass ninja; there was no sign of any other ninja.

"Again. What kind of technique is this? Even I can't sense them." Minato Namikaze's expression darkened.

Just half a minute ago, he had felt the chakra of the killers. But the moment he was about to arrive, the chakra signatures vanished.

Although Minato Namikaze was not a dedicated sensor ninja, his excellent perception was enough to surpass many sensor ninja in the sensory unit.

In other words, most of Konoha's sensor ninja couldn't detect those Iwa assassination squads hidden by their techniques.

"I wonder if the Hyuga clan's Byakugan can counter this." Minato Namikaze fell into thought.

The Byakugan of the Hyuga clan was different from ordinary sensory techniques. The Hyuga Byakugan used the eyes to see, so in theory, techniques that conceal chakra signatures would be useless against it.

Minato Namikaze tried to search carefully within a ten-kilometer radius, but still failed to find the Iwa ninja who had just killed the Grass ninja.

After searching in vain, Namikaze Minato used Flying Thunder God to return to camp and reported the intelligence he had found to Jiraiya.

"To think that he could escape from you, Minato. It seems Iwa is getting serious." Jiraiya said, stroking his chin.

If before Jiraiya only suspected that Iwa might soon engage Konoha in a large battle in the Land of Grass, now Jiraiya was almost certain that Iwa was going to launch an attack on Konoha.

"It's not a big problem. Among the reinforcements this time, there are three ninja from the Hyuga clan, two of whom are Jonin." Jiraiya told Namikaze Minato the information about the reinforcements he had requested.

Considering the current situation on the battlefield, Jiraiya not only called in a sensory team but also brought in some Anbu for intelligence work.

In combat between ninja forces, intelligence is a crucial point.

For a ninja like Namikaze Minato, even if the enemy is a group of hundreds, as long as he knows the exact location, Namikaze Minato alone can kill them all.

At night, Namikaze Minato thought for a while, then picked up a pen and paper to write a letter to Kushina and Muyue.

In the letter to Kushina, most of Namikaze Minato's content was reporting his safety and chatting about daily life, without mentioning the war.

Kushina was working hard to become a qualified jinchuriki, and Namikaze Minato didn't want Kushina to worry too much.

In the letter to Muyue, Namikaze Minato didn't have as many reservations.

It wasn't that he thought it was okay for Muyue to worry, but rather Namikaze Minato was thinking that if something happened to him in the war, he could ask Muyue to help take care of Kushina.

Even as a renowned young expert in the ninja world, Namikaze Minato couldn't say for sure that he would survive the war.

Many Kage died at the hands of ninja forces, and Namikaze Minato didn't think he had already surpassed the Second Hokage.

On the other side, the western part of the Land of Grass.

Looking at the ninja force walking seriously toward him, Retsuishi's face broke into a smile.

"Lord Retsuishi, the support force has arrived. There are eight hundred ninja in total, including seven Jonin and twelve Tokubetsu Jonin..." Hikari walked up to Retsuishi and reported solemnly.

Retsuishi smiled and nodded.

"Eight hundred support troops, plus my force still has one thousand two hundred ninja, that makes two thousand ninja. Jiraiya, what can you do to fight me?" Retsuishi was very excited inside.

If Jiraiya's ninja force hadn't changed much, it should be around one thousand.

Two thousand against one thousand, the advantage was his. Retsuishi couldn't imagine how he could lose.

Plus, with orders from above, Retsuishi was already thinking about what would happen after invading the Land of Fire proper.

Retsuishi quickly called a meeting to discuss the matter of crushing the Konoha ninja force.

Even if they had more men, they couldn't just rush in and fight without any order; it had to be done with a plan.

Perhaps it was because the Iwa ninja had been too frustrated for too long, so when they finally unleashed their power it was very strong, or it could be because of Retsuishi's leadership, or other reasons.

In any case, the situation on the Land of Grass battlefield suddenly reversed two levels.

The Konoha assassination squad was quickly dealt with, and the Iwa intelligence unit repeatedly succeeded, obtaining major intelligence on the Konoha forces.

…………

Early morning, the Land of Fire.

Konoha, Southern Forest.

"Everyone except Kakashi and Gai, assemble." Muyue called his disciples together.

"We won't be training separately this morning. I'm going to teach you a new secret technique." Muyue explained.

As for why he didn't call Might Gai and Kakashi, it was because Might Gai was still working on Yin Release chakra nature transformation and learning Armament Haki.

Compared to Observation Haki, Armament Haki was definitely more useful for Might Gai.

Kakashi had the Transparent World, which partially overlapped with Observation Haki, plus his chakra was too strained, so he wasn't suitable for learning it now.

Shisui, Obito, and the other disciples quickly gathered in front of Muyue upon hearing his words.

"It is a Yin Release chakra nature transformation, and its type can be considered a sensory ninjutsu. However, compared to ordinary sensory ninjutsu, it has a significant role in combat, with effects similar to the Transparent World." Muyue introduced.

