Chapter 533: Muyue

"The troops have already begun assembling at Training Ground 11." Sarutobi Hiruzen said.

Because things happened so suddenly, this was an emergency assembly to form a unit, and for the sake of speed, many procedural requirements were even skipped.

Just a few minutes before Mugetsu entered the Hokage's office, Sarutobi Hiruzen had actually still been in a high-level meeting.

The defeat of the Kusagakure Leaf unit had been too sudden; not long ago, they were still driving the Iwa unit back to the Land of Earth's border, but then suddenly the tables turned.

The Leaf high-ranking officials didn't even have time to find the cause of the defeat, quickly deciding in the meeting to form a support unit to head to the Land of Grass, with very high efficiency.

It couldn't be helped; if efficiency wasn't high, and the Kusagakure unit was completely finished, then the northwestern part of the Land of Fire would be in danger.

The Iwa shinobi unit could directly enter the Land of Fire from where the Land of Grass bordered the Land of Fire.

At that time, not only would it be hard to explain to the Land of Fire's Daimyo, but Leaf's reputation in the Land of Fire would also suffer, and it might even pose a threat to Leaf itself.

You have to know that that Iwa shinobi unit in the Land of Grass had two jinchuriki capable of complete tailed beast transformation.

This time, even Shimura Danzo, who liked to argue with Sarutobi Hiruzen, didn't cause trouble, just had a minor dispute with Sarutobi Hiruzen over the choice of commander.

Initially, Shimura Danzo wanted Orochimaru, stationed in the Land of Hot Water, to lead part of the shinobi unit directly to the Land of Grass, and then Leaf would send some more people.

Sarutobi Hiruzen thought this was robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Recently, Cloud hadn't been causing much trouble, but Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't believe Cloud had really settled down.

If news of Leaf's defeat spread, Cloud would definitely not be able to resist probing, and with Orochimaru gone, wouldn't the defense line in the Land of Hot Water be in danger?

So Sarutobi Hiruzen decisively rejected Shimura Danzo and stated his own arrangement, which was for Mugetsu to serve as the support unit commander.

Thinking that Mugetsu was also one of their own, and considering the situation was indeed critical, Shimura Danzo didn't continue to push for Orochimaru's chance.

"Are my disciples included in the support unit roster?" Mugetsu asked after thinking for a moment.

The shinobi world situation was growing more chaotic now, and Mugetsu felt it would be safer for his disciples to stay by his side.

Although Leaf was safe, it was wartime; with Obito and the others' strength, Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't let them stay idle forever—that would be too much of a waste of combat power.

Now, Obito and the others were considered elites even among the jonin; combat power of that level was rare even in the five great shinobi villages.

Rather than leaving Obito and the others in Leaf and having them go on missions and get sabotaged by Uchiha Madara, it was better to bring them directly to the battlefield.

Though the battlefield was dangerous, at least Mugetsu would have their backs.

Even if they couldn't win, Mugetsu could still take them away.

"They're all in." Sarutobi Hiruzen replied.

Considering the grim situation on the Kusagakure battlefield, the support unit's strength couldn't be weak, otherwise it would be a suicide mission.

And Kakashi and the others were not only excellent in strength but also had a special relationship with Mugetsu, making them the best choices for the support unit's jonin-level personnel.

Of course, if Mugetsu wanted Kakashi and the others to stay in Leaf, Sarutobi Hiruzen would agree.

Compared to Kakashi and the others, Mugetsu was certainly more important; a commander having a few small privileges wasn't a big deal.

Moreover, Kakashi and the others staying in Leaf could serve as an elite squad, still contributing to the village.

"Once the unit has assembled, I will immediately lead them to the Land of Grass." Mugetsu nodded, preparing to leave the Hokage's office.

Aside from his disciples, he had no other special requests.

"These are the intelligence reports on the Kusagakure battlefield. Make sure to look them over when you have time on the road." Sarutobi Hiruzen handed Mugetsu a scroll.

There wasn't much time left for them; going into detail about the Kusagakure battlefield intelligence would take too long, so Sarutobi Hiruzen only briefly summarized the main points.

Mugetsu took the scroll, gave a slight bow, then turned and left.

"I'm counting on you, Mugetsu." Sarutobi Hiruzen watched Mugetsu leave.

If they lost again, Leaf's situation would become dire.

…

After leaving the Hokage's office, Mugetsu hurried to Training Ground 11.

When Mugetsu arrived at the training ground, he saw that the shinobi unit wasn't very large yet.

Actually, the assembly of the unit and the notification to Mugetsu had been conducted at roughly the same time, but Sarutobi Hiruzen had spent some time briefing Mugetsu on the intelligence.

"Muyue Commander, I am Mimura Hagami, serving as vice-commander of the unit. Currently, over a hundred ninjas have assembled, including fifteen jōnin and fifteen special jōnin, all accounted for." Mimura Hagami reported to Muyue.

Muyue nodded slightly. The jōnin would naturally be the first to receive the notice, and they also acted more quickly.

"Sensei Muyue, I was just thinking you might be the commander—I'm pretty good at guessing." Obito grinned and greeted Muyue.

No sooner had Muyue left than the jōnin assembly notice reached them. Except for Yamato, everyone followed the instructions and arrived at Training Ground 11.

Kakashi cast a faint glance at Obito; he felt it didn't require guessing.

There was no way it was a coincidence—Muyue had just gone to the Hokage Building, and then this emergency assembly was called. Clearly, Muyue had been entrusted with a more important mission.

Muyue smiled in response, surveying the assembled jōnin.

Among the fifteen jōnin, five were his disciples. As for the remaining ten, Muyue knew most of them, since the jōnin circle in Konoha wasn't large.

There were Nara Suzaku and Aburame Shiki, who had accompanied Muyue in the strike against Kusagakure in the Land of Grass; Hyuga Hizashi, who had fought alongside him on the Mist battlefield; and Akimichi Doto, whom he had met at a jōnin meeting through Minato Namikaze.

Most of the full-fledged jōnin were from various ninja clans, while the special jōnin were mostly ordinary ninjas.

As Muyue observed them, the ninjas were also observing Muyue.

Except for those jōnin who held important positions in the ninja corps and were notified by a special messenger, the other ninjas still didn't know the situation, and they hadn't expected the commander to be Muyue, still young and relatively inexperienced.

"Right now, aside from the village's higher-ups and Lady Tsunade, the only one qualified to lead the ninja corps is Commander Muyue." Nara Suzaku thought to himself.

If Nara Shikaku were in Konoha, he might barely compare—his strength wasn't impressive, but his intelligence was outstanding, and he would have the support of the Akimichi and Yamanaka clans.

But now the Ino-Shika-Cho trio were all absent from Konoha, and even Minato Namikaze, who was as famous as Muyue, was also away. Muyue was the most suitable choice.

"I never expected that not long after becoming a jōnin, he'd already become the corps commander." Akimichi Doto was amazed at Muyue's pace of growth.

If he remembered correctly, only about two years had passed since Muyue became a jōnin.

"Having Muyue as commander is truly reassuring." Hyuga Hizashi smiled at Muyue.

He was the sensor team leader for this reinforcement unit, and he already knew before Muyue arrived that Muyue would be the commander.

Hyuga Hizashi didn't think this was inappropriate. Though Muyue had only been a jōnin for a short time, his achievements far outstripped many jōnin with over a decade of service.

Muyue quietly watched the rapidly assembling ninja corps without speaking.

Obito and his other disciples also knew this was a serious occasion, so aside from when Muyue first arrived, they said nothing more and stood silently in the front row of the ninja corps.

After waiting for the ninja corps to assemble completely, Muyue spoke.

"Konoha's ninja forces in the Land of Grass have been defeated—just recently."

Muyue's words were like a bomb dropped into calm water, instantly unsettling most of the ninjas in the corps.

Some wore looks of shock, astonished that the defeat in the Land of Grass had come without warning; others showed expressions of worry, concerned for their relatives or friends who had gone to the battlefield.

"Something's happened in the Land of Grass! The Toad Sage and Sensei Watergate are probably with that ninja corps." Obito immediately thought of Jiraiya and Minato Namikaze, and couldn't help feeling worried.

Although Jiraiya liked to boast and was often irresponsible, he had been good to Obito; and Minato Namikaze needed no praise—he was the second teacher Obito respected and liked.

"They should be fine." Kakashi shook his head and said quietly.

According to future information, Minato Namikaze only died after becoming Hokage, and Jiraiya wouldn't die until Naruto Uzumaki was in his teens—killed by the evil Akatsuki organization.

Although the future would certainly change because of their actions—for instance, Yamato had become Muyue's disciple.

Still, they hadn't acted much yet, so logically they couldn't have had a major impact on the ninja world.

Compared to Minato and the others, Kakashi was more worried about Muyue.

This defeat came too suddenly. Even Kakashi, who kept a close eye on the ninja world situation, had detected no sign of it.

In his impression, Konoha's forces should have had a big advantage in the Land of Grass.

Since the Iwa forces could suddenly turn a huge disadvantage into an advantage, they must have used some formidable method—maybe it was even the war where Muyue would fall.