"There have been so many new techniques recently." Obito was feeling thrilled.

Muyue taught a super Fire Release Blue Flame, the Ninja Sect sent over a Flame Vortex, and now Muyue was going to teach a new secret technique.

"Basically, it allows you to sense attacks and predict movements. Shisui, activate your Sharingan and attack me with full force." Muyue prepared to demonstrate in combat.

Shisui, who was called, nodded and concentrated his chakra in his eyes. In no time, a blood-red hue spread across them, revealing the three-tomoe Sharingan.

"Teacher Muyue, I'm going in." With a brief warning, Shisui burst forth with chakra and charged straight at Muyue.

Facing Shisui's assault, Muyue did something that surprised the others—he closed his eyes.

"Secret Technique: Observation Haki!"

As his chakra surged within, Muyue's perception became exceptionally sharp.

"Leaf Whirlwind!"

Though caught off guard by Muyue closing his eyes, Shisui did not hold back and swiftly delivered a spinning kick.

With his eyes shut, Muyue seemed to possess an invisible sight. He simply sidestepped, precisely dodging Shisui's spinning kick—the sole of Shisui's shoe swept just two centimeters from Muyue's sleeve, and the gust from the kick rustled his clothes.

Shisui's expression remained unchanged as he rapidly threw a punch toward Muyue's abdomen.

Muyue quickly retreated a small step, causing Shisui's punch to miss.

"Observation Haki allows you to detect attacks beyond your field of vision," Muyue explained aloud.

This was an extremely useful ability. With Observation Haki, even in chaotic battles with many combatants, one could protect themselves to the greatest extent.

Then Muyue opened his eyes and signaled Shisui to continue attacking.

"Next, you'll throw a left punch, and then a Leaf Whirlwind..." As he dodged, Muyue narrated Shisui's next moves one after another.

And Shisui seemed like a puppet on Muyue's strings—whatever Muyue said, Shisui did.

Of course, everyone present understood that Shisui was not intentionally following Muyue's words; rather, Muyue was predicting every one of Shisui's attacks.

Because even if Shisui wanted to follow Muyue's instructions, he couldn't react in time—by the time Muyue finished speaking, Shisui's fist was already swinging, leaving no chance for the brain to respond.

"Amazing—this feels more useful than the Sharingan." Obito scratched his head and couldn't help commenting.

He didn't often use genjutsu; the Sharingan's main use for him was to enhance dynamic vision and insight.

Yet Observation Haki could not only read movements like the Sharingan but also detect attacks outside one's line of sight and even sense ninjutsu.

This suddenly made Obito feel that the Sharingan wasn't all that strong.

Long ago, before he had awakened the Sharingan, activating it had been Obito's dream.

Because back then, in Obito's understanding, opening the Sharingan meant invincibility—it was the foundation of the Uchiha, Konoha's most prestigious clan.

In reality, even with his Sharingan at the highest three-tomoe level, Obito could barely hold his own among the disciples.

Compared to the famously powerful Sharingan, Obito felt that the Uzumaki clan's bloodline limit was better and stronger.

He had encountered three members of the Uzumaki clan: Uzumaki Kushina, Uzumaki Naruto, and Uzumaki Hana.

Even Uzumaki Hana, who hadn't trained as a ninja, possessed unusual chakra.

As for Kushina and Naruto, there was no need to mention them—Obito had personally felt their bottomless chakra reserves in battle.

"No wonder Uchiha Madara couldn't beat Senju Hashirama—maybe the Sharingan is inferior to the Senju's bloodline," Obito realized inwardly.

Although the Uchiha clan today had many who boasted of Madara's combat prowess, no matter what, everyone knew that Madara simply could not defeat Hashirama.

"All of you should try learning this. If you can't, then just give up—this technique requires talent in perception," Muyue reminded.

In the current shinobi world, every ninja village, large or small, placed great importance on sensory-type ninja.

A ninja squad with a sensory ninja and one without are completely different.

Moreover, training a sensory ninja isn't just about having sensory techniques—the most important thing is finding a shinobi with the talent for perception.

The threshold for sensory techniques is high; without innate perception, no amount of study will let you master them.

That's why the other four great shinobi villages coveted Konoha's Hyūga clan—without any training, every newborn was a natural sensory ninja, and among the best at that—simply too desirable.

All the disciples nodded.

After the demonstration and explanation, Muyue began formal instruction.

A while into the lesson, a memory from a shadow clone suddenly flowed back into Muyue's mind.

It was from his shadow clone at home—an ANBU had come knocking.

"Practice freely for now. I'm going to the Hokage Building," Mu Yue said to her disciple.

With that, Mu Yue hurried to the Hokage Building. Combining that with the letter Shuimen had sent earlier, Mu Yue guessed something had happened on the battlefield.

PS: Sorry, I was busy today so only 4k. Will make it up later if there's time.

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