"We're still too weak." Kakashi sighed inwardly. With their current strength, probably only Might Gai could barely help Muyue.

Though they had been training hard, they still had too little training time. After all, most of them were only eleven years old—in peacetime, that was the age before graduating from the Ninja Academy.

"I hope I can learn the Yang Seal before that day comes."

If he could master the Yang Seal, even if his other abilities didn't improve at all, Kakashi's actual combat strength would still skyrocket.

Shisui's expression was solemn. He shared a similar speculation with Kakashi.

"The time is still too short."

Compared to Kakashi and the others, Shisui was even younger—still not yet ten years old.

Muyue didn't give the ninja much time to react and quickly said:

"Next, our mission is to support the Grass Country ninja forces and prevent the Iwa-nin forces from entering Fire Country."

Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't demand that Muyue must defeat the Iwa-nin forces; his requirement was to hold the defense and keep Iwa from invading Fire Country's home territory.

As long as Muyue kept Iwa from breaking through the line and entering Fire Country, he would have completed the mission.

If Muyue drove back the Iwa forces and inflicted heavy damage on them, that would be extra merit.

"Move out!" After about a minute, Muyue swept his gaze across all the ninja in the unit with a serious expression and shouted.

No one raised questions or complaints; they silently followed Muyue as he quickly left Konoha and headed for Grass Country.

For ninja, this wasn't really too outrageous an operation.

When there was an urgent mission to execute, they were simply given a mission objective and had to get to work.

This time, it could be seen as an ultra-large-scale collective emergency mission.

Moreover, Konoha's education on loving the village had been quite effective; the ninja had a strong sense of responsibility to protect the village.

As soon as they heard that Iwagakure might invade, many ninja thought they absolutely had to block Iwa outside Fire Country and not give Iwa a chance to destroy Konoha.

On the way, Muyue read the intelligence that Hiruzen Sarutobi had given him.

If Muyue were moving at full speed by himself, there was no way he could read intelligence while running.

But since he was advancing with the ninja unit, Muyue had the luxury of reading while moving.

After all, the advancement speed of the ninja unit wasn't fast in his eyes.

"Sarutobi Hiroshi defected and attempted to assassinate Jiraiya, displaying abilities similar to the Iwa assassination squad." Reading this piece of intelligence, Muyue showed a thoughtful expression.

In the Hokage's office, Hiruzen Sarutobi had been brief, only touching on the Iwa assassination squad and not mentioning Sarutobi Hiroshi's betrayal attack.

When Muyue first heard Hiruzen Sarutobi's account, it sounded like White Zetsu. After reading the detailed war intelligence, Muyue was not a hundred percent, but ninety-eight percent sure that White Zetsu was causing trouble.

The ninjutsu that rapidly erased all presence was the Mayfly Technique, and the reason Sarutobi Hiroshi defected was that he wasn't the real Sarutobi Hiroshi at all—it was a White Zetsu using the Imitation Technique.

Ordinary White Zetsu weren't actually very strong; with intel, a skilled chunin could kill a White Zetsu.

What made White Zetsu formidable was their skill set—their abilities could only be described as high-end.

The Imitation Technique was the greatest transformation jutsu in all of Naruto, capable of imitating a ninja's essence—their chakra.

The Mayfly Technique was a top-tier stealth movement jutsu that allowed the user to merge with the earth, erasing all presence and moving at high speed.

These two skills combined made White Zetsu the strongest intelligence ninja in the ninja world, as well as an assassin hard to guard against on the battlefield.

When White Zetsu made a move, Muyue felt Jiraiya's defeat was very normal. White Zetsu stirring up trouble during the Third War was a bit of a dimensional strike.

Consider that during the Fourth War, the Eighty-Thousand Ninja Alliance, which included many powerful fighters, was driven to their wits' end by White Zetsu, let alone Jiraiya's ninja unit.

"But for me, this isn't too big a problem," Muyue thought to himself.

Muyue had an unassuming but very powerful skill: the Appraisal Technique.

No matter how well White Zetsu disguised itself, a single look with the Appraisal Technique would expose everything.

The drawback of the Appraisal Technique was that Muyue had to see the target to use it, and so far, Muyue had never seen a White Zetsu bold enough to appear before him.

As long as a White Zetsu dared to play the undercover game in his ninja unit, Muyue would show them what it meant to be "Intelligence Muyue."

"Intelligence Jiraiya" only existed in theory, but Muyue truly had the Appraisal Technique, which could see through chakra and skills.

PS: The recent story has reached a relatively critical node. I've been revising and rewriting a lot, which takes time. Today's update is a little less—one chapter of 4k.

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